Fix: Connection to Server Browser Failed

[Mr. Horse]

I have been struggling with this issue for several days now.

If you are unable to get into the internet browser due to an error saying
"The connection to the server browser has failed"
Then I may have a solution for you.

I have McAfee VirusScan installed on my PC and this version (8.0i) has some network filtering built in. This filtering blocks IRC connections it seems.

10/30/2005	3:15:35 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/30/2005	4:53:35 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/30/2005	5:05:35 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/30/2005	5:20:35 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/31/2005	9:24:51 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/31/2005	9:27:51 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	Prevent IRC communication	207.38.11.136
10/31/2005	9:30:51 PM	Blocked by port blocking rule 	Civilization4.e	?	207.38.11.136

These are log messages found in the AccessProtectionLog.txt (search in program files for it)

Now, some firewalls will block IRC traffic too and this may be your problem if you don't have VirusScan installed or it doesn't have network filtering enabled. Try turning off the IRC blocking in VirusScan Console (double click on the VirusScan Icon on your desktop) by opening the Access Protection option window and uncheck the two Prevent IRC communication boxes and click OK.

This SHOULD get you working.. or you can just disable virusscan when you want to play Civ4 but I really REALLY strongly suggest against that.

If the virusscan sheild icon is not visible in the systray then you can run it by finding the "mcconsol.exe"
that is usually located in "C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan" (thanks Lazyboy325 for pointing this out)

Or for the really direct method you can open REGEDIT and browse to the following key

KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Network Associates\TVD\Shared Components\On Access Scanner\BehaviourBlocking

and set the keys

PortBlockEnabled_1 
PortBlockEnabled_2

to 0

Also, REGEDIT is something that can break your computer if you do something wrong. I do not advise using this method unless you are familiar with using REGEDIT.

Also also, you may need to open port 2056 TCP and UDP in your hardware and or software firewall software to play / host multiplayer games. Please see your firewall's documentation on how to open ports.

 

[Mr. Horse]

If you have Civ installed on a corporate machine its likely that you will not have rights to make changes to the virusscan settings due to epolicy orchestrator(sp?) being installed. You can stop the virus scan services in the services control panel to get around it, but be forwarned that could get you in plenty of trouble with the IT folks.

If this helps you, please bump the thread to let me know and keep it up top.. unless someone thinks it should be sticky.. hope this helps!

Images for the previous post attached below...

 

[lazyboy325]

If you guys could help me with this i would great appreciate it. The only ViruseScan program i have installed on my computer is Microsoft AntiSpyware and i don't think that has anything to do with that stuff. I do have a firewall on my router that i open ports if needed. Is there a set of ports that need to be open for Civ 4? or am i completely off base

 

[enchanter100]

Lazyboy, open 2056 tcp and UDP. don't know which one it needs but I opened both and it worked.

 

[lazyboy325]

Mr. Horse, you are a GENIUS. I was struggling at this issue for several days and then i came upon your post. I didn't exactly understand it and i did not think it would apply to me because i could not find McAfree (sp?) on my computer. The only thing i would add to your post is that if you cannot open the VirusScan console with ease (on desktop or bottom right corner) the defult spot for it is C:\Program Files\Network Associates\VirusScan then open mcconsole. Apart from that, thank you very very much Mr. Horse and this SHOULD be a sticky. I'm about to see if this works on my brother who has the same problem

 

[Mr. Horse]

Thanks Lazyboy, I updated the post above with that info and with another method of making the changes for people comfortable with regedit.

Anything that blocks or drops IRC traffic will potentially cause the same issue we had, its just that nobody thinks to look at the virus scanner software when packets are dropped. heh.

 

[mattigus]

I still have this problem, and I don't have McAfee. I have tried turning off my anti-virus software, Symantec, and it still doesn't work.

 

[Mr. Horse]

Something is dropping your IRC traffic. Perhaps you have another firewall application or something in your DSL / Cable Router that is blocking the traffic?

 

[mattigus]

I don't think so. Then again, I live on a college campus. Could the campus be blocking the ports used by the game?

 

[mattigus]

Then again, maybe it isn't the campus. I can join a person's game through a direct IP connection. However, no one can join a direct IP connection game that I create. It's like I have a connection issue with internet games, but not with direct IP. What does that mean?

