Unable to log into Characters in XI.

[Karbuncle]

Hey guys, So i'll give you the full details here. I think this fits more under Technical support than either XI section as this is a technical related issue.

I was playing FFXI fine the last week or so, since the log in campaign. Yesterday I went to do some Campaign, was able to zone multiple times through cities, but the second I entered a Non-city area (In this case, Meriph. Mountains (S)), I disconnected while Downloading data and got the "Timed out" error and such. When logging back in, I get the "Same Character is logged in", "Unable to connect to Lobby Server" or "Connection Timed out" error, just depends on how far i get into logging in...

My alt character worked fine until I decided to take him to Meriph Mount (S) to see if it was just that zone, I left my mog gardens into Adoulin, then crystal'd to Jeuno, upon exiting jeuno into Rolanberry fields, my character disconnected, and now I am unable to access either of them.

So it seems once i entered a zone populated by monsters, a non-city zone, I disconnected and cannot access either character entirely. Here's the steps I took.

1) Restarted Computer
2) Restarted Modem/Router entirely
3) Tried on Wired connection
4) Tried on wireless connection
5) Waited overnight in case it was a server issue
6) Deleted the entire game and reinstalled it fresh
7) Turned off Windows Firewall/Added FFXI to exception list

None of this worked, and again it just happened yesterday and I've been playing XI fine on this PC for a few weeks now before this issue occurred. I've submitted a support ticket in game and they just told me to contact technical support, and of course its going to be like 3 days before they even respond to my first request. I tried the official forums but GMs don't apparently actually read any of that unless they want to lock a thread. So now my last attempt is to try the tech minds at BG to see if any of this stands out as a problem you might be able to fix.

One important detail, my brother plays on the same internet connection as me and he is able to play the game fine.

Edit: I'm NOT using Windower, however, I did install and attempt to log in with Windower and still got the same error.

Edit2: Guild wars 2 works fine, FFXIV does not.

[Karbuncle]

Update: Unplugged my Cable from the Router/Modem in my room and plugged it into the Router in my brothers room, I can log onto my characters now. It appears to be an issue with the Router/Modem that is in my room. So it has something to do with the Router/Modem in my room... where should I start on this issue... I've attempted everything I know how before I swapped Routers. Resetting it, fiddling with Security settings on the Modem/IP log in, etc.

[Buffy]

Should be only one modem in the house. It's a tiny bit weird you each have a router in your room though. Can you give a little more info on the network setup?

[orinthia]

Brand of router? Maybe there's a firmware update for it, or custom firmware. If it's a modem, what's the brand and type (cable, dsl, etc)? Is it a combo router with modem (a lot of dsl modems are like this)?

Having multiple modems in one residence is odd but multiple routers not so much. You could try factory resetting the device; you'll want to find the manual to find out how yours does this (usually a tiny recessed button that requires a pen or a paper clip to press and hold for a few seconds). If you have a bunch of custom settings on the device, you may want to take note of what they were and/or have it create a backup file of them first.

[Karbuncle]

Should be only one modem in the house. It's a tiny bit weird you each have a router in your room though. Can you give a little more info on the network setup?

It was a mistake on my part, Its not a separate Router, its an 8-port "Switch", an extension more or less, so he was technically connected to the same router. However, he was running off Wi-Fi the entire time so he's not hard-wired in like I am.

Brand of router? Maybe there's a firmware update for it, or custom firmware. If it's a modem, what's the brand and type (cable, dsl, etc)? Is it a combo router with modem (a lot of dsl modems are like this)?

Having multiple modems in one residence is odd but multiple routers not so much. You could try factory resetting the device; you'll want to find the manual to find out how yours does this (usually a tiny recessed button that requires a pen or a paper clip to press and hold for a few seconds). If you have a bunch of custom settings on the device, you may want to take note of what they were and/or have it create a backup file of them first.

It was a Cisco, and we have Charter DSL with 1 Modem, 1 Router, but we've actually got rid of that one router today because it was 3 years old and after a lot of testing we concluded it may have been the problem. We bought a new one seeing if maybe that was the issue, and it seemed like it was for a while.

Now, he's getting the "Unable to connect to Lobby Server" and "Connection Timed out" errors once he zoned into Ru'Lude gardens (A zone I can access just fine), and my Main is now disconnected and unable to be accessed because she zoned into Western Adoulin (A zone i was entering fine with my mule yesterday even during this issue happening on my main). So I fixed the old issue and was able to log into Meriphataud Mountains (S), do some campaign and such, and we finished up the night, and now completely new zones are causing us to crash and become unaccessible.

It should be noted while one of my characters (Main) Is stuck in purgatory in Adoulin "Downloading Data", My alt character (Mule) is running around in game just fine, in fact I'm logged in on it now. Also, my brother disconnected zoning into Ru'Lude Gardens, and even though he's still unable to access his character in that zone, my mule is walking around it just fine.

