Punkbuster Error: MD5Tool Mismatch Troubleshooting

[kilroy0097]

If this happens all the time then attempt to reinstall PR core files.
If it continues to happen then uninstall PR and reinstall from scratch.
Also defragment your hard drive.

Come back if it continues after that or if you have already done these things.
If you do, give us your path to the PR directory. Is it located on the C drive or some other drive? How old is your hard drive and have you been having sector issues recently? Computer Specs in general.

[aperson444]

My hard drive is last years. Pretty recent. No sector issues, just this. It's in the C drive. My computer is capable of running this. My pr.exe is in the actual BF2 folder, because of another problem, but my actual pr_mp folder is in the mods folder. Exact directory:
pr.exe: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2
pr folder: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr

How do I identify core files? (sorry, I'm new to this mod)

[ChIpMuNk_D38]

Are you gettings a shaders_client.zip mismatch error?
There is an easy duct tape fix for this. It may or may not work for you. To do this fix do the following:

1. Delete the cache data folder for PR. You can find this folder usually by going to
C:\Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\cache\
and deleting whatever folder is there. This will force re-optimization for the game when you load into a map again.

2. Make a backup of the following file by renaming the file adding .bak to the end of it.
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\shaders_client.zip

3. Then COPY C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr\shaders_client.zip to the previous folder in Step 2.

4. Restart Game and the problem may be solved.

I was getting this problem for a while. I followed your instructions, Kilroy, and it worked. All's fine except one small problem. I can't play on any normal BF2 servers... Have any remedies?

[kilroy0097]

I was getting this problem for a while. I followed your instructions, Kilroy, and it worked. All's fine except one small problem. I can't play on any normal BF2 servers... Have any remedies?

Ewww. I wish there was an easy fix for that. Unfortunately that may be related to replacing the shaders_client.zip file with the one from PR. Hence why I requested you do that rename backup .bak file. You will now have to rename that current PR one to something else, shaders_client.zip.pr or something like that. And rename the .bak file back to the original name.

This might be why BF2 Vanilla is not working properly. Thought I'm not sure. May need more information from you before you do the above.

At what point is BF2 Vanilla not working? Do you join a map on a server and it kicks you out once you are in for a while? Does it not let you on the map at all? Is it crashing the game?

[kilroy0097]

My hard drive is last years. Pretty recent. No sector issues, just this. It's in the C drive. My computer is capable of running this. My pr.exe is in the actual BF2 folder, because of another problem, but my actual pr_mp folder is in the mods folder. Exact directory:
pr.exe: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2
pr folder: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr

How do I identify core files? (sorry, I'm new to this mod)

The Core Files Installation is the one called "pr_0756_core_setup.exe"
When you first installed the PR mod remember there were two files to install. The Core files and the Map files. So that is the one I would want you to try and reinstall. The Levels installation only installs all the folders for all the maps with the Mod. I don't believe it installs any other files though I'm not completely certain.

Also is the pr.exe file in both locations? That may be the issue. Make sure the pr.exe file you get from the Core Files reinstallation is copied into both the \Battlefield 2\mods\pr\ folder and the \Battlefield 2\ folder.

[ChIpMuNk_D38]

Ewww. I wish there was an easy fix for that. Unfortunately that may be related to replacing the shaders_client.zip file with the one from PR. Hence why I requested you do that rename backup .bak file. You will now have to rename that current PR one to something else, shaders_client.zip.pr or something like that. And rename the .bak file back to the original name.

This might be why BF2 Vanilla is not working properly. Thought I'm not sure. May need more information from you before you do the above.

At what point is BF2 Vanilla not working? Do you join a map on a server and it kicks you out once you are in for a while? Does it not let you on the map at all? Is it crashing the game?

I've already done the deducing before I posted my problem and found that the shaders were the problem. It's after I load the map and attempt to join the game when it kicks me to the main menu and tells me that the server doesn't allow modified content.

Will the Shader Client still work after placing the .pr behind it or will it be seen as modified content again?

[aperson444]

So pr.exe must be in both folders. If so, that's the problem then.

[kilroy0097]

I've already done the deducing before I posted my problem and found that the shaders were the problem. It's after I load the map and attempt to join the game when it kicks me to the main menu and tells me that the server doesn't allow modified content.

