Problems with Punkbuster? Solutions here.

[HMARS]

I opened an evenbalance ticket about this a while ago, and had one abandoned and another where they told me a solution we be deployed "as soon as it was available." It seems like this is a common issue, so why isn't evenbalance doing anything about it?

[Adetter]

How can i update Punkbuster manually?

[SnipingCoward]

News on the "Pnkbstrb.exe Hearbeats stopped" front.
I was cursed with this issue and might have found a possible cause and solution (this is probably a very rare cause for PB-B kicks and will only apply to very few people with the exact same "JRAID" issue).

I had a recent issue with Windows 7's event viewer reporting a "JRAID" error. This Error would freeze up the PC for a few seconds and in addtion (as stated by the error text) reset busses. This might cause PB-B to lose connection or otherwise stop functioning properly.

How I fix the JRAID error can be found here: https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f358-s ... topped.htm

In addition as a suggestion for finding a cause use "Event Viewer" and/or "Reliability Monitor" to see if windows reports errors/events that might explain the PB issue.

[bobogaz]

I got the server communication failure pnkbstrA. what should i do?

[Silenttriger]

PnkbusterB.exe heartbeats stopped...
It comes up everytime I play. Any solution allready?
Really want to play it, but the punkbuster causes imense lag and it gets worse after some time untill eventually i get kicked.
Help woud be appreciated.
Grtz

[slothrop]

Silenttrigger, I don't think the PB issue is causing lag. Either it works and you're on the server, or it doesn't and you're off.

My present solution is:
- switch off the router firewall
- switched anti-virus software to "silent mode" or better yet, disable shields completely.
- launch game
- go to desktop, launch services
- select PR server and load map
- switch to services when the loading progress bar reaches 63%
- check PB B recovery settings ( must be set to Restart Service)
- switch back to game and you should be able to play
- check recovery settings every time you load a map

Frankly, it's a pain in the *rse and I have all but given up on playing PR now
.87 was simply fantastic, but since then it's all just been one big battle with PB. The trend towards larger and more technically demanding maps also seems to be exacerbating things...

Kudos to the devs for creating an awesome mod, and adios!

[B2k43]

Keep getting kicked for wrong MD5 toolkit (said something to do with renderDX9.dll) but this is the first time it's done this since I've installed 0.95. I know y'all are going to tell me to post this in the "Problems with MD5 toolkit" thread but all their solutions are for ver. 0.874.

[NemeanHavoc]

I replaced my damn shader files 10 times!!!! It is still kicking me!

[cid228]

Oh yay .."MD5Tool Mismatch: RendDX9x2.dll (len=204 " is back !

Getting it on some servers, not all.
Tried replacing with an old hotfix RendDX9.dll that used to work, but same problem still popping up.
Any solutions ?

[Silenttriger]

Finally solved pnkbstrB.exe heartbeats stopped error !!!
I used a combination of 2 things for my last attempt to fix it: this one is the first

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 second: turn textures and lightning ingame to medium.
After that, I had no problems and everything ran smooth
Finally I'm able to enjoy the gameplay ^^
Cheers

[Col.Sanders34]

Finally solved pnkbstrB.exe heartbeats stopped error !!!
I used a combination of 2 things for my last attempt to fix it: this one is the first

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 second: turn textures and lightning ingame to medium.
After that, I had no problems and everything ran smooth
Finally I'm able to enjoy the gameplay ^^
Cheers

Didnt work for me, i still get the stuttering then pauses then PB kick for heartbeats after playing for a bit. I didnt however turn my graphics down because i shouldn't have to with a 3ghz quad, 2 4850s and 4 gbs of ram.

I knew i should have left pb alone when i was uninstalling pr to install .95

[Silenttriger]

Didnt work for me, i still get the stuttering then pauses then PB kick for heartbeats after playing for a bit. I didnt however turn my graphics down because i shouldn't have to with a 3ghz quad, 2 4850s and 4 gbs of ram.

I knew i should have left pb alone when i was uninstalling pr to install .95

Sorry to hear that... I mean I tried everything, buth with these 2 steps it finally worked for me. I almost gave up hope as well...

[usbigoil]

Sorry to hear that... I mean I tried everything, buth with these 2 steps it finally worked for me. I almost gave up hope as well...

I have tried evrything that i can find on these forums to make PR 057 work for more than a few minutes before getting kicked by PB B. From setting the recovery in services to putting a eagle feather on the monitor nothing works. As a clan leader trying out the mod for the first time to see if the members might be interested in playing it, IT doesn't look good. In contrast AIX2, N@W, FH2, POE2 all worked flawlessly for all members with systems ranging from WIN XP to Win7 with 16 gb ram. Punkbuster likes them, Why does it not like PR? I tried it with 3.5 .net and even .net 4 . Results were the same each time. And it seems that many players have this problem and really has not been addressed. If anything it should work out of the box with WINXP. Instead you have to jump through hoops. As it is we still rely on BF2 and have a great time. Hopefully they can get this fixed, As I like the concept of PR as we support Team work at all times, But it has to work for everyone or they won't try it. Many of them have a hard time finding the power button much less the services of their computer.


EDIT! I have AVG antivirus 2011.. It has given no problems with BF2 and the other mods, it also has a checkbox to allow full screen games mode. It also allows you to temporarily disable it to test for problems. With it disabled I was able to play with no kicks. I will continue testing to see if that was a glitch or a solution.

