PunkBuster Heartbeat Stopped?

**drfroob** · 02-28-10, 05:38 PM

Thanks to everyone who helped me to get this problem sorted out. My game works great now!
Hope to see you on the field!

Drfroob

**WaterDumple** · 02-28-10, 10:41 PM

You need a defibrillator for it.

**Sfrichck** · 03-01-10, 09:19 AM

I get this at least once to twice a day everytime i load bf2 then it is fine. I have done everything mentioned above numerous times. Nothing works. This is my pb life. :3

**Lepton** · 03-03-10, 10:03 AM

Actually the solution is more fundamental than the previous replies. PunkBuster runs two services called PnkBstrA and PnkBstrB. I think they run a virtual type of checksum meaning they monitor each other and if one goes out of Spec then it triggers a heartbeats kick.

The problem is with Windows(maybe all versions), PunkBuster and the newer Multi-Core processors. More people are getting the heartbeats error because they are buying newer boxes with multi-core processors. I never had this problem until I bought my eight core 64 bit workstation about six months ago and installed Windows 7. At first I read different forums and it was always restart this or re-install that. The truth is even more simple.

Windows XP may be immune because it does not recognize all cores and the amount of RAM in a computer, but Windows 7 does. For instance, if I run any internet apps( mail, web, FTP, etc.) the task manager moves services and re-allocates hardware priorities based on the load. However, the two PunkBuster services MUST BE STATIC. So in effect one of the PunkBuster services may get moved to a different core or obtain a different allocation of RAM. When this happens and you load BF2 it will generate a heartbeats kick. The easiest way to tell when it is going to kick is to pay attention when the map loads the first time starting the game. For me, the percent indicator moves pretty much in single digit increments and seems to hang. Then POW heartbeats kick.

The solution is to simply resart your machine. This fixes the PunkBuster services to a specific allocation and the heartbeats error will NOT occur. However, if you exit BF2 and run internet services and re-start BF2 the heartbeats Kick will return. So reboot everytime you run internet services.

Another thing to mention is that there is a way to set services to a specific allocation. I have tried this but it always reverts back to a random allocation. Maybe some else has more expertise and can figure out how to permanently assign PunkBuster services.