Support-PunkBuster

PunkBuster is a mystery to many people and theoretically should not bother the normal everyday player.

Unfortunately, it's not a perfect world and neither is Punkbuster!

Usually, this message means your PB is not working properly.

You should run our PBWEB (PBWEB Downloadable from http://www.evenbalance.com) program to make sure your PB is up to date.

However, we have recently discovered that some broadband routers routinely drop OOB (Out of Band) packets for no apparent reason.

Since all PB packets are OOB, these routers can actually block PB's communication (again for no apparent reason).

To determine if the router is the cause of this problem for you, remove the router and connect directly to the internet. If you are able to play this way, then the cause is very likely the router.

Based on user feedback, the following router brands/models are reported to have problems.

Not necessarily all models of a brand might be affected, and the list is in no way complete but it can give you a few hints.

Also, we do not claim that our list below shows the only solution to fix your issue, nor that it will fix it for sure even though it has worked for others.

It could very well be that changing some settings in your router could help as well. Contacting the company directly might help you as well.

Linksys - possible solution: Use firmware 1.44.2

Motorola - possible solution: Update to latest firmware

Netgear - possible solution: Disable SPI (statefull packet inspection )

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

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Some people have mentioned a problem with the server and the PB INIT FAILURE kick. To solve this issue bring down the console and type :

pb_security 0

Then press enter and you wont be kicked anymore.

Some PB Server admins are not able or willing to fix their firewall so that their PunkBuster server can keep itself always auto-updated to the latest version.

Therefore, when a new PB update comes out, their server(s) will continue running the old version until updated manually.

When players join a PB Server that is running an old version, that old PB will try to 'downgrade' each player's PB to match the old version running at that server and the "PB Server running Old Version" message is generated every few seconds during this process.

We encourage players to avoid servers like this as PB often does not work efficiently nor catch the latest cheats when old versions are running.

If the attempts to 'downgrade' your PB fail, then you will be kicked. If you trust the server admin, you can enter "/pb_security 0" into your console to allow your PB to be downgraded.

If you know how to get in touch with the admin, please let him/her know of the problems caused by not having a properly functioning / auto-updating PB Server.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

I have a good connection with low ping but my gameplay is not smooth sometimes with 'Connection Interrupted' problems and also messages that say MAX_PACKET_USERCMDS, what can I do to fix this?

Try setting the value of the cl_maxpackets cvar to 100 or 125.

For example, enter this into your console (without the quotes): "/cl_maxpackets 100". If you continue to have problems, try also setting "/com_maxfps 75".

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

These messages are not PB-related issues.

They have to do with your cdkey and id Software's cdkey authorization server.

Some players report that deleting the sof2key file from the various folders where the game is installed will fix the problem after they re-enter their cdkey one more time.

Others say that connecting to servers inside the game instead of using an external game browser such as GameSpy or All-Seeing-Eye will fix the problem.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

A cvar is a game setting.

Cvars can be used to customize the game, but cheaters sometimes abuse cvars to exploit holes or bugs in the game in order to cheat.

Admins of PunkBuster Servers have the ability to add specific recurring checks for players' cvar values during gameplay.

If you have downloaded or written game scripts to automate tasks, then those scripts almost certainly will add and/or change cvars in your system.

You will receive a warning if a cvar on your system is not in the range allowed by the Admin of the Game Server to which you are currently connected - the warning will also include the allowed range of values for the specified cvar.

If you do not heed the warning, then after a few seconds or minutes, the PunkBuster Server will raise a violation and remove you from the Game Server.

To change the current value of any cvar, press the tilde (~) key to bring down the game console, and then type the cvarname followed by a space and the new value, then press the Tab key and then the Enter key.

For example, entering "cg_shadows 0" as a command will set your cg_shadows cvar to the value of 0.

The Game automatically saves most cvar changes so that the next time you play, any changes from a previous session will still be in effect.

You may request a list of all checked cvar rangess from the server using the ?pb_cvarlist? command.

You will see all checked cvars, the allowed ranges and also any of your cvars that are currently set outside the allowed ranges.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

How can I turn off PunkBuster Messages?

By default, PunkBuster outputs to both the top of the playing screen and also to the game console. If you want to prevent PunkBuster from sending output to the playing screen, add [skipnotify] to the beginning of your pb_msgprefix setting (see the Settings section on our online PB for Players manual for more info). Output will only be sent to your game console in this case.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

I keep getting kicked by PunkBuster for "Blocked O/S Privileges"?

