Anthrax01 239 Posted August 14, 2020 I'm just posting what i put into the Arma discord as i didnt get a reply there and was hoping the forums might have an answer. Hi, my friend is having an issue connecting to multiplayer servers. When he goes to join a server from either launcher or ingame server browser, he is presented with a load screen (usually a black screen with some TV effect) that doesnt progress. It should be noted that none of this was an issue 2 weeks ago. What we've tried to do to remedy the issue: Joined both my own dedicated server (with mods) and random public vanilla servers Verified game cache Unsubscribed from all mods, deleted any leftover folders and files Deleted MP Missions Cache Deleted Cache.ch Set up a new ingame profile Uninstalled Arma and deleted every single leftover folder, reinstalling it ofc Put the firewall down incase that was affecting anything Put battleEye on and off Running Arma (64bit) as admin. Joining a server, pressing escape once confronted with the black screen thingo, then trying to rejoin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Severloh 4055 Posted August 14, 2020 Hello Anthrax01 Sorry to read about your friend's troubles, couple of things: What are his computer specs? CPU Ram, Ram speed GPU Is the game on an SSD or an HDD? Rpt Be sure your logs are not off (no logs checked) but when you go to attempt joining a server again, after exiting, grab the latest log file rpt, it can be located here C:\Users\your username\AppData\Local\Arma 3 Open it with notepad or another type of notepad type doc, select all, and copy and paste into a spoiler here in your reply or paste it here ----> https://justpaste.it/ publish it and share the link. Rpt can reveal what is going on with the game, issue may also be settings, and or computer related. In the meantime answer the following questions: Is there a particular mission he is trying to join that the server is running, or is it a random mission, and the issue happens regardless? Is the mission you are joining already in progress or waiting for players? Has your friend tried hosting his own MP lan server, and any issues there? Has your friend updated any gpu drivers recently prior to this happening? Have you tried the following startup parameters? ----> -nobenchmark -world=empty -nopause Running any programs with overlays, like discord, Fraps, OBS, or another? Checked for any overheating of the Cpu, and or GPU? Game resolution? In window mode? Have you tried the Flush command? Flush Command: Press Left Shift and Numpad Minus (invisible console), release and type flush. "Flush all video memory to cure performance issue caused by textures being placed in the AGP " 3 hours ago, Anthrax01 said: Running Arma (64bit) as admin. Have you tried to run it in 32 Bit? Ideally 64 bit if the OS is 64bit. Other issues & Mod related just to note: Typically being stuck on the loading screen is more about network problems than mod problems. Mod problems usually just boot you out. Also if your mods aren't lining up with the server, you'll get booted before you get to the lobby to choose a slot. If you're getting stuck at a black screen after selecting your slot and clicking join (or whatever the text says) then you are having other issues. Validate game integrity, try loading into a self-hosted server and see if results are the same. Arma3 Known issues - Use as a reference and process of elimination, a guide to look at things. https://dev.arma3.com/known-issues 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthrax01 239 Posted August 14, 2020 38 minutes ago, Gunter Severloh said: Is the game on an SSD or an HDD? In the meantime answer the following questions: Is there a particular mission he is trying to join that the server is running, or is it a random mission, and the issue happens regardless? Is the mission you are joining already in progress or waiting for players? Has your friend tried hosting his own MP lan server, and any issues there? Has your friend updated any gpu drivers recently prior to this happening? Have you tried the following startup parameters? ----> -nobenchmark -world=empty -nopause Running any programs with overlays, like discord, Fraps, OBS, or another? Checked for any overheating of the Cpu, and or GPU? Game resolution? In window mode? Have you tried the Flush command? Answering the meanwhile questions because it'l be a while before i can get my friend to do the other stuff. The game is, like his system and steam itself, on an SSD. The issue is occuring on any mission regardless of server and mods Both as far as i can tell but i might need to verify that mroe Yep, we've tried to run his own MP lan server and there was no issue in loading missions Unknown, will have to ask With the exception of -nobenchmark, we've given the rest a try Unknown, will have to ask Unknown Game in fullscreen as far as i can tell but i might've asked him to switch to windowed borderless at some point. Not yet, will try that when i can. Thanks for taking the time to respond 👍 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Severloh 4055 Posted August 14, 2020 Welcome, if you can fill in those blanks, then we can get a bigger, clearer picture of what hes working and dealing with and then eliminate some things if need be in the process. Details bake the cake, cheers! