Failed to communicate to Authentication Server

[Mizuhi]

Hello CMDRs,

As the title suggests i'm unable to play ED due to being hit with a black screen (linked below)
https://imgur.com/a/RQCb66N

Background details;
I purchased the game around 2015, I've been on/off playing due to various factors of life. Last I played it was approximately 2018-2019.
Connected via Ethernet so I don't use any network adaptors besides the one for Ethernet

PC Specs:
CPU: intel 12th Gen i7-12700KF @3.6 - 4ghz
RAM: 32GB DDR4
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
SSD: Samsung 980 1TB NVMe M.2

I've already contacted support but it's been roughly a week of going back and forward, and due to time zones and the support teams workload they're only able to respond to me once a day. (Not blaming support, I understand how it goes)

I've come seeking assistance from the general community in the hopes of being able to do my own fixes while I await for support.

If support see this, my support ticket ref: 261811

I checked my netlog and this error appears to show up a lot:

Webserver request failed: code 400, details 'UA0snsxEeiJSb7jLIZUX19Xf/dgd6TCWWu5HdQJAqlMKTkFTfgHcjNoqNMzPRh339jCWcLZ3xhlkLvvxVIuFUwyr

Being a code 400, the server is unable to recognise my games request, but I have no idea what the string of button mashing means.

Here is a list of things I've done/confirmed so far to try and fix it (Not in order)

• Turning my PC On/Off
  
• Turning my ED Launcher On/Off
  
• Logging in and out of ED Launcher
  
• Un-linking and re-linking steam to my Frontier/ED Account
  
• Disabling any Firewalls, VPNs, Anti-virus and launching them after a restart
  
• Uninstalled VPNs and network adaptors like Hamachi just to be safe
  
• Tethered connection and trying to connect off of phone hotspot to confirm it's not my network
  
• Verified game files on both steam and ED launcher
  
• Downloaded the standalone ED launcher from an old forum post. Downloaded another copy of ED on a separate drive
  
• Uninstalled and Re-installed various times on different drives to confirm it wasn't an SSD/HDD issue
  
• Port Forwarded
  
• DNS Flush
  
• Reset router
  
• System clock sync
  
• Confirmed with support that my game keys are not conflicting
  
• Confirmed with support that I'm using the correct email to log in
  
• Used another computer to try and launch the game
  
• https://customersupport.frontier.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/4405692450834-Help-with-common-issues-and-error-messages-seen-with-the-Launcher
  If I remember anything else i'll add it to my list
  Added after original post:
  
• Ensuring network settings is functional when running on laptop
  
• Running the launcher as administrator
  
• Repaired/Reinstalled .net 4.8 and the VCC redist packages
  
  

  Some findings/Theories

  
  

  When I launched the game on my laptop, I was able to get into the game fine! So something on my PC is stopping the connection but I have no idea what.

  (No I can't play on my laptop, that thing was about to go nuclear just on the main menu)
  
  
• Can't be Riot anti-cheat as I have friends who have it installed and they can play fine
  
• Can't be mod tools like vortex or cheat engine as my friends also have that on their system
  
• Can't be easy-anti cheat, like previously stated my friends also have that on their system
  
  I also keep seeing people talk about "Log out of machine" on the ED launcher but all of those posts are 4 years old, and i'm unable to find the option to do so as there is a difference between "Log out" and "Log out of Machine" on the ED launcher

[funkynutz]

Originally posted by Mizuhi:

• Turning my PC On/Off
  
• Turning my ED Launcher On/Off
  
• Logging in and out of ED Launcher
  
• Un-linking and re-linking steam to my Frontier/ED Account
  
• Disabling any Firewalls, VPNs, Anti-virus and launching them after a restart
  
• Uninstalled VPNs and network adaptors like Hamachi just to be safe
  
• Tethered connection and trying to connect off of phone hotspot to confirm it's not my network
  
• Verified game files on both steam and ED launcher
  
• Downloaded the standalone ED launcher from an old forum post. Downloaded another copy of ED on a separate drive
  
• Uninstalled and Re-installed various times on different drives to confirm it wasn't an SSD/HDD issue
  
• Port Forwarded
  
• DNS Flush
  
• Reset router
  
• System clock sync
  
• Confirmed with support that my game keys are not conflicting
  
• Confirmed with support that I'm using the correct email to log in
  
• Used another computer to try and launch the game
  
• https://customersupport.frontier.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/4405692450834-Help-with-common-issues-and-error-messages-seen-with-the-Launcher
  If I remember anything else i'll add it to my list

You've probably already checked this, but I don't see it in the list... So just in case...

