[tor-bugs] #4246 [Website]: Create a JS-based clock-check page to diagnose HS problems

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#4246: Create a JS-based clock-check page to diagnose HS problems
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 Reporter:  rransom      |          Owner:  rransom
     Type:  enhancement  |         Status:  new    
 Priority:  major        |      Milestone:         
Component:  Website      |        Version:         
 Keywords:               |         Parent:         
   Points:               |   Actualpoints:         
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 The most common cause of ‘'''''I CAN"T REACH ANY HIDDEN
 SERVICES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! '''''’ complaints seems to be that the user's
 clock is set incorrectly (see also #3460).

 These problems fall into three general categories:
  * The time is off by over half an hour; the date and time zone are
 correct.  This will stop being a problem soon, when #3460 is fixed.
  * The time and date appear correct; the time zone is incorrect.  This
 will also become generally harmless to HS connectivity soon.
  * The time and time zone are correct; the date is incorrect.  This can
 never be fixed in Tor with the current (v2) HS protocol.

 Users often have a hard time figuring out that their clock is, in fact,
 wrong, even after we tell them that it is.

 All of these problems could be diagnosed and fixed by a simple JavaScript-
 based clock test page.  Unfortunately, the only way JavaScript can obtain
 a server's idea of the current time is to have the server send the current
 time as part of a response's content (JS cannot access the `Date:`
 header), so this will require some server-side code too.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/4246>
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