Cannot log in on one character only after crash (POL-3001)

[Aquilees]

It seems like we all have at least one dead zone. Check this out, Tahrongi Canyon is my dead zone, I get stuck on a time out there every singe time. So I go over to my brothers house and try to log in and it works, so I move myself out of the zone. But when I enter Port Sandoria on his network i get the time out and cannot log back in. Port Sandoria is fine on my network though, so we both have a separate dead zones. Mine Tahrongi Canyon and his Port Sandoria. I reconfigured my router following the directions as well and that did not help. Honestly though, how can any of us believe that all of this is just coincidence and we all have a router blocking a specific zone for each of us that worked just fine before the latest update. Does it not seem like its very much possible that there is a hardware malfunction on your end Square Enix? It just does not seem logical that so many routers can have the same problem at the same time covering so many different zones.

For those of you who are still stuck, I'm pretty sure that if you can get yourself logged into the game on a network other than your own you will be able to move your character from that zone. And then do your best to not go back there.

*Edit* I should clarify that when I got my character out of Tahrongi Canyon i logged in as a guest user using my brother's computer with his installed copy of final fantasy XI and not my own. Not sure if that matters, it might though.

[Foulu]

I'm stuck in Davoi
Walked in to get a dynamis trig and never got past downloading data screen
Same thing when i try to relog for the past 12 hours

[AzieltheLiar]

Waiting for SE James to come back with more advice, port numbers, or another explanation. Was able to play for a few min today, due to going to a friends house to move my character out of Qufim. Zoned into Qufim again in the hope the issue was fixed, only to get stuck in the loading screen again unable to unlock myself til next weekend when he is off work. All ports are still configured to James' specifications with no change. Friend has the exact same cable internet service by the way. Only used auto router settings over there too, which makes me curious to the port explanation again. I don't WANT to quit, so other suggestions would be appreciated greatly...

I'm only waiting til my next billing cycle for a fix. $70+ for a week and a half of service and content is ridiculous...

[Bobar]

I can confirm that this issue certainly does occur with my internet connected DIRECTLY to my PC/360/PS2 (same zones/characters on each system). I have connected directly, bypassing my router completely and still experience the same problems. My ISP does not block any ports. There is no way this is an issue with all of our collective routers suddenly crapping out on all of us

From what I have read, your world (i.e. Phoenix, etc) is a network of servers. One particular server may contain many zones. For example, the server(s) that handle the Port Jeuno zone, may also handle Tahrongi Canyon and Port San d'Oria, etc. So even if Tahrongi Canyon is virtually empty, the combination of people in all of those combined zones mean it is not allowing additional people to enter any of those zones. This would explain why when the peak time ends, I can get back on (even in P.J.) and not have any trouble. Peak time ramps up... I'm stuck for many hours.

Not sure if this is 100% correct, just my understanding reading from someone who had this issue in 2005 and was pinging servers and noticed that multiple zones were grouped together onto individual servers. That's why this *could* be resolved by ensuring routers have all ports open... but obviously that's not working here.

Probably not an easy fix. Just wait it out If the problem continues around the end of the month, I'm considering cancelling for a month or two. No reason to pay if I can't play.

[Mrpsycho]

yea im in same boat, both my chars. are now>< stuck in burb. have new thread open on topic

yours truly,
mad taru and elvaan

[cdh85]

okay would one of you in here be able to assist me with moving my character. None of my friend's in the game are on Xbox for me to give them my information. If we can't give out the information just reply to this and we can figure out a way to make this work. I'm currently stuck in Lower Delkfutt's tower zoning in from Qufim Island.

[Bobar]

Received my new router today (Linksys E2500). Set everything up. No trouble at all. Played FFXIV for hours this morning. No trouble. Got on FFXI. Leveled a bit, changed zones to La Thiene Plat. Stuck again in Downloading data screen. This occurs on 3 routers now, with and without port forwarding set up, or port triggering, or even DMZ. This occurs even when I bypass my router completely. This occurs on PS2, Xbox 360 and PC. This occurs regardless of 2400-5000+ logged into Phoenix.

