Problems with Punkbuster? Solutions here.

[wolftracker]

This is a useful and neccessary procedure for PB Heartbeat Stopped kicks:
Be certain and thorough in that you have performed the basics by deleting previous instances of PB from your OS - UnInstall Punkbuster from your PC, Re-Boot system, THEN go to: C:\Program Files\EA Games\BF2 folder\pb (delete entire pb folder), THEN from "Start" or "Run", open (type in) >> "regedit" and go to: HKEY_Local_Machine/System/ControlSet001/Services, ControlSet003/Services, and CurrentControlSet/Services/delete any instances of PB A or B, THEN head over to: C:\Windows\System 32\"scroll down til you find any Pnkbstr A or B and remove, and finally check "My Documents" Bf2 folder there to verify that pnkbstr K is removed.

Now reinstall PunkBuster (pbsvc.exe AND pbsetup.exe)

Next, if you start the game and get a PnkBstr B "heartbeat stopped" kick:

1) Open Task Manager
2) (Game not on) Select "Services" tab, and verify that Punkbuster A is "Running" - give it a quik re-start to make sure.
(Game is on - alt tabbed out) Check "Services" Tab to verify both "pb A and B" are running. (This is the best method while game is started but b4 the kick happens, so you need to have Task Manager already open so you can access it fast, prior to game play.
3) Now select "Processes" tab - For both PB A and B, right click each, and select "Set Priority" - set THAT to "RealTime". pb B will always attempt to default back to "Normal" on priority, but as long as you check this each time you first begin a game session, you should be good to go for the entire time you are logged into the game. NOTE: Normally I would perform this adustment to PB after the map is loaded, but B4 I hit "Join".

Whenever I get "Heartbeats Stopped" kick from PB, I immediately go thru this check, adjust it as needed, and have no further issues for my sessions.

Hope this is of use
Wolf

[[TBC] Gryff]

did it link you here?
Problem With Punkbuster (restriction: Service Abnormality) - PunksBusted.com Sponsored by Ventrilo

do you have a firewall/anti virus software (any other service tool that thinks it needs to block punkbuster?
retry to manually update PB

I have disabled, canceled, etc, my antivirus in order to try and make Punkbuster not kick me. I have downloaded and installed pbsetup.exe and pbsvc.exe and updated manually numerous times. I tried the trick with the cd key and that didn't work. I have checked my processes and pnkbsA and B are running while PR is open. If it appears on this site and is referenced to Punkbuster: Service Abnormality I have tried it. I am at my whits end.

[SnipingCoward]

Gryff;1280371']I am at my whits end.

you should check your traffic and packages if they are getting lost - i recommend WireShark or that purpose

please open another specific thread (I think this thread is for solutions only, not diagnostics)

[BEARCAT33]

fuzzhead, none of this worked at all. It is getting frustrating after no less than a total of 8 hours just trying to play.Why can't all this stuff be automatic.So many hoops to jump through.please someone take the time to do the work correctly on this stuff.I am not real happy with it at all.???????what now???????????

Bearcat33

[BEARCAT33]

it appears for now turning down the lighting and textures has helped to fix the pkb b heartbeat etc... problem. I will folow up on sunday.

Bearcat33

[peshmerga19]

fuzzhead, none of this worked at all. It is getting frustrating after no less than a total of 8 hours just trying to play.Why can't all this stuff be automatic.So many hoops to jump through.please someone take the time to do the work correctly on this stuff.I am not real happy with it at all.???????what now???????????

Bearcat33

ok i think i got the problem, i too tryed sooooo many things to do something about this punkbuster, i almost gave up until i toke the chance to try out last time

as follows,

start the pbsvc, and Remove punkbuster, and go to the map of battlefield (c:/programm/EA/
and remove the punkbuster map.

after this, DONT REINSTALL PUNKBUSTER WITH PBSVC

close pbsvc, restart pc, and then go to punbuster update (PBsetup),
now if you start pbsetup, you will see it did not find the client, and server of it,
but it does not matter, just click on update,

and it will automaticly REINTALL punkbuster and update it,

and this you will have not problems left

i hope this will also work for you and all others who got same problem

[maarit]

i had those heartbeat problems with punkbuster and i allowed everything in my windows firewall but it didnt helped.

then i opened manually this ports in windows firewall.

Battlefield 2 TCP UDP port setttings and minimum requirements

works fine now

[HunterMed]

HunterMed list your computer specs, operating system, what anti virus you have installed plz.

