Losing my mind, returned after 2 years and still can't connect to friend

[rnz]

We've tried both Online, Offline, and Local servers, none worked. I don't know what to say but this is just an abysmal experience for both of us.

Problems we've encountered:

Online: Server is not responding. Server shows, but ping shows as "???"

Local: Server not showing. We actually needed to install RadminVPN to find the server of one another but it is still unplayable because of high ping (380+).

           Tried Hamachi, worked for a day, then stopped working afterwards.

WTF IS HAPPENING? THIS IS JUST PLAIN STUPID. AFTER 2 YEARS, WE WERE EXPECTING TO PLAY THIS GAME SMOOTHLY BUT THIS IS JUST F'D UP.

Notes:

1. We're in the same household, same wifi, same internet, same modem.

2. Firewall/AV disabled, if not, everything is just allowed, I freaking triple checked it already. DST + Nullrender, everything is allowed/unblocked.

3. I'm losing my mind, I can't refund this game either.

4. Steam not opted for beta updates.

5. Game clients same versions.

6. WHAT ELSE? WE JUST WANTED TO PLAY THIS GAME SMOOTHLY. F THIS.

7. PORTS ARE FORWARDED BTW.

8. WE CAN PLAY ANY GAME ON LAN/ONLINE EXCEPT THIS !@#!@#J

[Maxposting]

Don't use mods?

[AnitaCoffee]

You sure the VPN isn't causing the ping problem? My husband & I play from the same room, our ping is like 15-ish. 

[rnz]

Tried without using mods. No VPN, just pure internet wifi connection direct ISP. The only workaround we found was uninstall and install the game, but it only works for 1 day then it suddenly won't work again.

[Toros]

I suspect the issue is at the router level because nothing else should be causing those problems intermittently.

[gghhrr]

Suggestion For Online

can you describe a little bit more detail about you tried Hamachi / unsinstall & reinstall

but "they just work for one day"?

 

Does this mean after that you or another one can't join the host side again?

or the client is getting poor ping and unplayable while only host is working fine?

This can be host-side CPU poor performance as I've encountered for few years ago

 

at beginning everything is fine, and server is getting laggy after few in-game days

If that is, try hosting the server at third computer, if nothing get better, possibly network problem

 

sometimes ping show "???" but I still able to play smoothly, refresh or ignore it

 

Lan:

this actually seems like router-level problem as Toros said

from my experience, Lan is actually working pretty good ( last time I played in LAN with friend is about 5 years ago )

We have only one router and connect via Wifi without second/intermediate router that possibly delay internet

 

[rnz]

We can literally ping each other with like 4ms only on LAN. Lol our workaround stopped happening today. First, she found my hosted server then she clicked refresh and poof she can't find my server again. Wtf is with that.

We even uninstalled our AV. If she tries to connect ONLINE, my ping server shows ??? and it just says server not responding. On ONLINE LOCAL SERVER, she just can't find my server. Please help. I don't think it's with the modem. Every time we uninstall then reinstall the whole game, everything works just fine! Just give it a day and everything won't work again. I'm at my wits end really. All ports are forwarded, I did it myself. We could also find other servers which are on 40ms+ but we just wanna play our own server. Sigh.

[Wurtool]

Try to remember the name of the server and look for it in the search bar, so it should show, I had it.

Sorry for the bad English, I hope it helped.

[rnz]

Ok, folks. I managed to solve the problem myself. But what fixed it, idk, you decide. I hope other people who have the same problem manages to read this.

I did everything mentioned below. Any of the following could've been the one that fixed my problem:

1. Resetting DNS settings

2. Resetting hosts file

3. Opting for steam beta testing

4. Running steam from its location as admin

6. Running DST from its location as admin

[Zillvr]

Hello @rnz, welcome (back) to the forums. I only caught wind of the thread and it seems you've already solved it before I finished my write up of possible workarounds. This is a really odd case and as many have guessed it's a possibility that it's a communication issue between your two game clients. What likely fixed it is forcing the game to Run as Administrator, that itself often fixes communication issues for games that requires admin permissions to operate properly.

