latest Win10 Version Interference w\ AHIII

[Pudgie]

I'm on the same version of Win10. All updates. Not having any issues with AH.

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Yeah I know that this is on my end w\ this copy of Win 10 I have (Home retail version) since it appears that no one else has ran into that started occurring on my box back in late Feb\early Mar of this year out of the blue. Prior this I had no issues either.

A reset of Win 10 would most likely rectify my issues but I done got old & slow since. Also doesn't help my motivation to fix it either w\ the full version downloading being so fast nowadays so the workaround is easily the lesser of the 2 evils............

 

[Drano]

Ah! I have pro, maybe that's it. I got that version so I could have at least some minor control over the updates. Not much more mind you!

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[Bizman]

Yeah I know that this is on my end w\ this copy of Win 10 I have (Home retail version) since it appears that no one else has ran into that started occurring on my box back in late Feb\early Mar of this year out of the blue. Prior this I had no issues either.

A reset of Win 10 would most likely rectify my issues but I done got old & slow since. Also doesn't help my motivation to fix it either w\ the full version downloading being so fast nowadays so the workaround is easily the lesser of the 2 evils............

 

Have you tried fixing the current Windows instead of reinstalling it? I'd start by running "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" (without quotes) in admin privileged Command prompt or Power Shell and after that "sfc /scannow" to see if they fix anything.

If that proves unsuccessful, upgrading to your current (same) version of Windows from a memory stick created by the instructions on https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 should leave your programs and files untouched.

[Pudgie]

Have you tried fixing the current Windows instead of reinstalling it? I'd start by running "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" (without quotes) in admin privileged Command prompt or Power Shell and after that "sfc /scannow" to see if they fix anything.

If that proves unsuccessful, upgrading to your current (same) version of Windows from a memory stick created by the instructions on https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 should leave your programs and files untouched.

Hi Bizman,

Sorry for the delay.....................bee n busy w\ wife after her foot surgery........ Thanks for the suggestions (had forgot about trying those)!

Have tried to run DISM as you have typed but kept getting an "error 87", then retyped it to use online-wim instead of online-image (what was shown thru the help command) but still kept getting the "error 87" so I then for giggles ran sfc /scannow not expecting the results to show any errors and the results of the scan confirmed it.........reported no errors found.

Haven't taken the time to research the error 87 within DISM yet but I'll get around to it at some point but I also am not hopeful that this, once resolved, will find\correct anything either simply due to nothing actually being wrong structurally within Windows (especially if it's a specific Windows security type update that is targeting something specific within the AHIII client updater\server upgrade process starting from late Feb\early Mar of this year onward......).

Just the fact that I can download the full AHIII install version (which still uses the same AHIII client updater) to my drives then run it from my box's mem once it's loaded (gets all this thru all Windows security protocols) IMHO pretty much points to this. I do know it's not specific to Windows Defender (have already ran numerous tests including removal of WD) and my WebRoot SecureAnywhere AV software (have done the same as w\ WD) so the issue is strictly within the OS itself, most likely thru a specific Windows update that came during the late Feb\early Mar time frame while I had vers 1909 running that vers 2004 hasn't\didn't rectify and I couldn't (or haven't taken the time needed to) find and remove so unless I can find the source of the issue and remove it, it isn't gonna make much sense to go thru an OS reset\reinstall when just downloading the full version of the game whenever a game update is available to update the AHIII client to the latest version works just fine for now. This issue doesn't affect any other application on my box......only AHIII and ONLY when AHIII is attempting to auto run it's updater to patch up the game client as I have shown.

The fact that no other Win 10 users are having this issue is making this issue most likely specific to my box's specific setup\configuration in accordance w\ Windows but I haven't changed anything during the late Feb\early Mar timeframe configuration-wise (all changes were done in Dec '19 w\ last UEFI upgrade done in Jan '20) to give a clue into this outside of some specific Windows update I missed that got installed.........

Will eventually get to the bottom of it.

 

[hitech]

I worked with Pudgie for a while yesterday and isolated the issue. I have never seen this before.