[Col.Sanders34]

I have tried evrything that i can find on these forums to make PR 057 work for more than a few minutes before getting kicked by PB B. From setting the recovery in services to putting a eagle feather on the monitor nothing works. As a clan leader trying out the mod for the first time to see if the members might be interested in playing it, IT doesn't look good. In contrast AIX2, N@W, FH2, POE2 all worked flawlessly for all members with systems ranging from WIN XP to Win7 with 16 gb ram. Punkbuster likes them, Why does it not like PR? I tried it with 3.5 .net and even .net 4 . Results were the same each time. And it seems that many players have this problem and really has not been addressed. If anything it should work out of the box with WINXP. Instead you have to jump through hoops. As it is we still rely on BF2 and have a great time. Hopefully they can get this fixed, As I like the concept of PR as we support Team work at all times, But it has to work for everyone or they won't try it. Many of them have a hard time finding the power button much less the services of their computer.


EDIT! I have AVG antivirus 2011.. It has given no problems with BF2 and the other mods, it also has a checkbox to allow full screen games mode. It also allows you to temporarily disable it to test for problems. With it disabled I was able to play with no kicks. I will continue testing to see if that was a glitch or a solution.

Ya know i also had/have AVG. I didnt bother to check it since PB had been working with no issues prior to my install of .95....

Now if only i could get bf2 to install at all on my new hdd id test that out. (if its not one thing broke with bf2 its the next, sheesh)

[Mad-Mike]

new one to me? keep getting every half hour or so

[slothrop]

After beating my head against the wall for months I may have finally found a solution for my Punkbuster B issue. Just to recap: I was being kicked from servers between map loads, randomly during gameplay and when first joining the server ( i.e. verifying client data failed). The problem seemed to be with the recovery settings for Punkbuster B, which constantly reverted to Take No Action for no apparent reason. The result was that when an error occurred, PB B would fail to restart and I would be automatically ( and justifiably so) kicked from the server.

I had another mammoth Solve the Problem Session on the weekend and made a number of changes to my game configuration which appear to have solved the problem. I'm now gradually rolling back those changes so that I can identify exactly which one has made a difference.

Disable UAC and restart computer
Services > Windows Management Instrumentation > Right click > Properties > Start-up type > Disable
PR Options > Audio > Disable EAX
PR Options > Audio > Disable VOIP (reactivate once in game)
PR Options > Audio > Sound quality medium
PR Options > Video > 1024x 768 @ 60 MHz
Windows Task Manager > Services > Punkbuster B > Right click > Properties > Log on > Set to Log on with this account (enter details for your Admin account)
Repeat this step for Punkbuster A
Disable Anti-virus Shields
Disable router firewall
Right click on the Project Reality 0957 shortcut on your desktop, click advanced, set PR to run as administrator

Play
It seems like a lot of fiddling about, but the thing is, it works.
I have already enabled Windows Management Instrumentation again (implicated in other server connection issues), so that doesn't seem to be the problem. I suspect the real issue lies in not running PB B as an Admin. According to the Microsoft management console "To perform this [editing the recovery settings for a service) procedure, you must be a member of the Account Operators group, the Domain Admins group, the Enterprise Admins group, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority."
I suspect that means any changes you make will be discarded unless you set it to run as an Admin service - hence the issue of PB B "reverting" to its Take No Action status.

Perhaps someone with more IT know-how could comment on this?

[slothrop]

Well stop the press 'cos that darn bug is back again!

[Sonofdeath221]

This is solution!

1) Click Start button > Run.
2) At the prompt type: REGEDIT. The registry editor will open.
3) Click the "+" next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
4) Click the "+" next to SOFTWARE.
5) Click on Even Balance.
6) With Even Balance selected, click on Edit > Permissions...
7) Make sure the 'Allow' checkbox is checked for both 'Full Control' and 'Read'. Also make sure that the Deny checkboxes ARE NOT checked. Does this for all Groups and User Names.
Click OK

I done this along with a lot of other solutions out here... I do believe this might help with punkbusterb.exe from going haywired and going back to nothing in services. Hope this helps.

I'll get back if this help me at all.

[Silenttriger]

Ya know i also had/have AVG. I didnt bother to check it since PB had been working with no issues prior to my install of .95....

Now if only i could get bf2 to install at all on my new hdd id test that out. (if its not one thing broke with bf2 its the next, sheesh)

You should turn the textures and lightning effects to medium...
If you don't, it doesn't work. At least for me...
If I turn both to high, I get the heartbeats stopped problem all over again
Follow my instruction step by step and it should work.
Grtz

[frothyhole]

Greetings PR Forums,

I got BF2 and PR a few days ago and ran into the punkbusterb heartbeat error 10-20 seconds after joining all servers. This would alternate from heartbeat to punkbusterb handshake fail and then the error thats associated with Steam. After trying my own solutions I found this helpful thread and went through the steps listed and advice from the replies posted here, making sure there was no hidden files that werent deleted in regedit, no firewall set etc. This resolved the error caused from Steam and I was able to connect and NOT get booted from PB on a few select servers ( 2 popular UK based servers and 1 COOP US based server that ARE running PB but not sure where to check what version it was). I thought this might be a fluke but I have been able to consistently log onto these select servers without issue but I still recieve the same error of either punkbusterb heartbeat or handshake from all other servers. I have read numerous posts on PR forums and others and havent come across the same scenario I am in, apologies if I missed the solution on another post.