Project Reality Forums

After resolving issues with Mumble and sound output, it appears that I can't play PR anyway.

I try to join a server, it tells me "Your connection to the server has been lost" before I've even seen a loading screen. I try to connect to the same server and SUCCESS! But only for a limited time. The amount of time varies. I could play for 2 minutes, I could play for 10 minutes, but sooner or later "Your connection to the server has been lost."

I've gone through the forums and done everything that has been suggested (uninstalling/reinstalling punkbuster, making sure Punkbuster A AND B both "restart the service.") This makes me very sad, as from what I could see, this is a great mod and a decent community.

I've enjoyed my brief time with you, PR. I guess I'll go back to Company Of Heroes now, defeated.

The part where you can only join a server the SECOND time you try, is something most (if not all) of us are suffering from. It's a punkbuster thing.

What about losing connection after a random amount of time? No workarounds?

Ha ha. Ths whole situation is absolutely laughable.

A little background:

I bought BF2 when it first came out, however many years ago. Played it, loved . Eventually moved on to other things. Flash forward a few years, and I get a hankerin' to play. Grab my copy to find that my Disc 1 is missing. Oh well. Flash forward a few more years and hear about Project Reality. Wow! A mod for a game Rhett I love that focuses on team work and communication? Perfect, sign me up. Contemplate downloading BCw from steam, only to find out that my now out-of-date laptop won't run BF2. Oh well.

Flash forward to last night. Have a new laptop that well easily run BF2 on its highest settings. Awesome. Spend $20 to get BF2 from steam. Download it, run it, pretty much how I remember it. Looks a little dated, but that's probably because it IS a little dated. No matter, i'm here for the PR anyway.

Download PR. Takes about 2 hours but, I'm sure it will be worth the wait. Install, again about another hour but, like I said, worth the wait. Download Mumble. Install, yada yada yada. 10:30 PM now, but everything is ready to go. Let's do this.

...

Can't connect to the mumble server. Sigh. Well, we can worry about that later. Let's get into this game.

Find a server, deploy. Ok this seems pretty neat, big maps, not over crowded, let's head over to...

"Your connection to the server has been lost." Sigh.

Well, maybe I did something wrong. Let's try again. Ok, this server looks good. Ok, deploy.

Where did my sound go? Hmm, well let's see. Tweak tweak tweak. Ok, got the sound back. Let's see if we can get into another server...

Ok, deploy. Let me get a ride in this chopper. This guy looks like he knows where he's going. Lemme follow him. I hear some gunfire coming from this direction, maybe I can hook up with.

"Your connection to the server has been lost."

Repeat x5.

No help from the forums. Last resort: Compete uninstall/reinstall. Start> All Programs> Battlefield 2> Uninstall Battlefield 2.

"This shortcut cannot be found."

Great. So now I can't uninstall everything.

Uninstall through windows. Same for PR.

REINSTALL.

Let's try again? NOPE!

Now the only option in the Project Reality Start Menu is : "Uninstall PR"

Ha. Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

I have to laugh because, if I don't, I'll cry.

I tried, PR. I tried so hard. But I can't take the aggravation anymore. I hope you get everything worked out, and some other people get to have fun.

Im sorry your having a hard time with it, but if you take it easy Im sure we will be able to fix it.


First step is to tell us something more about your PC and operating system. And are you able to play the core game or any other mod without this problem that you described?

If core game is not running properly mod itself will not run too. Nothing to blame PR about, so lets try fixing the actual problem without losing temper.

I'm sorry for getting so testy. I just feel like I've wasted 2 days of my life on this.

To answer your question, it seems like I'm having the same problem with BF2 Proper. Seems to happen even quicker than with PR.

Any information I can provide to you? Let me know. Thanks for trying.

Windows 7

Windows 7 is not much about your system. 32 or 64 bit, which processor, how much ram, which graphic card, how you installed the game, did you follow install instructions, do you meet requirements to install the mod/play it.

Installed Punkbuster, tested its service, updated it, checked if its enabled trough firewall, having some sort of firewall either software or hardware type?

Really sorry for wasting your time.

I disabled Windows Firewall and that seems to have fixed the "Your connection to the server has been lost" issue. Now I'm dealing with abnormally high pings.

