An interesting problem

I have an interesting problem of sorts.

I use Bridge Base Online ( a massive online multiplayer bridge software found at www. bridgebase.com ) to play bridge over the internet. But for some reason, I seem to have been banned from there. Now heres the thing. Anyone else trying to use the software from my PC, this specific PC, is blocked too. Now, they haven't blocked my account, because on my lap-top, using my normal dail-up, I can connect and play just fine. Apparently it's just THIS machine they seem to have blocked, and ANY logins from this machine.

I'm using WindowsXP on my machine, and connect to the net using an ADSL connection. The IP is dynamic. So, obviously, they aren't blocking the IP.

I un-installed the software, cleared out the Cookies ( assuming they could be one way my PC was being identified ) and downloaded and re-installed the software. Same thing. Login blocked for any account. I then un-installed the software, changed my PC name and ( after rebooting ) re-installed it. Once again, no luck. Now, if it's not my PC name, if it's not my IP, and if it's not a cookie, then how are they able to identify my machine? It's not my account, because like I said, I can connect from any other PC, except this. Any ideas?

Do you have a firewall on that machine or something that wouldn't allow the game to connect? This definitely sounds like a weird problem and something I'm not to sure about, buy do you have something at all that would prevent it from accessing the internet?

RejectKnowledge,
I do not know if this is even possible to block by this but have you tried swapping out your NIC card? I know each NIC card has a unique MAC address and it is possible that they have banned you based upon this signature. The puzzling thing is that you can log on using your account from other pc's! One would think that the easiest step this site could take is just blocking your account. Have you tried talking/contacting the administrator of this site/service? Good luck!

CaptFB

captfb

Thats an interesting problem! And so far you've taken all the proper measures to correct it. After all that I'm amazed its still having an issue. One possible problem could be that tho your ip is assigned dynamically, your client machine is assigned one ip for an extended perios of time... In other words, you connect and get, i dunno say 192.168.50.29 as your ip right... and your client has that ip for say a period of 5 hours at a time, even if you log off... When you log back on, youre assigned that ip again. Sometimes this happens. But I assume you've checked that allready so we can move on to the next thing...
Perhaps there's something else to consider... This sounds a bit more like what the problem could come from ... YOure using a highspeed connection, and its no-dice but your 56k dialup works fine. Uh-huh, okay well it could be that your banned because of the highspeed connection itsself. I dont know exactly how all that online gaming stuff works b/c I dont do it... However I have heard of Quake servers setting bandwith limits (PLEASE folks correct me if I'm wrong) so that one user with a bitchin T-3 won't be able to own the game... and vice versa, a user with a slower connection, with slower ping times can't join and slow the game down... IN theory yeah that could be the problem... Sounds to me liek you've explored every other avenue...
One more thing could be a network issue of some type like if their server has to ping you to test your connectivity and your firewall isnt allowing pings... Or youre spoofing your ip (which you're not doing anyway)... Hope you get that figured out, I'm interested to see how this turns out. Good luck!

Firstly, I'm connecting using a USB modem. So I doubt it's got anything to do with a MAC address. And yes, OWL, I've made sure the IP changed. :)

The firewall I'm running, Norton Personal Firewall 2002, has a policy that allows everything related to Bridge Base Online through. It's been given the permissions. I get a notice from the server saying that I was not allowed to connect. It's definitely not a firewall problem.

As for the speednet thing, I used to be able to connect and play from this PC before, but only recently has this become a problem. It's weird. heh. I need a workaround!!

Any more suggestions?

You said that you installed the software on your PC. That means it has access to the registry. How about a registry entry that does not get cleared when you uninstall?

Well let's see, have you done anything else lately. Installed a patch, a new program, a new driver. Any new Hardware?


Cheers:

Actually, the registry is the only thing I haven't tinkered with. Funny, though. One would think that the registry would be cleaned out with an un-install. Hmm, could that be the problem then? Can a registry entry of a previous installation be used to identify a PC over the internet?