Have you gone into the in game network options, and made sure it's using the right network device?

The game doesn't always choose the best one by default. Would also explain why you can log in on the laptop, but not the desktop...

[Mizuhi]

Unfortunately I can't get into the main menu. When I was able to run the game on my laptop through steams library streaming service I did make sure that everything was fine.

On my PC however it'll proceed as follows:
>Launch Game via ED Launcher > Game will boot up > ED Start up video plays > Preparing Shaders > Preparing Planet Generation System > Orange Logging In screen with the frontier Logo > Login Failure as per picture linked > Game force closes itself

[funkynutz]

OK I'm probably barking up the wrong tree with the network option then.

Probably still barking up the wrong tree... But you never know...

Have you tried running DDU in safe mode to purge your graphics drivers? Reboot, reinstall the latest version, reboot again. AMD graphics drivers in particular can occasionally be weird with Elite.

Are you by any chance playing on an older system? If so: You might not meet the minimum spec for Live/Odyssey (though I'd expect support to have picked up on that one). You might want to try running Legacy instead.

Can't be mod tools like vortex or cheat engine as my friends also have that on their system

Is cheat engine running? I don't have any experience with it myself, and I've no idea if this is even relevant to Elite, but I do know some games don't like CE. It shouldn't be a problem being installed, but if it's running that could maybe be it?

[Mizuhi]

Originally posted by funkynutz:

OK I'm probably barking up the wrong tree with the network option then.

Probably still barking up the wrong tree... But you never know...

Have you tried running DDU in safe mode to purge your graphics drivers? Reboot, reinstall the latest version, reboot again.

Are you by any chance playing on an older system? If so: You might not meet the minimum spec for Live/Odyssey (though I'd expect support to have picked up on that one). You might want to try running Legacy instead.

Throw as many suggestions at me as you'd like, I'm desperate for ideas.

I haven't tried purging my GPU so i'll give that a go.
I'll add my specs to the post too but i'll add them here aswell:
CPU: intel 12th Gen i7-12700KF @3.6 - 4ghz
RAM: 32GB DDR4
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti
SSD: Samsung 980 1TB NVMe M.2

I don't have cheat engine or vortex/mod tools running, and I've checked task manager to ensure they aren't running in the background

I've also tried launching every other version of ED on the launcher and I'm met with the same screen as the screenshot. The only thing I can access is the offline tutorial missions

[funkynutz]

Might be worth repairing/reinstalling .net 4.8 and the VCC redist packages as well.

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#latest-microsoft-visual-c-redistributable-version

[Mizuhi]

Originally posted by funkynutz:

Might be worth repairing/reinstalling .net 4.8 and the VCC redist packages as well.

https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/download/dotnet-framework/net48

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#latest-microsoft-visual-c-redistributable-version

Purged my GPU and reinstalled/repaired both .net and VCC.
Restarted my system but the issue persists

[funkynutz]

Bugger...

Ok, go to:

%localappdata%\Frontier Developments

Move or rename the Elite Dangerous folder (keep it as a backup somewhere for now in case I'm still barking up the wrong tree).

Try again, the game should create a new folder when you launch. If that doesn't work, try copying the same folder over from your laptop to your desktop.

Have you got OneDrive running? I don't recall it having issues with Elite specifically, but it can get in the way for other games; so it might be worth disabling that.

[☢ARMac☢]

How about a different DNS on your PC? 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1? Just to test it out.

[funkynutz]

Originally posted by ☢ARMac☢:

How about a different DNS on your PC? 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1? Just to test it out.

