Alias connections stopped working even generating a new one.

[sjones321]

I host a couple of games and recently alias connections have stopped working for my players. I have it port forwarded so they can connect via my ip address just fine. However my ip address unfortunately is not able to be static. So this presents long term problems was hoping to figure out why the alias system seems to be broken for me while working for the rest of the games I join. I do have the enable alias check box on and have generated multiple new aliases. All to no avail.

[Trenloe]

Have a look in the console.log file after starting a game - this usually shows it registering with the alias server.

Also get the players who can't connect to look in the console.log file to see what IP address they are resolving the alias to.

Both the GM and players can find the console.log file in the <FG app data> directory - get to this by clicking the folder icon on the top right of the FG startup screen. Note - console.log will be overwritten when you start FG up, so make sure you get the logfile before you exit FG fully.

[sjones321]

[30.06.2020 21:06:57] Runtime Notice: Refreshing alias
[30.06.2020 21:06:57] Runtime Notice: Alias refresh result = Success
That's what i got from my console log. My friend helping me test saw nothing from his console log about aliases but was unable to connect via alias just ip address.

[Zacchaeus]

I’ve seen a couple of reports in Discord and the alias is resolving to 255.255.255.255. This should show on your players log file.

[sjones321]

yeah when they try and connect via alias it translates into 255.255.255.255:1802

[Trenloe]

On the Load Campaign screen, when you click on "<Click to retrieve>" in the External address information field, does it show your external IP address or 255.255.255.255 ?

[sjones321]

No it shows my correct external ip address.

[sjones321]

To note this is happening both before and after reinstalling fantasy grounds with revo Uninstaller pro.

[ddavison]

We don't show any entries in our system for an alias of 255.255.255.255.

The alias system is used by FG Classic, but I see a mention of a player log. Just to confirm, everyone is using FG Classic, correct?

[sjones321]

Yeah we are all using classic still. Did I post in the wrong forum somehow?

[Moon Wizard]

No, this is the right forum. We're just trying to explore what might be happening. This thread is the first time I've heard of this.

* Can you connect with the external IP directly?
* Do you have any Internet filtering programs that might possibly rewrite or intercept network communication? (malware blockers, ad blockers, parental controls, etc.)

Regards,
JPG

[sjones321]

People connect with my ip address just fine. I have ports forwarded in my router. And I do have malwarebytes premium. I could try adding an exception but the alias worked until a couple weeks ago. And I have had malwarebytes the whole time.

[sjones321]

Added it as an exception in malwarebytes and still a problem.

[Zacchaeus]

In the past Malwarebytes was causing sever issues with FG specifically when some kind of high level security was switched on (I can't remember the exact details). The issue was solved by Malwarebytes whitelisting FG (I believe) but it is possible that some update to that software or some new security setting is the root of the problem. You could try temporarily disabling Malwarebytes (if you can do that of course) and see if that fixes the issue.

[sjones321]

just turned malwarebytes completely off and friend still couldnt connect with alias, but could connect just fine with ip address.

[Zacchaeus]

Did you try creating a new alias with Malewarebytes off. It seems that something is preventing the alias from being constructed properly, hence the reason it is returning blank. Your current alias is not returning the correct IP address, so it will continue to malfunction I think until you create one that does return the correct address.

[damned]

Are you able to run updates?
Are you with Comcast/Cox/Shaw/Xfinity?

[sjones321]

I have no problem getting updates and I am an rcn customer.

[Moon Wizard]

I'm at a bit of a loss on this one.

The alias system on our server is not showing 255.255.255.255 anywhere in the database for an alias. Also, I looked at the resolver code as well as the launch screen code, and it would end up with an empty string if there was an issue (not 255.255.255.255).

Is this only happening for a specific user/users; or for any user that tries to connect to you? Perhaps you can PM me when your server is up some time, and I can try using alias?

Regards,
JPG

[sjones321]

its happening for everyone, and I pmed you the info thanks.