Unable to log into the game PC-EU

hero2zer0 · August 2019

This has started last Thursday (Aug 8), I can get past the initial login screen just fine, but when I select ANY of my characters, the game just goes into a loading screen for 2-3 minutes, and then returns any of the following errors:

"An error occurred, please try again in a few minutes"
"Unable to connect to game server, please make sure you have an internet connection"

Occasionally, something like once in every 20 or so attempts, I will succeed in logging in, but would then get timed-out after a minute or so. I've tried resetting my router, forcing an IP change by actually disconnecting the DSL line from the jack for 5 minutes, deleting the DNS cache, repairing the game from the launcher. Nothing has worked towards solving this problem.

here is a printout of "pathping" and "tracert" commands, as described in this link

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.18362.239]
(c) 2019 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Tracing route to 195.122.154.1 over a maximum of 30 hops

  0  StefanPC [192.168.1.3]
  1  192.168.1.1
  2  Julia.ccc.net.il [109.226.1.4]
  3  Angelina.ccc.net.il [109.226.0.25]
  4  te0-7-0-35.203.agr21.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [149.14.69.121]
  5  be2844.rcr22.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.29]
  6  be2846.ccr42.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.37.29]
  7  be2800.ccr42.par01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.58.238]
  8  be3628.ccr42.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.27.169]
  9  be3363.ccr31.jfk04.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.3.126]
 10  62.157.249.201
 11  217.5.118.94
 12  195.122.154.1

Computing statistics for 300 seconds...
^C

Tracing route to 195.122.154.1 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    11 ms    10 ms    11 ms  Julia.ccc.net.il [109.226.1.4]
  3    11 ms    11 ms    10 ms  Angelina.ccc.net.il [109.226.0.25]
  4    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  te0-7-0-35.203.agr21.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [149.14.69.121]
  5    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  be2844.rcr22.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.29]
  6    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  be2846.ccr42.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.37.29]
  7    75 ms    75 ms    75 ms  be2800.ccr42.par01.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.58.238]
  8   149 ms   149 ms   149 ms  be3628.ccr42.jfk02.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.27.169]
  9   148 ms   148 ms   148 ms  be3363.ccr31.jfk04.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.3.126]
 10   151 ms   149 ms   150 ms  62.157.249.201
 11   152 ms   152 ms   151 ms  217.5.118.94
 12   152 ms   151 ms   151 ms  195.122.154.1

Trace complete.

SO WHAT NOW?

* I have no problem logging into the PC-NA server though, sadly I have no leveled characters there so switching is not an option unless my char/inventory is also magically transferred!

hero2zer0 · August 2019

So after some more digging, i've searched for any Ethernet connections used by the "eso64.exe" executable file:

1. 159.100.232.XXX - these seem to ping and tracert without any problems!
2. 159.100.230.9 - this one has no ping (times out every time), tracert returns as follows:

Tracing route to 159.100.230.9 over a maximum of 30 hops

  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.1.1
  2    11 ms    11 ms    11 ms  Julia.ccc.net.il [109.226.1.4]
  3    11 ms    11 ms    10 ms  Angelina.ccc.net.il [109.226.0.25]
  4    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  te0-7-0-35.203.agr21.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [149.14.69.121]
  5    66 ms    65 ms    65 ms  be2844.rcr22.fra06.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.29]
  6    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  be2845.ccr41.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [154.54.56.189]
  7    70 ms    65 ms    66 ms  be3186.agr41.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.0.2]
  8    66 ms    65 ms    66 ms  telia.fra03.atlas.cogentco.com [130.117.14.198]
  9    68 ms    65 ms    65 ms  ffm-b4-link.telia.net [62.115.116.17]
 10    66 ms    65 ms    67 ms  akamai-ic-317154-ffm-b4.c.telia.net [62.115.149.15]
 11    66 ms    66 ms    65 ms  po110.bs-b.sech-fra.netarch.akamai.com [72.52.48.200]
 12     *        *        *     Request timed out.
 13    67 ms    73 ms    66 ms  ae121.access-a.sech-fra.netarch.akamai.com [72.52.48.205]
 14     *     ae121.access-a.sech-fra.netarch.akamai.com [72.52.48.205]  reports: Destination net unreachable.

Trace complete.

So what's using that IP? I guess it's not the login server, as I am able to get past the initial login screen every time, must be something to do with a database or something of that sorts I guess?

ZOS_Bill · August 2019

@hero2zer0

We have posted troubleshooting in the thread linked below for another player encountering the same error when getting disconnected.

PC EU - can't log in or keep getting logged off during zone transitions

Please let us know if the troubleshooting posted helps or not.

hero2zer0 · August 2019

ZOS_BillE wrote: »

@hero2zer0

We have posted troubleshooting in the thread linked below for another player encountering the same error when getting disconnected.

PC EU - can't log in or keep getting logged off during zone transitions

Please let us know if the troubleshooting posted helps or not.

I've went through all of the information in that thread, and it is not relevant to my situation: I do no disconnect when transitioning from a zone to another zone, I cannot log in to begin with...

also, as I've written in my first post, I have rebooted the router several times (my PC is connected via a cable to the router/modem). I've flushed the DNS cache, cleared the ARP table to no avail.

ZOS_Bill · August 2019

@hero2zer0

Thank you for the additional details. Since the basic connection troubleshooting hasn't made a difference, please go ahead and start a support ticket if you've not done so yet.

hero2zer0 · August 2019

Another update: I've used a different ISP and was able to successfully login and play. I only have a basic subscription on that ISP (compared to high priority on my main), so the ping was jumping around between 120-200 but I played for a solid 30 minutes without any noticeable lag.
Going back to my main ISP and the problem resurfaces, so I guess the problem is caused due to routing/DNS changes?