Colonies Unavailable, knuckelcracker.com timed out | KnuckleCracker | Page 1

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 10:44 PM

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I turned of steam cloud.
I have checked the site online and it is only down for me.
I have flushed dns.
I have deleted the colonies folder, it created a new (empty) one when restarting the game.
I checked the connection to the dallas server, it was fine.
I tried renaming mcs.dat to mcs.old temporarely to se if that fixed it, but it didn't and I lost progress on the campaign so restored the name.

I tried to understand the routing to the knucklecracker.com server tool but I failed to understand it.

I have restarted the computer multiple times between a few of the tries, restarted it again before typing this message.

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I cleared filters in search as well.

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I have verified steam files as well.

It worked earlier today for me.

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📎 Player.log

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Microsoft and google drive is disabled since way back.

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:25 PM

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gilded girder Microsoft and google drive is disabled since way back.

You have done an incredible amount of work. There has been some site moves that necessitated DNS changes, Tthat sometimes makes it harder for clients to find the kncuklecracer.com site unti worldwide DNS all reflect the change. This usually takes no more than 24 hours and usually can be resolved by flushing your DNS cache - which you have done.

I'm wondering if you perhaps use a proxy or VPN that may hit different DNS servers at different times? We're not getting these reports from a widespread auduence, so it may be specific to your configuration.

You can try to help us troubleshoot this a little further by following the steps outlined here: https://github.com/KnuckleCracker/CW4-bug-tracker/discussions/1036

Thank you and I hope we can get you back downloading maps soon.

GitHub

Common Steps to troubleshoot networking issues · KnuckleCracker CW...

Most often, when the servers at knucklecracker.com cannot be reached by a single user, it's indicative of an issue specific to one instance of web connectivity. Recommended steps to resolve: 1 ...

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:26 PM

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I do not use a vpn.

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I have missed restarting my router, will try that as well

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:27 PM

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fair enough, I thought I'd ask, I'm puzzled as to whet specifically is the cause of your problems I just tried and have no issues whatsoever. (But then, I live almost local to the Linode servers in Dallas).

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:30 PM

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I started getting these issues when I played stardew valley and played creeper world 4 when they where afk, but that is the only thing I did between playing last time and now. I could start a colony level I already downloaded before but after that it stopped working.

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router wasn't the problem ):

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:32 PM

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I did not expect it to be. Try following the steps in the link above I sent you

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:33 PM

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Check the routing from your computer to knucklecracker.com

Could you explain how this works like I am 5? It is the only thing I haven't done yet in that link

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:34 PM

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THe microsoft article is a very detailed guide on a Windows command that will look at all the hops between your computer and Linode, I can't say it more clearly than it is in the link:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-use-tracert-to-troubleshoot-tcp-ip-problems-in-windows-e643d72b-2f4f-cdd6-09a0-fd2989c7ca8e

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:38 PM

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when I try to start tracert on my pc it closes instantly

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:38 PM

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Are you running it in a Windows Command window?

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:39 PM

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no, i thought it was its own thing.

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:39 PM

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Tap the Windows key, type "Cmd"

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:39 PM

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what ip do I use to ping the dallas server?

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C:>tracert 11.1.0.1

this is the example on the microsoft site

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:40 PM

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wait one

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You can simply type 'tracert knucklecracker.com`

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:42 PM

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running the example gives me endless request timed out after 6 hops

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:43 PM

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post the output here

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:43 PM

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running yours now

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still running, but only times out at this point

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timed out untill 30 then trace complete

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C:\Users\robin>tracert knucklecracker.com

