I'm no tech guy, but I still wanted to setup a media server for person use. Been having a few issues so got myself the pro version to use the Tomai to help me help myself but I can't even activate that or send out support tickets from my sparkbox haha Put simply, nothing locally hosted can be accessed such as sonarr, qbittorrent etc as it 'cant reach this page' and is timing out I have run doctor, but following the steps, I end up in a loop of typing a PowerShell command, changing from mirrored to NAT, then NAT to mirrored again. I don't know what this is I'm just doing as told 😅 I'm genuinely lost and without TomAI, I'm afraid I won't have a means to have it explained to me in simple, non Linux terms. If anyone could walk with thru some steps In non, super technical terms I would appreciate it.
18 replies
Chris wrote:
You are not doing anything wrong — the two fixes the doctor keeps suggesting genuinely pull in opposite directions, which is why it loops. On Windows the right mode is mirrored, but it needs one extra step the loop keeps skipping: a Windows firewall rule. Do this once, in order. On Windows, save a file called .wslconfig in your user folder (C:\Users\<you) containing exactly: [wsl2] networkingMode=mirrored Then right-click PowerShell and choose "Run as administrator", and run these two lines one at a time: Set-NetFirewallHyperVVMSetting -Name '{40E0AC32-46A5-438A-A0B2-2B479E8F2E90}' -DefaultInboundAction Allow wsl --shutdown Reopen your Ubuntu window, run sudo sparkbox up, then sparkbox urls. Sonarr and qBittorrent should open again after that. If they still cannot reach the internet, tell me and I will walk you through one more step.
Jax wrote:
my currently existing wslconfig file contains: [wsl2] networkingMode=mirrored dnsTunneling=true should i remove the dnsTunneling=true section or is that fine to stay? just asking before i follow these steps again
Chris wrote:
Leave it exactly as it is — dnsTunneling=true is a separate little setting for how DNS gets handled, and it plays fine with mirrored mode. The important line is already there (networkingMode=mirrored), so you don't need to edit the file at all. Just run the firewall command and wsl --shutdown from my last message in an administrator PowerShell, reopen Ubuntu, then sudo sparkbox up. If the apps still time out after that, tell me and I'll take you through the one remaining step.
Jax wrote:
Unfortunately the apps still timeout. this includes trying to activate my pro key in the dashboard
Chris wrote:
That's the one remaining step, and it's the good kind — it gets you out of the loop for now. The mirrored setting has a known Windows quirk where it can silently drop the connection, which is why everything still times out even after the firewall fix. So flip that one line back: in your .wslconfig file, change networkingMode=mirrored to networkingMode=nat and leave everything else exactly as it is. Then in an administrator PowerShell run wsl --shutdown, reopen Ubuntu, and run sudo sparkbox up. After that, run sparkbox urls and open the addresses it prints from your PC's browser — they'll load from this PC. The 'switch to mirrored' message was only about phones and TVs reaching the box, which is a separate thing Tom's already looking into.
Jax wrote:
still unable to reach those addresses. an important thing to note, when i setup this box my firewall was originally set to private network, and so was sparkbox. however my firewall has since been put back to public network whilst sparkbox remains a private profile. could this be interfering? i also have dchp enabled by default on my router, perhaps i should reserve my ip address for this machine if it would help, that or port forward any ports if required? im running out of ideas
Chris wrote:
That change is almost certainly what has been biting you. Windows treats a network marked Public as untrusted and quietly blocks incoming connections to your box, so every address keeps timing out no matter what else we set. You have been patient through a lot of steps, and I am sorry this one took so long to surface. You do not need to reserve an IP or forward ports to open the apps from this same PC, so put both of those aside. Just switch that network back to Private: open Windows Settings, go to Network & internet, click your Wi-Fi (or Ethernet), and set the network profile to Private. Then reopen Ubuntu, run sudo sparkbox up, then sparkbox urls and open what it prints.
Jax wrote:
network has been swapped back to private. still unable to access the addresses.
Chris wrote:
Okay — I'm going to stop having you try more steps and flag this to Tom to look at your box directly. It's gone on far too long for something this simple to set up. One thing that will help Tom pin it down fast: in your web browser, open http://localhost:8443 and reply with exactly what you see — a login page, or a "can't reach this page" message. That one line tells us whether the box itself is running and only the address is wrong, or whether nothing is coming up at all. I've passed the whole thread over, so you don't need to repeat anything.
