Dedserver and masterlist problem

[RMF]

Hello everyone,

I know there are already some other topics about a server not appearing in the masterlist, but this is probably different. I can connect to the server, it shows on dpmaster when I put &server=IP:PORT behind the url, and I can resolve dpmaster.deathmask.net via nslookup or ping or whatever (all websites work fine). Though in oa_ded.exe it often shows dpmaster.deathmask.net resolved to :27950, so without any IP. I've tried setting sv_master2 to 64.22.107.125 and then sending a manual heartbeat, but that doesn't work either: 64.22.107.125:27950 resolved to :27950
The weird thing is, it worked once (after one failed attempt (attempt=server restart, not heartbeat)), and never again after that (tried like 4 more times).

Any thoughts?

edit: damnit, not used to having a firewall on (have it turned off permanently for like 3 years now)... Eset's firewall appeared to block the resolve.
Though still after /heartbeat (with a successfull resolve), it doesn't show in the list. Now going to restart the server...

edit2: Allright.... the firewall is still completely turned off (and it did resolve just a minute ago as you read above), but now I've restarted the server it suddenly can't resolve it again. After setting master2 to 64.22.107.125:27950 again it did suddenly resolve dpmaster.deathmask.net as well it seems, but still nothing on the serverlist. Even when I start the server with +seta sv_master2 64.22.107.125:27950 it won't show up.

[Gig]

Did you already tried the tests suggested DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Manual/Multiplayer#Testing]here?

[RMF]

curse that page is impossible to read from my phone, will read it this evening (now 16.45 here).

edit: whatever you call curse... Going to read now.
edit2: +dedicated 2! That might be it I didn't install the portforward tool, I've enabled DMZ on the server IP and &server=ip works. But I did forget to set dedicated 2 in the server start command. Going to try now.
edit3: Doesn't help either. Still the same problem.
edit4: Router firmware is up to date, rebooted the router as well...
edit5: That's interresting... Installed the portforward checker, but I can't reach the server on every port, only 27965 (the oa serverport) while DMZ is turned on... Let's see what it does when I forward the whole 27950-27970 range or something.
edit6 (and now I quit editing lol): Nope, still not.

[Gig]

Still nothing?

[RMF]

Still nothing
Could a modified com_hunkmegs have something to do with it?

[Gig]

I don't know. Seems strange that hunkmegs may have some relationship with this, but who knows, I'm not a dev (nor a real server admin).


Anyway, you are saying that the portchecker allows to reach your server, and testing on the masterserver specifying you IP works... but the server does not appear in the list, right?

Are you sure that your router/firewalls (about firewalls, both software and hardware, if you have them) allow outgoing connections to udp port 27950?

If the problem, instead, is that your router changes your source port (but this is caused by NAT/PAT, while you mentioned DMZ, thus I'm not sure), I don't know how could be called an option equivalent to the "Corresponding NAT entry for outgoing connection" in other routers.

Are you able to find the user manuals of your router/firewalls somewhere online and link them to us?

[RMF]

you are saying that the portchecker allows to reach your server, and testing on the masterserver specifying you IP works... but the server does not appear in the list, right?

Yes

Are you sure that your router/firewalls (about firewalls, both software and hardware, if you have them) allow outgoing connections to udp port 27950?

As far as I know, nothing outgoing is blocked at all. Only incoming ports have to be forwarded.

If the problem, instead, is that your router changes your source port (but this is caused by NAT/PAT, while you mentioned DMZ, thus I'm not sure), I don't know how could be called an option equivalent to the "Corresponding NAT entry for outgoing connection" in other routers.

There is a NAT router in between, might be it... Could I see this with wireshark on the server, or would I need to check between the router and the modem?

Are you able to find the user manuals of your router/firewalls somewhere online and link them to us?

I don't know what you want to find in the manual, but I could probably look them up.

