Help requested: Connection issues

[Telurian]

I have been using Maptool for several years now and have been happy with it, so thank you to the devs. I have, however, recently run into a problem connecting to my GM's server remotely, where I have been able to do so for some time without issue. Last night my maptool could not discover connection info, or even see the list of the servers on RPTools.net so I'm assuming that it has something to do with the connection subroutines in Maptool or in the underlying Java install. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Java but had no improvement. I have been disabling my firewall for some time to allow Maptool's connection to work, so that is already done, and in addition my antivirus has been disabled to make sure that is not interfering.

To be clear, the Connection Information box in Maptool shows my internal IP but "Discovering..." in the External Address line, and stays that way indefinitely. Nothing has been changed in my install and certainly not within the last week, since last week I was able to use Maptool just fine. I have not updated windows within that time. I am still running Windows 7 which I know is a problem but I would rather not go through the headaches for days to update that just for this one fix. Any hints?

Telurian

[aliasmask]

I see no one has replied. Is this taken care of by now? If not, do you have Comcast for your provider. I ran in to a similar situation and it turned out to be Comcast blocking stuff.

[Telurian]

No, I have Frontier DSL internet. The 'discovering...' on the External Address line does eventually timeout as 'unknown'. Nothing has changed in the past two days, same results. I have another session next Thursday, hoping for some assistance before then

[aliasmask]

I recommend uninstalling, RESTART COMPUTER, then re-install. Usually there is a popup about networks (Private,Public), make sure you only select Private. I don't think it has anything to do with MapTool in general otherwise there would be many more complaints. Something is blocking access and it's likely to be Windows from your description. It's weird that it worked, then stopped working. Perhaps a Windows update?

[Telurian]

As I said, I did not alter Windows in any way during this time. Are you suggesting that I reinstall Maptool or Java? or both?

I am able to connect to many other locations using the web browsers, even tried two different ones, and my email client, it's JUST Maptool that's giving me trouble. I do not have any other Java apps though, so if it's Java-related it would only apply to Maptool.

Telurian

[LarryWoestman]

This post may help you debug your problem:

viewtopic.php?t=3370

[Telurian]

I did read that post, thank you, unfortunately it is more geared for the server owner/GM trying to get someone to connect to their server than to a client. My GM has his server configured correctly, the five other players are able to connect to it without problem, so it must be on my end. I will read it again more carefully looking for something that might apply to me.

Telurian

[Full Bleed]

What version of Maptool are you using?

Try creating a new profile in Windows 7. Then, install MT there. Be sure to *accept* any security exceptions requested when you load it. It sounds like you've tinkered with a number of security settings and it seems like something is off. But if there was truly nothing changed in your system when it stopped working I do wonder if your ISP is blocking that traffic for some reason. You might need to contact them and see what they say. This is probably the most likely culprit.

You should not have to disable your firewall as a client (nor should you as a server, only open relevant ports.)

And, finally, what antivirus are you using? Most present no problem and do not need to be disabled either.

[Telurian]

Maptool is version 1.7.0
I am using AVG's free antivirus program, though it is currently in passive mode to remove its interference.

I took your advice and created a clean test windows user account and installed Maptool and it DID work to resolve the apparent connection issues. I was able to run the Connection Information and discover the External IP normally, and the rptool.net list of servers did resolve and show up. I have not tested attempting to connect to my GM's server because he's not available at this time of day. Unfortunately when I attempted to install Discord as well to make sure that I would have what is needed for our session THAT ended up having a problem and would not install, so this is not a long term solution only hopefully a clue as to what's wrong?

Just as a quick impulse I decided to try Maptool on my main (only) user account and it now works and shows the connection information and rptools.net server list. Hopefully this will continue tomorrow for my session? Is it actually 'fixed'?

Telurian

[Full Bleed]

Maptool is version 1.7.0

So, you do not need to have java installed for this version. It's "self contained". Just mentioning that because you brought up installing/re-installing java. Unless you need a standlone java install for some other program I'd remove all java installs in your system.

I am using AVG's free antivirus program, though it is currently in passive mode to remove its interference.

If memory serves, this is the only antivirus program that we ever hear about having occasional problems with MT. I'd ditch it completely. I'd suggest Malwarebytes as a replacement.

I took your advice and created a clean test windows user account and installed Maptool and it DID work to resolve the apparent connection issues. I was able to run the Connection Information and discover the External IP normally, and the rptool.net list of servers did resolve and show up. I have not tested attempting to connect to my GM's server because he's not available at this time of day. Unfortunately when I attempted to install Discord as well to make sure that I would have what is needed for our session THAT ended up having a problem and would not install, so this is not a long term solution only hopefully a clue as to what's wrong?

I'm not familiar with what Discord requires on install... but I have a hard time believing that it requires any "special" setup... so something is definitely going on.

You might want to run a 24 hour smokeping on your IP address to see if you're having any intermittent connectivity issues.

https://www.dslreports.com/smokeping/

Just as a quick impulse I decided to try Maptool on my main (only) user account and it now works and shows the connection information and rptools.net server list. Hopefully this will continue tomorrow for my session? Is it actually 'fixed'?

This the account it previously did not work with?

[Telurian]

Yes, it was my only user profile prior to this test. It wasn't working, and now it is. I did get my GM to put up his server in order to test it and I was able to connect to it remotely as usual, so the issue appears to be corrected, at least for now... I wish I could guess what could have happened and is now corrected, it took five days to get corrected so I would hope it was not my ISP's fault somehow, but I can't rule it out.

As far as the Discord install, it was protesting that some DLL was not able to be found, so it may be that because it was a new user profile something was missing that it relies on. It shouldn't matter since things are working now.

I do hear you on the AVG. I have been considering dropping it for some time now, it may be time to act.

Telurian

[Telurian]

This occurred again last night, Maptool suddenly got stupid and could not find a way to connect to anything. The server list would not load / refresh, and the Connection Information dialog times out unable to discover the external IP. Nothing at all has changed since last week when it worked fine. I attempted similar strategies to get it back, reboot, uninstall and reinstall, even went to the clean test user profile that I created to fix this last time, and it still didn't work. I have not created yet ANOTHER clean user profile and installed maptool fresh there, but that seems to be the only thing I haven't tried. I assume there is no further wisdom on this subject?

Telurian

[Full Bleed]

This really doesn't sound like a MT problem... it sounds like a connection/service issue. Given that last time it just started working again where it wasn't previously working (and you changed nothing) seems to indicate this. Not to mention that you now have the same problem popping up "suddenly" and (prsumably) withouy any significant changes.

My money is on the issue "magically" resolving again on its own.

[aliasmask]

Are you using UPnP or Port Forwarding? I've had my UPnP poop out on me before, so I stick with port forwarding. I've also had port forwarding stop working for me when comcast/xfinity change how they handled port forwarding.

Also, with port forwarding. If you're used to being the only one on network your internal ip isn't likely to change, but if you add other devices they could steal your normal ip and then port forwarding doesn't work until you change it. Making the router reserve that ip for just your computer (based on MAC address) will solve that issue.

The things that could go wrong are endless, if this doesn't spark any resolution I recommend looking at the networking help. Pinned in networking on discord.

[Telurian]

Reminder, I am a client, not a host/GM. Port Forwarding is not necessary for me. The previous time this happened resolved when I created a clean user profile and installed a fresh copy of Maptool there, which magically fixed the original copy of Maptool in my usual main user profile. I have not attempted this again yet. If it was my ISP service it fixed itself very coincidentally when I did this last time, and all my other usual connections and activities are responding normally.

Telurian