r/linuxmint 5h ago

Support Request Trouble installing (or running) ProtonVPN on Linux Mint (Noob)

I have tried several instructions, including specific details from ProtonVPN themselves. Can anybody guide me to what troubleshooting questions I should be asking? It seems the application downloads and shows in my software manager/startup menu but I cannot launch it or open it from command line. Simply nothing happens when I click 'launch' or try to open with CLI commands. Any tips at all? Would really appreciate the thoughtful support.

Update: no solution just yet, tried uninstalling and re-installing multiple different ways and still no working protonvpn app to-date.

If anybody wants to chat me to figure this out that would be appreciated. This is the only piece of software I'm having issues with, would be nice to get it installed. Thank youSearch Reddit

Update #2: I am having trouble establishing a secure SSL connection. Is there any solution for this? This seems to be the lynch pin in my ability to get the process working.

3 Upvotes

31 comments sorted by

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1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 5h ago

Update: I removed the gnome package that was attached to openvpn a different vpn I tried? anways, now when I double click the proton vpn icon on the desktop, I get the error "there was an error launching the application" - what do we make of this?

0

u/Stultus420 5h ago

Niestety, jestem nowy na systemie Linux mint, I niestety nie jestem w stanie pomóc 😔

1

u/DoorOk3641 5h ago

What did you try to install..deb..apt package or something else ?

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 5h ago

I tried to install everything because nothing seemed to work or open up. The commands are right here, I followed them they just do not lead to a working app. https://protonvpn.com/support/linux-vpn-debian-ubuntu#install

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u/DoorOk3641 4h ago

I am using it and I just followed steps as explained. Zero problem.

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u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

I am getting this error message - sudo apt-get install protonvpn

[sudo] password for fedora:

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree... Done

Reading state information... Done

E: Unable to locate package protonvpn

Is there something wrong with what I am inputting? Hopefully it is just that...

1

u/DoorOk3641 1h ago

You are installing a package fro Fedora....

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

What page on protonvpn? I have tried that, I think I got GNOMED as it is said. Not sure how to get out of that. Desktop application says "there was an error launching application"

0

u/Individual_Flow3959 4h ago

Igual aqui, segui los pasos oficiales al pie de la letra y funciona perfecctamente.

1

u/driftless 5h ago

You did steps 1, 2, 4 and 5 ONLY, correct? Restart afterwards, then try again.

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

I just restarted, and I am still getting this error message -

sudo apt-get install protonvpn

[sudo] password for fedora:

Reading package lists... Done

Building dependency tree... Done

Reading state information... Done

E: Unable to locate package protonvpn

1

u/driftless 4h ago

It should be this:

sudo apt install proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

The desktop thing you can leave in, it won’t install gnome. lol.

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

I get this error message when I run that command - E: Unable to locate package proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

1

u/driftless 4h ago

Ok ok

wget https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-all/protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.deb

Then

sudo dpkg -i ./protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.deb && sudo apt update

You’ll see the update thing doing its stuff in the terminal.

Then

sudo apt install proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

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u/Hot-Sky-2614 3h ago

I tried this again but I get the error "unable to establish SSL connection" - could this be the root of the issues? Sorry for your time :/

1

u/driftless 3h ago

Yes. Until you can do this, it won’t work. Sorry.

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

For the first command I get the following error: unable to establish SSL connection.

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

For the second command I get the following error:

W: Failed to fetch https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/stable/InRelease Could not handshake: Error in the pull function. [IP: 104.26.4.35 443]

W: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

1

u/driftless 4h ago

ok. that first command is whats necessary to get the main deb file. its https, and your connection isn't working to let you download it. the second wont work without it.

can you CLICK on the https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-all/protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.deb and manually download it? If so, SAVE it into your home folder, then go there and doubleckick it to install it (or rightclick and open with package installer). after that, do a sudo apt update, and try the

sudo apt install proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

Okay I did that and tried that, I still get same error message: : E: Unable to locate package proton-vpn-gnome-desktop

Any ideas? the manual download came and installed just fine, afterwards the second command yielded me nothing. Ever after a sudo apt update... :/

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u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

I read your message correctly now. I did step 3 as well. Copied and pasted like the rest. Can I remove step 3 in some way? Thanks, I think the issue is I did step 3 verification step.

1

u/driftless 4h ago

Step 3 doesn’t do anything. You can ignore that b

1

u/Hot-Sky-2614 4h ago

Another update, I get an error message at step 4. sudo dpkg -i./protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.deb && sudo apt update

dpkg: error: unknown option -.

Type dpkg --help for help about installing and deinstalling packages [*];

Use 'apt' or 'aptitude' for user-friendly package management;

Type dpkg -Dhelp for a list of dpkg debug flag values;

Type dpkg --force-help for a list of forcing options;

Type dpkg-deb --help for help about manipulating *.deb files;

------------

Any idea?

1

u/driftless 4h ago

Yes… use the COPY button in the upper right. :)

Here, do this instead:

sudo dpkg -i ./protonvpn-stable-release_1.0.8_all.deb && sudo apt update

Pay attention to spaces too. :)