Problems with Punkbuster? Solutions here.

[frothyhole]

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.

UPDATE: I am now unable to join all servers without getting kicked for heartbeat or handshake failure message so I guess it was a fluke that I got to play on those few servers for a couple of hours but I have no clue what changed that.

[Freighttrain4]

I always get a blank space whenever I type in pb_plist

[Andy_B]

i recently reinstalled windows 7 and for some reason now I keep getting kicked for: MD5tool mismatch: mods\bf2\defaultenvmap.tweak (len237)
I've tried deleting pb and updating it as the forum's say but no luck. reinstalling pr doesn't seem to work. i've turned the UAC off and opened up pb in my firewall with no luck. anyone got any ideas?

[rgoezillae]

i still have that dbghelp.dll problem
so i guess i'll try to reinstall BF2 and PR ..
is there a good way to remove all and reinstall it so i have a chance not to get that dbghelp.dll anymore ? :S

[zloyrash]

PB shows black screenshots. Win7 x64 NVIDIA. I fixed it by switching off the AntiAliasing. But it is not very comfortable to play without AA. Is there a solution(with AntiAliasing) for Win7 x64 NVIDIA?

[LittleHydro]

More then 95% of the time, when I join a server it kicks me out after about 30 seconds of game play. The message I keep receiving is:"Multiple Direct3D loaded." Does anybody know what may be causing this and how to fix it?

Much appreciated.

EDIT: I uninstalled and reinstalled my NVDIA drivers and it seemed to have fixed the problem.

[Adrian313]

I got kicked for some kinda communacation error PnkbstrA.exe

[Adrian313]

any advice for my last post?

[Qwertfyu2]

Ok for communications failure or heartbeat failure with either Punkbuster A or B here is my temporary solution. However I don't remember where I read this and I hope it's not already posted on this forum. I open up Services and run it as an administrator. I find PnkBster A and PnkBuster B. If one of them is not running open up punkbuster services(a program you can download off the internet) and select 'Test Services' and they should both be running after you have completed the test. Back in Services click the action tab and select 'Refresh' and then find PnkBuster A and B and then right click and select 'Properties'(remember you must be an running services as an administrator for this next part). Once you have opened properties select the 'Recovery' tab.Once there you will see three tabs in a row which looks like this:

First Failure: Take No Action
Second Failure: Take No Action
Subsequent Failures: Take No Action

Click the tab that is on 'Take No Action' and change it to: 'Restart the Sevice' and do this for all three failures so that it looks like this:

First Failure: Restart the Sevice
Second Failure: Restart the Sevice
Subsequent Failures: Restart the Sevice

You may have to go change it again after you join a server, mess around with it and it and you will eventually get it. Just remember to use control alt delete and open up the task manager to get back to your desktop instead of exiting the game. This is to ensure that punkbuster a or b is still running and so it won't reset back to the take no action settings. It worked for me but i'm not making any promises. Remember that this is only a TEMPORARY FIX. You also must reset the failures each and every time after you close the game and restart it. I have been searching for a permanent fix to this however this is what I do. I hope it fixes your problem.

Edit: 3/4/11

So since I don't have a thousand dollar computer PR tends to lag when loading the other half of the map while flying. I decided to lower my settings so that there would be no chance of this happening and then me suddenly crashing because I can't control the chopper through the lag spike. When I switched my settings I had the PnkBsterB heartbeats failure and my fix that is ^ there wouldn't fix it. I searched online for another fix and I have found one that I think would override my fix ^ there. I take no credit for either fixes but here is the forum post I found that solved my problem. I have not had to go and change the recovery settings after applying this fix becasue it is almost impossible to go to desktop and go to services as you will see once you try it It worked for me and I was able to play without it crashing to my desktop or going to the main screen.

By: thecamritchie from a BBC2 Forum on ea.com

I don't know if you've fixed it since then, but I only just bought 2142 (I didn't want to pay anything more than $10 for it, so sue me ) and I encountered the "PnkBstrB.exe heartbeats stopped" message on my first game, and every game after it.

I'm running Win7 btw, and from what i've learned, the same problem happens across most PB enabled games.

I was really p'd off about it, and spent ages trawling the internet and trying every single suggested fix about five times over, to no avail. Updating PB manually and with the recommended apps, setting exceptions, restarting PnkBstrB over and over again, etc.

I was about to give up, when I finally found something that actually fixed the problem for me! I can't remember which forum I found it, but big kudos to Anonymous for this fix.

SOLUTION (Win7/vista, I assume)
---------------------------
1) Start the game

2) When you're logged in and ready to play, alt+tab to the desktop and open Task Manager (Alt+Ctrl+Del)

3) Click the 'Processes' tab and find the game's .exe (in my case, bf2142.exe)

4) Right click on it, and find the "Set Priority" option. Hover over it, and click "Below Normal"

5) Close Task Manager, get back into the game

And that's it. Simple!

NOTE: YOU HAVE TO DO THIS EVERY TIME YOU EXIT AND RESTART THE GAME!
-----------------------------

It's because BF games take so much memory/CPU, apparently, that PnkBstrB's... 'heart' can't get enough CPU 'pulse' and kinda 'stops'.

