help needed with punkbuster

[HicRic]

I did a total fresh install of BF2, SF, and patch 1.12 a couple of weeks ago, after having removed all traces from my system. PB kept giving 'modified content' errors on vanilla BF2 servers but not SF. This fresh install solved the problem. Fine.


But today, I couldn't connect to the account server. It just sat there for aaaages. So I killed it, restarted the comp. Same thing. For some reason, I tried it again after my friend did (he's on the same router as me, but we've had no problems with playing online BF2 before) and it logged in fine.

Everything dandy? No. I started lagging badly (when he wasn't) and then BLAM. Kicked for a general PB error. Said something about a failed update, and to try the manual one.

I downloaded pbsetup.exe from the pb website, ran it, and hurrah! It found an update for BF2 PB. Installed. Yay.

I then went and played for about 20 minutes on the well-known-for-being-great <<R2>> server, before I got a PB kick again. I've checked the manual update, no updates found.

What do I do? Please tell me not another reinstall of this game. It'd be the THIRD TIME. I'm sick of doing it. It takes bloody ages to do the two patches (the 1.1 SF installs and 1.12 after). I'm talking 40 minutes each.

Any ideas/fixes? I've never touched, tweaked or altered the game files at all since the install. I've played many sucessful games too. Only today it breaks...

[Talus]

Re: help needed with punkbuster

..and have you always been playing BF2 with 2 PCs behind the same router? or is that a recent development?

Do you have a software firewall running?

You COULD try the old PB update method using the attached file:

http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1046&d=1137505041

[HicRic]

Re: help needed with punkbuster

Been doing it since the new year without any problems. I'm wondering if this recent punkbuster update messed up when it tried to update both of us at the same time when we're both playing or something...the only software firewall I have running is the win XP one. Haven't had any PB issues before though, and I've been playing since september online.

I'll give that attached file a go, thanks.

[Talus]

Re: help needed with punkbuster

Well, PunkBuster certainly isn't well known for doing ANYTHING right..it doesn't detect new cheats, it affects performance negatively, it doesn't update itself most of the time, and when it DOES get screwed up it can cause MAJOR freezeups and screwups.

Don't get me wrong..I'm GLAD anti-cheat measures are in place..but I can't WAIT for a newer, better system to come along and beat out PunkBuster.

Let me know how you make out.

Oh..and if you want to prove whether or not it is punkbuster, simply have both PCs play on a non-pb server and see what happens.