My player can't load the store bought modules from me (DM)

[epire]

Hello,

My player is unable to load most of the modules that I've bought after he did a system format. Previously we ran into a similar issue with another player but after he turned the firewall off, it worked as usual.

He can load the base 5e modules, but can't load the ones I bought from steam store like Tasha's, Mordekainen, Xanathar's, Sword Coast. The books appear invisible and he can't load them. Nothing happens when he tries to load them.

We've tried pretty much everything we've seen on forum posts from turning off the firewall to reinstalling, switching launchers to steam, using a vpn, using another network, trying another computer, creating a new account. Another player also logged on their account and tried to join the campaign and the same issue happened so it makes us think it's account related, but when he created a new account, he still faced the same issue. We're open to any ideas or solutions at this point. The other players are seeing everything right and have no issues.

He can see the modules on another test campaign I open but when he connects to the main campaign, he can't see any of the modules. So the issue seems to be in the normal campaign we used to play, but we have no idea what the issue is.

[damned]

Hello,

My player is unable to load most of the modules that I've bought after he did a system format. Previously we ran into a similar issue with another player but after he turned the firewall off, it worked as usual.

He can load the base 5e modules, but can't load the ones I bought from steam store like Tasha's, Mordekainen, Xanathar's, Sword Coast. The books appear invisible and he can't load them. Nothing happens when he tries to load them.

We've tried pretty much everything we've seen on forum posts from turning off the firewall to reinstalling, switching launchers to steam, using a vpn, using another network, trying another computer, creating a new account. We're open to any ideas or solutions at this point. The other players are seeing everything right and have no issues.

He can see the modules on another test campaign I open but when he connects to the main campaign, he can't see any of the modules. So the issue seems to be in the normal campaign we used to play, but we have no idea what the issue is.

try have player delete the cache for that campaign
unshare all the books and have the one player connect
load one book only and see what happens
if that works - load one book every few minutes until they have all downloaded

[epire]

We've tried it and when I share a book, the same issue happens. The book appears invisible and he can't load.

[Trenloe]

The book appears invisible and he can't load.
Please explain exactly what the player is experiencing. I'm not clear on what "appears invisible" exactly means, and knowing exactly what is happening may help to identify the issue.

[epire]

Please explain exactly what the player is experiencing. I'm not clear on what "appears invisible" exactly means, and knowing exactly what is happening may help to identify the issue.

This is what it looks like.

[Laerun]

This is what it looks like.

This does seem like a blockage of sorts. Wireless might be a culprit with less bandwidth or QoS enabled. Some routers have bandwidth allocation priority set, flood controls, and potentially it could be throttling further up the network chain. Is this player trying to use a mobile hotspot, public wifi or mobile data to play? Are they plugged into a network directly? Do they have enough system ram or video memory to run Fantasy Grounds? There are many potential things that can cause this. You can try to flush or delete their cache and reconnect so that the books can re-download. Sometimes that can be corrupted. Also, only share the books he will need when he connects. Giving players more options is fine initially, but flooding the table with more than a few player books can be rough on weaker network connections, etc.

[Trenloe]

This is what it looks like.
Thanks for the information. This usually happens when the player instance can't download any of the graphics (thumbnails and other images) from the GM. This is usually caused when some form of flood protection is stopping communication/download when a low communication threshold is reached - that is, the player can connect and get initial data from the GM (enough to bring up the campaign) but then when the player instance starts downloading images and hits a certain threshold, the communication is blocked.

This is usually some form of security at the local Internet router, or some form of "advanced security" provided by the ISP. A while ago Comcast (and a few other ISPs) automatically enabled advanced security and this (on the GM side) could block just a specific player from downloading data - and the GM had to login to the ISP's security portal and clear/whitelist the blocked player. In theory a VPN might work around this, but that would depend on the VPN and the ISP. Which ISP does the GM and player use?

