Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

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dustinandband
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Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

Whenever I try connecting to my Left 4 Dead 2 server via the lobby (choosing "steam group option" in the lobby menu), it starts to load, then when it's like 1/8th loaded it immediately rejects the connection. I can connect directly through the in-game server groups menu, and "mm_dedicated_force_servers ip:port" worked for the first 3-4 attempts but now it does the same thing as trying to connect through lobby.

No related error logs in left4dead2/addons/sourcemod/logs but I did get this error message in console:

KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file scripts/RadialMenu.txt
RadialMenu, (*QA,Survivor,Alive*), (*NorthWest*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got } in key in file missions/bpmissfile.txt
mission, modes, scavenge, 1,
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file missions/convoy.txt
mission, modes, (*coop*), (*2*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file missions/convoy.txt
mission, (*modes*), (*coop*), (*2*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file missions/deathcraft.txt
mission, (*modes*), (*coop*), (*survival*), (*0*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file missions/lb2012.txt
mission, (*modes*), (*coop*), (*1*),
KeyValues Error: RecursiveLoadFromBuffer: got EOF instead of keyname in file missions/questionableethics.txt
mission, (*modes*), (*coop*), (*4*),
Bad server address private(unknown)
BinkOpen( c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\left4dead2\media\l4d2_background04.bik )


I don't know why it was looking for custom campaign files because I have none installed on this server (e.g. missions/deathcraft.txt).

Things I've done so far:
-Verified other users from different regions have the same issue when connecting to the server via lobby
-Installed a barebone L4D2 server on the same server (different port). Used "mm_dedicated_force_servers ip:port" to connect several times to the server to verify the ip address could be connected to from lobby.
-As soon as I drop the server.cfg file in the barebone server and tried connecting via lobby, it had the same problems. Nothing in that file should cause any conflicts as far as I know, but here it is: http://pastebin.com/LHDUhU3L (xxxxxx = letters/numbers that I removed)

(The barebone server won't recognize commands like "sm_cvar fps_max 0" without sourcemod installed, but I've never had problems before when using this script before installing sourcemod / metamod / other plugins & mods.)
dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

Next thing I'll do if reinstall the barebone server (in case anything got changed) and just drop a server.cfg file linking it to the steam group, and my start.sh script ( http://pastebin.com/N5XSCuBq ). See what the console says from there when I try to connect via lobby to that server.
dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

Same error messages on a newly installed server with a very simple start.sh file ( http://pastebin.com/0AXhturd ) and server.cfg ( http://pastebin.com/6AQDSjfv ).

I'm on Ubuntu 14.04 unmanaged VDS, single core option ( https://www.nfoservers.com/order-virtua ... server.php ) and the only things I've installed besides the L4D2 server is an update (apt-get update), screen, and something else that allows users to install L4D2 on a 64bit operating system (sudo apt-get install tmux mailutils postfix lib32gcc1 libstdc++6 libstdc++6:i386). Not really sure what to do a this point so I'll ask tech support.
dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

forgot to mention I logged into the barebone server after I tried connecting to it and saw this message right before I shut it down:
http://imgur.com/zHxc8io

All I did was install L4D2 ( ./steamcmd.sh +login anonymous +force_install_dir /home/dustin/Steam/SteamFolder/L4D2_2/ +app_update 222860 validate +quit ) so it baffles me how these counter-strike messages came up on my machine.
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soja
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by soja »

Have you tried the sv_search_key functionality? I have always used that to get lobbies into my servers.

When you are making a lobby, the traditional way of using this is:

Make a friends-only lobby at first, setting server type to "best available dedicated". Once you are in the lobby, you can switch it to public and allow others to join. When you start the game you will be matched onto your server as long as both client and server have the same sv_search_key set.
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by $atanic $pirit »

Server might be crashing when it wakes up from hibernation. Try to disable that via cvar and try again.
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dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

@ soja
Tried the search key; still didn't work.

Also I typed "status" in the L4D2 console in this seattle server, another nfo server I have in Chicago that's working properly, and an official dedicated server. I found something odd about the Seattle one (the one I'm having trouble with):

] status
hostname: Left 4 Dead 2
version : 2.1.4.0 6156 secure (unknown)
udp/ip : unknown:27015 [ public xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:27015 ]
os : Linux Dedicated

I replaced the IP with x's, but the first part: "unknown," doesn't show up on any of the working servers. The working servers have this:

udp/ip : 192.69.97.69:27021 [ public same ] or
udp/ip : 127.0.0.1:27015 [ public xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:27015 ] <- (my chicago server)

So I wonder if this is the cause of the connection problem when connecting via lobby.

EDIT: as you can see from my first post, the console says "Bad server address private(unknown)" with those failed connection attempts from lobby. I'm unclear what this means...
Last edited by dustinandband on Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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soja
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by soja »

That is probably not the problem, but you should be able to solve that by specifying the ip on the command line.

Try setting sv_hibernate_when_empty 0, as recommended above.
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dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

dlopen failed trying to load:
/root/.steam/sdk32/steamclient.so
with error:
/root/.steam/sdk32/steamclient.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Looking up breakpad interfaces from steamclient
Calling BreakpadMiniDumpSystemInit
Unknown command "sv_hibernate_when_empty"
Connection to Steam servers successful.
VAC secure mode is activated.

still can't connect to the server via lobby. Note though that this only happens when connecting via lobby, I can connect directly to the server in my server-list menu. Weird bug

I put "sv_hibernate_when_empty 0" in my server.cfg file.
dustinandband
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Re: Can't connect to server via lobby [L4D2]

Post by dustinandband »

soja wrote:That is probably not the problem, but you should be able to solve that by specifying the ip on the command line.

This fixed the problem. lol dunno why this server would reject the connection if I try connecting from lobby (without me specifying the ip in the start.sh file), when every other server I ran didn't have this problem and I never had to specify the ip in the start script.

Anyway thanks much!!
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