Route Map

Troubleshooting

Windows: Defender removes or blocks the download

The Windows build is not code-signed yet, so Microsoft Defender and SmartScreen have no reputation for it. 0.1.0-beta.3, a single self-extracting exe, was quarantined as a false positive; since 0.1.0-beta.4 the Windows download is a zip of a normal program folder, with version information and a manifest, and every build is scanned with Defender before release.

If Defender still removes it:

  1. Check the file is ours: compare Get-FileHash <file> in PowerShell with the release's GPG-signed SHA256SUMS (see the user guide).
  2. Open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Protection history, find the entry, and note the detection name.
  3. Please report it, with the detection name and the version, at GitHub Issues or [email protected]. We submit false positives to Microsoft.
  4. To keep the file meanwhile, choose Actions > Restore on that entry (only after step 1).

Windows: "Windows protected your PC"

That is SmartScreen, shown for programs without download reputation. Choose More info, then Run anyway. It goes away once the build is signed through SignPath Foundation.

macOS: "Route Map cannot be opened" or "Apple could not verify"

The app is not notarised. Right-click Route Map in Applications, choose Open, then Open again. On macOS 15 and later: try to open it once, then System Settings > Privacy & Security, and Open Anyway next to the message about Route Map. Or in Terminal:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Route Map.app"

No trace tool found

The status bar says which tool is missing and how to install it.

  • Linux: sudo apt install traceroute (Debian, Ubuntu), sudo dnf install traceroute (Fedora), sudo pacman -S traceroute (Arch). mtr is optional and adds per-hop loss (sudo apt install mtr-tiny).
  • macOS: traceroute ships in /usr/sbin; check that it is on your PATH.
  • Windows: tracert.exe ships in C:\Windows\System32; check that folder is on PATH.

You can still map traces without a local tool: File > Paste Trace, or a RIPE Atlas probe (Settings > RIPE Atlas).

The origin is in the wrong place (VPN, proxy, exit node)

Without a set origin, Route Map looks up your public IP address to find your city. Behind a VPN, a corporate proxy or a Tor exit, that is the exit's location, not yours, and every physics check is then measured from the wrong place. Set your real origin in Settings > Origin (a city, coordinates, or a point on the map). Note that the trace itself also leaves through the VPN, so the first hops after your router are the VPN's.

Most hops say "not placed"

Hops that do not answer (*) cannot be placed, and many backbone routers answer slowly or not at all. A trace that stops answering near the end usually means the destination or its firewall drops the probes; the Notes column says when the destination does not answer ICMP. Try mtr (Settings > Trace), or switch the IP database fallback back on if you turned it off.

The trace takes a long time

Unanswered hops each wait for a timeout. Settings > Trace > Give up after caps one trace; the default flags already use short waits.