Again, sorry for getting pissed/making you think about this. Please don't hate me.

No worries. I wont lock this another 24h, if there is no any problem Ill pack it up.

Cheers and enjoy.

PS: Edited thread title to reflect the problem better.

Start Project Reality, then while it is running, go to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services. From there, find your Punkbuster B service and go to Properties. Go to the "Log On" tab and make sure "Allow this program to interact with the desktop" is checked off, then go to the "Recovery" tab. Make sure all three drop-down menus are set to "Restart."

I tried this last night after having the same exact problem as the OP for about two weeks, and I played a game on Kashan Desert for about three hours with no problems. Note that this will not fix the issue of being unable to connect the first time you try, but it did seem to fix the random disconnect once actually in the server.

Hope this helps you like it did me!

I'm having this problem too, except there is no Punkbuster B service in my services, just the A service...

I did the changes to the A service and was able to play for several hours without losing connection

I have the same problem that many are discussing. "Your connection to the server has been lost" happens on initial attempt, and after successful 2nd attempt, does it again after some time (time varies). I had evenbalance troubleshoot it, and they concluded it wasn't a pb issue, and told me to contact EA. Well, I don't believe EA supports BF2 now, if ever (lol). So, I'm stuck! I've done all the port range triggering, cleared a path in Norton which is managing my firewall, checked my connection all out, and even contacted my isp. I have played BF2 awhile, left, then came back (re-installed via Origin), and made sure I had the correct version. If anyone gets this figured out please let me know.

Win7 Home 64
i7 proc
6gb mem
wired ethernet to linksys e2500 router
graphics ATI Radeon AT 4650
comcast cable - 25 mbps

I do have a Voip phone hooked up to the router - will try removing it...

Don't bother trying to fix the connection lost on when joining first server. It is a punkbuster issue.

They are supposed to be working on it...

Had this problem on XP / 7, connection lost after 2-3 minutes on every server, ONLY in BF2 / PR and not any other game. For example BC2 / BF3 runs fine.

Does not matter if I:

- use wired / wireless
- switch off AV
- switch off ALL firewalls
- change PB A / B services to restart
- turn off UPnP
- open ports
- use DMZ

I do noticed it happens on a specific day / time of the day, so I do not understand the root of the problem.

Any thoughts guys ?

Hi experiMENTALoid,

my guess is it is a punkbuster issue,

First try updating, PunkBuster Online Countermeasures

Then try this:

1. Go to your PunkBuster folder in the directory where you installed Battlefield 2. The default location in Windows XP is: "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Battlefield Bad Company 2\pb\". Windows Vista and Windows 7 users will find the appropriate "pb" folder at "C:\Users\<User>\AppData\Local\PunkBuster\<Game>\pb\".

2. Create a new text file in your "pb" folder and title it "pbcl.cfg".

3. Inside this text file, please copy and paste the following:

pb_MsgPrefix "[skipnotify]PunkBuster Client"
pb_Sleep 500
pb_LogToFile 1
pb_SsLog 1
pb_SsSave 1

pb_Sleep 500 will increase the time between punkbuster polling your client to 500 seconds,
pb_LogToFile 1 turns on logging. you should see a new file in your "pb" folder titled "pbcl.log"

Keep the \pb\ folder open and minimize it,
Play BF2 and/or PR.

When you get kicked, open "pbcl.log" in notepad and see what it's telling you. Copy and paste in this thread.

Fast and useful response, cool.

I tried BF2 before you answered without any problems, saw your post and tried PR without any problems as well.

Here is a log anyway:

[01.31.2013 19:00:27] pb_LogToFile = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] pb_SsLog = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] pb_SsSave = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] Attempting to resolve master4.evenbalance.com
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] Resolved to [66.180.170.20] (13)
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[01.31.2013 19:00:27] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[01.31.2013 19:00:28] Game Version [1.5.3153-802.0]
[01.31.2013 19:00:28] Connected to Server 176.9.29.76:16567
[01.31.2013 19:00:31] PB Services socket initialized
[01.31.2013 19:00:33] PnkBstrA successfully loaded PnkBstrB
[01.31.2013 19:00:36] PnkBstrB service installed and started successfully
[01.31.2013 19:00:50] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[01.31.2013 19:02:26] WARNING: PB Kicks for Level 1 PB Restrictions on this Server
[01.31.2013 19:02:27] PB Server assigned guid = c39f7471b13a5500d8886a9655cdfc2c
[01.31.2013 19:02:27] Receiving from PB Server (w v1.800 | A1393 C2.306)
[01.31.2013 19:04:27] Master Query Sent to (MASTER7.EVENBALANCE.COM) 216.240.146.139
[01.31.2013 19:04:30] Received Master Security Information

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks okay to me. I will post whenever problem returns.

