Connection to the Game Server Problem???

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Dan Jensen wrote:
>
> I keep getting "A connection to the game server could not be established.
> Unspecified error" I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but to no
> avail. I have Windows XP SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I am on
> a high-speed Comcast cable connection with speeds 4+ Mbps.
>
> Thoughts?

It's probably Norton causing the problem.
http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall

--
+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

I disabled Norton Internet Security and the Antivirus and tried again. I
still get the same error message. Other thoughts?

"Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
news:423EC1F4.6E2E66D3@iglou.invalid...
> Dan Jensen wrote:
>>
>> I keep getting "A connection to the game server could not be established.
>> Unspecified error" I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but to no
>> avail. I have Windows XP SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I am
>> on
>> a high-speed Comcast cable connection with speeds 4+ Mbps.
>>
>> Thoughts?
>
> It's probably Norton causing the problem.
> http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
>
> --
> +Elmo_Tech
> MSN® Gaming ZoneT - Technical Support

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Dan Jensen wrote:
>
> I disabled Norton Internet Security and the Antivirus and tried again. I
> still get the same error message. Other thoughts?
>
> "Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
> news:423EC1F4.6E2E66D3@iglou.invalid...
> > Dan Jensen wrote:
> >>
> >> I keep getting "A connection to the game server could not be established.
> >> Unspecified error" I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but to no
> >> avail. I have Windows XP SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I am
> >> on
> >> a high-speed Comcast cable connection with speeds 4+ Mbps.
> >>
> >> Thoughts?
> >
> > It's probably Norton causing the problem.
> > http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall

SP2 also adds the new Windows firewall, and enables it. If there's a
router used with the cable connection, it could be blocking ports too.
Here's a link to a NibblesNbits page which has links to Port Detective
and other help for blocked ports:

http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html

--
+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

"Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
news:423F5E7D.C2009C59@iglou.invalid...
> Dan Jensen wrote:
>>
>> I disabled Norton Internet Security and the Antivirus and tried again.
>> I
>> still get the same error message. Other thoughts?
>>
>> "Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:423EC1F4.6E2E66D3@iglou.invalid...
>> > Dan Jensen wrote:
>> >>
>> >> I keep getting "A connection to the game server could not be
>> >> established.
>> >> Unspecified error" I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but to
>> >> no
>> >> avail. I have Windows XP SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I
>> >> am
>> >> on
>> >> a high-speed Comcast cable connection with speeds 4+ Mbps.
>> >>
>> >> Thoughts?
>> >
>> > It's probably Norton causing the problem.
>> > http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
>
> SP2 also adds the new Windows firewall, and enables it. If there's a
> router used with the cable connection, it could be blocking ports too.
> Here's a link to a NibblesNbits page which has links to Port Detective
> and other help for blocked ports:
>
> http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html
>
> --
> +Elmo_Tech
> MSN® Gaming ZoneT - Technical Support

Thanks for the additional information. I confirmed that the Windows
firewall was not enabled. At this time I do not have a router. Not sure
what to do now?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Dan Jensen wrote:
>
> "Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
> news:423F5E7D.C2009C59@iglou.invalid...
> > Dan Jensen wrote:
> >>
> >> I disabled Norton Internet Security and the Antivirus and tried again.
> >> I
> >> still get the same error message. Other thoughts?
> >>
> >> "Elmo" <elmogeek@iglou.invalid> wrote in message
> >> news:423EC1F4.6E2E66D3@iglou.invalid...
> >> > Dan Jensen wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> I keep getting "A connection to the game server could not be
> >> >> established.
> >> >> Unspecified error" I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling but to
> >> >> no
> >> >> avail. I have Windows XP SP2 and Norton Internet Security 2005. I
> >> >> am
> >> >> on
> >> >> a high-speed Comcast cable connection with speeds 4+ Mbps.
> >> >>
> >> >> Thoughts?
> >> >
> >> > It's probably Norton causing the problem.
> >> > http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/MultiPlayer.html#fwall
> >
> > SP2 also adds the new Windows firewall, and enables it. If there's a
> > router used with the cable connection, it could be blocking ports too.
> > Here's a link to a NibblesNbits page which has links to Port Detective
> > and other help for blocked ports:
> >
> > http://mvps.org/nibblesnbits/PortRoute.html

> Thanks for the additional information. I confirmed that the Windows
> firewall was not enabled. At this time I do not have a router. Not sure
> what to do now?

Did you try setting up NIS according to the following page? If Norton
writes to the Hosts file, merely disabling NIS might not allow access.
Also clear the browser cache.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Step12.html

--
+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

>
> Did you try setting up NIS according to the following page? If Norton
> writes to the Hosts file, merely disabling NIS might not allow access.
> Also clear the browser cache.
>
> http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Step12.html

Thanks for the additional help. I carefully went through every step,
including following the link to the Norton Site and following their
recommendations. I am still getting the same error "A connection to the
game server could not be established. Unspecified error."

The error originally surface when I was on AT&T dial-up and had installed
their Worldnet Accelerator. I always thought the day that I went to
high-speed and uninstalled it, I would be able to use game zone again. The
Accelerator is uninstalled and I have checked for any remnants in the
registry. Is it possible that it destroyed something that I need to
recreate or put back?

