FG connection issue

[Starcrawler]

Hey,

I have a problem with FG in that, before putting the server up the connection test shows "Success", however, after I open the server I open a new instance of FG to test the connection again, and it fails. This happened during our normal session day and none of my players could connect to the server, despite the connection test saying "success" before putting the server up, and this is still happening now, a few days later.

[damned]

starcrawler when you connect to your GM instance from the same machine you use the address/alias of localhost
when you connect from another computer on the same network/lan you use the internal ip address
when you connect from outside, from another network, across the internet you use the external ip address or alias

PM me if you want me to test with you

[Starcrawler]

Yeah I know all that, I'm talking about the connection test option in FG, when I start FG it says "success" but when I load up my server and open a new FG window to use connection test again, it fails. And like I said, none of my players could connect when this happened, I've been running FG for about two years and never had this problem before (Every time in the past when I've tried connection test with the server already open, just to double check, it's said "success").

[damned]

im sorry starcrawler but you are not making sense to me...?

when the mailman wants to deliver you your latest rpg purchase he looks for your address at 101 main street. he finds it because you have a letterbox with the numbers 101 painted brightly across the front. life is good.
then you decide to buy the house next door as well and because you like the number 101 so much you put an identical mailbox out the front and paint 101 in bright numbers across it too.
now the mailman walks down teh street and he has a beautiful hardback copy of your favourite rpg and he is just about to put it in your letter box and he spies the second letterbox with the same number!
this is most confusing. he puts the book back in his satchel and looks at what else is in there and moves on down the street.

if you are running two computers as server you will have - at best - confused results - most likely - you will not have the result you want.

[damned]

I apologise starcrawler on re-reading that it may have come out heavier than intended!

If you have configured your router to direct TCP1802 to PC1 and then you launch FG on PC2 and want to run a game it wont work. The connections are going to PC1.
If you are using UPNP and the router manages the connections and you launch a test or start a game on PC1 and then try to do the same on PC2 the connections will still be going to PC1.
If you are using UPNP and the router manages the connections and you launch a test or start a game on PC1 and you end the game and then try to do the same on PC2 the connections will still be going to PC1 for some time - it can even be a long time depending on the implementation of UPNP on your device.
If you have configured your router or you are using UPNP and you launch an instance of FG and run teh TEST or Start a Game and then you launch a second instance on the same PC and want THAT to be the session people connect to it wont work because it will be listening on a different port because the first instance is listening on the correct ports.

If you want me to test it with you send me a PM and Ill show you what is happening.

[Starcrawler]

I might not have been clear with the problem tbh and making it more complicated then it needed to be,

The problem is that despite the connection test saying "success" none of my players can connect to the server when it's up, that's the main issue I'm having, this is what's confusing me. I'm not sure how FG's connection test works, but when it says "Success" but nobody can connect to the server, that's a problem, at least that's how it looks to me, as this has never happened before until after the latest FG update.

[Trenloe]

I'd be very surprised if this has anything to do with the latest FG update.

Don't run another connection test once you have your GM instance of FG running. IF you want to see if FG is ready for connections, once FG is up and running (waiting for players to connect) open a browser and go to https://canyouseeme.org/ - enter 1802 in the "Port to check" field and press the "Check Port" button. This will tell you if you can accept connections.

Are you giving your players the alias or the external IP address to connect?

What licence do the players have?

[ddavison]

Hello Starcrawler,

If you run 1 instance of FG and use the connection test and it says Success, then you should be okay to accept connections. It might be worth getting a new alias while on that screen and giving that alias out to your players to try. Load the campaign fully and then let us know if you see them connecting or disconnecting in your chat log.

For now, don't run a second instance of FG and definitely don't go back to run a connection test or load up a new campaign. This will confuse the issue and the 2nd instance might be grabbing the traffic as opposed to the first instance. You basically would have two programs trying to listen to incoming traffic on port 1802 and that would screw things up.

If you want me to look up any issues with your license or connection from our end, please send an email to [email protected] and send me the license key you are using, a screenshot of your settings window and the alias you are using.

[Starcrawler]

Alias, but after realizing the problems I gave them my IP and still nothing.

As for license, I'm pretty sure that's not an issue as all of my players have been able to connect every week for over a year, as far as I know they all have full licenses. After booting up the server the "canyouseeme" is showing the port as open... Can I PM you my alias/IP to test connecting to my server if possible?

[ddavison]

Yes, sure.

[ddavison]

It might also be worth opening up Task Manager and making sure you don't have two instances running for Fantasy Grounds. We have seen a few rare cases where there is a hidden/semi-crashed version of FG running in the background still and it is interfering with the traffic.

[Trenloe]

As for license, I'm pretty sure that's not an issue as all of my players have been able to connect every week for over a year, as far as I know they all have full licenses.
The reason I asked is that free/demo player licences connecting to an Ultimate licence require a connection to the FG server to verify the Ultimate licence is valid. The central FG server that verifies this has had a lot of DDOS attacks and so certain IP addresses from various locations have been blocked. If your players have full licences then this won't be an issue.


Can I PM you my alias/IP to test connecting to my server if possible?
Sure.

[Starcrawler]

I only have a full license so I can't take people with free/demo licenses.

[Starcrawler]

Thanks for your help guys! Looks like it was an alias issue all along, hopefully it's all sorted now.

[ddavison]

It is fixed now. The IP direct method worked for the connection, but the alias was failing. Getting a new alias seems to have fixed it. It looks like maybe the alias got reassigned on our end to a different user somehow.

[Nyghtmare]

It is fixed now. The IP direct method worked for the connection, but the alias was failing. Getting a new alias seems to have fixed it. It looks like maybe the alias got reassigned on our end to a different user somehow.

I wonder how many combinations are even possible under the alias generation — I worry about that same thing happening on my end.