Help needed cant get the game to work. out of ideas...

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Chapters, May 5, 2021.

  1. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    After 8 hours or trying every workaround i could find still no luck.

    I can only get solo player to work if i change the port in settings to anything other than 30000.

    trying to load a game i get the error:

    Server error: Cannot use IP port. Please start only one server instance of the game.

    I have made sure that the program is set up in both windows firewall and my antivirus, and the router has also been checked and is set up correctly. We know this game works fine on another PC on the network so cant be the router.

    I have also checked and no other program is using the 30000 port.
    have tried with antivirus disabled and have tried taking the data files from the PC everything works on and the same issue so we know its not a 'game bug'

    just trying to set up co op on this PC and its driving us crazy.

    Have also tried to install and run the dedicated server app from steam however can not get that to open, it opens for a second and closes itself down (not sure if related) confirmed its on allowed for the firewalls.

    Any help would be good. Thanks.






     
    #1
  2. IndigoWyrd

    IndigoWyrd Rear Admiral

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    Check your task manager, make sure the dedicated server isn't still running/stuck, and end it if it is and try again.
     
    #2
  3. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    tried that, nothing running. have also checked while attempting to start a game to confirm nothing else started in the background.
     
    #3
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  4. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    Does your Antivirus Program (if any) know what you are attempting? I mean, did you make the Empyrion.exe an exception?
     
    #4
  5. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    Antivirus has empyrion.exe on the safe list, i have also tried running with the antivirus completely off and no change.
     
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  6. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Not sure if these still apply, but it's worth a try :

    Make sure the EmpyrionDedicated.exe is running as administrator ;
    Makes sure the User Accounts Control Settings are not disabled (any level above "no notifications" should do) ;
    Make sure you get the initial notification to "allow EmpyrionDedicated.exe" when starting it (start the game in a window if needed) ;

    Do the usual check files integrity and reboot PC before trying a fresh start.

    For the Antivirus : some Antivirus still interfere with processes even when "disabled" from within their own settings. Best way is to disable the service and try if it works, just to eliminate that possibility.
     
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  7. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    Thanks, checked the user account settings, everything there correct, tried everything else you suggested with the antivirus completely turned off (checked task manager to confirm)

    I do not get a 'allow window' pop up, does not seem to make it that far. I have attached the logs from my last attempt to open a co op. Means nothing to me but maybe someone will spot my issue. Cheers.
     

    Attached Files:

    #7
  8. On your client log I can see you are still using port 30000.
    I know you said you checked to make sure nothing else is using that port, but it is also a common port to be used by other things.

    It's recommended you use a different port range and try that.
     
    #8
  9. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    The co op server only uses that port, i am unable to change it. i have checked and nothing else is using that port from this PC so unsure why that one will not work, I can change it to anything else and the solo game will load even 30001/2/3/4 works to allow me to start a solo game.
     
    #9
  10. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Right-click the EmpyrionDedicated.exe and check compatibility mode is set to "run as administrator". You should get a notification asking for a permission, but it will just not pop up if dedi is not running as admin.

    Also check if MSDTC is running (task manager - Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator). It is not mentioned in the game's notes as required, but for some games it helps.

    Reboot your machine between attempts.
     
    #10
  11. You can change it for co-op as well.

    It was just something to try though, it may or may not help.
     
    #11
  12. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    Thanks, tried that, i didn't have the MDSTC so i installed it but did not help either. i did get a permission pop up this time for the server, however after i accept it it seems to crash / disappear (and no second program running in task manager)

    How do you change the co op IP? there is no option for it that i have found and i read you can not. any help appricated. thanks.
     
    #12
  13. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    Well that's one step closer to a solution than previously, right ?

    The problem here is that there is a very strict procedure to follow to eliminate possible problems, and just like phone support we have no way to know if some steps are skipped from one attempt to another, and this means that a solution may not work because of the missing step while in fact it could have worked.

    We also have no idea of your global PC configuration, what services are running/ not running, what is your antivirus (often the guilty one) and how it is configured (still there even when process killed), etc. Some antivirus processes (and others) may hide under a generic process ID like "Client Server runtime process" or similar, so there's no easy way to know what is active on the machine. When disabling a service it can be restarted if the computer was not rebooted to enforce changes to services settings. You may also want to check if Windows Defender is not interfering in its own corner, but that would surprise me.

    Check this page to see what might be running on your machine and might be interfering with the dedicated exe :

    https://www.forensicfocus.com/articles/standard-processes-in-windows-10/

    Try with everything set at defaults ( game and dedi ) and don't try starting anything after making changes without a reboot. Close any unrelated program, check files integrity (Steam, the game and dedi), check admin rights on the dedi.exe, disable antivirus service in control panel's administrative tools/ services, clear internet cache/ cookies/ temp files, reboot the machine.

