Mangos Zero Logging into game server error

[ensidia]

Hi

I used to play vanilla WoW using a mangos zero server (my own setup on my own computer) several months ago. It had set it up and configured it and it ran perfectly w/o any issues. I haven't played on it for a while now however and just decided to start up again.

However, now I'm encountering a logging in issue. When I try logging in, it goes through the first few login stages fine (connecting, authenticating, verifying, etc) but then it freezes at "Success!" and when I hit cancel it sends me to the realm selection screen where I then choose the "MaNGOS" realm in the list, but it freezes at "Logging into game server". If I click "Change Realm", it displays the realm "MaNGOS" realm as online and shows that I have 9 characters on it, just not able to log onto it.

Not sure what has changed to have this connection issue now but hopefully it can be fixed. If any additional info is needed to get this resolved please let me know and I'll post it all.

Thank you very much for any help!

(PS. The mangos zero forums seem to be offline/no longer exist thus me posting here instead.)

[Unkle Nuke]

Did you delete your game client's cache, especially if you have played on retail or other servers?

Are your router and firewall settings the same as when you used to operate your server?

Did you edit your client's realmlist.wtf file to match the IP address of your server? If operating the server on the same machine as your game, use 127.0.0.1. Otherwise, use the IP your server has on your LAN.

Have you made any changes to MySQL or your server databases since your server was offline?

Is your realm's IP address set correctly in the realmd database?

Did you edit mangosd.conf, realmd.conf, scriptdev.conf, and auctionhousebot.conf for the correct settings to connect to your database?

[ensidia]

Thank you very much for the quick response!

Did you delete your game client's cache, especially if you have played on retail or other servers?

- I don't believe so, unless it does that automatically. I have indeed been playing on retail however the retail installation is in a different location than my vanilla client that I'm using for mangos zero. (The retail client is installed at it's default location in Program Files, while my vanilla client is installed in My Documents, so any updates/patches they did to the retail version shouldn't have affected my vanilla client).

Are your router and firewall settings the same as when you used to operate your server?

- Yes, connecting to the server seems to be fine as I have my own WoW site that I'm able to connect to. (I'm referring to the personal WoW site that was in one of the guides from the old Mangos Zero forums).

Did you edit your client's realmlist.wtf file to match the IP address of your server? If operating the server on the same machine as your game, use 127.0.0.1. Otherwise, use the IP your server has on your LAN.

- Yes, the IP address in my vanilla client's realmlist.wtf is still set to my IP (which I used before).

Have you made any changes to MySQL or your server databases since your server was offline?

- I have not, unless changes were made automatically from windows updates or retail WoW patches/updates.

Is your realm's IP address set correctly in the realmd database?

- This may be the issue as my IP is different than what it used to be. I did however update my vanilla client's realmlist.wtf to my new IP, but haven't changed anything else in any other files/databases that MAY still be using my old IP. (I've been trying to find the old guide on setting up Mangos Zero from the Mangos zero forums to backtrack and update any changes with regards to my new IP but haven't been able to find it).

If changes/updates need to be made to any files/databases with regards to my new IP please let me know how I can go about doing so, as I'm still somewhat new to this.

Did you edit mangosd.conf, realmd.conf, scriptdev.conf, and auctionhousebot.conf for the correct settings to connect to your database?

- Not since I last set this server up. All the settings should be the same except for possibly my new IP that I'm using. Unless anything else updates/changes on it's own over time, other changes may need to be made.

Thank you again for the help!

If any additional info is needed let me know

Edit: Managed to finally find a link to the guide I used for setting up my Mangos Zero server, hopefully this will help give an idea of how my server is setup: http://udw.altervista.org/zeroproject/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=602

[Unkle Nuke]

You have not been very specific in regards to your hardware configuration of your network. I am making an educated guess that your MaNGOS server and MySQL database operate together on the same dedicated machine, since you mentioned also having a web server.