Intel Dual Core E6400 @2.13Ghz
2 GB Ram
nvidia 7900 GT
Windows XP
AntiVir (Avira)
Spybot-SD

[HMARS]

Still no luck. I've tried each and every solution detailed in this thread, without any success; even turning off firewalls and opening ports doesn't help.
I have
Celeron D 3.46 Ghz
2 GB RAM
GeForce GT 220 1 GB
Windows 7
AVG Free Edition

[LostWraith]

I have been unable to reinstall punkbuster because for some reason pbsvc.exe has an ERROR extractor has failed an authenticity check
Any fixes for this? I can't play this game or any other game using pb without pb....I run Windows 7 64bith btw.

Thanks!

[SnipingCoward]

I have been unable to reinstall punkbuster because for some reason pbsvc.exe has an ERROR extractor has failed an authenticity check
Any fixes for this? I can't play this game or any other game using pb without pb....I run Windows 7 64bith btw.

Thanks!

I am afraid we will need the complete quote of the error message. (Try googling it, maybe something usable comes up.)
Have you set your personal firewall to allow PB?
Maybe the pb installer is corrupted, redownload it?

[LostWraith]

I am afraid we will need the complete quote of the error message. (Try googling it, maybe something usable comes up.)
Have you set your personal firewall to allow PB?
Maybe the pb installer is corrupted, redownload it?

Here's the quote
Checking user is Administrator OK
Checking Administrator privileges OK
Opening Service Control Manager OK
Searching for PnkBstrA None Found - OK
Extracting PnkBstrA service OK
Verifying service authenticity ERROR

ERROR: The extractor file has failed an authenticity check

I have tried multiple downloads of pbsvc.exe. I even tried the one on the disk from CoD:WaW and that has the same issue. I googled it a lot and spent like six hours on it last night (I haven't played PR in a while and I really wanted to play...). I'm usually good at fixing little problems but this one is beyond me. I don't have a firewall and disabling the windows default one didn't help at all.

Problem: I bought a new game today too. Dawn of War 2, and it couldn't install properly either. Fails the first step with a generic installation failed message. I wonder if something is completely wrong with my computer.

Help please. This is scaring me. Thanks in advance.

[HMARS]

My log file is full of the typical
[01.24.2010 22:42:16] PnkBstrB v2.212 (BF2) Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit PunkBuster Online Countermeasures for more information.

But then it also includes
[01.24.2010 23:54:51] WARNING: CRITICAL ERROR: Failed to Register Service (ffa9)
[01.24.2010 23:54:52] WARNING: CRITICAL ERROR: Failed to Register Service (ffa9)
The heck?

[BEARCAT33]

Gentleman, here is what fixed my probs with heartbeat etc... went to video settings in game. set textures to medium and lighting to medium,and "HOLY S_IT" ite really works now. WOW. very little noticable difference visually or in game play.Worked for me.

Thanks for letting me rant
BEARCAT33

[xAllen23x]

Well i get kicked after 10 min in every game. It gives me a dbghelp.dll error and kicks me for 2 min. I tried to replace this dbg file with a different version but windows wont let me edit/delete/or move the file even though i am the administrator on my pc. I am not able to play pr now due to this problem. I did everything this thread said and it still doesn't work. I even re-installed PR. Any ideas? thanks

[Bazul14]

Ok, for some stupid reason I got to reinstall my whole PC. I run Vista, and until 3 days ago I ran BF2 and PR 0.91 perfectly online. After I reinstalled my system, I reinstalled bf2 and pr, upgraded PB, and nothing. I get " The connection to the server has been lost" after i try to connect to any server. Sometimes, i connect to a server, but it will kick me after 2 min for "losing key packets". I have not changed anything hardware in the last 6 months(router/modem/pc).

[Bazul14]

oh, and before i reinstalled, i had the same OS(Vista).

[Bazul14]

I found the problem, it was my stupid router, i bought a new one and everything works like it used to. I guess I will have a new target for my mauser 98

[sottocutaneo]

hi all,
unfortunately I have a problem with punkbuster:
"Pnkbstrb.exe heartbeats stopped"

I already read all the previous pages and I already tried all possible solutions with negative results.

So excluding previous solutions, what remains to be done to solve this problem?

Thanks to all

[slothrop]

I have been having issues with PB B .exe since the introduction of version 9 of PR.
Punkbuster B is failing to initiate and I cannot join servers. The maps load (albeit slowly), client data verified and then the connection is lost. Setting Punkbuster B to start automatically and restart when a failure occurs has helped occasionally, but it seems to revert to its original state every few maps. I can't be bothered reinstalling Punkbuster and manually starting it every time I want to play, does anyone know of a possible solution? :
I have run PR on my Vista OS for three years without any issues - so this seems to be linked to PR 909. I've played PR since version 3 or so, but I'll be moving on if I can't find a fix for this in the next few weeks.

System info:



# RAM DDR3 (MB): 4096
# Processor: Core 2 Duo P8400
# Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
# Video memory (MB): 512