Tracing route to knucklecracker.com [72.14.178.233]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms 2 1 ms 3 3 ms 4 3 ms 5 3 ms 6 3 ms 7 4 ms 8 9 ms 9 20 ms 10 * * 11 90 ms 12 89 ms 13 89 ms 14 104 ms 15 129 ms 16 129 ms 17 129 ms 18 130 ms 19 * * 20 * * 21 * * 22 * * 23 * * 1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
1 ms 1 ms gw3123-no600.tbcn.telia.com [2.248.50.1]
2 ms 3 ms dro-c1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.87.20]
3 ms 2 ms m-b-c1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.89.16]
2 ms 3 ms m-b-peer1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.84.95]
3 ms 3 ms kbn-b1-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.123.158]
4 ms 4 ms kbn-bb6-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.138.112]
9 ms 9 ms hbg-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.135.227]
20 ms 20 ms ldn-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.122.161]
* Request timed out.
91 ms 90 ms nyk-b17-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.137.15]
89 ms 89 ms akamai-ic-371098.ip.twelve99-cust.net [62.115.38.45]
89 ms 89 ms ae2.r02.lga01.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.203.156.40]
104 ms 104 ms ae26.r21.iad02.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.193.112.242]
129 ms 129 ms ae6.r22.dfw02.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.32.62.56]
129 ms 129 ms ae8.r22.dfw02.mag.netarch.akamai.com [23.209.173.90]
129 ms 129 ms ae4.r22.dfw01.ien.netarch.akamai.com [23.209.172.111]
130 ms 135 ms ae22.gw2.rin1.netarch.akamai.com [23.203.147.41]
* Request timed out.
* Request timed out.
* Request timed out.
* Request timed out.
* Request timed out.

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cant paste the whole thing

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:47 PM

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no need to

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relax a little

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:47 PM

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(:

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:51 PM

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I'm a little perplexed by the akamai routing hell you're going through. That doesn't make a lot of sense. We're using cloudflare.

My best advice is to find something else to do for 24 hours and then ry again. By then the DNS issues may have cleared up.

I'm sorry.

I tried some things locally, but they didn't yield substantive results that would help.

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if I get more information I'll ping you directly.

gilded girder Mar 21, 2026, 11:54 PM

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Might be a sign that I should go to bed, soon 01:00 locally

grave vault Mar 21, 2026, 11:56 PM

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I cleared my DNS cache (still can't do 'nslooku', byt my routing (locally since I'm near Linode here in Dallas is as follows:

C:\Users\Fred>tracert knucklecracker.com

Tracing route to knucklecracker.com [104.26.6.12]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

  1     1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  192.168.68.1
  2     2 ms     3 ms     3 ms  47-185-128-1.fdr04.lwvl.tx.ip.frontiernet.net [47.185.128.1]
  3     3 ms     2 ms     3 ms  ae28---100.ber01.lwvl.tx.frontiernet.net [184.19.247.242]
  4     4 ms     4 ms     5 ms  ae5---0.scr03.dlls.tx.frontiernet.net [74.40.10.210]
  5     5 ms     4 ms     4 ms  ae1---0.scr06.dlls.tx.frontiernet.net [74.40.10.110]
  6    20 ms     8 ms     7 ms  ae1---0.cbr03.dlls.tx.frontiernet.net [45.52.201.115]
  7     5 ms     4 ms     3 ms  141.101.74.72
  8     7 ms     7 ms     5 ms  141.101.74.100
  9     4 ms     4 ms     4 ms  104.26.6.12

Trace complete.

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It's really weird, your' connected to twelve99.com, a tier one global network and the site dows not resolve. If I ask them directly, the site resolves.

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Router: adm-b3 / Amsterdam (DRT, Science Park)
Command: traceroute ipv4 104.26.7.12 timeout 1 source Loopback0

Tracing the route to 104.26.7.12

 1  adm-bb1-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.142.236) 1 msec  1 msec 
    62.115.136.228 1 msec 
 2  adm-b10-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.120.227) 1 msec 
    adm-b10-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.120.229) 1 msec  1 msec 
 3  cloudflare-ic-373866.ip.twelve99-cust.net (62.115.169.101) 2 msec  2 msec  2 msec 
 4  141.101.65.97 2 msec 
    141.101.65.103 1 msec 
    141.101.65.145 2 msec 
 5  104.26.7.12 1 msec  1 msec  1 msec

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 12:01 AM

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Sorry, I barely know what this stuff means (:

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You can connect to my start point?