If you need a utility to monitor the registry and see if there are any calls made to a specific key whilst you attempt to log into the game server(s), a quick google search here will yield a few. The only specific one I can think of is regmon, which can be found here.

Were you connecting with the laptop via the same ASDL connection, or at some other place? If you haven't tried the laptop at the same connection as your PC, and you do and it doesn't work, then the game's server(s) might have blocked your IP block (i.e. 148.110.66.XXX), not just a specific IP address. This is what happens to lamers on IRC sometimes, thank god, but I've never seen it happen with a game authenticator(er?). Good luck, let us know if anything works, or if you see any really unusual registry activity!

BTW, what did you do that the servers banned you for? :halo:

If you need a utility to monitor the registry and see if there are any calls made to a specific key whilst you attempt to log into the game server(s), a quick google search here will yield a few. The only specific one I can think of is regmon, which can be found here.

Were you connecting with the laptop via the same ASDL connection, or at some other place? If you haven't tried the laptop at the same connection as your PC, and you do and it doesn't work, then the game's server(s) might have blocked your IP block (i.e. 148.110.66.XXX), not just a specific IP address. This is what happens to lamers on IRC sometimes, thank god, but I've never seen it happen with a game authenticator(er?). Good luck, let us know if anything works, or if you see any really unusual registry activity!

BTW, what did you do that the servers banned you for? :halo:

I might be thinking simplistically, but have you tried dialup from this machine? DSL providers that also provide dialup access normally use different IP ranges for DSL and dialup. There is a possiblity someone in the ISPs DSL IP range has done something to get the whole "domain" kicked from the site. If dialup works on the machine you will rule out the machine being the issue, and it will point towards the IP you are getting from you ISP (the most likely case). The problem with this senario is you have very very little to say in the matter, mainly because the company is allowed to block anyone they wish from using thier resources, you might contact the company that runs the site to 'appeal' the issue if it is an IP based block.

Cheeseball

I might be thinking simplistically, but have you tried dialup from this machine? DSL providers that also provide dialup access normally use different IP ranges for DSL and dialup. There is a possiblity someone in the ISPs DSL IP range has done something to get the whole "domain" kicked from the site. If dialup works on the machine you will rule out the machine being the issue, and it will point towards the IP you are getting from you ISP (the most likely case). The problem with this senario is you have very very little to say in the matter, mainly because the company is allowed to block anyone they wish from using thier resources, you might contact the company that runs the site to 'appeal' the issue if it is an IP based block.

Cheeseball

OK here's another thought, you also said you were running Norton as your firewall, let's try and eliminate that as the problem. Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but for debugging purpose, try and 'quickly' disable your firewall and connect to the server. If you get through, then you likely have a problem with the rule set/policy on the firewall. Start up your firewall again, and review the rule, maybe even blow it away and rebuild a new one. If you don't get through, get back to us and we'll what else we can come up with.


Cheers:

OK here's another thought, you also said you were running Norton as your firewall, let's try and eliminate that as the problem. Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but for debugging purpose, try and 'quickly' disable your firewall and connect to the server. If you get through, then you likely have a problem with the rule set/policy on the firewall. Start up your firewall again, and review the rule, maybe even blow it away and rebuild a new one. If you don't get through, get back to us and we'll what else we can come up with.


Cheers:

Actually, the laptop connects using a dail-up. But the dail-up and the ADSL connection yeild a dynamic IP within the same range i.e. 193.188.* If they did an IP block, they'd be blocking out my whole country ( we only have one ISP here :) ) and that would make it impossible for anyone to log in from anywhere, not just my machine. It's amusing, really. As for the registry key thing, I repeat, is there anyway a registry entry can be used an an identifier over a network? Because if the only thing that remains unchecked is a registry entry, then theoretically, it is sending out an identifier to the servers. Is that even possible. :P

And it wasn't me that got banned. It was probably my uncle, or my dad that used my box. :P They have their own accounts. One of them got banned. And the server has managed to ban specificly MY PC. They also are able to log-in to their accounts using the lap-top.