His system will not let Aces High connect to port 80 (the normal http port) . AH is failing when ever it tries to connect to dload.hitechcreations.com port 80 to download a file. This is identical to how a browser downloads a file. He can go to a browser and download the file (like terrains and terrsets) install it in AH and he runs fine.

Just had one thought I had not asked pudgie if he is running a VPN. This could possibly be intercepting the html headers and doing something strange.

But anyone seen any thing like this?

HiTech

[TequilaChaser]

Could be something in his router settings possibly blocking port 80

Depending on if he is using certain router features..... Could also happen in Windows10's firewall/ network settings if he has accessed it and possibly accidentally changed settings

Just some thoughts

Best of luck with it

[Pudgie]

Have you tried fixing the current Windows instead of reinstalling it? I'd start by running "DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth" (without quotes) in admin privileged Command prompt or Power Shell and after that "sfc /scannow" to see if they fix anything.

If that proves unsuccessful, upgrading to your current (same) version of Windows from a memory stick created by the instructions on https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 should leave your programs and files untouched.

Update:
After working w\ Hitech yesterday I got around to checking into the error 87 in DISM.......invalid parameter. I went back over how I typed it in Command prompt and found I had fat-fingered it.....typed it in correctly & ran it........all ran successfully then again ran sfc /scannow.....and again all came back clean but when I went to test the game again I got the same issues so I finally broke down last night & went thru the process. I went ahead & updated my graphics card drivers to the latest vers then downloaded the Windows Media Creation tool, set it up to reinstall Win 10 Home x64 keeping my external files & programs intact & reinstalled the OS. All went well w\ no hiccups or issues so she came back up clean w\ all still intact & functioning well. Was after 2:08 hrs MDT so I shut it down & went to bed.

Got up this morning & tested AHIII to see if we got anywhere (had manually updated game yesterday).....game would start up fine, went online to the arena clipboard fine, was pinging the AHIII arena server just fine but when I clicked to go into any arena my box wouldn't allow the AHIII server to download the terrains to my box & allow access to the arenas....would default back to the AHIII menu clipboard. So I got an idea to move the entire game folder to another folder on my E:\ drive so I could then manually reinstall AHIII back to the same syntax so it would be a fresh install (not written over) but to my box it would look the same. Got that done, made all the geek tweaks to the Settings folder then ran it. Game started up just fine, went online to the arena clipboard just fine, pinging the AHIII arena server just fine. Tried to enter the Open Melee arena.....it downloaded the terrain/connected up just fine....all looks well....but then backed out & tried to access the rest of the arenas (which reside on the same server so pinging the same IP address) to test.....my box blocked all the other arenas but will now allow the Open Melee arena to download\run just fine.

Hitech informed me that he was pushing down a game patch this morning so that we could test to see if the patching interference was resolved\still present. Started & signed into the game after some time, saw the dialog box indicating that a patch was available, clicked it to run it & my box promptly blocked it as seen in the video I posted so this issue still exists. Hitech had also sent me the link to get it manually if it did get blocked so I manually patched up to patch 14 then went to start the game.....game started up just fine, went online as stated earlier just fine, accessed the Open Melee arena just fine, ran just fine but still would not access any other arenas except the Open Melee arena. Just to clarify, all this is happening w\ both Windows Defender AND WebRoot Anywhere AV's fully active w\ AHIII setup in both to allow the game full access thru the firewalls (checked & verified MANY times) & it appears that both firewalls are allowing AHIII clear passage so this is the quandry I have going on. The reinstall of Win 10 doesn't appear to have had an effect so it would "appear" to be software related....something on my box is blocking HTTP port 80 when AHIII servers are trying to access it to run the patch updater or when AHIII arena server is trying to download terrains\connect the arenas to the game client on my box but I have absolutely no idea of what it could be as I haven't installed any new software since I upgraded the CPU\mobo back in Dec '19....why I suspect some Windows update as a cause but I have no idea as to which 1.....the reinstall won't rectify this either as it will reinstall all of them as well to the fresh install.

So this is the monster I'm trying to chase down within my box but now at least I can play the game again! 

Gonna take awhile but eventually will be found.

