I think i give up

[Jonny69er]

after hours of playing i get pb kicking me out of every server for some odd reason - i fixed that

after some hours of flawless playing time, now all i get is invalid cd key? i bought this game a long time ago brandnew and played it for a few years, and just yesturday decided to reinstall it again (which yesturday i had no problem playing either)

i guess it was fate to stop playing this game oh well

oh ya and ive tried everything ive seen people say to try on the fourms to go figure :icon33:

[CrinklyArse]

you've tryed ALL of this?

Invalid CD Key errors may occur for a wide number of reasons. The most common causes of this error are configuration issues on the client (player) machine or problems with your connection to the id's Authentication Server.

Try the following:

• - Make sure you have one q3key file located in your "Quake III Arena\baseq3" folder and that it contains the correct cd-key. If you find any q3key files in your mod folders, delete them.

• - Manually enter your CD Key into the Q3KEY file on your hard drive.
  • 1) Open Microsoft Wordpad.
    2) Open the Q3KEY file on your drive. Please note the file does not have an extension. By default the path is:
    
    C:\Program Files\Quake III Arena\baseq3\q3key
    
    3) Enter your complete CD Key in lower-case letters at the beginning of this file. Do not use any formatting or spacing.
    4) Save the file and try the game again.

• - You may also receive this error if you are moving rapidly between different servers. The Master Server keeps a record of your CD Key, IP address, and which server you're in. If you leave a server then jump into a new one the Master Server may see this as multiple uses of the same key. Generally speaking, it's a good idea to wait 5-10 minutes before joining a new server, especially if you've been dropped from the previous server due to a connection problem.

• - Be sure that your computer is not behind a software or hardware firewall of any kind. This includes firewalls built into routers or other equipment, as well as programs like Zone Alarm, Black Ice, and the integrated firewall in Windows XP. Activision does not support the use of our games from behind a firewall. If it is not possible to disable the firewall you will need to open the ports for Quake III Arena. Quake III Arena transmits and receives network traffic on ports 27950, 27960, 27965 and 27952 using both TCP and UDP. The exact details on opening these ports is specific to your firewall. For more information check with the firewall documentation or manufacturer.

• - Another common cause of problems is a poorly configured router or connection sharing solution. If you are using a router, ICS, NAT or a software gateway you may have problems playing on the internet. This is because the router may not be forwarding the correct information back to your machine. It may be possible to get around this problem using port forwarding or DMZ. You can find more information on configuring shared connections for multiplayer gaming at http://www.practicallynetworkd.com. Please be aware that like a firewall we cannot actively support using shared connections to play online.

• - Use the in-game browser to search for and join servers. Third party applications such as All Seeing Eye and those released by Gamespy may cause Invalid Key problems.

• - If you are on a dynamic IP connection try renewing your IP address.
  Windows NT/2000/XP
  • 1) First launch the Command Prompt.
    2) At the command line type "IPCONFIG /RENEW".
  - If you have PunkBuster installed edit your Q3CONFIG.CFG file.
  • 1) Open Microsoft Wordpad.
    2) Open your Q3CONFIG.CFG file. By default this is:
    
    C:\Program Files\Quake III Arena\baseq3\q3config.cfg
    
    3) Add the following to the end of the file:
    
    seta pb_system "1"
    
    4) Save the file and try the game again.

Good Luck and Happy Fragging!

[Survivor]

© Cooldown
bastard

[CrinklyArse]

there

[Jonny69er]

yes i tried all that and for some reason i still get invalid cd key

[CrinklyArse]

then someone else is using it online (most likely)

[FragaGeddon]

Goto the PB site and download the PB updater:
http://www.punkbuster.com/index.php?page=updatepb.php

Then update PB using that then re-enter you cd-key through the ingame menu.