Constant "Join Timed Out" message

Chris English

I'm having a very strange issue, whenever I join any server I get a join timed out before it gets to the choose car screen.

On a passworded server it asks for the password then times out before the choose car screen.

So far I've done the following:
- Tried different installs (my main one, a fresh install of lite and Steam)
- Run rF as administrator
- Fresh install of Lite on a different HDD (main install on 1 SSD, Steam install is on another SSD)
- Removed all plugins
- Opened ports on router
- Disabled Windows firewall and put PC into DMZ
- Disabled anti-virus
- Tried a different router (ASUS RT-N66U and BT HomeHub)
- Tried many different mods, joining many different servers
- The server doesn't see me attempt to join
- Deleted the .rfactor folder from C:\Users\<users>\AppData\Roaming and re-activated
- Pulled hair out
- Tried connecting to a server directly via IP

I had this same problem about 3 weeks ago and put it down to my internet being a pain, however it's still happening now. Nothing has changed on my PC from the last time it worked

There's nothing to suggest it's a PC issue, but my specs are:
i5 2500k
8GB DDR3 RAM
GTX770


All of my other games (including rF2) work absolutely fine online with no issues at all.
 
Which version of rF1?
Is it the steam version?
If so it will be a steam problem and you'll get better help over at the steam forum.
 
redapg said:
Which Anti Virus Software do you use and is it a Freeware?
Click to expand...
I use Kaspersky and it's all paid for.

MystaMagoo said:
Which version of rF1?
Is it the steam version?
If so it will be a steam problem and you'll get better help over at the steam forum.
Click to expand...
As stated in my first post I've tried Steam, a normal 'full' install and rF Lite too.
 
Are both active, the windows firewall and Kaspersky?

Did you control if the rFactor. exe isn't blocked neither in the windows firewall nor in the Kaspersky firewall?

And if it worked some time ago (it did, right?), something must have been changed at your machine, since then.
Maybe a new software installed, made windows updates, anything?
 
Wasn't the join time out also a password problem? if you have caps on or type the wrong pw then you get this message as well.
prolly not the issue here but who knows. maybe the keyboard is acting up.
 
Chris:

What version do you have..1255?

Steam? when did this happen...

Boy I bet the open servers are fun...

Dave

NRT
 
Thanks for the responses so far, any suggestions are appreciated! I do work in IT (server engineer) so I should say I've tried all of the usual more obvious suggestions.

redapg said:
Are both active, the windows firewall and Kaspersky?

Did you control if the rFactor. exe isn't blocked neither in the windows firewall nor in the Kaspersky firewall?

And if it worked some time ago (it did, right?), something must have been changed at your machine, since then.
Maybe a new software installed, made windows updates, anything?
Click to expand...
Windows firewall is disabled (I rely on router firewall). I should have been specific about Kaspersky, I only have the Anti Virus edition, but I disable that when I'm gaming. Windows updates are disabled, I run them manually and haven't run them for a few months. As far as I'm aware the only change to my system configuration is an updated Oculus Rift runtime.

MystaMagoo said:
But which one do you own?
Did you buy steam version,normal version or both?
Click to expand...
I own both

Denstjiro said:
Wasn't the join time out also a password problem? if you have caps on or type the wrong pw then you get this message as well.
prolly not the issue here but who knows. maybe the keyboard is acting up.
Click to expand...
I've tried joining passworded (server I run) and non passworded (other public servers + server I run).

Dave-NRT said:
Chris:

What version do you have..1255?

Steam? when did this happen...

Boy I bet the open servers are fun...

Dave

NRT
Click to expand...
It's v1255g I believe. Steam happened a while ago, but both versions stopped working at exactly the same time.
 
Anytime I've seen this "timed out" issue with our league guys it has been a firewall issue.
I know you said your firewall is off but I'll bet somehow this is the issue.
Normally you only need to do this when running a dedicated server, but try opening up the ports used by rFactor1 in your router.
 
GFraser1965 said:
Anytime I've seen this "timed out" issue with our league guys it has been a firewall issue.
I know you said your firewall is off but I'll bet somehow this is the issue.
Normally you only need to do this when running a dedicated server, but try opening up the ports used by rFactor1 in your router.
Click to expand...

Another one to tick off the list as done.

The more and more suggestions that come through (+ the ones I've already tried) the more I think I've been blocked by the rF matchmaker/server somehow. :(
 
Your rFactor1 game and the dedicated server must be able to freely communicate back-and-forth at will .......... if this doesn't happen then your game will "time out".

We know the rFactor1 game works correctly because thousands of us use it.

Therefore I think the only resolution you now have is to turn your firewall back on, make an exception in your firewall for rFactor, and then remove your router from the loop ......... connect your computer directly to the web and then try connecting rFactor to a dedicated server.

I suspect there is an issue with your router settings that is blocking the incoming info from the server from getting to your computer.
 
GFraser1965 said:
Your rFactor1 game and the dedicated server must be able to freely communicate back-and-forth at will .......... if this doesn't happen then your game will "time out".

We know the rFactor1 game works correctly because thousands of us use it.

Therefore I think the only resolution you now have is to turn your firewall back on, make an exception in your firewall for rFactor, and then remove your router from the loop ......... connect your computer directly to the web and then try connecting rFactor to a dedicated server.

I suspect there is an issue with your router settings that is blocking the incoming info from the server from getting to your computer.
Click to expand...

Just tried all that, even went with the full risky business of no firewalls at all. No difference. :(

As stated in my first post I tried 2 different routers (BT HomeHub and ASUS RT-N66U), so 2 different firewall types I'd assume.

What stumps me is I don't have this issue with rF2, and absolutely everything else works fine. This is isolated to rF1 only. Short of formatting my PC I'm out of ideas.
 
Good news! I've fixed the problem.

Turns out Kaspersky Anti Virus was blocking rF despite being disabled. I reinstalled Windows (twice), the 2nd time I tried rF before installing anything else and it worked. After putting Kaspersky on it stopped working again.

Now a couple of things confuse me about this.

- It worked fine on a test PC which also has Windows 8.1 and Kaspersky installed
- In 9 years of using Kaspersky only now has it suddenly stopped allowing rF traffic through

I also had the same issue with Live for Speed. Similar in that it does the initial master server query, but then doesn't list any servers and shows them all as "no reply" (in rF case it shows the server list but can't join them).
 
The problems you just had, doesn't surprise me..

Another beast is AVAST and AVG

The only way to get things working again, is to use Revo-Uninstaller, and at the end tell revo to do a deep scan to find registry keys.
If you just use the software removal from these 2, it still leaves the keys..and for some reason stay active even though the software has
been removed.

Same with Kaspersky maybe.. if you shut it down or disable it, it might not let it work with some software..

Glad you have it back to where you are able to race....I kinda take these things as on the go knowledge, besides ripping your hair out...you will know for the next time..

Have a nice week-end racing I hope..

Dave

NRT
 
I'm having the same problem with rFactor 1 and Kaspersky running Win 8.1.

Can't join any servers, always receiving the join timeout error.

Tried standalone and the Steam version.

Uninstalling Kaspersky is the only way to join a race.
 
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