Could be something in his router settings possibly blocking port 80

Depending on if he is using certain router features..... Could also happen in Windows10's firewall/ network settings if he has accessed it and possibly accidentally changed settings

Just some thoughts

Best of luck with it

Been going down that path as well TC. I have checked, rechecked, checked some more, reset my modem\router several times....router setup is default & has been working fine (outside of Centurylink recently having issues at their DSLAM & our router getting too hot due to the wife crowding too many pictures around it blocking airflow to it--uses passive cooling--cleared some space around it then reversed the ceiling fan rotational direction to output airflow across the ceiling & down the walls to create air movement around the modem\router.....fixed the overheating) so can't find any issues there. Now as for my onboard LAN's network settings I'll have a look at them but I wouldn't know which setting(s) would try to block access to a specific port for any application much less just AHII as the only settings I changed in there are the transmit\receive bit widths. I'll go back & reset all this back to default to see if this changes anything but I kinda doubt it. I did run a traceroute to the AHIII server IP address from my Centurylink router & it failed a couple of times but finally went thru & completed....but running Ping Plotter from my box to the same address at the same time completed every time so I just might look into trying another modem\router if I can't find anything in Windows but all hops that were showing failing were not located in my general area of the state (including the Albuquerque area) so I can't see the router being bad at this time anyway.

I did recently update the LAN drivers to try to see if updating the drivers would fix this but it did not.

This has been for me a tough nut to crack w\ as of this time going thru a clean wipe\reinstall of OS then manually updating it along w\ individually installing every piece of software to try to catch the culprit is not something I'm looking forward to be doing just yet so I'll just keep nipping at it......at least Hitech helped to confirm what the issue consists of so this narrows it down some.

Now yesterday working w\ Hitech we got Win Defender to shut down & thought we had WebRoot shut down as well to get them out of the way while running tests but when I rebooted my box sometime later Win Defender still showed it was shut down but WebRoot restarted itself somehow, even though I have it checked in the WebRoot Advanced Settings to allow the AV to be manually shut down......

May go in & wipe WebRoot to see if anything changes.................

Well any way now y'all know..................

 
 

PS--Already informed Hitech but I ain't got no VPN going in my system....neither hardware or software....FYI.

[TequilaChaser]

Hey Pudgie

just thinking about it after reading your reply above....

have you ever accessed the settings of your router?   via the router's default assigned ip address to open a webpage and login and change settings etc?  or did you just plug it in and it automatically worked? and has firmware updates set to install automatically?   

If it is all auto, without you doing anything or manual setting it up (my personal preference on routers), then it could have possibly got an automatic firmware update that has a bug in it or something that is causing the port 80 problem..... just trying to brainstorm what could possibly be going on with your gear.....

hope this helps maybe........ Good Luck

TC

[Pudgie]

Hey Pudgie

just thinking about it after reading your reply above....

have you ever accessed the settings of your router?   via the router's default assigned ip address to open a webpage and login and change settings etc?  or did you just plug it in and it automatically worked? and has firmware updates set to install automatically?   

If it is all auto, without you doing anything or manual setting it up (my personal preference on routers), then it could have possibly got an automatic firmware update that has a bug in it or something that is causing the port 80 problem..... just trying to brainstorm what could possibly be going on with your gear.....

hope this helps maybe........ Good Luck

TC

Hey TC,

Yes I have accessed & checked my router's settings directly several times....all still as set for the last yr. Have ran ping & traceroute traces directly from the router to AHIII arena server & AHIII download server & outside of 1 traceroute test to the arena server failing on 1 instance but completing the rest they all came back as good....the only problem w\ this is that I need to perform these tests from my router to these 2 servers specifically thru remote port 80 to validate that there is no issue thru it & the port is open between the 2 (nothing else is occupying/interfering w\ it).

I have done this on my box (all day googling myself thru Networking 101.... ) after deleting WebRoot SecureAnywhere AV to get it out of the way & verifying Windows Security AV is actually allowing AHIII to cleanly pass thru it's firewall & still having the terrains downloaded\arena connections blocked from the AHIII arena server\download server to my box.