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This should mean I can connect to the dallas network?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 12:23 AM

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Don't know if it is helpful, but accessing knucklecracker.com on my phone with wifi of works

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Turning of my vpn on my phone gives me error again. Will probably do something for 24 hours and try again (:

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 12:29 AM

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Twelve99 has a great tool: https://lg.twelve99.net/

You can put in Knucklecracker,com, and it'll tell you a list of IP addresses, use those and your own location to see what they think.

Twelve99 Looking Glass

Use the Looking Glass to view current routing information for Twelve99/AS1299.

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Once I can get ahold of KC himself, we'll figure out why they still see various IP addresses.

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 12:31 AM

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long dew Mar 22, 2026, 12:37 AM

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+1 on this issue. No maps available

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 12:39 AM

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long dew +1 on this issue. No maps available

The most likely answer is to wait untill tomorrow and it will resolve itself, but I think k75 is trying stuff still before he/she gives up :P

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 3:27 PM

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Just an update it is still down, and I noticed some isitdown sites says it is down while other says it is up. So probably a bigger problem than me and creeper destroyer

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 3:50 PM

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gilded girder Just an update it is still down, and I noticed some isitdown sites says it is do...

Can you please check the Twelve99 looking Glass site I linked earlier?

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I'm stepping out for an hour or so to get some breakfast, then I'll be back and we can try to get to the bottom of this issue. because yea, it looks like it's an interesting issue.

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 3:57 PM

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Router: adm-b3 / Amsterdam (DRT, Science Park)
Command: traceroute ipv4 104.26.7.12 timeout 1 source Loopback0

Tracing the route to 104.26.7.12

1 adm-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.138.170) 1 msec 1 msec
adm-bb1-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.136.220) 1 msec
2 adm-b10-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.142.213) 1 msec
adm-b10-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.138.37) 8 msec
adm-b10-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.142.211) 1 msec
3 cloudflare-ic-342028.ip.twelve99-cust.net (62.115.172.231) 2 msec 2 msec 2 msec
4 141.101.65.139 2 msec
141.101.65.115 4 msec
141.101.65.95 2 msec
5 104.26.7.12 1 msec 2 msec 1 msec

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 4:53 PM

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gilded girder Router: adm-b3 / Amsterdam (DRT, Science Park) Command: traceroute ipv4 104.26.7...

That looks clean, now please try the tracert command from your computer again?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 4:58 PM

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1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 2 ms 1 ms 1 ms gw3123-no600.tbcn.telia.com [2.248.50.1]
3 3 ms 2 ms 2 ms dro-c1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.87.20]
4 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms m-b-c1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.89.16]
5 3 ms 3 ms 2 ms m-b-peer1-link.se.telia.net [81.228.84.95]
6 3 ms 3 ms 3 ms kbn-b1-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.123.158]
7 4 ms 4 ms 4 ms kbn-bb6-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.138.112]
8 82 ms 82 ms 82 ms ewr-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net [80.91.254.91]
9 82 ms 83 ms 82 ms nyk-b17-link.ip.twelve99.net [62.115.137.15]
10 82 ms 82 ms 82 ms akamai-ic-371098.ip.twelve99-cust.net [62.115.38.45]
11 82 ms 82 ms 82 ms ae2.r02.lga01.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.203.156.40]
12 87 ms 87 ms 87 ms ae26.r21.iad02.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.193.112.242]
13 118 ms 118 ms 118 ms ae6.r22.dfw02.icn.netarch.akamai.com [23.32.62.56]
14 118 ms 118 ms 118 ms ae8.r22.dfw02.mag.netarch.akamai.com [23.209.173.90]
15 118 ms 118 ms 118 ms ae4.r22.dfw01.ien.netarch.akamai.com [23.209.172.111]
16 119 ms 119 ms 156 ms ae22.gw2.rin1.netarch.akamai.com [23.203.147.41]
17 * * * Request timed out.
18 * * * Request timed out.
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * * * Request timed out.
21 * * * Request timed out.
22 * * * Request timed out.
23 * * * Request timed out.
24 * * * Request timed out.
25 * * * Request timed out.
26 * * * Request timed out.
27 * * * Request timed out.
28 * * * Request timed out.
29 * * * Request timed out.
30 * * * Request timed out.

