'this content is not available' when connected to VPN

[mstojano]

Plan

Premium

Country

Croatia (any VPN country)

Device

Acer Aspire 7750g (laptop, cable connection)

Operating System

Linux Mint 20.1 cinnamon

$ uname -a

Linux *** 5.4.0-74-generic #83-Ubuntu SMP Sat May 8 02:35:39 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

My Question or Issue

when connected to VPN service (NordVPN, cable connection, 10mbps dl, 1 mbps ul, ping 17ms) a few errors have been observed.

1. all songs are opaque/gray and 'this  content is not available' pops up when song is double clicked or play is pressed. 'Home' page is responding, and clicking on artist opens a new page.

2. logging out and logging back in produces a proxy/firewall error

no problems on windows (8.1, not sure about spotify version there, but latest) with same setup

$ spotify --version
Spotify version 1.1.55.498.gf9a83c60, Copyright (c) 2021, Spotify Ltd

similar issues were present on linux mint 19.3/4 mate, checked with nordvpn and its not on their side. all other things work normally with nordvpn

without VPN connection all works fine

edit: can not attach dum file due to the error: 'The file type (.spotify-dump) is not supported. Valid file types are: jpg, gif, pdf, png, zip, mp4.' when i try to upload

dump should show switching between vpn while it works then stops working, vpn gets turned off and it starts working again. i couldnt find anything that could pin point the moment of the switch

[avitt]

I've been having a similar issue (Ubuntu 21.04), although I was only having trouble while not on a VPN. I configured the connection to my home wifi network to only use Cloudflare's DNS servers (1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1), and since then I haven't had any issues with the Linux client.

Check out the Cloudflare docs, but you may want to look up Cinnamon-specific instructions. https://developers.cloudflare.com/1.1.1.1/setting-up-1.1.1.1/linux

[mstojano]

ty for your input. i've tried to set all the combos from router OS to vpn and still the same thing. after 10 mins of being open all lists gray out

[sovstack · Accepted solution]

I believe I found a solution to this issue.

The issue: my Spotify would work just fine until I connected to any server using NordVPN. The Spotify playlist would just turn gray as if I was offline despite the fact that I could browse the internet just fine in other apps.

The Fix:

1. In Ubuntu 20.04, Go to Settings > Privacy > Connectivity
2. Turn OFF Connectivity Checking

If you are unable to find the settings or cannot access them (they are missing), try reinstalling Ubuntu Desktop. This was also my problem along the way.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Hope that helps!

[mstojano]

Thank you! I will test it and get back asap im over with my vacation and im back on my laptop to test it!

[ld1duck]

This worked for me.  I have no idea how you figured this out, but Thanks!

[ld1duck]

On Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon this setting us under
Preferences -> System Settings -> Privacy

[sovstack]

I figured it out by trial and error. Not a fun or quick process, but it worked!

[Strolen]

AWESOME. Been searching on and off for a fix for literally a year. For the longest time I have been using the webapp feature but it is just a webpage when it comes down to it, not the app. Thrilled to have the app back. thanks!!!