    Also make sure that EAC is disabled (Easy Anti Cheat - in game options).
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When starting the coop game, check in the task manager if the dedicated.exe is running. If it's running then just give it some time. If you get the fullscreen window dedicated screen, just alt-tab out of there, and wait for the game to load. When exiting the game, open task manager, expand the dedicated.exe process if needed and double-click on the process to force the window to appear, then click "save and exit".

    You should no need to mess around with ports or even router configuration, the game runs fine on most routers with base default configs.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     
    #13
    Last edited: May 6, 2021
  14. ravien_ff

    ravien_ff Rear Admiral

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    For dedicated server, there may be a Microsoft optional update you need to install to get it to run. Both my brother and myself needed to before we could run a full dedicated server..I don't have a link handy atm though it's worth looking into.
    I don't think that would affect coop however.
     
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  15. Germanicus

    Germanicus Rear Admiral

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    #15
  16. Khaleg

    Khaleg Commander

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    Hello,

    You should be sure that the port for the server is free in your system

    A.-LOOKING FOR A FREE PORT
    a1.- Restart your computer and do not execute any program
    a2.- Leave the computer running for ~5 minutes to allow delayed processes to start
    a3.- Open a CMD with elevated privileges
    a4.- Issue the command netstat -b
    a5.- Check the list of processes and the IPs and Ports that are in use

    Choose a port for your server that is not listed in the results of the command at point a5

    B.SERVER CONFIGURATION
    b1.- Configure the free port on the Empyrion Server
    b2.- Enable an exception for the Server in your Firewall (allowing IN / OUT and all protocols to be sure)
    b3.- Start the server

    If the server does not start or is immediately shutdown, it is not worth checking the client, until you have resolved the problem with the server.

    If the server starts and is stable, issue again the netstat -b command of the point a4. Now you should see the Empyrion Server process using the configured port. If you do not see this, check again all server configuration.
    In addition to checking with the netstat command, probably, depending on how the server is programmed, you would issue a telnet <IP> <Port> command to check if you can connect to the server.

    After being sure that the server is running and listening in the correct port, start with the client side

    C.- CLIENT CONFIGURATION
    c1.- Configure the client to connect to the same port in which the server is listening
    c2.- Enable an exception for the client in your Firewall (allowing IN / OUT and all protocols)
    c3.- Launch the client

    As additinal troubleshooting you would fully disable your firewall, but this is only recommended for checking. You should enable again your Firewall after the problem is identified and solved

    As side note, I have seen this line in your client log:

    "05-14:17:47.675 22_17 -LOG- Started process 'EmpyrionDedicated.exe' (PID 8992)"

    I am not familiar with Empyrion but, may be the client is launching the DedicatedServer by itself, if this is the case, may be you do not need launch the server side in separated way, but who knows.

    Good luck
     
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  17. Chapters

    Chapters Ensign

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    Thanks for the suggestions, i am just about ready to just buy a 3rd party server as this game still is not working. It should not be this hard.

    I can confirm that i have uninstalled my antivirus, turned off windows defender. Confirmed using cmd netstat -b that nothing is using port 30000.

    There is no dedicated server trying to run prior to me trying to start a co op game.

    I can not even play a solo game without going into settings and changing the port number or i get the following message: Server error: Cannot use IP port. Please start only one server instance of the game.

    I can join and use other servers and coop without issue.

    From my point its not antivirus, defender, port already in use.

    What is missing? is this actually a game bug then? as clearly something is not working correctly??

    when trying to start a coop the dedicated server asks for permission, opens for about 4 seconds then closes/stops working. It only pops up in task manager and an icon for that amount of time. Even with all of the above already ruled out.
     
    #17
  18. Kassonnade

    Kassonnade Rear Admiral

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    That's right : for coop players only need to start the game as usual (with EAC disabled) , click "new game/ coop" and Empyrion will start the dedi by itself using port 3000. Players should not start the server THEN start the game, it will not work.
     
    #18
  19. ravien_ff

    ravien_ff Rear Admiral

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    It's really weird you can't even play single player. That should work fine even without internet.
     
    #19
  20. Khaleg

    Khaleg Commander

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    Hmmm.... please look the reply of Kassonnade to my post when I said: "I am not familiar with Empyrion but, may be the client is launching the DedicatedServer by itself, if this is the case, may be you do not need launch the server side in separated way, but who knows."

    The error that you are getting... I suspect it is due to having the server side already running, so it is unable to use the same port at the same IP and the new instance is closed.

    Do not start the server in independent way when playing coop. This would be the trick. If you are not launching consciously or unconsciously the Dedicated Server prior to the client in Coop mode, then I am out of ideas, sorry.
     
    #20

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