“openbazaar connection failed to default” error on windows 64 bit devices. I have had this error for more than 2 days and had a bit of a difficult time solving it. As you can see a LOT of people are also going crazy about it.

Reddit user druss666uk posted that he or she is one of those people having a hard time connecting to the default host. It was mentioned that he is using the updated software, configured ob.cfg file and left username and password values blank. This lead him to decide not to pursue using OpenBazaar.

There are several solutions suggested by other reddit users in solving the problem, based on their own experience. One is from Talulahb where he manually deleted OpenBazaar folders from both appdata/roaming and appdata/local folders then uninstalled the Program through Windows control panel. After that, he re-installed the software and it worked. Another solution is from Mr-moderator where he suggested to create a live Ubuntu OS on a flash drive and try installing OpenBazaar on that.

I also have a lot of temporary fixes found which work for other persons but sadly none of those worked for me such as the “change your ob.cfg” file and add username and password, and this re-installation fix here:

OpenBazaar Help articles: Unable to connect to your server

OpenBazaar explained that the program is actually composed of two programs. One is the server (which is the back end application) and the other one is the client (which is the front end application).

In the “Unable to connect to your server” error, OpenBazaar suggested some trouble shooting tips. First is to try clicking on “Retry connection” button but if it does not work then try clicking on “Restore defaults” button and try reconnecting again. If it does not solve the problem, OpenBazaar advised to shut down and re-open the program and try reconnecting again as soon as you see the error again. Try it a few more times giving a few seconds before each try.

Secondly, one cause of the issue might be an OpenSSL probem. This happens if you are using a Windows OS. If you are on version 1.1.0 or 1.1.1 then it needs to be updated to the latest version. However, if you are using version 1.1.2 and you are having the same problem, try installing OpenSSL manually. If you are using 1.1.3 or later version, OpenSSL should not be a problem.

Thirdly, if the problem is not resolved, OpenBazaar suggests reinstalling of the program. However, reinstalling will remove an existing store.

You will need to remove OpenBazaar folders on the following location in Windows below and uninstall the program.

Windows

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Roaming\openbazaar

Before reinstalling, make sure that you will use the most recent version of the installer which can be found at openbazaar.org. If all of these does not work, then you can submit a support request to OpenBazaar help desk.

If you are already connected to the server but you are seeing an “Authentication Failed” error, OpenBazaar provides the following troubleshooting steps.

OpenBazaar Help articles: Authentication Failed

OpenBazaar explains that the error means that the client has found your server but does not have the right username and password. The client and the server should share the same user credentials automatically but they are at times not synchronized correctly. So, this will be resolved by manually editing a file to enter a username and password.

First step is to close the application and shut down the server. Next, find the ob.cfg where you need to edit and save. You may find the file in Windows through the path below. You may also need to turn on the “view hidden files” option.

Windows

C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\OpenBazaar\app-1.0.6\resources\OpenBazaar-Server

The third step is to open the ob.cfg file with a text editor and edit username and password near the bottom part. The screenshots may look different from your OS text editor but the texts are the same.

Remove the “#” characters before USERNAME and PASSWORD and enter in your own username and password as shown on the screenshot below.

The solution that worked for me

However, if none of them has solved the problem, I will share the fix that worked for me. I got my Open Bazaar program on my 64 bit Windows through installing the 32 bit version. Instead of downloading the 64 bit version.. just download and install the 32 bit version.. since 32 bit programs still will work on 64 bit OS.

Hope the information above will be helpful to you.

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