Station Core error: Cannot load Station ID from file. Cannot decrypt Station ID file.

[bajtos]

We have received bug reports from our users where the Station Desktop seems to freeze after starting - it is not performing any jobs. After investigation, we discovered that Station Core is not able to load the identity from the encrypted file, because the file cannot be decrypted using the passphrase derived from Station Desktop's built-in wallet.

Error: 
Cannot load Station ID from file "/home/secret/.local/state/filecoin-station-desktop/secrets/station_id". 
Cannot decrypt Station ID file.
Did you configure the correct PASSPHRASE?

This problem typically occurs when the keychain gets messed up, and Station Desktop generates a new wallet at the start.

Workaround

Delete the Station ID file mentioned in the error message and restart Station Desktop. At the next start, Station Core will generate a new identity and create a new station_id file with contents encrypted using the new wallet key.

The downside is that we will see two Station instances in our system, so please don’t do this too often. In the future, we want to incentivize longer-living station instances, so your Station will earn fewer rewards after you reset the Station ID.

Links

• https://github.com/filecoin-station/desktop/pull/1497
• https://space-meridian.slack.com/archives/C03S6LXSRB8/p1719514988008729?thread_ts=1719514238.961649&cid=C03S6LXSRB8
• https://github.com/filecoin-station/desktop/issues/1659
• https://space-meridian.slack.com/archives/C03S6LXSRB8/p1721385111116869?thread_ts=1721209731.730589&cid=C03S6LXSRB8

[bajtos]

Cross-posting from one of the Slack chat threads:

It would be good for Station to give some error indication when things go wrong. For example, if the station_id exists but there is no seed phrase (because e.g. the keychain is not unlocked for whatever reason) there should be a big dialog stating this. Otherwise people can lose funds (as in, you have some Filecoin in your wallet, but can't get to the wallet for whatever reason)

[bajtos]

A fix that should be quick to implement:

• Station Core returns a well-defined exit code when it cannot decrypt the identity file
• Station Desktop detects this exit code and deletes the identity file
• At the next launch, Station Core generates a new identity and encrypts it using the new passphrase

This fix will rotate the station ID, which is not ideal. However, I expect our users to change their wallet addresses very infrequently, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

An argument can be made that when you change your wallet address, then we should treat your Station instance as a new one, in which case rotating the Station ID is actually the right thing to do.

[juliangruber]

https://github.com/filecoin-station/core/pull/563