Thank you for taking the time to sort through multiple possibilities and methods and listing what you've done and tried. Now hopefully this thread would help other users who may be experiencing the same thing but be able to fix the issue instantly. So thank you.

Cheers.

[.OS]

Do you have the same problem connecting on other games? If you do then It probably is not because of DST.

[rnz]

AND IT'S NOT WORKING AGAIN. GOD HELP US. WE CAN SEE OTHER SERVERS, JUST NOT EACH OTHER. WE REALLY NEED HELP. @Zillvr

 

[Zillvr]

@rnz ok, could you attack your client_log.txt files? Found under Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether. From both PCs. Maybe that can shed more light on the issue.

You tried to "running DST from its location as admin", was is just a simple Right Click > Run as Administrator ?

OR did you? Right Click > Properties > Compatibility Tab > Check "Run this program as administrator"?

The first method would only run the game ONCE as admin, while the second method would ALWAYS run the game file as admin.

[rnz]

client_log.txt

I checked always run as admin in the compatibility in both laptops. @Zillvr

[Zillvr]

@rnz Can you also attach the other PC's client_log.txt

Both PCs can open Browse Games, right? You just can't find each other's server?

Also when you host from the host game screen, whichever slot # you used, get the server_log.txt for that cluster_#:

• Go to Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether\Cluster_#\Master (wherein # corresponds to the server slot you used)
• Get server_log.txt

That log file may also hold pertinent information. The client_log.txt file you attach doesn't seem to show any odd failures except (Failed to initialize Windows Firewall Profile):

[00:00:04]: [Connect] PendingConnection::Reset(true)
[00:00:04]: Platform: 1
[00:00:04]: Network tick rate: U=15(2), D=0
[00:00:04]: THREAD - started 'Ping Job Thread' (6912)
[00:00:04]: [Warning] CoCreateInstance failed: 0x800706d9
[00:00:04]: [Warning] Failed to initialize Windows Firewall Profile
[00:00:04]: [Warning] Failed to initialize, ignoring AuthorizeApp request
[00:00:04]: THREAD - started 'StreamInput' (2200)
[00:00:04]: loaded ping_cache

Whereas, below is what my own client_log.txt outputs (and I've properly added the game for my firewall + I'm on an Administrator account + disabled antivirus):

[00:00:01]: [Connect] PendingConnection::Reset(true)
[00:00:01]: Platform: 1
[00:00:01]: THREAD - started 'Ping Job Thread' (2992)
[00:00:01]: Network tick rate: U=15(2), D=0
[00:00:01]: Authorized application D:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together\bin\dontstarve_steam.exe is enabled in the firewall.
[00:00:01]: WindowsFirewall - Application already authorized
[00:00:01]: THREAD - started 'StreamInput' (1524)
[00:00:01]: loaded ping_cache

BUT I could be misinterpreting things. You did say you've already triple checked it so for now I'll wait on your other logs files from your other PC and the server_log.txt. In the mean time, I'd hope someone else can also give better insight.

[Von Kartoffen]

I had the same problem with my brother : even by being in the same room, running the game as administrator, disabled any firewall, setting as online or LAN, updating our pilots, rebooting our router, switching our Pc, connecting to the server by Steam...

 

It doesn't work. Eternally showing "Server is not responding" or couldn't even finding the server.

 

But we found a solution. The strangest and probably the most unexpected solution that I have ever seen. Maybe that it will not work for you, maybe that we are just lucky, maybe that this is not even the right solution.

 

You just have to restart the Pc hosting the server.

 

I don't know why, certainly some kind of ancient magic, but it works everytime.

 

Hope it will help you.

[Orangex]

In your modem/router settings, are you both using a dynamic IP address on your network (which may be changing every 24 hours) or is it set to give you each a static IP?

I don't know if this will fix your problem but you mentioned that it only works for a day, and my first thought was maybe it is related to dynamic IPs. Try setting this to static for both of you.

[Thalkas]

Maybe this one old thread can help you. Eternity had same error with [Warning] Failed to initialize Windows Firewall Profile.

[rnz]

@Von KartoffenThanks, man. Your method works well! I don't know why but whenever we restart both laptops, we manage to find each other. I think @Zillvr the devs should look into this bug?