We are unable to decode the file storing your credentials. Need help?!

[Dresden Ceriano 133]

Here's the detailed instructions of how to do a clean reinstall... link.  Follow them and you should be alright.  Remember to set your hidden folders to show or you'll never be able to find the ones you're looking for.

...Dres

[Whirly Fizzle 5,614]

1 hour ago, angelpatty Resident said:

This isn't (I think, anyway) a real "necro bump" - I've had the exact issue the OP complained of, opening Firestorm to discover my username and password fields blanked and 

this message box appearing every time Microsoft applies a "major system update" to Windows 10:

 

This is unfortunately expected behaviour with the way login credentials are stored.
The login credentials are hashed using the machine ID. Larger Windows 10 updates often issue a new machine ID - hence the saved login credentials can't be decoded.

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.  I've gotten this message a time or two when I updated my Firestorm viewer (including with a clean install), and at least once when Windows 10 did updates.

Just manually type in your username and your password.  Problem solved.

The only time this might become a problem is if you forgot your password, and were relying on the "Remember my Password" option on the login screen.  This is very poor security practice, and you should not do it.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Lindal Kidd

[Alwin Alcott 11,053]

6 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

I think I'll stay on Windows 7 for as long as I can.

i only had this happening when i copied large parts of my roaming folder to a new machine.

See the explanation of Whirly : The login credentials are hashed using the machine ID. .. new machine so Firestorm didn't like those old files 

As Lindal says... just retype your login info. and if you really need... check the store function.

 

[Love Zhaoying 11,768]

14 minutes ago, garaouelle Giha said:

as soon as i made the firt name, garaouelle, with first letter as upper-case to Garaouelle, then it now let's me in.

Easy fix - remember that your user name is "case-sensitive". SOLVED!

[HomerWilson 0]

deleting the log in credentials sees to it that if you do not have your passwords all written down in an "Avatar Bible" that kids do not use as a coloring book. you will lose Avatars. if you do not back up your information some how, have fun trying to recover your avatars..... Linden Labs and Windows people need to have a sit down and talk about how to fix this issue. because some people do not save pass words with pen and paper, for fear of kids logging in on their account, or a spouse logging in to see who they been "cybering" with on sl.

Homar Wilson

Avid SL Addict.

thinks about starting an SL anonymous Group

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

You should never leave "remember my password" checked on the login screen.  Second Life has only a single level of security...your password.  If you leave that box checked, you have just given everyone who can physically access your computer access to your SL account.

Use a password vault/manager like Dashlane, and write down all your important account information (for all your online accounts, not just SL) and keep it somewhere safe.

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

Chaz,

Even if that dodge works, I have to say that, in my opinion, you are Doing It Wrong if you check the "remember my password" box on the login screen.  ALWAYS enter your password manually, every time you log in.  This has two benefits:

1. You will be almost certain to remember your password, since you are using it often enough that it will lodge in your memory.
2. Access to your account will be more secure.  Second Life has, sadly, only a single level of security, your password.  You should never give that up by letting the login screen do it for you.

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

Although this is a post from six years ago, it's still a fairly common occurrence.  This is not the fault of the viewer, but the operating system, and can occur after an OS upgrade (on both Macs and Windows; not sure about Unix systems.)

It's generally a fairly simple matter to just manually re-enter your user name and password.  UNLESS you relied on that "remember my password" check box on the log-in screen and have forgotten your password.

Don't do that.

But, if you did, your web browser might remember your password in its stored data.  Or if that doesn't help, you can request LL's help in setting a new password.

[Shudo 256]

23 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

This is not the fault of the viewer

Sorry Lindal, it *is* the fault of the viewer. The viewer is written to encrypt the credentials with a transient configuration.

People being people, the viewer really should store all it's credentials locked away under a master password. If the transient-keyed decryption fails, rather then saying "well dayum, you're SOL" ask what the master password is, and unlock all avatars and alts again.

While this transient credentials thing might have been ok back in the days of Windows XP, it's really showing up it's limitations with later operating systems, like Windows 10 - which now goes through a regular 6-12 month major update cycle.

This problem won't go away, the key chosen to encrypt the credentials is no longer stable.

Sure, it's not an issue to people with one avatar, they can shrug, retype their password and be on their way - this isn't the case for everyone.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Shudo

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

You may be right; I don't know enough about the viewer to argue the point!

I'm not sure why the problem is worse for people with multiple avatars, though.  Don't you write down ALL your alts's passwords?

