empty cd key. how do i fix this

arsenal · Post by **arsenal** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:09 pm

i've been trying to connect to your server but i keep gettin kicked from every server i go to so its not just yours. it says i need a cd key. how do i fix this? ive reinstalled like 5 times, re-downloading the et installer each time, and when i try to install the 2.60b patch each time it says i am missing a default.cfg file or somethin. id really appreciate it if you guys could help me

Post by **ferapont** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:34 pm

i might be wrong, try:

\pb_keyreg in the console after you load et (then maybe close et and open again) and see if that works

final option would be reinstall et and pb, and don't forget the patch for et so you can play on bba.

anyone else got ideas?

arsenal wrote:ive reinstalled like 5 times, re-downloading the et installer each time, and when i try to install the 2.60b patch each time it says i am missing a default.cfg file or somethin. id really appreciate it if you guys could help me

sorry arsenal, i guess i missed this part of ur message.

arsenal · Post by **arsenal** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:43 pm

:-/ i've tried doin all of that. i've reinstalled et and pb and teh patches like 5 times, deleting everything and re-downloading the installers each time. i can't seem to get 2.60b to ever install though, it says i'm missing default.cfg :-(

Scortch · Post by **Scortch** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:04 am

I don't know that I've had that exact problem, but I have had trouble installing ET.

When I've had an installation go south I've found that just deleting the installation and reinstalling doesn't always work. I've always thought that the trouble was due to corrupted registry values. I've further surmised that reinstalling to the same default directory means that the corrupt registry values might still get referred to. As a solution, when I have an installation that messes up, I first delete the installation and then use a program like 'Ccleaner' to delete whatever registry items it (ccleaner) finds that are 'bad'. After doing that I reinstall ET to a new directory, Not to the same old 'default' directory. When adding the patches make sure you install 2.60 and then 2.60b. Finally, I use pbsetup to manually install and update pb.

This works for me when I have installation issues.

Post by **GunClap** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 11:39 am

Oh... and keep in mind, when you uninstall wolf, you DON'T uninstall PB from your computer. I don't know where these are on other OS's but on XP, you can find a "punkbuster" folder in "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your User Name>\Application Data\Punkbuster". After you uninstall ET, be sure to wipe this folder and restart.

Post by **KrispyKritter** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 3:40 pm

GunClap wrote:Oh... and keep in mind, when you uninstall wolf, you DON'T uninstall PB from your computer. I don't know where these are on other OS's but on XP, you can find a "punkbuster" folder in "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your User Name>\Application Data\Punkbuster". After you uninstall ET, be sure to wipe this folder and restart.

Found mine in "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your User Name>\Local Settings\Application Data\PunkBuster"

In "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your User Name>\Local Settings\Application Data\PunkBuster\ET\pb" I found PnkBstrB.exe and PnkBstrK.sys, both date-stamped when I last started ET.

Post by **ferapont** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:13 pm

found mine in (windows 7)

C:\Users\<Your User Name>\AppData\Local\PunkBuster

Post by **GunClap** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 4:37 pm

Yeah, wrong folder, sorry.

Either way, if you're doing a fresh install, it's good to remove previous traces. I am running XP Home SP3 and my re-installation proceedure goes as follows.

1: TAKE A BACK UP OF YOUR ETKEY AND PROFILE!!! Both the one in ETmain and in Jaymod. Put is somewhere safe, like another drive or a usb stick.
2:Uninstall ET and delete the PB folder.
3: Reboot to enact changes from ET uninstall.
4: Clear registry with something like CCleaner and reboot again.
5: Install ET 2.55 but DO NOT START IT!
6: Install 2.60 patch. (I'm not sure, but I think it adds additional files not found in the 2.60b archive). Again, DO NOT START ET!
7: Open 2.60b patch archive and copy "ET.exe" and "ETDED.exe" from the archive over the ones in the main ET installation folder. Again, don't start ET.
8: Download pbsetup.exe from the EvenBalance into an empty folder (it's a portable application) and run it. Choose "Add a game" >> "Enemy Territory" and direct it to your installation. Once, the game is added, run an "update". This will install the latest version of PB, avoiding any update problems. Once completed, reboot to get the services active.
9: Copy over your copy of ETKEY into the main folder, overwriting the one in there (you can back that one up too if you want a spare) and put your profile in the respective folders. You won't have a jaymod folder just yet, but you can make and empty one and put your profile in it. The rest will be filled in when you join the server.
10: Run the game.

NOTE: The stuff about backing up your ETkey woun't apply to you, but you might have to use a new name, or you might get kicked for namestealing.

arsenal · Post by **arsenal** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:17 pm

tried everything. did exactly as you wrote the directions. looks like i be screwed. thanks for tryin though guys

Post by **ferapont** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 8:31 pm

so you are still getting the same message?

do mind writing down the exact wording pb gives you when ur kicked please

arsenal · Post by **arsenal** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:16 pm

in the server when it kicks the message is a 2 minute ban b/c 'empty cd key not allowed on this server'; in console it says deleted etmain/etkey due to no cd key. this was the message i got when i emailed support from punkbuster:
"We are aware of the issue and how to correct it and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.

On 07/13/2010 07:18 PM, Jake Burlew wrote:
> trying to play enemy territory. ive tried doing the pb_cdkeyreg thing, reinstalling, deleting everything and reinstalling, i still get an error about no cdkey. do you guys know whats wrong or ifyou're trying to fix it, do you have a time frame to when it will be fixed?
>
> "

whacknut · Post by **whacknut** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 6:34 am

doesnt a registry entry have to be unused for awhile b4 ccleaner gets rid of it? if your comfortable with it you might want to check your registry to see if et is still in there and manually delete it. Only do this if you know what your doing you can mess things up pretty fast screwing around in your registry.

Post by **KrispyKritter** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:27 am

You could try running the manual pbsetup and removing ET from its list of games, or let it detect that ET has been uninstalled.

I [WON'T]will put up a list of ET and PB registry entries I found.

Scortch · Post by **Scortch** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 12:08 pm

whacknut wrote:doesnt a registry entry have to be unused for awhile b4 ccleaner gets rid of it? if your comfortable with it you might want to check your registry to see if et is still in there and manually delete it. Only do this if you know what your doing you can mess things up pretty fast screwing around in your registry.

I use ccleaner ALL the time. The registry cleaner part has an option to backup your registry before you make any changes. I don't think the values need to be unused for 'x' amount of time before ccleaner will get rid of it. And while I am unsure of the all the exact criteria it uses to determine if an entry is valid or not, I do know that if you delete a program it will remove all of the entries it finds that related to that program.

I run the registry cleaner a couple of times a month, I've Never backed up the registry and I've never experienced any problems after cleaning the registry. Ccleaners solution to almost all 'bad' registry entries is to delete the entry. Back the stuff up if you are worried, but I've never worried about it and I've never had any problems as a result. I would recommend ccleaner to anyone.

Post by **ferapont** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:07 pm

noticed there are a lot of people with this issue recently. maybe it's the same person!

i found this suggestion

Disable and enable Punkbuster, either in the menu or take down the console and type: cl_punkbuster 0, restart ET, take down console again and type: cl_punkbuster 1. Punkbuster should have generated a new key for you now!