[epire]

This does seem like a blockage of sorts. Wireless might be a culprit with less bandwidth or QoS enabled. Some routers have bandwidth allocation priority set, flood controls, and potentially it could be throttling further up the network chain. Is this player trying to use a mobile hotspot, public wifi or mobile data to play? Are they plugged into a network directly? Do they have enough system ram or video memory to run Fantasy Grounds? There are many potential things that can cause this. You can try to flush or delete their cache and reconnect so that the books can re-download. Sometimes that can be corrupted. Also, only share the books he will need when he connects. Giving players more options is fine initially, but flooding the table with more than a few player books can be rough on weaker network connections, etc.

We've tried with multiple different connections with his home network, mobile hotspot and wi-fi. We've also tried deleting cache and trying to share the books one by one and none of those worked.

[epire]

Thanks for the information. This usually happens when the player instance can't download any of the graphics (thumbnails and other images) from the GM. This is usually caused when some form of flood protection is stopping communication/download when a low communication threshold is reached - that is, the player can connect and get initial data from the GM (enough to bring up the campaign) but then when the player instance starts downloading images and hits a certain threshold, the communication is blocked.

This is usually some form of security at the local Internet router, or some form of "advanced security" provided by the ISP. A while ago Comcast (and a few other ISPs) automatically enabled advanced security and this could block just a specific player from download data - and the GM had to login to the ISP's security portal and clear/whitelist the blocked player. In theory a VPN might work around this, but that would depend on the VPN and the ISP. Which ISP does the GM and player use?

We've also thought it was some sort of a network issue, the problem being me(DM) being from Germany and the players being from Turkey. My ISP is NetCologne and his is a turkish one. He also tried with VPN but it didn't work.

In theory would it work if I tried to delete all the image files and just leave the books in, as if it was a new campaign, so he could just load those without reaching the treshold?

[Trenloe]

In theory would it work if I tried to delete all the image files and just leave the books in, as if it was a new campaign, so he could just load those without reaching the threshold?
It appears that even the thumbnails from the modules aren't reaching the player, which happens quite soon in the player<->GM communication process.

I think the next step is to reproduce the issue and collect the logs from both the player and the GM right after the issue. Details on how to collect the FG logs is detailed in the FG Wiki here: https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/1242136781/How+to+Compile+Logs Use option 3 right after the issue occurs. Then post both the GM and player compiled logs here.

[epire]

It appears that even the thumbnails from the modules aren't reaching the player, which happens quite soon in the player<->GM communication process.

I think the next step is to reproduce the issue and collect the logs from both the player and the GM right after the issue. Details on how to collect the FG logs is detailed in the FG Wiki here: https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/1242136781/How+to+Compile+Logs Use option 3 right after the issue occurs. Then post both the GM and player compiled logs here.

Here are the logs of both the player and I.

[epire]

Update: It worked! When I (DM) used my own mobile data instead of my home network, my player could load all the modules and then I switched back to my regular network and it seems to be working! Thanks!

[Trenloe]

Update: It worked! When I (DM) used my own mobile data instead of my home network, my player could load all the modules and then I switched back to my regular network and it seems to be working! Thanks!
Hopefully it continues to work, but my concern is that when you need to transfer more data in future you may get the same issue. At the moment data will be cached on the player side from when they connected successfully when you were using module data, and so that data would be available locally when using your home network.

But this does identify that there was (and maybe in future) some blocking/throttling on your home network.

[Trenloe]

Here are the logs of both the player and I.
Thanks for these. This is showing the player connecting and requesting over 250 files (images and associated XML) from the GM - which is fairly standard for a player connecting and needing to download a lot of shared images from the campaign. The GM log shows the files being sent, but the player only receives the first 28 files, then nothing further. Which points to throttling/flood control in the connection. As it worked when using mobile data, this is pointing to some form of advanced security on the GM side. As mentioned in my previous reply, hopefully this continues to work OK now - but I think there may be issues when sending new data in future (data that isn't already cached on the player side).

[damned]

This is being blocked on the GM network. You will eventually need to find the setting and fix.