[Wulfie Reanimator 3,220]

9 hours ago, Shudo said:

Sorry Lindal, it *is* the fault of the viewer. The viewer is written to encrypt the credentials with a transient configuration.

People being people, the viewer really should store all it's credentials locked away under a master password. If the transient-keyed decryption fails, rather then saying "well dayum, you're SOL" ask what the master password is, and unlock all avatars and alts again.

While this transient credentials thing might have been ok back in the days of Windows XP, it's really showing up it's limitations with later operating systems, like Windows 10 - which now goes through a regular 6-12 month major update cycle.

This problem won't go away, the key chosen to encrypt the credentials is no longer stable.

Sure, it's not an issue to people with one avatar, they can shrug, retype their password and be on their way - this isn't the case for everyone.

This isn't really how encryption works. You can't have two "keys" that are both able to decode the same file, this would make the form of encryption inherently much less secure overall.

While you can have a "master password," this would be used for the actual key used to decrypt the files. It's a second level of encryption, or a second password for your password. You might think that the viewer can just "automatically give the master password then," but that doesn't prevent the issue mentioned in this thread because it's the last encryption that fails.

That said, this could be caused by either:

• File permission error
• or corrupted file

For the former, the error is caused because the viewer is not allowed by the OS to open the file. There are some utilities for "taking ownership of a file" on your OS of choice. (You'll have to google that yourself because it depends on your OS.) For the latter there's no salvaging it. Even a slight change in the file will cause it to not return any valid decrypted data, causing this error.

However, since the encryption method (as far as I've seen) seems to be based on the network ID of the computer, like the error says, a router swap, new connection, etc. is eventually going to change your locally designated decryption key. Also like the error says, your only hope is to change everything back the way it was. Otherwise you'll just have to start over with the logins.

P.S. OS updates do not change regular files or how they are encrypted, this would be incredibly harmful to all users and businesses.

Edit: Found this - https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/BUG-139291

Edited March 4, 2019 by Wulfie Reanimator

[Shudo 256]

5 hours ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

That said, this could be caused by either:

• File permission error
• or corrupted file

It's caused as the password store is using a volatile key based on details of the network adapter to encrypt it. Every single time that the a major windows 10 upgrade is done, the key chosen by the Lab back in the old XP days is likely to change and the record of all avatars/alts is wiped clean. Most people with only one avatar likely don't remember it each windows upgrade, they just re-enter and keep going.

It's annoying, and over the last few years I have forgotten the names of a few very rarely used avatars from this.

That key is no longer appropriate to use. It's an ancient viewer architecture choice that really needs to be reconsidered.

 

5 hours ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

This isn't really how encryption works.

Seems you missed my idea, I guess I didn't explain clearly, let me try again please!

Between windows updates (For 6 months of the year) things work just as now. But you also have one secondary master store that is kept secured by a master hand typed password. If the Windows update kills the standard store, that master store can be decrypted and loads into the old style store as we know it now.

So, when MS update Windows each 6 months and the hardware key is lost like it is now, instead of the "lost credential" message you are asked for a master password, that second store is decoded and populates the hardware store as it is now with all lost avatars and passwords.

As it stands now.. if that hardware key is lost (every 6 months) all your alts go missing without any backup but paper and pen.

Additional advantage: You can move the master store to a new PC, type in the password and all your alts and passwords are loaded.

Edited March 4, 2019 by Shudo

[LittleMe Jewell 34,648]

I do let the viewer remember my password - and the passwords of my various alts.  I've also gone through multiple Windows updates - you pretty much can't avoid them these days.  Yet I've never experienced a problem with my login credentials.

Just saying...........

[Halo Minoptra 123]

Hey, I use Linux Mint, and I get that message occasionally. So it's not a Windows thing, although the mentions of Windows Updates made me wonder whether it happens after I do software updates (which are optional, but I like to stay up to date).

[Kianta Silverfall 0]

It's clearly the viewer problem here, if that problem happen on windows, mac and linux, then it's clearly proved. It's sucks on all systems.

Apparently lindens still to work with old systems. 

And even if you do a clean install with all files removed, the problem come back all the times. 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Kianta Silverfall

[Lindal Kidd 17,653]

I still say you should think of it as a feature, not a bug.  Keeps you from getting lazy and trusting the log in page to remember your security info...which is poor practice in any case.

[Dresden Ceriano 133]

Here's the detailed instructions of how to do a clean reinstall... link.  Follow them and you should be alright.  Remember to set your hidden folders to show or you'll never be able to find the ones you're looking for.

