Tor keeps in “searching informations about the relay” when ExitNodes parameter is set in torcc file

Question

I added some lines in my torcc file. At first I added:

ExitNodes {fr},{be},{ch},{lu},{mc}
StrictNodes 1

When I launch Tor with Vidalia it keeps in the state "searching informations about the relay", so it does not connect.

Then I added:

EntryNodes {fr},{be},{ch},{lu},{mc}
StrictNodes 0

Even changed the argument StrictNodes to 0 for ExitNodes, it still does not work. So I tried with adding FascistFirewall 1 as it is mentioned in the documentation but it changes nothing.

update: log messages.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Tor 0.3.5.7 (git-9beb085c10562a25) running on Windows 7 
with Libevent 2.1.8-stable, OpenSSL 1.0.2p, Zlib 1.2.11, Liblzma N/A, and Libzstd N/A.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Tor can't help you if you use it wrong! 
Learn how to be safe at https://www.torproject.org/download/download#warning

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Read configuration file 
"C:\Users\Truc\Documents\Tor\Data\Tor\torrc".

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] The ReachableDirAddresses option is 
deprecated, and will most likely be removed in a future version of Tor. It 
has no effect on relays, and has had no effect on clients since 0.2.8. (If 
you think this is a mistake, please let us know!)

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Path for GeoIPFile (<default>) is 
relative and will resolve to C:\Users\Truc\Documents\Tor\<default>. Is 
this what you wanted?

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Path for GeoIPv6File (<default>) is 
relative and will resolve to C:\Users\Truc\Documents\Tor\<default>. Is this 
what you wanted?

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Path for DataDirectory 
(C:/Users/Truc/Documents/Tor/Data/Tor) is relative and will resolve to 
C:\Users\Truc\Documents\Tor\Data\Tor. Is this what you wanted?

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Opening Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9050

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Opened Socks listener on 127.0.0.1:9050

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Opening Control listener on 127.0.0.1:9051

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Opened Control listener on 127.0.0.1:9051

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Failed to open GEOIP file 
C:\Users\Truc\AppData\Roaming\tor\geoip.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] We've been configured to use (or 
avoid) nodes in certain countries, and we need GEOIP information to figure 
out which ones they are.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Failed to open GEOIP file 
C:\Users\Truc\AppData\Roaming\tor\geoip6.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] We've been configured to use (or 
avoid) nodes in certain countries, and we need GEOIP information to figure 
out which ones they are.

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Notification] Bootstrapped 0%: Starting

févr. 24 14:39:02.020 [Avertissement] Your configuration excludes 100% of 
all possible guards. That's likely to make you stand out from the rest of 
the world.

févr. 24 14:39:02.020 [Notification] Starting with guard context 
"restricted"

févr. 24 14:39:02.020 [Notification] New control connection opened from 
127.0.0.1.

févr. 24 15:50:00.216 [Notification] Bootstrapped 5%: Connecting to 
directory server

févr. 24 15:50:00.351 [Notification] Bootstrapped 10%: Finishing handshake 
with directory server

févr. 24 15:50:00.351 [Notification] Bootstrapped 45%: Asking for relay 
descriptors

 févr. 24 15:50:04.671 [Notification] I learned some more directory 
 information, but not enough to build a circuit: We need more 
 microdescriptors: we have 6427/6503, and can only build 0% of likely paths. 
 (We have 0% of guards bw, 99% of midpoint bw, and 0% of exit bw = 0% of 
 path bw.)

 févr. 24 15:50:05.336 [Notification] Bootstrapped 50%: Loading relay 
 descriptors

 févr. 24 17:14:04.759 [Notification] I learned some more directory 
 information, but not enough to build a circuit: We need more 
 microdescriptors: we have 6478/6522, and can only build 0% of likely paths. 
(We have 0% of guards bw, 99% of midpoint bw, and 0% of exit bw = 0% of path 
bw.)

févr. 24 18:28:01.399 [Avertissement] Tried connecting to router at 
51.254.147.57:443, but RSA + ed25519 identity keys were not as expected: 
wanted EB80A8D52F07238B576C42CEAB98ADD084EE075E + no ed25519 key but got 
D15AFF44BE641368B958A32FB6B071AC2136B8B1 + 
G/N2baMRctZ7vNhZRGxZ1aqwpU04UBVC8d3iHVeQxa4.

févr. 24 18:29:05.424 [Notification] I learned some more directory 
information, but not enough to build a circuit: We need more 
microdescriptors: we have 6443/6547, and can only build 0% of likely paths. 
(We have 0% of guards bw, 99% of midpoint bw, and 0% of exit bw = 0% of path 
bw.)

févr. 24 19:50:05.456 [Notification] I learned some more directory 
information, but not enough to build a circuit: We need more 
microdescriptors: we have 6494/6558, and can only build 0% of likely paths. 
(We have 0% of guards bw, 99% of midpoint bw, and 0% of exit bw = 0% of path 
bw.)

févr. 24 20:38:59.390 [Notification] Heartbeat: Tor's uptime is 6:00 hours, 
with 0 circuits open. I've sent 56 kB and received 401 kB.

févr. 24 20:38:59.390 [Notification] Average packaged cell fullness: 
73.876%. 
TLS write overhead: 13%

févr. 24 21:33:06.007 [Notification] I learned some more directory 
information, but not enough to build a circuit: We need more 
microdescriptors: we have 6471/6581, and can only build 0% of likely paths. 
(We have 0% of guards bw, 99% of midpoint bw, and 0% of exit bw = 0% of path 
bw.)

Notes: As I told I use Vidalia 0.2.21, Tor 0.3.4.8 and Polipo proxy configured to run with Tor in Vidalia. Besides, when I erase these added lines it manages to connect with Tor. Besides file GeoIPFile and GeoIPv6File were added with the new version of Tor, and the previous version had the problem anyway.

Answer 1

Tor needs information about the location of those relays. It uses a so-called GeoIP file. Usually this comes with your Tor client. You can also download it from here.

When you look at your log message, there is one line:

févr. 24 14:38:56.904 [Avertissement] Failed to open GEOIP file C:\Users\Truc\AppData\Roaming\tor\geoip.

This means Tor was not able to find that find. So Tor doesn't which nodes are located in the countries. Thatswhy you find this line in the log:

Your configuration excludes 100% of all possible guards. That's likely to make you stand out from the rest of the world.

So one way to solve it would be to download the GeoIP file and set the option GeoIPFile:

GeoIPFile C:\Users\Truc\path\to\the\file

When you restart Tor it should connect to the network.

Answer 2

If you are using ubuntu, you can install package with geoip addresses:

sudo apt-get install tor-geoipdb