[Gig]

Speaking in general, behind a nat/pat only incoming ports have to be forwarded, because the nat makes some sort of firewall, blocking incoming ports unless they are forwarded. But this is a side effect of nat (its main goal is to allow more computers to use the same internet conection; and during the process, the router temporarily opens random ports that are seen from outside as your source ports), and routers often include also dedicated firewall settings that may prevent outgoing traffic on some ports. Usually no need to portforward outgoing, but one may need to allow outgoing traffic. However, in OA the source port of the heartbeat is important (if it is not the same port you opened from outside, you will not see your server in the list), thus maybe a forwarding from inside to outside may fix the problem.

Do you have a router and a modem (not together)? Uhm, this may make things even more difficult.
 Anyway, to do the test with Wireshark, you may send Heartbeat and save the wireshark log, then try to set the router to forward ALL udp traffic to your machine (and firewall to allow it), send heartbeat and compare udp traffic with the previous wireshark log. How many udp packets do you see? Three or more?
Not sure, but I read that some routers have a "dmz host" option that basically portforwards all incoming ports to a single computer (anyway I'm not sure I understood corectly). It could be a quick way to do the test, i guess..

In the router manual, I'd like to check the instructions about portforwarding.

[RMF]

This is the router manual:
http://homedownloads.cisco.com/downloads/userguide/WRT120N_V10_UG_NC-WEB.pdf

For the modem there is no manual it seems, but here is some product page: http://www.thomsontelecom.com.au/speedtouch/speedTouch_530.htm

Good you bring this up though, we got faster internet than the router supports. And our provider provides new modem and routers for free ^_^
But we won't get a new one this week or something, will take some time.

Speaking in general, behind a nat/pat only incoming ports have to be forwarded, because the nat makes some sort of firewall, blocking incoming ports unless they are forwarded. But this is a side effect of nat (its main goal is to allow more computers to use the same internet conection; and during the process, the router temporarily opens random ports that are seen from outside as your source ports), and routers often include also dedicated firewall settings that may prevent outgoing traffic on some ports. Usually no need to portforward outgoing, but one may need to allow outgoing traffic. However, in OA the source port of the heartbeat is important (if it is not the same port you opened from outside, you will not see your server in the list), thus maybe a forwarding from inside to outside may fix the problem.

As far as I know there are no options for forwarding outgoing ports.

Do you have a router and a modem (not together)? Uhm, this may make things even more difficult.
 Anyway, to do the test with Wireshark, you may send Heartbeat and save the wireshark log, then try to set the router to forward ALL udp traffic to your machine (and firewall to allow it), send heartbeat and compare udp traffic with the previous wireshark log. How many udp packets do you see? Three or more?

I'll have a look later tonight.

Not sure, but I read that some router have an "dmz host" option that basically portforwards all incoming ports to a single computer (anyway I'm not sure I understood corectly). It could be a quick way to do the test, i guess..

DMZ didn't appear to work. When putting DMZ on, it still blocks every port. Should retry without any other forwarded ports enabled on that IP to be sure, but it seems broken.

[Gig]

Uhm.. Linksys routers do not have a particularily "flexible" sofware, AFAIK... (maybe one may check if an unofficial "DDRWR" or "OPENWRT" firmware is available for a certain model... this would give a router software with much more options, but with a completely different interface, probably more difficult).

Anyway, did you try to completely disable the firewall, see pag 16 (20)? Or to allow all traffic to your server in "Access Restrictions > Internet Access", on page 17 (21)? The images in that manual are very low quality, and I can't read a lot inside them.

[RMF]

Firewall and access restrictions are completely turned off, nothing should be blocked or restricted.

For OpenWRT, I've looked slightly into it once, but don't trust such 3rd party software. Also because I wouldn't know howto get the original back if it fails or lacks functionality (or security).

[Gig]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that for installing OpenWRT or DDWRT, one should simply download the appropriate version for his router, then go in the "update software" menu of his router, simply selecting the modified firmware instead of one downloaded from the original manufacturer.

To revert to an original router firmware, I think it should be enough to download the latest official firmware from the original manufacturer, and select that file in the update menu again. Anyway, one may chek in the openwrt/ddwrt documentation.

Anyway, maybe I could have some try with a Linksys router in the next weeks (but not the same model of yours! One with an integrated modem...)... in that case, I could try by myself to setup theport forwarding.