However it worked, it worked for me, hope it works for you too!

Might be worth doing all the other things as well as this fix, i.e. updating PunkBuster via the EvenBalance website.

Edit: 3/12/11

As far as I can tell my solution is the answer for my problem. If you have my problem and use my solution going task manager and to process and setting it to below normal will not work without my solution. You must go to services and edit the punkbuster b settings as shown above. After the map loads and you click on squad assignment hit ctrl+alt+tab and click on the task manager tab/icon and it should go to desktop. If it returns you to the game before going to desktop try to use the ctrl+alt+tab and quickly click the taskmanager tab/ican and it should go to desktop. I have windows 7 so you may not have the problem of going to your desktop if you own a different O/S. If you find another fix for my problem please message me.

[>para<]

can you help me guys please! in every 30-40 minutes i got PB kick for loosing key packets 9014 for 5 min any help?

[Punkbuster]

I wasn't looking for problems... but you guys are trouble makers!!

Anyway, can Punkbuster somehow affect your ping?

[Qwertfyu2]

I wasn't looking for problems... but you guys are trouble makers!!

Anyway, can Punkbuster somehow affect your ping?

It would not suprise me as it is a third party device which could slow down your computer. I do not know for sure it is just my guess.


I believe I may have found my Permanante Fix as follows:


I have had BF2 problems for awhile now and I believe I may have come across a fix for my problem. Firstly however I would like to apologize to sniping coward for taking the time to focus on my problem and doing his best to find a solution to it. I have not checked my mail in months and I would like to apologize to him for never testing his solution.

Just today I was looking to disable the administrator settings on my PR shortcut. Everytime I want to play I have to type in the administrator password and then it will load the game. It was a minor thing that I really didn't care if I could fix it or not but it led me to an even bigger find.

I decided to right click on the Project Reality shorcut and then I clicked on 'Properties.' When I saw that it had a 'Security' tab I realized that this might be my problem with punkbuster. I saw that in the 'Group or user names:' box that 'System,' my account, and administrators were all there. When I clicked on one of them underneath it in the 'Permissions for SYSTEM' menu, everything except for 'Special Permissions' had a checkmark next to it under 'Allow.' I decided then to go to my Punkbuster folder.

In my punkbuster folder there was Punkbuster A and Punkbuster B. I right clicked on Punkbuster A and then clicked on the 'Security' tab. Underneath that just as before for each and every 'Permission' that all but the 'Special Permissions' box had a checkmark under 'Allow.' I then right clicked on Punkbuster B and clicked on the 'Security' tab and saw that under the 'Permission' that all of the checkmark boxes under 'Allow' were blank as well as under 'Deny.' I selected the 'Edit' button and under the the 'Allow' there is a checkbox that is for 'Full Control.' When I clicked that box in all the rest of the checkmark boxes except for 'Special Permissions' was checked in. I continued to do this for all four of the groups in the section that was above this under 'Group or user names.' I pressed 'Apply' and then I then logged into PR and launched myself into a server and lo and behold it worked! I no longer have to go to my desktop and do what I did before to get punkbuster to run! Thank you for reading this long post but in the long run I hope it works for you as it has for me!

Edit: 5/12/11

Alas, my hopes for a brighter gaming future are vanquished once more. I was able to play a few games without any problems however Punbkuster B Heartbeat Error is back to haunt me. I am now going to try sniping coward's solution he sent me via mail. Hope it works!

[killonsight95]

can anyone upload me the dbghelp.dll file from their BF2 folder mine keeps getting me kicked for MD5?

[SnipingCoward]

Firstly however I would like to apologize to sniping coward for taking the time to focus on my problem and doing his best to find a solution to it. I have not checked my mail in months and I would like to apologize to him for never testing his solution.

For reference: the mentioned proposed work around: https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f27-pr ... opped.html

As for another attempt:
I have not tested it myself but I remember that there are tools that save the process priority so you do not have to repeat that every time you start the game. Maybe this tool might help.
Permanently Set Process Priority in Windows Task Manager Using Prio - Tweaking with Vishal

(googled for "windows 7 permanent priority setting")

can anyone upload me the dbghelp.dll file from their BF2 folder mine keeps getting me kicked for MD5?

for reference: link to dll (that I suppose helped you already)
https://www.realitymod.com/forum/f370-p ... -help.html

[Eddiereyes909]

Updated.

[billysmall44]

When i try to play online i can play for about.. 50 seconds before i get kicked. RESTRICTION: Disallowed Program/Driver (125083) i originally installed it with some mod manager thing. desura. i got this error. so i started completly over and downloaded pr again. same error. i have everything closed out i believe. Could it be steam?

[billysmall44]

nevermind. i fixed it. took me 8 hours. all i had to do was uncheck a little box in steam.

[-CAL ACO-]

NVM sorry check my next post

[-CAL ACO-]

nevermind. i fixed it. took me 8 hours. all i had to do was uncheck a little box in steam.

i've had the same problem what box do you uncheck?!?!?!

[SnipingCoward]

He probably disabled Steam overlay for BF2.

... turn the in game overlay off by going to Steam > Settings > In-Game and unchecking the "Enable Steam Community In-Game" box