Went thru both the Windows Command Prompt (in administrator mode) using the "netstat -aon | findstr :80" command (looks for all running processes that is\are listening to port 80) & finding none across TCP, only UDP (svchost.exe), which the results indicate that I have no rogue processes on my end tying up TCP port 80 to prevent AHIII servers from downloading data packets back to my box from a connection integrity standpoint.

I then followed this up thru Windows Powershell (also in administrator mode) using the "Test-NetConnection -ComputerName (both AHIII server IP addresses) -Port 80" command (tests connection from my box's IP address to the 2 AHIII server's IP addresses thru the remote TCP port 80) in which both test results came back as true meaning the remote TCP port 80 is open from my box thru my router to the AHIII servers so the connection between them both is good so according to these results there is nothing preventing the AHIII servers from connecting thru my router & to my box thru the remote TCP port 80 connection-wise...........

The only thing I can't do is run these same tests from the AHIII servers back thru my router to my box's IP address thru the remote TCP port 80 to verify the connection both directions........

I also reinstalled my LAN drivers to make sure that they're at default settings to see if these were contributing to this issue but got no change.

From here the only other thing I can think of myself that could be an issue is if my router for some reason is misrouting\dropping the incoming AHIII server data packets (they are coming from physical IP addresses) due to mishandling the incoming packet header routing info thus is timing out on us. My router's firmware is the latest vers (was in the router when I bought it from CenturyLink...C1100T ADSL...last yr to replace another router I had...NetGear Nighthawk 1900 ADSL...go bad) so can't reflash it at this time so unless I'm missing some method to actually test my router for this I'm stuck as all else shows to work just fine.....AHIII is the only program\process that is being affected in this manner on my box\system. All local stores in my area have stopped selling ADSL modem\routers for quite some time (everybody going FIOS\cable so only selling cable modem\routers) so I'd either have to go online & order 1 that is compatible w\ CenturyLink's ADSL or have to go to CenturyLink & get another 1 which will take at min 7-10 days to get it in (or longer due to COVID-19 concerns) to replace my existing unit to then see if it rectifies the issues.

I'll see about getting again w\ Hitech to see if he would be willing to test this from his end once I give him my box's IP address (if he don't already have it from prior server logs) to verify if their servers can physically connect to my box thru my router as it is currently configured thru remote port 80..........

I would love to get some confirmation of my router being the issue before going thru the hassle of replacing it...........the data test results I have gathered currently is suggesting that the issue is most likely within my router & not within my computer\LAN.

Now blowing off WebRoot did free up some resources for Windows to boot up much cleaner\faster & run a little more crisp so I got some good out of that but it clearly wasn't the culprit causing my problems w\ AHIII.

Gonna take a break from this thing tomorrow & do some work on my Stang then gotta repair a leak in my sprinkler line that I found this evening after that..............

Getting it narrowed down...................choppi ng 1 limb at a time. Giving me a headache though..................

 

 

[Bizman]

So you can access the Melee arena but not the others?

Have you tested it in Safe Mode? Agreed, it's very clumsy but at least you'd be able to test if you can access an arena or not.

[hitech]

So you can access the Melee arena but not the others?

Have you tested it in Safe Mode? Agreed, it's very clumsy but at least you'd be able to test if you can access an arena or not.

All works fine unless he goes into an arena that needs to download something like a terrain.
The issue is something on his computer is blocking Aces High from connecting on port 80 (http) to do downloads.

He can connect on port 80 (http) with a browser to manually download anything from the same address dload.hitechcreations.com . Hence I can not think of any reason the router would be involved.

HiTech

[Arlo]

All works fine unless he goes into an arena that needs to download something like a terrain.
The issue is something on his computer is blocking Aces High from connecting on port 80 (http) to do downloads.

He can connect on port 80 (http) with a browser to manually download anything from the same address dload.hitechcreations.com . Hence I can not think of any reason the router would be involved.

HiTech

Didn't we once have the opportunity to DL terrains without having to log on and create an arena? Anyhow, I wonder if Pudgie created an arena then meticulously downloaded avery single terrain if that would fix the issue?

[hitech]

Didn't we once have the opportunity to DL terrains without having to log on and create an arena? Anyhow, I wonder if Pudgie created an arena then meticulously downloaded avery single terrain if that would fix the issue?