Will the Shader Client still work after placing the .pr behind it or will it be seen as modified content again?

The shaders_client.zip file will not work with the .pr behind it. That's just to tell you that file is the PR version of the shaders_client.zip and not the BF2 Vanilla version of it. You will have to change it by hand back if you want to play PR again. Obviously you would rename the BF2 version of the file to something else first such as shaders_client.zip.bf2 for your own reference.

You also might need to erase the cache folder within My Documents before loading up either one for the first time. Your particular problem is a big hassle for you. I can't think of any other way of doing it.

[Deadfast]

So pr.exe must be in both folders. If so, that's the problem then.

No, there's no reason why it should be...

[kilroy0097]

No, there's no reason why it should be...

It's the only thing I could come up with as a possible reason. Nothing should be like this. PR should work flawlessly. Obviously it doesn't for everyone. There is no reason the pr.exe file should have to be copied into the main Battlefield 2 folder and yet it for some reason fixes the problem for some people. You try anything with this game, even the ridiculous, to get things to work. If waving a rubber chicken over my computer would help I would.

[Deadfast]

As long as the Start in line in the shortcut is set up correctly then everything should be alright.

If not, then I think a lack of system rights might be the problem.

[Deer]

OMG im dying when even thinking about reading so much text... is there a shortcut to see how to fix this MD5 tool mismatch ?

Can someone make post where is only explained how to fix it, instead of all sort of other things and the answer hidden somewhere in middle of massive amount of text.

[kilroy0097]

OMG im dying when even thinking about reading so much text... is there a shortcut to see how to fix this MD5 tool mismatch ?

Can someone make post where is only explained how to fix it, instead of all sort of other things and the answer hidden somewhere in middle of massive amount of text.

In the very first post I updated it a while back with a link to the solution to all the problems I had. From that fix post and after that to the present more solutions are talked about. Only a few pages compared to the bulk of this. So please check the very first post in this thread.

[Deer]

Exactly, that link has like 1000000 problems and you need to find the 1 correct one in middle of all that text.... Could you just simply write how to fix md5tool mismatch issue without adding ANYTHING else but the instruction how to do it. After all thats the topic of this thread...

[bosco_]

Ehh there can be many different reasons for getting md5 mismatch errors, giving the exact kick message would be a start.

[arn354]

https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-pr ... post669841

That link is on the top of the first post - it leads directly to kilroys post in here describing very well how you can try to nail down your specific MD5-Mismatch problem.
There is not really a shorter description if you try to cover most common causes of MD5-Mismatches and steps to get rid of them.

Like Bosco said - MD5-Mismatches can have several causes and appear suddenly.

Perhaps Kilroy just should copy that specific post into a new one linking to this old one on the end, a mod stickies the new one and drops the sticky-thingy from the huge old one.

[kilroy0097]

Why do I have the distinct impression that I'm getting bitched at for this thread being too long after doing a bit of the hard work of figuring out how to fix issues?

It's not like this is a fracking Wiki. We help people on a case by case basis. By doing so the thread is very long. I'm sorry if I don't feel like searching through the entire thread and pulling out all the solutions and putting them into a guide book just so one person who doesn't feel like reading through a thread can get their answer given to them on a silver platter.

This is me really irritated.

We can do what arn354 suggested and put that one post into another thread if it will make it easier to find but some of the problems solved are spread throughout this thread and I really don't feel like weeding them out right now.

[meeeeee8880]

I have read this entire post on the Md5 Tool Mismatch, yet all it seems to refer to is the problem about shaders. The file that comes up when I get kicked for a MD5Tool Mismatch is std_archive_mod.md5 under mods/bf2. I have reinstalled BF2, PR, and manually uninstalled and installed PB, and now the file it shows is mods/bf2/Levels/Sharqi_Peninsula/archive.md5 (len=530). Any advice?

[Salmik]

Thank you Kilroy for putting effort to help others solve this problem! Took nearly 3 hours for me to do all this but it was worth it: PR works like before, although I get the occasional MD5tool error but that can be fixed by pbsvc.exe, unlike the pnkbstrB.exe handshake failure I was experiencing before this operation. THANK YOU

[Salmik]

Oh noes it was only temporary and the handshaking failure is back . Could changing to another anti-virus program help?