 

[BrandonIT]

That is a mighty fine catch there, Mr. Horse. I am having this problem and cannot participate in ANY internet games, but I can do local LAN games. I am going to check and see if my McAfee Virusscan 8.0 is blocking my IRC. Bump for this so I can find it after I test tonight.

If this does turn out to be the problem, I would beg a mod to sticky this, or put it in a troubleshooting FAQ for network difficulties.

 

[Mr. Horse]

That is a mighty fine catch there, Mr. Horse. I am having this problem and cannot participate in ANY internet games, but I can do local LAN games. I am going to check and see if my McAfee Virusscan 8.0 is blocking my IRC. Bump for this so I can find it after I test tonight.

If this does turn out to be the problem, I would beg a mod to sticky this, or put it in a troubleshooting FAQ for network difficulties.

I PMed the mod / admin about this thread and have yet to hear back.

If you can't host a game then port 2056 is blocked / natted inbound somewhere and thats why you can't host, BUT that shouldn't prevent you from joining a game. I'd say that IRC packets are being dropped somewhere as that's what causes the error. Using TCPview I could see the connection on ports in the 29000 range to the server but not the IRC traffic because the McAfee netfilter was sitting between my network interface and the game and dropped the traffic there I think. Anyhow, See if other IRC clients work properly for you (I get random disconnects with IRC clients and can't connect to some servers on port 6666 for instance) if that doesn't work either then you know what the issue is.

perhaps call someone in the campus support and see if they know if IRC is blocked somehow.

 

[Brutus2]

I feel like an idiot but I can not find what you guys are talking about. I think my McAfee Virus scan is a different version but I also can not connect to server with an existing gamespy account.

I am getting an "Log in attempt failed" message when I try to log in to my exisiting gamespy id account within civ IV.

I have McAfee Security Center. When I open the Security Center I can not find anything in the Viruscan or Personal Firewall settings about Access Protection or IRC blocking. I also do not have a Program Files / Network Associates folder nor do I have a mcconsol.exe file.

edited: corrected exact text of error message

 

[Mr. Horse]

I feel like an idiot but I can not find what you guys are talking about. I think my McAfee Virus scan is a different version but I also can not connect to server with an existing gamespy account.

I am getting an "unable to connect to server" message when I try to log in to my exisiting gamespy id account within civ IV.

I have McAfee Security Center. When I open the Security Center I can not find anything in the Viruscan or Personal Firewall settings about Access Protection or IRC blocking. I also do not have a Program Files / Network Associates folder nor do I have a mcconsol.exe file.

The version I have is VirusScan Enterprise 8.0i which is a totally seperate product than the Security Center product you have. I have not worked directly with that tool but I know for a fact that Security Center has a firewall component in it, so I strongly suggest that you contact McAfee or consult the documentation on how to enable IRC traffic with your specific product version. Then post back here what your results were.

Sorry I can't give you a direct answer on how to fix it with your software.

 

[Brutus2]

I tried disabling McAfee Firewall alltogether and Windows Firewall is also turned off but I still get the "log in attempt failed" error. Does this mean the Firewall is not the issue or is it still blocking somehow even when disabled?

 

[Mr. Horse]

if the exact error message you get is not
"The Connection to the server browser failed" then this is not your solution.

if you get a login attempt failed it is likely due to your gamespyid ... There are a few threads with suggestions on things to try. I strongly suggest trying to log into gamespyid.com and see what alises there are for your account or just creating a new account.

 

[Brutus2]

I have been to gamespyid.com and I know I am using the correct username/ID

At first I was using the wrong username and it told me the username could not be found. Then I saw the note about gamespyid.com. I went to the site and got my correct username.

So, I go back into CIV and using the correct username and password I now get the Login Attempt Failed error. So I know I am using the correct name/password yet it still does not connect. I guess when I get home tonight I will try to set up a new account from within Civ IV which means setting up a new phony e-mail account somewhere which is such a hassle when I have a gamespy account already.

Thanks for your help, I do appreciate the suggestions.

 

[Master Ray]

I had the same sign on problems until I upgraded to a new Geforce 5500 FX graphics card. Now no problem signing in to gamespy. Maybe there is a minimum spec to sign in? Old card was Geforce 4000 MX.

 

[GERRARD]

awsome, i can connect now, damn macfee....norton is much better, had no problems like this