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Error loading table ‘GeoIP Database Paths’: geoip_db_paths:5: unexpected char while looking for end of line

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Suddenly today I open wireshark and get this error.. Can i fix this. I dont need GeoIP datbase for my testing ..It is preventing the full loading of the pcap file.

Error loading table 'GeoIP Database Paths': geoip_db_paths:5: unexpected char while looking for end of line

Please help

asked 07 Oct '13, 09:36

gederian's gravatar image

gederian
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One Answer:

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You can simply rename or delete your geoip_db_paths file, but please share the contents of the file first if you plan on deleting it. It would be interesting to know what unexpected char was found that caused the problem.

The location of the geoip_db_paths file differs, depending on your platform, but the Wireshark man page describes its location under the FILES section, but for the sake of convenience:

The global preferences file is looked for in the wireshark directory under the share subdirectory of the main installation directory (for example, /usr/local/share/wireshark/preferences) on UNIX-compatible systems, and in the main installation directory (for example, C:\Program Files\Wireshark\preferences) on Windows systems.

The personal preferences file is looked for in $HOME/.wireshark/preferences on UNIX-compatible systems and %APPDATA%\Wireshark\preferences (or, if %APPDATA% isn't defined, %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Wireshark\preferences) on Windows systems.

answered 07 Oct ‘13, 10:37

cmaynard's gravatar image

cmaynard ♦♦
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accept rate: 20%

The location of Wireshark dirs is also shown on the Folders tab of the “About Wireshark” dialog, and, on Windows at least, each location is a link that will open up Windows Explorer at the directory if double clicked.

(08 Oct ‘13, 00:50) grahamb ♦

Yes, I should probably have mentioned that too, but I wasn’t entirely sure what, “It is preventing the full loading of the pcap file.” meant, and in case it meant that it was causing Wireshark to crash, I wanted to provide a way to find the location of the file without having to actually launch Wireshark itself.

BTW, the user guide also mentions that the “About Wireshark” dialog indicates the used folders; however, it’s probably not all that obvious:

About Wireshark

This menu item brings up an information window that provides various detailed information items on Wireshark, such as how it's build, the plugins loaded, the used folders, …
(08 Oct ‘13, 08:08) cmaynard ♦♦