Tried now and the problem is back.

Log:

[02.01.2013 13:07:26] pb_LogToFile = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] pb_SsLog = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] pb_SsSave = 1 (0=No, 1=Yes)
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] Attempting to resolve master3.evenbalance.com
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] Resolved to [216.240.146.139] (13)
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] Game Version [1.5.3153-802.0]
[02.01.2013 13:07:26] Connected to Server 195.93.207.44:16567
[02.01.2013 13:07:29] PB Services socket initialized
[02.01.2013 13:07:43] PunkBuster Client (v2.306 | A0) Enabled
[02.01.2013 13:07:43] PnkBstrA successfully loaded PnkBstrB
[02.01.2013 13:07:46] PnkBstrB service installed and started successfully
[02.01.2013 13:09:25] WARNING: PB Kicks for Level 1 PB Restrictions on this Server
[02.01.2013 13:09:26] PB Server assigned guid = c39f7471b13a5500d8886a9655cdfc2c
[02.01.2013 13:09:26] Receiving from PB Server (k v1.800 | A1393 C2.306)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I see no error. Log always ends at "Receiving from PB Server" as you can see, same thing in BF2. Tried PB web support, maybe they have some ideas.

experiMENTALoid, when you get disconnected from the servers, do you get kicked to the PR main menu, or does PR shutdown, or what happens?


Let's try a two other ways to find the error.

Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 2 Complete Collection\
right click on your BF2.exe, create a shortcut.

Right click shortcut,
Select Properties

Edit your BF2 shortcut to put this in it:

Code:
edit shortcut to look like this:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Battlefield 2 Complete Collection\BF2.exe" +restart +menu 1 +fullscreen 0 +szx 1280 +szy 720

Dont just copy paste this, but adjust to your install location. Make sure you dont omit quotation marks or it wont work.

Close the shortcut Properties window.

Right click the New BF2 shortcut and "Run as Admin"

This will run PR in windowed mode.
IF you are having a weird crash, you will get a popup window with the error message related to your crash. Write this down or take a screen shot and post in this thread.

When you get kicked from the server, there should be an error log created at \BF2\mods\pr\prError.log

Open prError.log in Notepad and copy and paste the last several entries at the BOTTOM of the pave.

prError.log:

den 1 februari 2013 22:09:50
---------------------------------
Error in writing screen aspect ratio file: c:\program files (x86)\ea games\battlefield 2\mods\pr\

System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'c:\program files (x86)\ea games\battlefield 2\mods\pr\'.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options)
at n.a(String A_0)
---------------------------------

For example a log from last year:

den 27 september 2012 20:56:02
---------------------------------
Error in writing screen aspect ratio file: c:\program files (x86)\ea games\battlefield 2\mods\pr\

System.IO.DirectoryNotFoundException: Could not find a part of the path 'c:\program files (x86)\ea games\battlefield 2\mods\pr\'.
at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options)
at n.a(String A_0)
---------------------------------

Tried editing BF2 shortcut, no crashes, only "Your connection to the server has been lost" and back to server browser. I noticed a warning in the main chat while I was on the server "pnkbstra heartbeats stopped" and sometimes I have "losing key packets 9005".

Update: played for 15-20 minutes then lost connection again. I noticed in pbcl.log that 6 players got kicked within 7 minutes with the same "Losing key packets 9005" error.

I think it is not fixable on client side, either it is a buggy update of PB or evenbalance doing it on purpose.

Update: Evenbalance saying it is not PB related, they said to contact EA, but BF2 is no longer officialy supported, trying to contact my ISP and see what they think.

I also reinstalled BF2 and PR with no luck, it is a puzzle to me.