This just doesn't make sense. What have they used to identify my machine!!!

heh heh frustration :P

Actually, the laptop connects using a dail-up. But the dail-up and the ADSL connection yeild a dynamic IP within the same range i.e. 193.188.* If they did an IP block, they'd be blocking out my whole country ( we only have one ISP here :) ) and that would make it impossible for anyone to log in from anywhere, not just my machine. It's amusing, really. As for the registry key thing, I repeat, is there anyway a registry entry can be used an an identifier over a network? Because if the only thing that remains unchecked is a registry entry, then theoretically, it is sending out an identifier to the servers. Is that even possible. :P

And it wasn't me that got banned. It was probably my uncle, or my dad that used my box. :P They have their own accounts. One of them got banned. And the server has managed to ban specificly MY PC. They also are able to log-in to their accounts using the lap-top.

This just doesn't make sense. What have they used to identify my machine!!!

heh heh frustration :P

The machine that currently runs DSL, does it work on dialup for doing this? If so, it is something with the DSL, if not, they have done something like Napster did to bann PCs from the network.....

The machine that currently runs DSL, does it work on dialup for doing this? If so, it is something with the DSL, if not, they have done something like Napster did to bann PCs from the network.....

Oh, and it's not a firewall problem. Like I said, I get an explicit message from the server saying I wasn't allowed on. I did try disabling the Firewall, though, just as a measure.. same problem.

:)

Oh, and it's not a firewall problem. Like I said, I get an explicit message from the server saying I wasn't allowed on. I did try disabling the Firewall, though, just as a measure.. same problem.

:)

Is it possible that this software you installed place a 'Web Bug' on your PC? Try a google search for a scanner and scan your machine.


Cheers:

Is it possible that this software you installed place a 'Web Bug' on your PC? Try a google search for a scanner and scan your machine.


Cheers:

To answer your registry question.... YES!! Unisntalling software will not always remove all the registry settings ( I can think of several including some from M$ ).

To answer your registry question.... YES!! Unisntalling software will not always remove all the registry settings ( I can think of several including some from M$ ).

This is plain annoying, isn't it? As for the 'Web Bug', first I've ever heard of something like that. What kind of scanner would I be looking for on google?

And yes, I agree mmelby, that sometimes the registry isn't totallty cleaned. Be again how can the server be using a registry entry on my machine to identiy it over a network?

This is plain annoying, isn't it? As for the 'Web Bug', first I've ever heard of something like that. What kind of scanner would I be looking for on google?

And yes, I agree mmelby, that sometimes the registry isn't totallty cleaned. Be again how can the server be using a registry entry on my machine to identiy it over a network?

For Web Bugs, your looking for something likeBugnosis

I personally have never used this product so I can't give you an opinion pro or con.


Cheers:

For Web Bugs, your looking for something likeBugnosis

I personally have never used this product so I can't give you an opinion pro or con.


Cheers:

If you are running a PIII, I know there is a unnique serial number embedded in the chip to 'uniquely identify your computer to websites'. I don't know if the P IV has one. It could be used to block access to a specific machine, among other things. I know Intel was forced to include an option to disable it, but I don't know how.

Another idea, it could be your computer name. Have you tried changing it yet?

If you are running a PIII, I know there is a unnique serial number embedded in the chip to 'uniquely identify your computer to websites'. I don't know if the P IV has one. It could be used to block access to a specific machine, among other things. I know Intel was forced to include an option to disable it, but I don't know how.

Another idea, it could be your computer name. Have you tried changing it yet?

I did change my computer name already. Changed the computer name, and then re-installed the software. No luck. As for Web Bugs, well, from the information I got at Bugnosis, thats not what a web bug is used for. :(

I did change my computer name already. Changed the computer name, and then re-installed the software. No luck. As for Web Bugs, well, from the information I got at Bugnosis, thats not what a web bug is used for. :(