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Third Party Issue

Votes

5

Found in

2019.4.23f1

2020.2.2f1

2020.3.3f1

2021.1.1f1

2021.2

Issue ID

1308797

Regression

No

Crash starting Unity when using NordVPN

Mono

-

Reproduction steps:
1. Connect to NordVPN
2. Create a new project
3. If the External Script Editor is not set to Visual Studio 2019 or Visual Studio 2017 by default, go to Edit > Preferences > External Tools and select VS 2019 or VS 2017
-- observe crash

Reproducible with: 2019.4.24f1, 2020.3.5f1, 2021.1.5f1, 2021.2.0a15 (Seems to affect different versions on different machines)
Could not test with: 2018.4.31f1, 2019.4.20f1 (editor would crash/freeze because of case 1025558)

Reproducible with:
- Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2019, version 16.5.2, 6.9.2
- Microsoft Visual Studio Community 2017, version 15.9.25
Not reproducible with:
- Visual Studio Code, version 1.52.1
- JetBrains Rider, version 2020.1.0

Tested with: NordVPN 6.34.4.0, 6.35.9.0

Note:
- If the crash doesn't occur after changing the External Script Editor, close and reopening the project
- Crash is reproducible with and without the Visual Studio Editor package
- From user reports, this issue seems to be affecting SurfShark users as well
- Before the crash, the editor may freeze on "EditorApplication.update"
- Crash does not seem to be reproducible with the same steps if the VPN is enabled after opening the project

  1. Resolution Note (2021.2.X):

    Unity is not trying to connect to any external machines. A system call to open a connection on the local machine hangs, leading to the crash. The VPN software should not be interfering with a local connection in this manner.

    We are still investigating this issue with 3rd party VPN providers.

    Workaround for NordVPN:
    - Use OpenVPN or IKEv2/IPSec to connect to NordVPN servers. Tutorials on how to do that, can be found here:
    https://nordvpn.com/tutorials/windows-10/openvpn/
    https://support.nordvpn.com/Connectivity/Windows/1047410092/How-to-connect-to-NordVPN-with-IKEv2-IPSec-on-Windows-10.htm

    Workaround for SurfShark:
    Use OpenVPN or IKEv2/IPSec to connect to SurfShark servers. Tutorials on how to do that can be found here:
    https://surfshark.com/blog/what-is-openvpn
    https://support.surfshark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003144894-How-to-set-up-an-IKEv2-connection-manually-on-Windows-

Comments (13)

  1. Wenceslao

    Sep 08, 2021 14:32

    I lost an entire two days to this in 2020.3.17f1. I wouldn't have even thought them related. WHY does the Unity Editor care if I'm using a VPN? I'd be fascinated to hear the tale.

  2. fn1106

    Sep 06, 2021 09:09

    Still crashes on 2020.3.17f1 & NordVPN 6.39.6.0

  3. RealmOfCode

    Apr 21, 2021 11:46

    Just to inform that, even though this issue is marked as "Fixed" in versions 2021.1.x, my installation (2021.1.3f1) still presents the bug.

    PC running Windows 10.

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