punkbuster halp

[Zelly]

Since punkbuster was literally created by the spawn of a thousand satans, I need help fixing it.

 

What I really want to do though is just rage about it to vent my anger and hopefully regain my sanity, but that isn't important atm.

 

What my issue is:

When I load pb on a server my screen turns grey.

 

Depending on certain things it will even happen when I try to enable pb.

Services appear to load fine

 

]/pb_cl_enable
^5PunkBuster Client: PunkBuster Client (v2.254 | A0) Enabled
^5PunkBuster Client: Changing PunkBuster homepath to [C:\Users\Zelly\AppData\Local\PunkBuster\ET\pb\]
^5PunkBuster Client: Attempting to resolve master4.evenbalance.com
^5PunkBuster Client: Resolved to [50.62.81.163] (0)
^5PunkBuster Client: PunkBuster Client (v2.254 | A0) Enabled
^5PunkBuster Client: Game Version [ET 2.60b win-x86 May  8 2006]
^5PunkBuster Client: Not Connected to a Server
...
... connected to server
...
^5PunkBuster Client: PB Services socket initialized
^5PunkBuster Client: PB Server assigned guid = MYGUIDHERE
^5PunkBuster Client: Receiving from PB Server (l v1.809 | A1382 C2.254)
^5PunkBuster Client: WARNING: ^7PB Kicks for Name Spamming and Non-standard Characters and Level 1 PB Restrictions on this Serv

 

 

I have tried reinstalling various ways

pb service tests pass without error

Tried loading et with default config

and some other stuff over the past 2+ hours lol

 

Umm all I can think of atm, if any more questions I can answer.

[Zelly]

I think I kind of figured out the cause, still don't know how to solve though.

For some reason or another when punkbuster is enabled it gives me the "A running program isn't compatible with certain visual elemets of Windows" error tooltip, thus it changes my theme back to "Windows 7 Basic".

 

So my thought was just trying to set my theme to windows 7 basic and disable aero altogether to see if that fixed it.

 

Unfortunately it only made it worse and now it stays grey screen from the moment I start ET.

I also tried playing with the compatiblity optionds disabling theme,composition, starting as xp, etc etc.

 

I made sure my graphic drivers are up to date.

 

I managed to get into a server once while my pb was enabled without grey screening, however it only lasted about 5 mins before I grey screened again.

 

I can hear and give input while grey screened, the only thing I can't see.

[RedBaird]

Zelly, there have been 50 views of this problem.  I suspect that many are going, "hmmm", and giving it some thought.

 

Are you using Windows 10?  Did you try running ET in compatibility mode for 7, vista or ...?  If PB is 'causing' the grey screen, it may not be its "fault", but rather that it is interacting with another program that is not "acting correctly".  That's a   -maker.

 

I used to suspect PB of somehow corrupting my RAM-memory as it inspected it for cheats.  

 

ADDED:

 

If you do have win10, there is a major update coming next Patch Tuesday : http://fearless-assassins.com/topic/75960-is-this-the-last-windows-10-preview-before-next-weeks-massive-update/

Edited November 7, 2015 by RedBaird
he has win 7

[Zelly]

Windows 7 Ult 64 Forgot to mention that.

 

Like I kind of said in my second post I don't think its entirely pb makes windows think ET is not aero compatible, but I play ET fine without any special intervention when not using pb.

 

But ET grey screen's when on the basic theme with aero disabled.

 

I also tried testing it from a completely new install, but same problem.

 

I used to have similar problems like this on windows vista back in the day, Like 6+ years ago..., where I would have to make sure to click into the ET screen while it was loading.

 

Kind of wondering if its not my shitty graphics card...

[RedBaird]

Windows 7 Ult 64 Forgot to mention that.

You DID mention it!

So my thought was just trying to set my theme to windows 7 basic and disable aero altogether to see if that fixed it.

I never had win7 Aero turned on, trying to maximize my computer's performance.  I have most of the other "pretties" turned off, too.  Win7 Pro here.

 

Maybe I will try to use Aero and the "pretties" and see what happens to my system.

[Zelly]

Defintely not a needed feature, just something I prefer.

[RedBaird]

Hipkat has a similar-sounding "grey screen" problem : http://fearless-assassins.com/topic/75996-et-hangs-at-startup/

[-=HipKat=-]

You're right red, it does sound similar but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same because it seems like her game actually starts where our mind just freezes right after right click on the et icon.