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthrax01 239 Posted August 15, 2020 18 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said: Welcome, if you can fill in those blanks, then we can get a bigger, clearer picture of what hes working and dealing with and then eliminate some things if need be in the process. Details bake the cake, cheers! This is my friends .rpt file when attempting to connect to my server https://justpaste.it/613nk This is my own rpt file: https://justpaste.it/3xfhb It should be noted that all my other friends can connect to any arma server as well. We also tried the flush command, running -nobenchmark, etc. In his rpt however i found the line (699): "14:47:31 No more slot to add connection at XXXXXX (XXXX.X,XXXX.XX)" Which is odd considering myself and my friends can actually connect. To be further exact with the error he's experiencing, When he attempts to connect to the server, everyone on the server gets the "player X is connecting" message however what he sees is just a black screen, for some reason he cant get to the lobby screen or get booted for using the wrong mods. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mick Partington 0 Posted August 15, 2020 Clear his MPMission cache Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthrax01 239 Posted August 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Mick Partington said: Clear his MPMission cache I dont want to sound rude (but im going to end up doing that lmao) but if you read the original post you'd have seen we cleared that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Severloh 4055 Posted August 15, 2020 Hello Anthrax01, Reviewing your, and your friend's rpt i see you are running an Nvidia gpu, and him a Radeon 590 at this point i cant really say what the issue is but, doing some research based on his graphics card alone, i'm finding the black screen issue to be a common problem for that card and possibly the series based on some of the stuff i have read, even happening in other games. Now i dont want to come to a conclusion that its his card but a black screen usually is gpu related, if not something with possibly network which i know really little of so cant really help you there. As for what i found for the card, there are a couple things he can look at, this means he will need to look at the settings, drivers, for his card. I will quote below what i have found, there is even a video someone linked related to it: Quote Feb 10, 2019 12:55 PM Nearly all rx480, 580 and now 590 suffer these in game screen goes black, audio still is heard and screen may recover or kick you out of game. If this sounds like what you have going on, it is a power limit issue. The default drivers don't give the card a high enough power ceiling. In Wattman, raise the power limit slider to its maximum. I believe it is 50 for that card, but whatever the max is put it there and try it. Couple other quotes of what you can try: Quote 1) Uninstall whatever drivers you have installed now via Apps and Features. 2) Restart computer. 3) Run DDU and remove GPU drivers: https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1432 ("Official Download Here" link) 4) Restart computer. 5) Install 19.1.1: https://www.techpowerup.com/download/amd-radeon-graphics-drivers/ 6) Restart computer. Problem will hopefully be fixed. At bare minimum, it minimizes likelihood drivers are to blame. Quote If the suggestions above don't work, try re-seating the RAM sticks and if that fails, check the disk RAM. I happened to get the same type of errors when I installed 2 sticks of RAM that hadn't good compatibility with the motherboard. Can also review this and look at what others have tried for the graphics card, as i blieve its your friends card that is causing the issue. https://community.amd.com/thread/220983 Definitely read this as someone there has solved the issue https://community.amd.com/thread/232643 Last resort, reinstall windows, and update to latest drivers. Watch this video I would suggest trying what i quoted, and then go from there, if not the video can help too, i think we should call in some experts here 😉 @oldbear and @Groove_C @Tankbuster you guys have an idea why this guy is getting the black screen of death, my hunch is telling me its his GPU, but what i quoted i would assume might be a likely cause can say for sure. Another thought has come to mind based on the gpu alone, from what i been reading the Radeon RX 590 Series is a power hungry card, Anthrax01 what is your friend running for a PSU (power supply), also has he overclocked his ram, or anything else or not at all? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tankbuster 1746 Posted August 15, 2020 I have been following the thread since it was posted, but nothing really jumps out as lookig like an obvious cause. The CPU is plenty powerful enough. The GPU seems good enough too. The symptoms described - perperual loading screen - usually mean one of two things; the mission has failed to download to the client PC. Clearing the mpmission cache usually fixes this, but it's important to be sure it has really gone. Even a full uninstall leaves traces. I know the OP said he's done that but steam does hide this stuff away sometimes. Also, a mod problem can cause this, but that would usually be shown up in the RPT. I'm not familiar with this CPU, but is this one of the ones that is very finicky about the RAM it uses? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthrax01 239 Posted August 16, 2020 12 hours ago, Gunter Severloh said: I would suggest trying what i quoted, and then go from there, if not the video can help too, i think we should call in some experts here 😉 @oldbear and @Groove_C @Tankbuster you guys have an idea why this guy is getting the black screen of death, my hunch is telling me its his GPU, but what i quoted i would assume might be a likely cause can say for sure. To elaborate further (my apologies that i hadn't). It's not a black screen in terms of the monitor going blank, rather its a black screen with the TV/CRT effect Arma applies over the load screens, kinda like what happens when you load something but dont have a world in the background loaded. (Making it so a world is loaded in the background like Tanoa only changes what load screen he's given.) This is whats leading me to think its either network, or OS issues. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pierremgi 4866 Posted August 16, 2020 If the problem is recent and you reinstalled or checked everything like it seems to be, so, have a glance at what you updated since: Windows 10, Video drivers, .... and try to downgrade to the last workable version. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tankbuster 1746 Posted August 16, 2020 7 hours ago, Anthrax01 said: To elaborate further (my apologies that i hadn't). It's not a black screen in terms of the monitor going blank, rather its a black screen with the TV/CRT effect Arma applies over the load screens, kinda like what happens when you load something but dont have a world in the background loaded. (Making it so a world is loaded in the background like Tanoa only changes what load screen he's given.) This is whats leading me to think its either network, or OS issues. Yes, I got what you meant. The mission has at least, partly loaded, but the game appears to have locked up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horus 83 Posted August 16, 2020 Tell him to put back default virtual memory settings -> "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives", restart system and try to connect to MP. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Severloh 4055 Posted August 16, 2020 2 hours ago, Tankbuster said: The mission has at least, partly loaded, but the game appears to have locked up. Memory either with ram or gpu used up maybe or not enough being allocated, surprised he dont have a memory error or some unusual process exit. This is getting interesting and hopefully we are getting close to the real issue, lets hope its just a simple lack of memory or something in the settings. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tankbuster 1746 Posted August 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, Gunter Severloh said: Memory either with ram or gpu used up maybe or not enough being allocated, surprised he dont have a memory error or some unusual process exit. This is getting interesting and hopefully we are getting close to the real issue, lets hope its just a simple lack of memory or something in the settings. I do suspect a RAM problem, to be honest, which is why page file issues need to be ruled out. After that, I'd be suggesting RAM diagnostics. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horus 83 Posted August 16, 2020 atm he use fixed value of 4GB for page file. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tankbuster 1746 Posted August 16, 2020 3 minutes ago, Horus said: atm he use fixed value of 4GB for page file. That needs to be changed. Allow the OS to manage the page file size. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Anthrax01 239 Posted August 17, 2020 Re: Page file I had him look through and found that the paging file was being managed by the system, but that he was low on SSD space, so i had him rectify that by cleaning ~15GB's worth of files but it still did not resolve the issue. I also had him check his drivers as well and his drivers were last updated 3-4 months ago, i don't think they're the issue either, plus he has no issue running other games or connecting to mp for other games, or hosting a lan server so im not sure if it could be a driver issue at all either. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gunter Severloh 4055 Posted August 17, 2020 You have him do the Wattman, raise the power limit slider thing as i posted here Screenshots and or video would help too, but cant really say for sure whats going on, its his system vs arma. Arma is its own thing, takes a bit to run it, its a special breed of game so it demands can be complicated for computers to each their own, i still think its the AMD gpu in relation to the game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