This is not my problem any more. The tech support forums are filled with this very problem. This is affecting many players. I'm cancelling my account until this gets fixed. I've been playing with no trouble since Jan 2006. May 2011 update and/or server merge is where the issue started. I'm not coming back until I read in this forum that this problem has been fixed. Pretty frustrated over this issue and SE's support. I appreciate that folks at SE are trying, but this has been a poor experience. I'm voting with my dollar.

Hope to come back, but I'm gonna move on for now.

[LadyRagefist]

Xianra,

We can offer a few suggestions if you are experiencing any of the following:
• Have difficulty connecting to or staying connected to the PlayOnline Viewer or FINAL FANTASY XI
• Crash, receive a black screen error, or get stuck at the downloading data screen upon clicking your character handle or character select button
• See your the lag meter turn red
• Encounter increased lag or connection problems near crowed areas
• Have trouble accessing specific zone(s)
• Have trouble logging in with specific character(s)
• Receive any of these errors: 3113, 3100, 4001, 1160

Suggestions:
1. Check to make sure you have properly configured or turned off any of the following: Routers, Proxy Servers, NAT Servers, Internet Connection Sharing services.
2. If you are using any kind of software/hardware Internet Sharing service/device the following ports need INCOMING access to your PC: TCP 1024 - 65535, UDP 53, and 50000 - 65535. Also, check to make sure that the ports mentioned are not blocked by your ISP for INCOMING access. Proper configuration of any of the above items mentioned should be done by following the instructions in the software/hardware manual or calling the manufacturer's technical support.
3. If you are using a router, and have configured that router for port forwarding, temporarily bypass that router and connect directly to the modem.

Please take note of the following:
• Proxy servers, and satellite connections are not supported and do not work correctly with FINAL FANTASY XI.
• Your router may require that you use a PC to configure your network settings. For more information about how to configure your network settings, please refer to the instruction manual that came with your router or contact the manufacturer directly.
• If your Internet Service Provider (ISP) specifies a DNS server, you need to make sure to configure your settings to allow packets to pass through UDP Port 53 as well. For more information, please refer to the instruction manual for your router or the information provided by your ISP.

These same cookie cutter replies are not helpful at all, and the numbers of people having the same issue are growing.
Acknowledge the issue and do an emergency maintenance if you need to. We're paying to play this game, not get stuck in its zones.

[GarudaEban]

When you are connecting to a world server, you are not connecting to one single machine hosting the data for that server, but one out of a number of servers in a farm. Different zones on a world will be hosted on different servers within the farm for that world, and that connection can use any number of ports in the range that FINAL FANTASY XI needs access to.

Dear SE_James,

On Sunday morning May 22, at approximately 9:00 am est, my main character (Ebrim of Lakshmi) encountered the same error mentioned in this thread when zoning from Misareaux Coast to Sacrarium. After receiving the error, I continued to play the game with one of my other characters, not learning until much later how serious the issue was.

Due to the fact that other players have reported getting multiple characters trapped at the same zones, and others have reported getting frozen at multiple zones, I would like to submit a (probably unreasonable) request: Could you please provide to me a list of the in-game zones that are hosted on the same physical server as 'The Sacrarium' zone.

Your reply quoted above to AzieltheLiar indicated that zones are spaced out on multiple servers. If the server hosting 'The Sacrarium' is for whatever reason unable to connect to my computer, I would greatly appreciate knowing which other zones in the game I need to avoid in order to prevent my other characters from getting stuck. I am currently weighing my options to free Ebrim, including transporting my PC or 360 to use a friend's internet connection temporarily. I would feel much more comfortable taking these steps if I knew I didn't have to identify my problem zones through trial-and-error. I'd prefer to lean on my friend's hospitality once at most, if possible.

Thank you in advance.

[darkhorror]

I am having the same problem. This morning I warped from bastok to port jeuno. Got stuck on the downloading data part and now can't log into my main. I got on my mule and that still seems to work fine. I am currently plugged directly into my cable model. It's an Arris TM502G which I got from comcast. Turned off firewall to test it out. Tried checking the files to see if anything was wrong with those, but no luck. Not really sure what else to try, I have tried unplugging my modem, restarted my computer a couple times.

Is there a way to test and see which port, or IP might be getting blocked? I am trying to isolate the problem but haven't had too much luck.