With how unusual and specific this shit is and how inconsistent it is between our characters I can't but only assume its got something to do with XI at this point, but more people would be reporting it if that was the case. So I run diagnostics and my brother tries to figure it out and we make little progress here and there only to have it crop up again for another random zone. Its frustrating because it makes 0 sense.

Edit: Eastern Adoulin works fine ._.; I'm not zoning my mule into Western though until I speak with a GM.

[orinthia]

Hmm, try being directly connected to your modem for a while. Sometimes the dsl modem itself is also a router instead of a 'dumb' modem, so it may have its own settings that you could try resetting. Again, look up some support info on the hardware, maybe find out where its internal settings IP is (like maybe 192.168.0.1 or something), and see if you can factory-reset it. It could be your isp or the hardware; ffxi just unlikely. You at least can mess with the hardware for a bit and maybe call up isp tech support about connection issues. Or give it a few more days if you can deal with not playing, or setup a hotspot on your phone and try that for a few minutes to try and move your character out of a dead zone (if you have the data/capability, make sure windows update and such are turned off lol).

[Karbuncle]

Hmm, try being directly connected to your modem for a while. Sometimes the dsl modem itself is also a router instead of a 'dumb' modem, so it may have its own settings that you could try resetting. Again, look up some support info on the hardware, maybe find out where its internal settings IP is (like maybe 192.168.0.1 or something), and see if you can factory-reset it. It could be your isp or the hardware; ffxi just unlikely. You at least can mess with the hardware for a bit and maybe call up isp tech support about connection issues. Or give it a few more days if you can deal with not playing, or setup a hotspot on your phone and try that for a few minutes to try and move your character out of a dead zone (if you have the data/capability, make sure windows update and such are turned off lol).

My brother has fudged with the modem a lot since frankly its a little beyond me atm, including a full reset to factory defaults before we ended up replacing the router, since even a full reset to Factory didn't fix my issue, though it should be noted I directly connected to the Modem for a moment which was when I was able to log in and play, which prompted the assumption our Router was fudged and us replacing the router. So we replaced the router and it seemed fine, everything worked and I was able to log in. Until now, as I mentioned, we're both experiencing the issue.

Some things we did temporary fixed it before we replaced the router, including going into my computers Registries and deleting the Keys for all known network connection... that worked enough for me to log in, leave the zone, but upon zoning back in I got disconnected and back to Lobby errors.

Edit: Still cannot log into my main character after I disconnected zoning into Adoulin. And my Mule still plays perfectly fine.

Edit2: I am plugged directly into my modem now and still cannot access my character.

I'd be more inclined to believe it was strictly my end but its just FFXI thats causing problems and its not even all of FFXI, its just very specific zones that seem to change and don't even effect both of us simultaniously (For instance, I could log into and walk around Ru'Lude while my brother was disconnected and unable to log in because of that zone, and vice versa with him being able to log in to Meriphataud while I was locked out of that zone)... and I also get a lot of "Timed out" and "UNable to connect" while logging in to Playonline in various spots... Its always something like "Network is busy or theres no response from server".

I'm going to call Customer support for Charter tomorrow and see if they can help, even though its only FFXI and only specific zones thats having issues and those zones being different for both of us... wish i could see a commonality here but I'm at a loss.

[orinthia]

I think I remember something like that happening to a friend of mine a long time ago. I had to log in as him to get him through it. I was on ps2 at the time. Have you run a file check in xi or tried reinstalling it (last resort)? I forget what my friend's problem ended up being, but his stuck-zone was a cutscene in bastok that I needed to get him through.

[Karbuncle]

I think I remember something like that happening to a friend of mine a long time ago. I had to log in as him to get him through it. I was on ps2 at the time. Have you run a file check in xi or tried reinstalling it (last resort)? I forget what my friend's problem ended up being, but his stuck-zone was a cutscene in bastok that I needed to get him through.

Yah, I ran a file check and it came up nothing, waited overnight and still had the issue, and then completely uninstalled XI and reinstalled it after, still had the original issue sadly. This was last night before I posted the thread so todays posts are more relevant to my steps thereafter as well.

[orinthia]

Fuck, I'm out of ideas. Next thing is to try getting access to a different connection and trying to see if something changes (keeping your system/install the same). It's why I mentioned the phone hotspot earlier; try tethering/hotspot if you can. Mostly trying to see where something changes since changing routers, resetting the modem, reinstalling the game, different computers, and it's only some zones and not all the time that it happens. If you have a different platform to play on, like 360/ps2, worth a try too. Know someone you trust that can pop in shortly to move you around (last resort, and don't trust me i'm a dolphin)?

[Bukadan]

Go into your ffxi folder in programs or whatever, look for where the macro information is stored, and delete any files that are 0mb. This happened to me once, and this fixed it.

[Karbuncle]

Go into your ffxi folder in programs or whatever, look for where the macro information is stored, and delete any files that are 0mb. This happened to me once, and this fixed it.