Please temporarily disable other security type programs you have running such as anti-virus, process guard, SDProtector, etc. to find out which of them is blocking PB's access to resources on your computer.

You either need to run PB without the blocking program(s) or play on non-PB servers. Also make sure you run the game under an Administrator or equivalent account under Windows.

If you do have access an admin account, you can right click on the application you want to run and select "Run As".

This will allow you to give admin access to that program and should allow you to play with a limited user.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

If you keep getting kicked by PunkBuster for "Insufficient O/S Privilege", download and run this file from any location, it will check for adware that stops you from being able to play on PB servers.

The VX2 adware edits your user rights when it infects your computer, and many programs do not repair this when they remove it.

http://www.greyknight17.com/spy/VX2Finder(126).exe

Click the "Find VX2.betterinternet info" button to make sure that you don't have this adware.

If there are no files listed, go on to the last step.

If you find the adware files, (it is usually 3 random named dll files)

Select all the files found.

Press 'Delete These Files'. The program will delete all files but one that will be deleted on reboot.

Allow program to reboot. Once Restarted:

Press 'Guardian.reg'.
Press 'User Agent'.
Press 'Restore Policy'.
Clicking on "find vx2.BetterInternet info" again should show all fields blank.
If you have no adware files, just click on the "Restore Policy" Button

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

My game crashes with an error in pbcl.dll or a General Protection Fault. Why?

This issue can be from a program that conflicts with PB. There are a few known program that cause this:

• Get Right
• DU Super Controler
• Macro Toolsworks
• Girder 3.2
• PRTG Traffic Grapher
• MS Office: ctfmon.exe (rarely)
• CyberCorder: cybrcrdr.exe
• Paessler Router Traffic Grapher: prtg4.exe
• 3dnasys.exe
• mIRCStats

Closing those programs, or any like them that contain user or kernel level debuggers should stop the problem.
Source:http://www.pbbans.com

I keep getting kicked off of servers and I see messages about INIT FAILURE or technical errors about pbcl.dll or pbag.dll, or messages about DISTRESS or Update timeout ... what is wrong?

These problems are almost always caused when your PunkBuster can't keep itself updated for some reason.

Sometimes they are caused when the server you are trying to play on is running an old version of PunkBuster.

If this problem happens only on one or a few PB Servers, then the cause is likely that those servers are outdated; in that case, you should avoid those servers.

If this happens to you on every PB server you try to play on, then please click here for help on getting your PunkBuster updated.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com

My computer locks up or "chugs" sometimes while I'm playing with PunkBuster Enabled, what can cause this?

PunkBuster "pushes" hardware and the Windows Operating System more than most software and uses functions in the Windows API (low level functions) that aren't used by most other programs.

As such, there are a few cases where using PB can actually expose flaky hardware or other situations that don't cause problems for other software.

Here are a few things that have helped other users make these problems get better or go away completely:

Make sure you are using the latest version of PunkBuster (the latest version is always on our Download page) - also this link may help manually update your PB to the latest version when necessary

From the game's main screen, press the tilde key (the ~ key) to bring down the console and enter the following line (without the quotes): "/pb_system 1".

Never close other programs from your Windows Task Manager before playing the game, either leave them running or close them through the proper interface - killing a process doesn't always work completely even if it stops showing in the Task Manager and renegade threads seem to conflict with PB more than other programs that may be running in memory.

There is a free utility that some players use called EndItAll to close all extra programs before they play to avoid software conflicts, crashes and lockups.

Check the add/remove programs list in your Control Panel and uninstall any programs that you don't use or that you don't know what they are.

One program that seems to conflict with PB more than others is Norton Anti-Virus.

If you have it installed, try uninstalling it to see if the lockups go away. Some players have reported that when this is the culprit, they can reinstall Norton Anti-Virus and the lockups don't come back.

Other background programs that seem to conflict with PB for some users are Sound Blaster Live software and helper programs that come with video cards (especially ATI keyboard shortcut programs).

Some players discovered that they had a computer virus and that the lockups vanished after it was fully removed.

Experiment with the pb_sleep setting ... try setting it to 20, 250, or 500 to see if that affects your game performance. A few players have reported that all the problems go away when they "tweak" this setting.

In extreme cases, a few users have reported that replacing their RAM (memory) or video/sound cards fixed the problem.

Source:http://www.pbbans.com