Jax wrote:
The box is running, and I can access my dashboard no problem. All apps are supposedly online with only Nginx not being healthy (API wise). I am now able to access every app as well but a large part of them still state they cannot reach the internet. Including radarr, qbittorrent, and tomsparkai activation. I am getting frequent notice to re-enable mirrored mode so I am going to do so as I am being constantly reminded on every action that occurs withing the terminal when starting up or diagnosing the box. I will make use of my remaining time having a go at some small tweaks and will report on the ongoings
Chris wrote:
Good news first: your dashboard and apps opening means the local half is fixed — the Private-network change did its job. What's left is one single thing, and it explains every symptom you listed. The box can't reach the internet outward. NPM goes unhealthy when it can't fetch a file it needs online, radarr and qbittorrent only get online through the VPN, and TomAI activation has to phone home — all three need that same outbound connection. About the "re-enable mirrored mode" reminder: that's the same loop the doctor has been putting you through, and it's about phones and TVs reaching the box, not about the internet. It's a known bug we've already flagged, so you can leave that alone for now. One quick check to confirm. In your Ubuntu window run: curl -s -m 10 https://demox.world -o /dev/null -w "%{httpcode}" If it prints 200, outbound works and we focus on the VPN. If it hangs or prints 000, the box can't get online, and I'll hand that exact result to Tom.
Jax wrote:
ok i see the main issue. portainer itself doesnt seem to be able to reach beyond the local machine in terms of internet. everything local now can be accessed just fine, with the exception of prowlarr (i forgot the login, and am struggling to reset the password) and qbittorrent (as they cant do their main job of downloading from the internet. same thing with trying to activate my license, submitting a ticket, and updating sparkbox as a whole, i am unable to as i cannot access the internet beyond the private ecosystem currently being hosted on my computer. do correct me if im wrong, as i likely am just spewing a bunch of technical sounding words out there, but based on what im seeing and experiencing as someone not too familiar with all this, this seems to be the case
Chris wrote:
You've found it — and it's one problem, not a pile of them. Portainer, qBittorrent, the license activation, submitting a ticket, and the update all failing are the same single thing: the Linux box inside your PC can't reach the internet. Your PC itself is online fine (you're posting here), so this is the Windows side of the box, not your router or your keys. Prowlarr is separate and easy, so let's clear that one now: run sudo sparkbox passwords and it prints the password SparkBox made for Prowlarr at install (the same list as Settings → Service Passwords) — no reset needed. I know this has dragged on far too long, and I'm sorry. Tom has the whole thread and the box-side detail, and he'll come back with the exact fix. Nothing more to run on your end tonight.
Chris wrote:
Quick correction on the Prowlarr part — I was wrong about that command, so please don't run sudo sparkbox passwords. It prints other apps' passwords in full, and you don't want that pasted into a public thread. To read a saved password privately, use the dashboard instead: Settings → Passwords → Service Passwords (each is masked until you click Reveal). And the real Prowlarr answer: SparkBox doesn't create a Prowlarr login, so there's nothing to reset. It normally skips login on your home network. If it's asking, check Settings → General → "Trust my LAN" inside Prowlarr, or create your own login there. Tom still has the internet side of things.
Jax wrote:
regarding the earlier command, if you mean prints 200 as in '200' appears before root@user:~ then yes it does. as for the second part about prowlarr, i was made to create a login to access the page the first time, and have simply forgotten it. i have followed the trash guide on unblocking myself but i did not seem to work and the command line you gave me does not include a prowlarr password yet contained passwords for the other apps
Chris wrote:
That 200 is the good kind of result — your box itself is online, so the download apps still saying no-internet are being held up by the VPN tunnel, which is what Tom's already digging into. Nothing more to run on that one. And you read the Prowlarr part right: SparkBox never makes a Prowlarr password, which is why that command listed the other apps and skipped it. The login you created lives inside Prowlarr, but a dashboard switch turns it off from the outside. Open Settings, find 'Sonarr / Radarr / Prowlarr access', and flip 'Trust my LAN — skip login' ON. That restarts Prowlarr with login skipped, so you get straight in. Want a login back later? Set a fresh one inside Prowlarr.
Jax wrote:
Ok so for now I will wait for feedback on the VPN tunnel. Currently I have a wire guard setup with surfshark if that's any help. As for prowlarr, the option is ticked already, I just seem to be locked out still. Wether or not this is a bug I do not know. If required, I am happy to use parsec to allow remote usage, as I am unable to allow access through sparkbox as it requires legend, to which I am unable to activate haha
Chris wrote:
That Surfshark WireGuard detail is genuinely useful — I've noted it alongside everything else so it's captured for when Tom picks this up. Thank you for the Parsec offer too; I'll pass that along in case he'd like a closer look, though that's his call. On Prowlarr: if the LAN-trust switch is already ticked and it's still asking you to log in, that points at the same box-side problem rather than anything you missed, so please don't keep fighting it. You can stop here — you've been thorough, and the ball's in Tom's court.