 

In other words, I started to you get the box that shows everything loading, that goes fine, then when the game itself starts to open it freezes immediately on a grey screen

Edited November 9, 2015 by -=HipKat=-

[L3ftY.]

ok, so i am reading this thread the last couple of days and thinking, wtf could it be causing that.

 

then, after playing last night, i try to connect this morning and cant. when i try connect to any FA server, immediately after everything loads and im on the server, i get a gray screen and ET crashes and closes and goes back to my desktop all within 1-2 seconds.

 

and yes, im running Win7 ultimate with 4G's ram. and ive never had a problem with this pc until this morning.

 

must be a cursed topic 

 

 

edit - solved - closed all tabs and re-booted my laptop. ET started and connected fine. i thought there may have been some recent Win7 update causing this

Edited November 9, 2015 by L3ftY.

[Zelly]

You're right red, it does sound similar but I'm not sure if it's exactly the same because it seems like her game actually starts where our mind just freezes right after right click on the et icon.

 

In other words, I started to you get the box that shows everything loading, that goes fine, then when the game itself starts to open it freezes immediately on a grey screen

Are you sure its frozen, can you hear anything? Myn loads up fine, and since I usually connect straight to server via shortcut I just wait a little while(While the server/map loads) and then I can hear everything just fine and can type to players(confirmed through my etconsole.log) and type commands(Usually I just type ~ then /quit to exit)

 

@lefty your's just sounds like a normal crash, as it doesn't stick to the grey screen.

The grey screen is just the default like base color ET uses when loading the game, so you can see it a lot(for example while vid_restarting or just loading ET in general) usually use games use black though.

[Shana]

I wasn't wondering to be honest just saw this topic....

So firstly do you really need punkbuster? I have pb_cl_disable and all fine with my xp/connecting to all servers.

Have you tried using pb_lan 1?

Have you tried using different name?(without special marks and colors(^ is a special mark))

Have you ran PnkBstrA.exe / PnkBstrB.exe as admin?

 

I had problem long time ago with pb(doesn't matter what) the only thing that fixed it was:
- fresh install et

- uinstall pb from system, then restart pc and install pb again

- update pb(check if you have both pnkbstra.exe and pnkbstrb.exe running.

- copy pb from fresh et install to different folder(backup for later)

- delete pb from fresh et install and run game, do cvar_restart

- exit game via button not /quit
- copy back pb folder and run game normally.

 

It sounds like useless process but actually fixed my pb problem -.-. I think it has something to do with game reading no pb and setting cvars to unsafe which won't be read/or will be executed with last safe value

 

This is all that I remember for now(super tired...)

[RedBaird]

In HipKat's topic, I added info on setting the logfile cvar to 1 and added a sample of mine at startup : http://fearless-assassins.com/topic/75996-et-hangs-at-startup/?p=663006

[Zelly]

As said in my second post I am kind of doubting it is specifically a pb problem now, because I can reproduce the same problem just by going to "Windows 7 Basic" theme.

 

I can not use my guid unless I do pb_cl_enable, or use etlegacy.

 

My current ET install is completely in my user folder, this way I never have to use admin rights to play ET.

However I have been running it as admin now because I know pb requires it.

 

I tried installing a separate ET to its default place (in program files) and running it as admin, and still got same problem.

 

After some more testing, I managed to do a /pb_cl_enable and play on a server without pb fine, without it happening.

I was like wtf? Did I solve my problem somehow? I then tried to connect to a server with pb and the problem happened again. So I tried to connect to a server without pb again and it also happened then.

 

So in short, I believe I can restart my computer and play on non-pb servers with pb_cl_enable(so I am set for fa servers basically) until I connect to a pb server.

 

However the original reason I wanted to was because a lot of the public etpro servers have pb enabled still, so I still can't join there.

 

/edit forgot to mention I have tried all your stuff, but not in that exact order if that matters.. @theory (except that pb_lan 1 thing, will go give it a shot quick)

Edited November 9, 2015 by Zelly

[-=HipKat=-]

In mine, you have to understand, I never actually get into the game. When you click on et, the box that shows everything loading pops up on the center of your screen and then when it disappears and begins to open your desktop and that is the exact moment word phrases. So I don't actually get into the game to see servers or hear anything etc

[Shana]

You could try et-legacy
I still think it's punkbuster problem. I've send you files via pm for testing.