I Hate PunkBuster

(Depth_Charge) #1

I was happily playing enemy territory :banana: and I reinstalled because ther was a host problem and the way to fix it was to delete all the et folders and do a clean install. After i had done that it hosted properly but when i connected to an nd80 server it said “WARNING pb reports servers running old version cl.040” and spamed it. I did the manual update and stuff but it still did that. Again i uninstalled and deleted all folders then reinstalled it it sto[ed doing the message but pb was still kicking me i again did the update stuff tehn it did the message spam again and i got kicked. I h8 punkbuster :banghead:. How can i fix this? :???:

(McAfee) #2

That message means that You have the latest version, But the server still hasn’t recieved the Update. PunkBuster automaticly downgrades to the version the server is running. It will also upgrade itself if the server requires a newer version.

(Depth_Charge) #3

but it just spams it and kicks me after about 5 minutes is it something wrong with nd80s servers? cuz ive seen that happen alot over the past 2 days

(McAfee) #4

Problem could be failure to download the older version from the nd80 servers. Client and Server must always run compatible versions. Failure to do so within certain time will result in a kick. Unfurtunetly, PB servers somethimes don’t update clients in time.

Problem is that it’s not your fault, but the server’s fault. And there is not much you could do other than contact the ND80 admins so they make the update And/Or play on other servers untill they do.

Same thing could happen when you are the one with the old version, and the server has the new one. But this is easily solved when you manually update.

(Sauron|EFG) #5

From www.evenbalance.com:

[i]Why does PB spam “PB Server running Old Version” on some servers and how do I make it stop?

Some PB Server admins are not able or willing to fix their firewall so that their PunkBuster server can keep itself always auto-updated to the latest version. Therefore, when a new PB update comes out, their server(s) will continue running the old version until updated manually. When players join a PB Server that is running an old version, that old PB will try to ‘downgrade’ each player’s PB to match the old version running at that server and the “PB Server running Old Version” message is generated every few seconds during this process. We encourage players to avoid servers like this as PB often does not work efficiently nor catch the latest cheats when old versions are running. If the attempts to ‘downgrade’ your PB fail, then you will be kicked. If you trust the server admin, you can enter “/pb_security 0” into your console to allow your PB to be downgraded. If you know how to get in touch with the admin, please let him/her know of the problems caused by not having a properly functioning / auto-updating PB Server. [/i]

(Depth_Charge) #6

ok so if i put it on 0 do i need to turn it back on whne they get the new patch? :clap: :banana: :clap: :drink:

(ETplayer) #7

me3

(DG) #8

Evenbalance’s “Why does PB spam “PB Server running Old Version” on some servers and how do I make it stop?” isnt exactly the whole story, for example sometimes admin needs to issue a pb_sv_restart to re-enable PB after a server update, and there’s been a few fiasco’s with RTCW and PB early on.

The current spammage of “WARNING punkbuster server running old version” appears to be happening when the client is out of date. There has only been a recent client update, the last server update was 6.25.2003, but the message is still appearing as if it is the server out of date. If you check console while the spamming is going on, the PB cvar restriction list does not appear, and after a minuite or so you should notice your client has updated and restarted, and the cvarlist appears (and stops spamming the wrong message about it being the server). I’m still noticing the occasional player joining my servers and giving the message, even though it does not happen for me or most others.

IIRC, the message is also supposed to only spam the clients’ console, not chat spam it. They fixed this awhile ago for RTCW - iirc.

(Depth_Charge) #9

but it say connect to web update and it trys that 2 times but if the server has the older version it doesn’t downgrade the version so if the /pb_security is on it will kick u its stupid that some admins dont get the newest versions immediately.If they did so no1 would even have to go thru that stuff.

(ND80) #10

Depth_Charge, I think all of my servers are updated now. Couple of them did not auto update as they should have and I had to do manual updates. Let me know if you continue to have problems and which server it is. Appreciate your time on my servers and while I dont have a problem with you posting about a problem on them in the SD forums, more than likely you’ll get quicker response if you post them on mine :slight_smile:

And DG Punkbuster updated for ET on 10/1 to version 1.049

(Depth_Charge) #11

oh im sorry i thought the punkbuster problem was client side

(ND80) #12

It is both server side and client side. In theory, keyword being theory, both client and server should automatically update when Evenbalance releases a new version. Works most of the time, but not 100% of the time and then it is when you get the older version errors.

(DG) #13

btw something which can result in servers having problems upgrading PB, and isnt exactly obvious, is if you’re running multiple servers from the one install and each runing server doesnt have its own fs_homepath folder.

Clanservers especially seem to get the problem, and GSP’s that havent filled out a admin team of fans of the game. Understandable imo, since the admins have to keep up with dozens of games and arent always up to speed on the more obscure setup needs for specific games, and otherwise the servers are usually completely fine.

iirc its not exactly clear from the pb admin documentation, but is a bit clearer in the pb faq.