Punkbuster Ban Problem

[ooblushy88oo]

Hi there! I really hope someone can offer some help, this is a last resort..I've been to Google and I searched all over and can't find much. I've asked around too and nobody can help me.

Okay, so I got Cod4 about 2-3 months ago and it played fine, I could play single and multi-player without any problems. I then stopped playing for a good month and decided to play tonight and it just won't work.

The game itself loads but when I try to join a server, I get booted right away!
A message appears saying I've been perm. banned.

Here's the pic:



I then thought well maybe my version of pnkbuster is out of date so I went to their site and updated it and tried again, still didn't work...I then uninstalled my game 3x and re-installed and still nothing.

I am patched up to 1.7 if that helps?

I'm hoping one of you 'lads can help a girl out...

[Silent-Sniper]

You didn't use any hacks or anything in any game that runs a Punkbuster server did you? (not just including COD4).

If not, then try emailing support@evenbalance.com.

[ooblushy88oo]

Thank you for answering!

No I did not use any hacks at all...this is the first online multiplayer PC game I've played.

I will send them an e-mail...do you have any clue what it could be?

[Silent-Sniper]

No worries. Unfortunately not, I don't actually play the PC version so just posting on what I've learned/read so far.

Hopefully the PC guys will be able to shed a bit more light on your situation. If you don't have many more replies over the next 2-days, I'll move this thread to the PC section as it might get a few more views in there.

Let me know what the staff at Even Balance say, hopefully they can fix it for you so you can get playing again.

Best of luck!!

[ooblushy88oo]

Thank you so much for offering up help!

I've e-mailed them and once I get a reply, I will come back and let you know!

My luck..just when I want to play too... Damn!

[Silent-Sniper]

Moved to the PC section in hope of more replies.

Someone please help her out .

[FunkY]

Thank you so much for offering up help!

I've e-mailed them and once I get a reply, I will come back and let you know!

My luck..just when I want to play too... Damn!

Yer... Good luck with that... I doubt it will do any good though...

Did you submit a ticket here: Even Balance Technical Support - End User License Agreement (I can't link you directly to it as you need to click on the agreement first)?

Before we try to fix the problem, I think we need to identify what caused it in the first place, otherwise it will probably just happen again. (This is going to be a bit long winded unfortunately...)

We have put into effect a new policy of globally banning all PB GUIDs associated with publicly posted CDKeys. Punks have been using these public CDKeys to cheat on PunkBuster servers with private hacks. This news post is to give a heads up to the honest community about why these bans are going into effect and also to once again warn about downloading and "testing" cheats/hacks.

Players should also NEVER use a peer-to-peer Internet file sharing program that shares the game folders on their hard drive - that is the same as giving away your CDKey to punks. We will not reverse these bans. If your GUID is banned in this sweep, then you will need to either play on non-PB Servers or obtain and protect another legitimate CDKey that has not been delivered (with or without your knowledge) to the punks.

AND

The cost of hacking on PunkBuster servers has just gone up significantly. PunkBuster now computes Hardware GUIDs for various pieces of hardware on players' systems while playing on PunkBuster servers. We use multiple private one-way hashes so that no serial number information for individual computers can be determined by admins or anyone else who may try to obtain this information from a Hardware GUID (and as always, no personal information of any kind is examined, stored or transmitted by PunkBuster).

When players raise a violation that corresponds to hacking or interfering with PunkBuster's normal operation, we now (in addition to Global PB GUID bans) are Globally banning the new Hardware GUIDs across all games supported by PunkBuster (including games supported in the future). So punks who are determined to cheat so badly on PB-enabled servers that they try to hack PunkBuster may now need a new computer in addition to a new cdkey in order to return to PunkBuster servers. As with previous PB GUID Global bans, the new Hardware GUID bans are permanent and will not be lifted. As always, players who are affected by these Global bans will still be able to play on non-PB servers.

Honest users should never "test" hacks that claim to interfere with PunkBuster. We have successfully tested this new feature set over the past few weeks for a few supported games and will be rolling it out to all supported games over the next few days and weeks. Additionally, PunkBuster servers will be updated to signify whether kicks for Global bans are for PB GUIDs or the new Hardware GUIDs.

Depending on what the hardware ban has used to identify your computer, there's a few solutions...

MAC address: If PB is using your MAC address to ID you, it can be a LOT simpler (or a lot harder depending on your system). Basically you need to change your MAC address, and there are various ways of doing this. The easiest is to use the other ethernet port on the back of your PC (if you have one), and make a few minor configuration changes.

Hard disk serial number: PB could be using the serial number of your hdd to ID you, in which case you'll need to install a new one, and either remove the old one or set it up as a raid drive...

CD/DVD key: If it's using your product key, you're screwed, you need to get a new one.

Now as I said earlier, before you do any of this we need to find out why you got banned... You say you've not used any hacks or such, but does anybody else have access to the computer? Have they used any? What security software are you using? Is it up to date? Is it infallible? (NO)...

Go to Free ESET Online Antivirus Scanner and do an online scan. You'll temporarily need to disable any installed antivirus products while you run this scan.

Download 'Spybot S&D' from: The home of Spybot-S&D! install it, (You don't need TeaTimer) update it, run the immunization, run a full scan.

Download 'Adaware' from: Ad-Aware 2008 Free - Lavasoft again, install it, update it, run a full system scan.

[ooblushy88oo]

Thanks funkmonky for taking the time to write to this thread, I appreciate it.

I actually did get a reply from PnkBuster (surprised, I was too)
They said for me to write to 7Balance, so I did that...doubt they'll answer.

After all this reading and Googling, I've come to the conclusion that I've been "stiffed".
It is indeed my CD/DVD-key that is bad because I had a friend test his game using my key and he got the same message.

When I got the game, I bought a CD-Key from a pubescent little maggot and it turns out he got over on me.
Ah the joys of pirating, I should have known better. Serves me right for buying over the internet...

At the time when I got the key, it worked fine...and I had no problems but I guess it was traced and now I'm screwed, for now anyway. I know he has other keys so I'll be e-mailing him, to be sure to get another one.

I figured as much, it would end up being my CD-key because my computer can definitely handle the game,
so I knew it wasn't hardware issues.

As for everything else you mentioned, nobody uses this computer except me and I already have 'Spyot S&D and Ad-Adware and I use AVG. I'm up to date with everything virus wise (big nerd) so that's one less hassle!

I really appreciate your help and I apologize for wasting your time, it's all my fault.

I hope I don't get in trouble here for mentioning piracy, so please remove this thread if that is the case...

Thank you funkmonky!