Trace complete.

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grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:03 PM

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Area you actually in Amsterdam (or the Netherlands?) DM me directly if you wish to not share information in public

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and please save the memes for later

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:03 PM

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sweden

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:06 PM

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OK, well, then please run Twenve99 looking glass from Gothenburg or Stockholm site (whichever is nearer you

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:06 PM

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Router: got-b1 / Gothenburg
Command: traceroute ipv4 104.26.7.12 timeout 1 source Loopback0

Tracing the route to 104.26.7.12

1 oso-b8-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.123.102) 7 msec 6 msec 6 msec
2 oso-b1-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.138.132) 4 msec 5 msec 4 msec
3 cloudflare-ic-372160.ip.twelve99-cust.net (80.239.196.115) 9 msec 5 msec 5 msec
4 162.158.220.17 5 msec 5 msec 5 msec
5 104.26.7.12 4 msec 4 msec 4 msec

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Router: sto-b10 / Stockholm (Equinix SK2, Sköndal)
Command: traceroute ipv4 104.26.7.12 timeout 1 source Loopback0

Tracing the route to 104.26.7.12

1 sto-bb1-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.142.38) 2 msec 1 msec
sto-bb2-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.142.40) 3 msec
2 sto-b9-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.139.187) 2 msec
sto-b9-link.ip.twelve99.net (62.115.139.181) 3 msec *
3 cloudflare-ic-391654.ip.twelve99-cust.net (62.115.199.207) 3 msec 3 msec 5 msec
4 172.68.180.19 5 msec
172.68.180.41 4 msec
172.68.180.29 3 msec
5 104.26.7.12 4 msec 1 msec 3 msec

all stockholm servers (there are multiple) looks similar

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the danish servers looks similar as well

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:10 PM

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No problem, I'm narrowing it down to a routing issue with Telia

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What I need next from you is to look at the DNS tables on your PC

In a Windows COmmand box, type: ipconfig /all | findstr /R "DNS\ Servers"

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:12 PM

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C:\Users\robin>ipconfig /all | findstr /R "DNS\ Servers"
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:2000::2

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:15 PM

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It looks like Telia isn't doing a clean route

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are you willing to try changing your DNS server to either CLoudflare or Google?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:16 PM

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Are there any consequenses by using those?

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:17 PM

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well, I personally use Google's DNS rather than my ISP, some may be concerned about privacy, but I don't care that much. Cloudflare is pretty excellent

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:18 PM

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I do intend to check privacy stuff in the future, but thats ages ahead, and I already use google vpn anyway

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:19 PM

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Huh, I thought yesterday yousaid you did not use VPN, or am I mistaking you for someone else?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:19 PM

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vpn on phone, not on pc

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:20 PM

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In the command prompt box type: netsh interface show interface

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:20 PM

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C:\Users\robin>netsh interface show interface

Admin State State Type Interface Name

Enabled Connected Dedicated Ethernet

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When googling how to change dns it tells me 2 options. Do I change internet protocol version TCP/IPv4 or TCP/IPv6?

