Internet freezing....

[GAMEER_77 0]

I have a 56k modem and OFP:R used to work quite well in MP with it.

However, recently the entire internet seems to freeze after a small period of time - maybe 30 seconds up to 5 minutes - stopping any data from being recieved.

When I alt-tab out of the game, the two small computers show that data is being sent, every 3 or 4 seconds, but nothing being recieved. If I try and go to a web page, nothing comes. I can't hear anyone on Team Speak 2.

I am confused as to what is wrong...I think it's only recently that this has happened.

Also, it appears not to happen in-game, only in the in-game browser and so on 'till the game starts.

Thanks for your help in advance,

(Desperate) Gameer

P.S. I don't think it's an ISP issue as, when I play C&C:Generals online, nothing of the sort happens.

P.P.S. It also stops me from disconnecting, meaning I have to restart for it to allow me to reconnect.

[Mister Frag 0]

I'd scan for Spyware using Ad-Aware. Something might be chewing up some of your precious bandwidth.

[GAMEER_77 0]

But then why does it only happen in OFP?

[Mister Frag 0]

It could be any number of things, but the very first thing I would do is do the scan.

In fact, you may want to establish a dial-up Internet connection and NOT start OFP, and see if any traffic flows through the DUN connection. If you have an external modem, it is easy to watch the LEDs; if you have an internal modem, configure the connection to show the connection status in the System Tray.

You can also use the NETSTAT -a command from the command prompt to see what processes have established TCP connections. A better solution would be to download a free set of tools from Foundstone, which includes the FPort utility -- the output of FPort is more comprehensive than NETSTAT.

[GAMEER_77 0]

Yeh, the internet works fine without opening OFP MP, there are no freezes...

I will download those tools and report back.

Gameer

[Edit]I'm confused, what am I using FPort for?

[Placebo 28]

To see if there is anything using your bandwidth that shouldn't be using it.

[GAMEER_77 0]

When I open it up, nothing happens except an MS-DOS prompt flashes and then disappears.

I've read the readme, but all it says is:

Usage:

C:\>fport

Gameer

[bn880 5]

Run cmd or command from your start menu, then use fport from inside hte dos window.

[GAMEER_77 0]

Never mind, got help from my stalker

Will experiment

Gameer

[GAMEER_77 0]

Hmm...Perhaps someone can get something from this. I done this a few seconds after a freeze:

Quote[/b] ]C:\>fport.exe

FPort v2.0 - TCP/IP Process to Port Mapper

Copyright 2000 by Foundstone, Inc.

http://www.foundstone.com

Pid Process Port Proto Path

648 svchost -> 135 TCP C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe

4 System -> 445 TCP

692 svchost -> 1025 TCP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

4 System -> 1028 TCP

692 svchost -> 2631 TCP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

692 svchost -> 2636 TCP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

1720 MsnMsgr -> 4031 TCP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

1720 MsnMsgr -> 4470 TCP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

840 -> 5000 TCP

0 System -> 9 UDP

1720 MsnMsgr -> 123 UDP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

0 System -> 123 UDP

648 svchost -> 445 UDP C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe

4 System -> 500 UDP

692 svchost -> 1034 UDP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

840 -> 1037 UDP

4 System -> 1116 UDP

692 svchost -> 1352 UDP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

1720 MsnMsgr -> 1900 UDP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

0 System -> 1900 UDP

692 svchost -> 4034 UDP C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe

1720 MsnMsgr -> 4035 UDP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

1720 MsnMsgr -> 4036 UDP C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe

Gameer

[bn880 5]

I don't see anything special there at all other than msn messenger.

[Placebo 28]

You've got 56k yet you run MSN, run voice chat and run Opf? Personally if I had 56k I'd keep all the bandwidth I had solely for Opf

[GAMEER_77 0]

Well, I done a system restore to two weeks ago and, touch wood, it's working!

Hurray!

Still not exactly sure what's wrong, but a system restore solved it.

Thanks for the help, gentlemen

Gameer

[GAMEER_77 0]

You've got 56k yet you run MSN, run voice chat and run Opf? Personally if I had 56k I'd keep all the bandwidth I had solely for Opf

Lol, and my persistant "chatting" makes things even worse

[Mister Frag 0]

I would sign out of MSN Messenger before launching OFP, simply because the damned thing keeps pulling down ads, and possibly other information for the tabs that are configured. There are patches that can get rid of the ads, but I would try logging out first to see if that is in fact the problem.

Other things that might periodically establish an Internet connection are Windows Update, e-mail clients, and anything else that can check for updates automatically.

[GAMEER_77 0]

I turn Messenger off when playing OFP on the net, but I do have auto update on...

I'll check to see whether the system restore has switched auto update off or not.

Gameer

[suma 8]

In case freezing / connection lost is related to automatic updates (BITS), it could help disabling this feature in System preferences (Control panel/System/Automatic Updates).

This setting probably applies only to Windows Update, but I am not sure. It might be worth trying.

[GAMEER_77 0]

I don't think it is to do with auto updates as I've just checked and it's switched on (that's after the restore).

I could be wrong, though...

Gameer

[suma 8]

Well, I done a system restore to two weeks ago and, touch wood, it's working!

Hurray!  

Still not exactly sure what's wrong, but a system restore solved it.

It would be really interesting to know what was changed in between. Any drivers? Or firewall (ICF) activated?

[GAMEER_77 0]

Well I just un-done my System Restore as a matter of testing, and when I went into MP, sure enough it froze.

I will now restore to a week ago and try it from then, then figure out just what day it was...and what I done then.

Thanks

Gameer

[suma 8]

I will now restore to a week ago and try it from then, then figure out just what day it was...and what I done then.

I am really interested what this can be caused by. I am looking forward to read your findings.

Good hunting.

[Gameer 0]

OK, it appears that the problem MAY lie in one of Windows' updates...more specifically, KB823980.

Well, that's what it says in the system restore point, but i'm unsure whether I installed more than one.

Sorry I can't be more of a help, but it takes me about 10 minutes to restore a point then i've got to test it out on the net. It's all a big mess

Anyway, I noted down what files it said it'd renamed during the process and this is what it said (not sure if it's useful):

ODBC32.DLL

MSHTML.DLL

URLMON.DLL

SHLWAPI.DLL

SHDOCVW.DLL

Aswell as fraps and another camera program, but they where both installed after the problem.

I'll try and mess around a little more when I have time, but for now I better get back to work

Thanks

Gameer

[suma 8]

OK, it appears that the problem MAY lie in one of Windows' updates...more specifically, KB823980.

KB 823980 - this is the update that prevents the (in)famous Blaster worm.

[Gameer 0]

Well I doubt that'd be the problem then, as a lotta folk would've installed that.

I don't think we'll ever find out why, but there's for sure a problem. If no-one else gets it, it's probably a compatibility issue between one of the bits of junk I've installed recently.

If I ever do find out what it was, I'll be sure to tell you what it is.

If anyone does get this and needs to know how to fix it, use system restore to a time before it started happening.

Thanks

Gameer

[Mister Frag 0]

Did you happen to try reinstalling the RPC Buffer Overflow patch after going back to the earlier Restore Point? If so, did the problem reappear? Unless you are behind a hardware firewall, I would strongly suggest keeping that patch.