Is not that difficult now. The offline terrain chooser lets you download them directly.
But that would not help because the game is still being blocked.

HiTech

[Bizman]

All works fine unless he goes into an arena that needs to download something like a terrain.
The issue is something on his computer is blocking Aces High from connecting on port 80 (http) to do downloads.

He can connect on port 80 (http) with a browser to manually download anything from the same address dload.hitechcreations.com . Hence I can not think of any reason the router would be involved.

HiTech

That's why I suggested the Safe Mode in Windows. Often many restricting safety programs are turned off there so if everything works there the culprit must be a-v software related. But as I said, the game is clumsy in Safe Mode so even getting to a download can be challenging.

[Pudgie]

Update:

1st off, I got sidetracked by Mrs. Pudgie this morning so I got delayed from going outside to start work on my Stang but this issue was still buzzing around in my head so I got back into troubleshooting & I think I have now caught the culprit...........after going thru a little more Networking 101 training....... :

The issue is Win 10 telemetry (ntwk.msn.net) starts tracking the AHIII client after the client is initially executed, signed in then right when I click to go online the Win 10 telemetry will tie up the TCP port 80 like it is trying to report in to MS but never destinates & won't release it until I exit the AHIII client. Then Win 10 telemetry releases the TCP port 80.

It doesn't do this to any other program except AHIII.

IOW's it's the damn OS that is blocking the AHIII client from downloading any files from the AHIII servers when the AHIII client initiates the process. As Hitech has noted once we go thru the browser (which gets around this nag) to download any files from the AHIII servers all goes thru then the game will function just fine so I knew that whatever it was that was causing the issue was leaving a trail thru the network....just had to learn how to type this stuff in thru the Windows Command Prompt\Powershell then find the offending IP address\email address then ran it thru Ping Plotter to track the hop hits to locate the network destination to then identify it.......my hunch was what ever it was that it had to come thru a Windows Update as I had done absolutely nothing to have caused anything except to not play for quite a while due to my 2nd retirement gift to myself.....a '09 Ford Mustang GT 45th Anniversary Glass Roof Edition causing me to miss a LOT of playing time driving\modding\breaking & repairing it\hanging out on the online Mustang forums so could have easily gotten by me. Thank COVID-19 for redirecting my attention back to the game................

I could see there was something happening thru the Command Prompt active connections dump (netstat -ab) after trying to run AHIII that was tying up the port right after figuring out the IP sequencing-to-game process steps....right after clicking on the arena to enter it Win 10 telemetry will tie up the TCP 80 port so the game couldn't download terrains\connect to my box thus rinse\repeat until I exited out of the game then Win 10 tele would release the port. When I added the -f suffix to the netstat -ab command (now netstat -abf) this forced the IP address to show as an email address then when I looked thru the active connections again this 1 IP address that kept grabbing the port 80 couldn't be identified so I then ran it thru Ping Plotter which then showed the ntwk.msn.net hop hits but never would reach destination so I then googled the email address which says this is MSN.net.....Win 10 telemetry! This is why it could hold the port 80 hostage......

Ran traces after several attempts to see if I could establish a pattern & saw it was consistently going to this MSN network even though the IP addresses would change (DHCP).

Now I got to figure out where it is located in Windows then kill it to then test to see if all is fixed.................

This is where I'm at at this time.

Steadily chopping off them limbs........................ .

  

 

PS--In chasing this kind of stuff down Networking 101 tracking thru the Windows Command Prompt and Windows Powershell can reveal a LOT of things.......once you learn how to use it.....

Funny thing is bout back in '98-'99 I had enrolled to take night courses @ San Juan Community College here in Farmington to get a degree in Networking (was suggested by the college counselor when they saw my transcripts as they saw this field was going to grow up here) while working in the oilfield (w\ ConocoPhillips) to use as a potential side gig for some extra money whenever I reached retirement. Tried for 1 semester to attend classes at night while putting in 12-14 hr days at work but I just couldn't make it work out so I dropped out............

Funny how all this stuff seems to always find a way to come back into my focus...............