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Dan Jensen wrote:
>
> >
> > Did you try setting up NIS according to the following page? If Norton
> > writes to the Hosts file, merely disabling NIS might not allow access.
> > Also clear the browser cache.
> >
> > http://www3.sympatico.ca/nibblesnbits/Step12.html
>
> Thanks for the additional help. I carefully went through every step,
> including following the link to the Norton Site and following their
> recommendations. I am still getting the same error "A connection to the
> game server could not be established. Unspecified error."
>
> The error originally surface when I was on AT&T dial-up and had installed
> their Worldnet Accelerator. I always thought the day that I went to
> high-speed and uninstalled it, I would be able to use game zone again. The
> Accelerator is uninstalled and I have checked for any remnants in the
> registry. Is it possible that it destroyed something that I need to
> recreate or put back?

Accelerators add the address to the hosts file. That bypasses the dns
lookup of the address, which can save a second or two, but if the
address of the site changes, you have this problem. Look for a file
titled hosts (no extension), and edit it with Wordpad (not Notepad).
Remove any line that mentions the Zone, and that might help.

Accelerators also cache documents to speed up the loading of previously
visited pages. How and where that's done, I'm not sure. Usually,
pressing F5, or Shift/F5 will force a clean load of a page, but that
might not help for software outside of IE. You might look for help on
the site where you downloaded the software.

Here's a Google groups search on the subject.
http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=%22worldnet+acce...

Ah, here's a setting I forgot about.. Look at the next to last
paragraph of this thread:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.online-service....

--
+Elmo_Tech
MSN® Gaming Zone™ - Technical Support

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

Dan, is your zone friends list showing connected
before you try to enter the room(s) ?
I used to encounter the same error message and the
only common denominator was zm wasnt connected.
Elmo is among the best of the zone techs and
by my observation in the ng's, probably the hardest
working.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

I can get clear to the point that I can see what game rooms are available.
Then I click on one... for example the Fireside one in checkers. A windows
pops indicating "Connecting to the game server..." and then BOOM... another
window pops up indicating Error "A connection to the game server could not
be established. Unspecified error."

"fastlane" <fastlane@viawest.net> wrote in message
news:5ece51t7f9fnvstovb11vtubonn5vuvvnn@4ax.com...
> Dan, is your zone friends list showing connected
> before you try to enter the room(s) ?
> I used to encounter the same error message and the
> only common denominator was zm wasnt connected.
> Elmo is among the best of the zone techs and
> by my observation in the ng's, probably the hardest
> working.

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

/>
> Accelerators add the address to the hosts file. That bypasses the dns
> lookup of the address, which can save a second or two, but if the
> address of the site changes, you have this problem. Look for a file
> titled hosts (no extension), and edit it with Wordpad (not Notepad).
> Remove any line that mentions the Zone, and that might help.

Thanks for the additional thoughts... I have completed a scan of my entire C
drive and inspected every file that even had host in the name.

>
> Accelerators also cache documents to speed up the loading of previously
> visited pages. How and where that's done, I'm not sure. Usually,
> pressing F5, or Shift/F5 will force a clean load of a page, but that
> might not help for software outside of IE. You might look for help on
> the site where you downloaded the software.

Made sure to clean cache and delete all temp files... no change.

>
> Here's a Google groups search on the subject.
> http://groups-beta.google.com/groups?q=%22worldnet+acce...
>
> Ah, here's a setting I forgot about.. Look at the next to last
> paragraph of this thread:
> http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.online-service....

Started to work through the Google groups archives... still no luck  

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

It does seem Norton Internet Security is preventing the page opening and I
have seen cases where even right-click disabling fails to correct the
problem in certain circumstances.. See this instruction clip on the correct
set-up for NIS and the zone.

http://zonesysops.com/modules.php?name=Clips&file=nis

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

"+_ReverendJJ" <zm@when_im_online> wrote in message
news:uvk0euAQFHA.2136@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> It does seem Norton Internet Security is preventing the page opening and I
> have seen cases where even right-click disabling fails to correct the
> problem in certain circumstances.. See this instruction clip on the
> correct set-up for NIS and the zone.
>
> http://zonesysops.com/modules.php?name=Clips&file=nis
>
>

Thanks for the help. I carefully went through every step,
including following the link to the Norton Site and following their
recommendations. I am still getting the same error "A connection to the
game server could not be established. Unspecified error."

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.games.zone (More info?)

are you able to launch zone friends?
if so zone message me when you see me online

"Dan Jensen" <DJensen@att.net> wrote in message
news NWdnYaY_t3KLcDfRVn-og@comcast.com...
> "+_ReverendJJ" <zm@when_im_online> wrote in message
> news:uvk0euAQFHA.2136@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> It does seem Norton Internet Security is preventing the page opening and
>> I have seen cases where even right-click disabling fails to correct the
>> problem in certain circumstances.. See this instruction clip on the
>> correct set-up for NIS and the zone.
>>
>> http://zonesysops.com/modules.php?name=Clips&file=nis
>>
>>
>
> Thanks for the help. I carefully went through every step,
> including following the link to the Norton Site and following their
> recommendations. I am still getting the same error "A connection to the
> game server could not be established. Unspecified error."
>
>