Assuming you are also allowing others outside access to play, then you are likely using a DNS forwarding service like DynDNS. If such is the case, you will use the URL you chose from the DNS service as your server's address instead of the LAN IP. It would be something similar to mywowserver.servegame.org or mywowserver.isageek.com.

When using a DNS forwarding service, it usually comes with an updater utility. You do not have to leave this running all the time, but make sure you do run it if either of the following occurs:

• Your server machine's LAN IP changes.
  
• You reset or restart your broadband provider's modem.
  

Connecting your game client to your server:

You will also need to edit your Windows HOSTS file on the machine you use to play WoW, if you are using a DNS forwarding service for your server. This is because your client has to connect using the LAN IP instead of the URL provided by the DNS forwarding service. For security reasons, your router prevents a computer on the local network from accessing another computer also on the local network by way of an outside internet connection. Since your server is configured to use the URL, you will need to set your game client's computer so the server URL is translated into the LAN IP of the server.

Place a line like this in your game client machine's HOSTS file: 192.168.1.100 mywowserver.servegame.org ...where the IP is your server's LAN IP address you've set and the URL is the one from your DNS forwarding service.

This new entry will then allow your game to connect to the server while still using the URL so outside players can also connect. You HOSTS file location will depend on your version of Windows, but it is usually found in C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\drivers\\etc on a typical Windows XP machine. Some privacy and security software will lock your HOSTS file to prevent hijacking of your browser. You will need to unlock it before editing, if this is the case. Simply right-click HOSTS, select Properties, and uncheck the boxes marked Read-only and Archive, if they're checked. Edit the HOSTS file and then lock it again by checking those boxes you unchecked.

For setting your realm's address in your database:

Using MySQL GUI, Heidi SQL, SQLyog, or Navicat, open your realmd database and look for a table named realmlist. The first few data values listed there will be id, name, address, and port. You may set name to whatever you wish, usually the name you have given your server, such as "Tempest Keep". The address field will contain the DNS URL for your server. You should not need to change port, which is set to 8085 by default.

Setting MaNGOS to connect with your MySQL database:

With MaNGOS running on the same machine as MySQL, you would use that machine's local loopback address for the settings in the various .conf files of your server. So, for mangosd.conf, realmd.conf, scriptdev.conf, and auctionhousebot.conf you will use 127.0.0.1 as the IP address. You will set name, password, and port according to the name, password, and port you set for accessing your MySQL database. example: "127.0.0.1;3306;user;password;mangos"

Clearing you game client's cache:

You mentioned that you have not cleared your client's cache, but you have a separate installation of WoW 1.12. If you have used your "vanilla" client to play on any other servers, it will be necessary to clear, or delete, your cache. You should do the same when you compile an updated server as fixes and improvements introduce new features and changes in the existing ones. The cache is server data containing information about your most recent game play. If you have data from a different server or older server version stored there, it can create a conflict with the settings for your private realm because the server is trying to load values the client isn't expecting and vice versa. Open your vanilla WoW folder, look for a folder inside labeled Cache, and delete its contents completely. Don't worry, the client will create a new cache once you have connected to your server.

Make sure the address used when editing your vanilla client's realmlist.wtf file is your DNS URL.

It seems the only thing that has changed is your server machine's IP address, based on your statements. Correcting that data in the places specified, and clearing your cache should solve your trouble.

Just to be safe and make sure your vanilla client does not attempt to connect to retail servers for any reason, you can set all the entries in realmlist.wtf to point to your server's URL. This can come in handy for other reasons, such as redirecting the patcher to get updates from your server, or pointing the client to your webserver for "Breaking News" updates that you see on the client's login screen. There was a tutorial posted somewhere around here on exactly how to configure your web server to provide those news updates to the client. I have an old copy of it I can provide if you can't find it.

I hope this has helped you enjoy adventuring in your private world. Please do not hesitate to ask further questions, should the need arise.