Re: Several Problems with Battlefield 4 and Punkbuster

Your computer doesn't seem to want to install the Punkbuster service. My guess is a program could be blocking Punkbuster, have you tried installing it as simple solution 1+2 suggests after a clean boot?

http://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/

If you can list all the thing's you've already tried since that will help as well.

I ran a clean boot and reinstalled PunkBuster (beginning with easy step 2, as I figured I ought to do the install step before the update step) as you suggested. It seemed to install correctly; it gave me confirmation messages for the install and the test, I didn't notice any significant looking errors, etc. here's what the log files said:

First, for pbsvc,log:

• Starting PunkBuster Service Installer (v0.994) (05/16/16 17:48:39)
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  Checking user is Administrator OK
  Checking Administrator privileges OK
  Opening Service Control Manager OK
  Searching for PnkBstrA None Found - OK
  Extracting PnkBstrA service OK
  Verifying service authenticity OK
  Installing PunkBuster service OK
  Installed at "C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrA.exe"
  serviceInstallFile does exist
  Checking PunkBuster service status STOPPED
  Starting PunkBuster service OK
  Adding firewall rule for PnkBstrA OK
  Adding firewall rule for PnkBstrB OK
  Installation Finished.

  Please click "Next" to test the PunkBuster services.Starting PunkBuster Service Tests (v0.994) (05/16/16 17:49:00)
  Checking OS
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  Checking PnkBstrA service status RUNNING
  Checking PnkBstrA Version OK (1041)
  Extracting "PnkBstrB.exe" to:
  "C:\Users\Jacob\AppData\Roaming\PnkBstrB.exe"
  OK
  Checking firewall settings OFF
  Is PnkBstrA explicitly allowed?
  C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrA.exe NO
  Is PnkBstrB explicitly allowed?
  C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe NO
  Checking if PnkBstrB is running NOT RUNNING
  Getting port for PnkBstrA OK (44301)
  Opening socket for packet send OK
  Sending version packet to PnkBstrA SENT
  Receiving version from PnkBstrA OK
  Received 6 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 7704 (ms) Version = v1041
  Getting PnkBstrB install instance NOT FOUND
  Sending start packet to PnkBstrA SENT
  Waiting for packet from PnkBstrA OK
  Received 3 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 12079 (ms) PnkBstrB started.
  Load SUCCESSFUL.
  Watching for PnkBstrB instance change (0) CHANGED ⚽
  Getting port for PnkBstrB OK (45301)
  Sending version packet to PnkBstrB SENT
  Receiving version from PnkBstrB OK
  Received 5 bytes from 127.0.0.1:45301
  Response = 3281 (ms) Version = 2333
  Checking PnkBstrK driver status NOT FOUND
  Manually stopping PnkBstrB STOPPED
  Removing test PnkBstrB file OK

  ----------------------------------
  Tests finished.

Then for PnkBstrA.log and PnkBstrB.log:

• [05.16.2016 17:48:54] PnkBstrA v1041 Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.
• [05.16.2016 17:49:11] PnkBstrB v2.333 (BF4) Service Started Successfully. This service is a component of the PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system. Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information.

I then went to attempt to update Punkbuster, but it was already set up with the Battlefield 4 path and, when I attempted to update, said that it was on the newest version.

After that, I attempted to repair the game through Origin again, but got the same errors as before, although it did download a small bit of data (a few MB big) to repair the file with. This was in the pbsvc.log after this process:

• Starting PunkBuster Service Installer (v0.993) (05/16/16 20:12:46)
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedChecking user is Administrator OK
  Checking Administrator privileges OK
  Opening Service Control Manager OK
  Searching for PnkBstrA Found - OK
  Extracting PnkBstrA service OK
  Verifying service authenticity OK
  Installing PunkBuster DLLs OK
  Installing PunkBuster service ERROR

After doing all of this, I attempted to play the game, but got this error message again:

• Game disconnected: you were kicked by PunkBuster. Stated reason: PunkBuster kicked player 'TheFrizbee2' (for 0 minutes) ... RESTRICTION: Service Communication Failure: PnkBstrB.exe initialization failed

In response to your question about what I tried, I can't fully remember all of what I did, as I didn't keep track, but it was mostly variations of methods on installing PunkBuster, as well as changing the permissions of PnkBstrA and PnkBstrB's iunbound rules in the firewall (setting them to Domain, Private, and Public; changing the ports and protocols of PnkBstrB to UDP rather than TCP). I've pretty much undone all of these things, however, so I can do them again if you think they might help.

