Truecrypt installed but will not start

[michel]

Greetings,

I installed Kubuntu 12.04 64 and got most of my settings and applications running. I have installed truecrypt by downloading a tar file from the truecrypt site and all went well except that when I launch the application from the launch menu it will start loading and then will disappear.

Your help is appreciated.

Michel

[michel]

I would really appreciate help in resolving this issue as I need access to some important files soon.

Thanks,

Michel

[SecretCode]

Which truecrypt file did you download? Standard, console-only, 32 bit, 64 bit? How did you install it?

If you launch it from the command line (with the plain command truecrypt) do you get any error messages?

[michel]

I installed the standard 64 bit "truecrypt-7.1a-linux-x64.tar.gz". When unpacked I get "truecrypt-7.1a-setup-x64" But I just realized then when I run the install the file being installed is a 64 amd file:

TrueCrypt 7.1a Setup
____________________


Installation options:

 1) Install truecrypt_7.1a_amd64.tar.gz
 2) Extract package file truecrypt_7.1a_amd64.tar.gz and place it to /tmp

To select, enter 1 or 2:

When I try to run Trucrypt from Konsole (as user and as root) I get the following messages:

michel@michel-Satellite-L650:~$ truecrypt
bash: /usr/bin/truecrypt: cannot execute binary file
michel@michel-Satellite-L650:~$ sudo truecrypt
/usr/bin/truecrypt: 1: /usr/bin/truecrypt: Syntax error: ")" unexpected
michel@michel-Satellite-L650:~$

It looks like I have to install the 32 bit version?

Michel

[SecretCode]

Odd. When I run the extracted file:

./truecrypt-7.1a-setup-x64

I get an xmessage gui window, with a button labelled "Install TrueCrypt" - do you get a text-based prompt? Are you sure you didn't download the console-only version? (It would have a different file name)

After installation truecrypt is at /usr/bin/truecrypt - and this is a 4.7M binary file - so I cannot work out why bash is getting invoked.

Is your system 64 bit?

[michel]

My system is 64 and I do get a text based prompt as I showed in my previous post.

Any thoughts?

Michel

[SecretCode]

Is your installed file the right size?

$ ls -lh /usr/bin/truecrypt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.7M 2012-02-07 11:05 /usr/bin/truecrypt

Downloading a fresh copy might be worthwhile - and checking the signature, although I'm not familiar with using pgp to verify a download

[michel]

Yes its the same size:

-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 4.7M Feb 7 2012 /usr/bin/truecrypt

I will try installing a new copy and will let you know.

Michel

[SecretCode]

Well it looks like the same as I have. Can you run

/usr/bin/truecrypt --help

(I get normal console help and a popup gui help window)

To check you have a 64 bit OS, what is the output of

cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep lm

[michel]

I tried installing the 64 bit from here http://modifyubuntu.com/#truecrypt but got th esame result. Installing the 32 bit from the same link did not work. I downloaded the 32 bit tr from the truecrypt site and it works!

Can this bug be fixed / reported?

Michel

[michel]

After installing and running truecrypt I got errors with the ownership and permission of the following hidden file and hidden folder

/home/michel/.TrueCrypt-lock-michel

/home/michel/.TrueCrypt/Configuration.xml

I changed their permission to user and allowed reading / writing / executing to group and now the error has disappeared.

Is this just me or others are having problems with truecrypt (one of the recommended Ubuntu applications!)

Michel

[SecretCode]

Don't run truecrypt via sudo - that was probably the cause of the permission errors.

I'm not sure you have a bug - just a 32 bit installation! I find it works fine. Why do you say it's a recommended Ubuntu application? It's not packaged in the repositories.

[SteveRiley]

Michel, may I ask why you need TrueCrypt? I'm curious what potential threats you need to mitigate by using local encryption.

[michel]

Don't run truecrypt via sudo - that was probably the cause of the permission errors.

I'm not sure you have a bug - just a 32 bit installation! I find it works fine. Why do you say it's a recommended Ubuntu application? It's not packaged in the repositories.

It says so here as I mentioned before http://modifyubuntu.com/ under useful programs

Michel

[michel]

Michel, may I ask why you need TrueCrypt? I'm curious what potential threats you need to mitigate by using local encryption.

I use truecrypt to save personal documents like passport scans, etc... in Dropbox and professional / legal papers on the server at work.

Michel