Under the "USER" folder in Steam > Square > FFXI i've found some files labled "mcr", 9 of them numbered and .dats, one a .ttl, and one a sys If these aren't if, do you know where to find macro files or what they'd be labeled as?

For what its worth the files I mentioned have anywhere from 1kb to 8kb, none with 0.

Edit: I've googled it and those seem to be the files. I just Cut>Pasted them out of the folder somewhere else, see what happens

[Karbuncle]

I removed every macro file I could find in both user folders, and that did not work...

I found this however, http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxi/th...-one-character. It appears to be people having the same issue as me, over the last couple months or so.

[Karbuncle]

Well, I waited for my brother to get home and we attempted all the work arounds that worked for me yesterday, hoping I could log in to at least get out of the zone and avoid it, but none of those work-arounds worked this time, and it seems I am not completely without hope of accessing my character. I logged in from his PC and was still stuck in Downloading Data, Cleared the network keys in the RegEdit which worked last time, did the typical modem flush/default, so on, so forth... none of the work arounds fixed the problem and I am still unable to access my account.

That said, I was able too (for some reason) Log into my brothers account from my computer and move him out of Ru'Lude, which was disconnecting him stil. Soo... yah, I could still log into FFXI it seems so long as I'm not in these death-zones that lock me out of the game. Can lock this thread really, I've given up and am just going to cancel my account and request a refund, maybe try again some time in the future when someone finds a fix for this that doesn't involve any of the 800 things I've done already :\, maybe SE will even acknowledge this is their side since theres no logical reason why on the same connection I can move his character out of a zone that he's stuck on, but I can't get on my character on his PC but can move him around in a zone he can't get on.. blah blah blah its fucked.

So yah, feel free to close this, if anyone has anything to add you can PM me and I'll try it but it looks like I'm screwed.

[orinthia]

Don't try for a refund, no point as it'll likely make them ban your account instead. Going off what the others mentioned, have you tried creating a new profile? It's like you'd be setting up another account but with your normal info instead. You mentioned steam; you've probably also tried to installers on SE's website right?

And maybe you have an LS mate you trust enough to try and log in for you? Somehow I still think it's in some way your settings files, and the last way to know is a fresh profile and/or on an unrelated system. My ps2 still works though obviously no SoA.

[Karbuncle]

Don't try for a refund, no point as it'll likely make them ban your account instead.

I've never heard of this :\, They have a FAQ on refunds too, I was going to ask them not revoke it on my bank account x.x;

Going off what the others mentioned, have you tried creating a new profile? It's like you'd be setting up another account but with your normal info instead. You mentioned steam; you've probably also tried to installers on SE's website right?

Brother is not using Steam, having the same issue, also people on official forums reporting the issue too =(, there's a few of them reporting from as early as April but another person is having the same issues as me and she began having them the same day as me (June 3rd. she also uses ATT and I'm on charter), so thats a strong coincidence if its something my side (which I know you're not fully implying sorry if this sounds snippy I promise its not even if the tone comes off that way, I suck with relaying my thoughts sometimes, and mostly its because I'm frustrated at how baffling this problem is lol). Also, I'd like to mention what just happened today.

I went to Dangruf Wadi, walked into the zone fine, it worked for me. My brother went into Dangruf Wadi and the zone booted him and he started having the error, so Logged onto his Account from my character and Istill got death screened even though my other character is walking in there fine.

Same computer, same zone, same internet connection, only difference is My character works in that zone, and his does not. I can't make sense of that TBH, the only thing we can think of is that theres a relay hiccup somewhere along he way and one of the things we're bouncing off of is fucked. It may not be Square Enix's fault but I don't think its anything in my control.

Him using a Wireless hotspot allowed him to log on and switch zones though.

And maybe you have an LS mate you trust enough to try and log in for you? Somehow I still think it's in some way your settings files, and the last way to know is a fresh profile and/or on an unrelated system. My ps2 still works though obviously no SoA.

I actually drove to a Target near my house with free Wi-Fi and was able to get out of Western Adoulin, so far so good too... Just avoiding zones I know have disconnected me in the past. So all I did was use a random internet connection and the zone worked fine ... I know that makes it feel more like my internet but again, the above situation with the same computer/internet/zone using different accounts would make zero since if it was strictly my router/modem issue ._.

Edit: I should also mention that when I try to log in through playonline I'll usually run across a single "Timed Out" or "Unable to connect to lobby" error and have to press "Retry" only for it to work perfectly thereafter.

[orinthia]

Yeah, I think you can be as snarky as you feel like in this situation since it's pretty fucked and everything I've thought of hasn't yielded shit for you. Feeling the mad myself at how it refuses to be consistent in any way other than not working lol.

And yeah, if you have your bank try and reverse a charge or something, SE will probably ban you. Though I'm surprised your card still works since even mine stopped working and I had to switch to crysta when I last paid a month of xiv (was reissued one due to those recent card detail leaks).