Worth trying

I use Google DNS most of the time myself.

[funkynutz]

Couple more ideas...

First...

What's your motherboard?

Got the chipset drivers installed, or just using the windows standard drivers?

Does it have a "Killer NIC"? The software that goes with that can sometimes screw things up. Uninstall it and get the driver only package.


Second...

Could it be a windows profile issue? Easiest way to test that, is to create a new windows profile and go from there.


Third...

Install Legacy from the versions section in the launcher, just to see if that lets you login.

I'm guessing it won't...

If it does though, pass it on to support. It might help them narrow down the problem.

[Mizuhi]

Originally posted by funkynutz:

Couple more ideas...

First...

What's your motherboard?

Got the chipset drivers installed, or just using the windows standard drivers?

Does it have a "Killer NIC"? The software that goes with that can sometimes screw things up. Uninstall it and get the driver only package.


Second...

Could it be a windows profile issue? Easiest way to test that, is to create a new windows profile and go from there.


Third...

Install Legacy from the versions section in the launcher, just to see if that lets you login.

I'm guessing it won't...

If it does though, pass it on to support. It might help them narrow down the problem.

My Motherboard is a Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 V2: https://www.gigabyte.com/au/Motherboard/Z690-UD-DDR4-V2-rev-10#kf

It's using a network driver called: Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Family Controller


Couple of things to add to the list later once it's fixed:

• Carried a proper fresh install of the game, including deleting ED and frontier folders from %appdata% local folders - as directed by Frontier support
  
• Carried out a clean boot via msconfig: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd
  - as directed by Frontier support
  
  
  I don't think I have One Drive running, but I do have it running on my laptop LOL
  
  I'll give the DNS thing another try since I haven't tried the 1.1.1.1 yet
  
  Update: I've tried the legacy versions before hand but was met with the same issue. I'll try again with the fresh install

[Mizuhi]

Originally posted by ☢ARMac☢:

How about a different DNS on your PC? 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1? Just to test it out.

Giving this a go now <:

[Mizuhi]

Sorry for the late reply, just got out of hospital.

Sadly the DNS didn't work

[Mizuhi]

Originally posted by Mizuhi:

Originally posted by funkynutz:

Couple more ideas...

First...

What's your motherboard?

Got the chipset drivers installed, or just using the windows standard drivers?

Does it have a "Killer NIC"? The software that goes with that can sometimes screw things up. Uninstall it and get the driver only package.


Second...

Could it be a windows profile issue? Easiest way to test that, is to create a new windows profile and go from there.


Third...

Install Legacy from the versions section in the launcher, just to see if that lets you login.

I'm guessing it won't...

If it does though, pass it on to support. It might help them narrow down the problem.

My Motherboard is a Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 V2: https://www.gigabyte.com/au/Motherboard/Z690-UD-DDR4-V2-rev-10#kf

It's using a network driver called: Realtek Gaming 2.5GbE Family Controller


Couple of things to add to the list later once it's fixed:

• Carried a proper fresh install of the game, including deleting ED and frontier folders from %appdata% local folders - as directed by Frontier support
  
• Carried out a clean boot via msconfig: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd
  - as directed by Frontier support
  
  
  I don't think I have One Drive running, but I do have it running on my laptop LOL
  
  I'll give the DNS thing another try since I haven't tried the 1.1.1.1 yet
  
  Update: I've tried the legacy versions before hand but was met with the same issue. I'll try again with the fresh install

None of the legacy versions work sadly. I get met with the same error screen but instead of "Connection status: Bad Request" I get
"Connection Status: CRC Failed"

[funkynutz]

How many drives have you got? Might be worth running chkdsk on each of them... Open a cmd prompts as admin, type the drive letter with a colon to select the drive for example:

D:

Once selected run the command "chkdsk" (without the quotes).

I know you did this bit...

Uninstalled and Re-installed various times on different drives to confirm it wasn't an SSD/HDD issue

...but a drive developing a fault can cause all sorts of weird problems. Could also be as simple as a drive cable has come a bit loose.