...Dres

[Aisling Jameson 1]

Ok...got it all figured out! YAY! Did a clean uninstall and made sure to get rid of the chat files. But I cleaned at all files that I could find that belong to anything SL related. Then upon installing it I couldn't log back in. The password and user name were correct. I even went in and changed my password but it still didn't help. The simpliest thing....prior to the install my user name was my first/last name without any space. Upon the reinstall there has to be a space inbetween. *rolls eyes* So I am back into the world and happy once again (after 5 hours of freaking/stressing out). Thanks for the help. And I hope this post helps others.

[Rolig Loon 26,302]

Your account may have been compromised if:

• You can't access your account.
• You suddenly notice a reduced available balance on the payment source you have on file.

If this happens, contact us immediately!

Here's what to do:

1. Go to the Second LIfe Help page and log in if you can. If you can't access your account, use the Forgot your login information? link on the right to recover your username and reset your password. Then log in.
2. On the Second LIfe Help page page, click the Contact Support link on the right.
3. On the next page, click Submit a a Support Case form.
4. Under What type of problem are you having?, select Account Issue. A second dropdown appears.
5. Under Account Issue, select I believe my account has been compromised.
6. Fill in the rest of the fields as directed.
7. Click Submit.
8. Check your email for your case number.
9. Call our fraud number: 800-860-6990.

Once you do this, Linden Lab will place your account on hold and investigate the relevant transactions. This may take a few days. Once we have concluded the investigation, we'll send you an email explaining our conclusion and the action we will take. Note that all transactions involving Linden dollars are subject to Linden Lab's Terms of Service.

Tip: Even if you are able to log into your account, we recommend that you change your password immediately to something secure and unique.  Changing your password regularly is one good way to protect the safety of your account.  For information on how to change your password, see the How to change your password section of this article.

 

[Trip30 1]

all i know is this is annoying as Helll......i mean why isnt the file stored in some place that you can just deleate it i delated my settings and the damn thing STILL popped up, i never had this problem before i had disabled then reneabled my wifi adapter and apparently that litlte thing can cause it to f up.  gotta freaking LOVE second life., so now i gotta deleate the damn program. which of course takes FOREEEVER to uninstall and then since the uninstall doesnt actually remove the whole damn thing  gotta find the thread to actually do an actual "Clean" uninstall of the damn peice of crap THEN reinstall THEN change all my damn settings back to the way they were.  GOD gotta LOVE freaking second life. i NEVER had this problem with older viewers a year or so back i disabled, reneabled /changed my network adapters all the time and there was NO problem now "magically" you disable it ONCE and the stupid crap will screw up your stored login.

 

THanks OH so much Linden Lab for making Second Life the pinnical of quality programming.,

[Bifford Lightstone 0]

This thread to this point did not help my issue. After a couple of months of trying to figure this out I was pointed to my logs to see what was happening (I should have checked this a long time ago) I saw that my CA.pem (certificate) file could not be read.

I fixed it.  The issue was with my root certs not being up to date. I went to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931125 to get the update necessary for my computer and installed the update. I then did a clean install and everything works perfectly now.

 

I hope this helps one of you guys having this issue.

[augmeta 5]

Sorry for the necro bump but I thought I would leave this here to help anyone who has this issue in future. I have just had this problem in Firestorm after recieving a new router from my ISP. I solved it for myself without uninstalling or going through a long process.

1. Close all processes of Firestorm

2. Browse to C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64\user_settings\

3. Delete bin_conf.dat (click yes for admin rights)

4. Reopen Firestorm.

Hopefully you should now be able to login as normal. I hope this helps you.

[angelpatty 40]

This isn't (I think, anyway) a real "necro bump" - I've had the exact issue the OP complained of, opening Firestorm to discover my username and password fields blanked and 

this message box appearing every time Microsoft applies a "major system update" to Windows 10:

It just happened again because Microsoft decided to annoy me with more "improved" system apps I'll never use such as "3D Print".

The procedure augmeta describes, 

"1. Close all processes of Firestorm

2. Browse to C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Firestorm_x64\user_settings\

3. Delete bin_conf.dat (click yes for admin rights)

4. Reopen Firestorm."

Kills the message BUT, unfortunately, does NOT restore my username/password list. Just to warn you.

Patty (angelpatty resident)

[LittleMe Jewell 34,648]

Oh goody, something else to look forward to when I upgrade to Windows 10.  

[LittleMe Jewell 34,648]

I think I'll stay on Windows 7 for as long as I can.