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:22 PM

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I'm about to send you commands, but I was checking how to get you to make a backup of current settings first 🙂

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Yo udo like to be able to revert if things don't work out well, don't you?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:23 PM

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that would be nice :D

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:25 PM

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Readable backup: ipconfig /all > %userprofile%\Desktop\DNS_Backup.txt

Script-like backup: netsh interface dump > %userprofile%\Desktop\Network_Config_Backup.dat

Although I must confess I wouldn't know how to use the latter. I peronally would jsut use the settings in the first file to manually revert the changes

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:26 PM

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So I run the first command and then run the second command to restore backup?

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:27 PM

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NO, first command writes a human-readable file to your desktop. Second runs a machine-readable file to your desktop. The actual steps to use either can come later

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back in 5, sorry

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Let me know if you are ready, or if you have googled how to change your DNS, jsut go ahead

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:31 PM

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I have run both commands and confirmed its 2 text files.
I have googled where to change dns but the google guide tells me to change IPv4 or IPv6 and I dont know which one to change(both?).

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:31 PM

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do both

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:34 PM

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Should I restart my pc after the cahnges?

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:34 PM

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just do

ipconfig /flushdns

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:35 PM

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https://knucklecracker.com/ still times out when I try in browser

Knuckle Cracker

Knuckle Cracker. Fresh Ideas in Gaming

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:36 PM

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do this now: nslookup -type=A knucklecracker.com 8.8.8.8

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:36 PM

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C:\Users\robin>nslookup -type=A knucklecracker.com 8.8.8.8
Server: dns.google
Address: 8.8.8.8

Non-authoritative answer:
Name: knucklecracker.com
Addresses: 172.67.75.182
104.26.6.12
104.26.7.12

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:37 PM

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tracert knucklecracker.com

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:37 PM

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C:\Users\robin>tracert knucklecracker.com

Tracing route to knucklecracker.com [2606:4700:20::ac43:4bb6]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 2001:2042:dc27:8900:e6c0:e2ff:fe3a:eabb
2 * * * Request timed out.
3 4 ms 4 ms 5 ms 2606:4700:20::ac43:4bb6

Trace complete.

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:38 PM

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what version of WIndows are you on?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:38 PM

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10

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just checked ingame and that works now 0:

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The site doesn't. It doesn't bother me not having the site, but if you wanna troubleshoot it for later users I am still up for it

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:40 PM

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Frankly, I don't care at this point in time 🙂 I'm much older than you and this type of work is frankly exhausting 😄

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:41 PM

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I know enough of this to be barely helpable :P

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:41 PM

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the browser issue maybe some setting somewhere that I'd suggest you try to reboot and ping me if it is still broken 🙂

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I can't figure out why your PC is trying todo some routing via IPV6, but it may be normal in some instances

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:43 PM

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the site works now as well, so all is as it should be

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:43 PM

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phew 😅

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happy gaming then

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:43 PM

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long dew +1 on this issue. No maps available

Do you still have issues?

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:43 PM

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@long dew If you want a easy fix summary is to change your dns on your pc

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:44 PM

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gilded girder <@208396746152345600> If you want a easy fix summary is to change your dns on yo...

Be careful, I could figure out your issue was the DNS hell of Telia, I don't knwo it works for others

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:45 PM

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ah, good point

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tbh, i have had problems with telia before but cant change internet provider if i dont sacrifice fiber

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 5:45 PM

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THey're welcome to try it, and if it works, great. If they still have issues, they can ping me

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a lot of issues go away if you use other DNS - Google or Cloudflare are both great

gilded girder Mar 22, 2026, 5:48 PM

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But thanks for the help, now try to do something fun on this hopefully sunny sunday

long dew Mar 22, 2026, 7:04 PM

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Yeah the DNS fixed it. Auto-DNS did fail, but setting to google worked

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There's a lot more maps posted in the last 2 or so days too

grave vault Mar 22, 2026, 7:10 PM

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Glad you can get back to performing your name activity 🙂

#Colonies Unavailable, knuckelcracker.com timed out

Admin State State Type Interface Name