EDIT: I decided to try steps one and two off a clean boot again WITHOUT trying to repair the battlefield 4 game afterwords. Everything seemed to work as before, only this time pbsetup.exe did update punkbuster. Here's toe log files for pbsvc again (PnkBstrA and PnkBstrB just had another line of the exact same thing):

• Starting PunkBuster Service Installer (v0.993) (05/16/16 20:57:59)
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedChecking user is Administrator OK
  Checking Administrator privileges OK
  Opening Service Control Manager OK
  Searching for PnkBstrA None Found - OK
  Extracting PnkBstrA service OK
  Verifying service authenticity OK
  Installing PunkBuster service OK
  Installed at "C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrA.exe"
  serviceInstallFile does exist
  Checking PunkBuster service status STOPPED
  Starting PunkBuster service OK
  Adding firewall rule for PnkBstrA OK
  Adding firewall rule for PnkBstrB OK
  Installation Finished.

  Please click "Next" to test the PunkBuster services.Starting PunkBuster Service Tests (v0.993) (05/16/16 20:58:12)
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedChecking OS
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  Checking PnkBstrA service status RUNNING
  Checking PnkBstrA Version OK (1036)
  Extracting "PnkBstrB.exe" to:
  "C:\Users\Jacob\AppData\Roaming\PnkBstrB.exe"
  OK
  Checking firewall settings OFF
  Is PnkBstrA explicitly allowed?
  C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrA.exe NO
  Is PnkBstrB explicitly allowed?
  C:\WINDOWS\system32\PnkBstrB.exe NO
  Checking if PnkBstrB is running NOT RUNNING
  Getting port for PnkBstrA OK (44301)
  Opening socket for packet send OK
  Sending version packet to PnkBstrA SENT
  Receiving version from PnkBstrA OK
  Received 6 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 7250 (ms) Version = v1036
  Getting PnkBstrB install instance NOT FOUND
  Sending start packet to PnkBstrA SENT
  Waiting for packet from PnkBstrA OK
  Received 3 bytes from 127.0.0.1:44301
  Response = 11297 (ms) PnkBstrB started.
  Load SUCCESSFUL.
  Watching for PnkBstrB instance change (0) CHANGED ⚽
  Getting port for PnkBstrB OK (45301)
  Sending version packet to PnkBstrB SENT
  Receiving version from PnkBstrB OK
  Received 5 bytes from 127.0.0.1:45301
  Response = 3015 (ms) Version = 2308
  Checking PnkBstrK driver status NOT FOUND
  Manually stopping PnkBstrB STOPPED
  Removing test PnkBstrB file OK

  ----------------------------------
  Tests finished.

However, after doing this, I again attempted to join a game and got the same error message:

• Game disconnected: you were kicked by PunkBuster. Stated reason: PunkBuster kicked player 'TheFrizbee2' (for 0 minutes) ... RESTRICTION: Service Communication Failure: PnkBstrB.exe initialization failed

Ok, so just to be sure,on your Windows administrator account, if you do a clean boot (all programs and services disabled except Punkbuster), then while being in the clean state Windows reinstall Punkbuster and update it, then you start Origin as administrator

it still doesn't work?

go to control panel find windows fire wall pres go to advanced settings pres inbound rules and then find punk baster A, punk baster B if you have twice this punk Baster AA BB delet
one A and B ......

I attempted to follow all of your instructions; I double-checked that I was clean booting correctly( according to this), rebooted, and attempted to uninstall/reinstall through pbsvc.exe . Uninstalling seemed to work fine and gave me this log report:

• Starting PunkBuster Service Installer (v0.993) (05/18/16 13:17:47)
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedChecking user is Administrator OK
  Checking Administrator privileges OK
  Opening Service Control Manager OK
  Searching for PnkBstrA Found - OK (stopped)
  Removing Service/Driver files OK
  Removing registry entries OK
  Removing logs OK
  Removing log directory OK
  Finished!

However, installing through pbsvc.exe simply cut out partway through and gave me this log report:

• Starting PunkBuster Service Installer (v0.993) (05/18/16 13:21:32)
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedStarting PunkBuster Service Tests (v0.993) (05/18/16 13:21:34)
  PunkBuster DLL Install Files IncludedChecking OS
  Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64-bit
  Checking PnkBstrA service status STOPPED
  Starting PnkBstrA service ERROR
  Checking user is Administrator OK
  Checking Administrator privileges OK
  Opening Service Control Manager OK
  Searching for PnkBstrA Found - OK
  Extracting PnkBstrA service OK
  Verifying service authenticity OK
  Installing PunkBuster service ERROR

I am completely certain that I'm doing all of this as an administrator and with administrator permissions. I didn't continue forward to updating/starting Origin as an administrator because pbsvc.exe threw that error.

Does anyone know how I should proceed from here?