Autokick 1.2 Frequently Asked Questions

General
Why does the CPU utilization go way up during a scan?
What is an 'rcon password' and how do I add one to my server?
How do I get Autokick to start scanning automatically on startup?
Why doesn't Autokick detect TKs (team killers)?
How do I use Autokick while playing MOHAA?
Which should I start first - Autokick or the MOHAA?
Does Autokick work with Spearhead?
Why is Autokick kicking all the players on the server?
How do I completely remove Autokick?

Setting Up Autokick
How do I find my server's IP address?
What port should I be using for Autokick?

Errors and Warnings
Warning: Send commands timed out
Unknown command 'say'
ParseScores[5]: Invalid procedure call or argument
Subscript out of range
Run time error 13 – type mismatch
Run time error 76 - file not found
ActiveX Component Can't Create Object


Q. Why does the CPU utilization go way up during a scan?
A. The CPU utilization goes to 100% when Autokick runs a scan. When Autokick scans the server, it gives up the processor to the operating system while it waits for the server to respond. If Windows has nothing to do, it gives the CPU back to Autokick and the cycle begins again. Because Autokick is not a system process, these cycles count towards CPU utilization. You will not notice any performance impact from this and if your computer has something else to do, the processor is available.

Q. What is an 'rcon password' and how do I add one to my server?
A. To issue console command (like “status” and “kick”), you normally have to be playing on the computer that your server is running on (ie. non-dedicated), or you have to be sitting at the computer a dedicated server is running on and type your commands into MoHAA’s console window.

rcon (remote console) allows you to send console commands to a MoHAA server without actually being on the server. Most people use rcon to manage their server while they are playing the game. They bring down the console in their game and type “rcon ” to run commands. The “rcon” command tells your computer not to run the command on the computer you’re playing on, but to instead send it to the game server to be run there.

As you’ve probably guessed, Autokick uses rcon to send commands to the game server. But MoHAA (or any other Quake based server) will not accept rcon commands without a password. So you need to set your server up to enable rcon.

You do this by specifying an rcon password in your server’s configuration file. If you don’t know what a server config file is, you should go to MOH Admin and read their guides / help files to learn about config files. Once you have your config file set up, just put this in it:

seta rconPassword “yourpassword”

Include the quotation marks and replace yourpassword with whatever password you want. Save the config file, reboot the server and you should be good to go. The password you put in your config file is the same password you should put in the main screen of Autokick (but leave the quotation marks out in Autokick).


Q. How do I get Autokick to start scanning automatically on startup?
A. If you start Autokick with the command line "Autokick.exe /a", it will begin scanning immediately on startup.


Q. Why doesn't Autokick detect TKs (team killers)?
A. When Autokick was initially released, MOHAA did not provide correct scores for players through the console. Future versions of Autokick will support TK monitoring.


Q. How do I use Autokick while playing MOHAA?
A. To switch to Autokick while playing MOHAA, press Alt-Tab to use the Windows task manager. This will minimize MOHAA to your Task bar. After using Autokick, you can switch back by pressing Alt-Tab again or by clicking on MOHAA in your task bar.


Q. Which should I start first - Autokick or the MOHAA?
A. Whichever you prefer - it does not impact Autokick's ability to scan the server. Note that if you start Autokick scanning before the server is running, you will see time out errors in the console. This is not a problem and will go away once the server is up.


Q. Does Autokick work with Spearhead?
A. Yes.


Q. Why is Autokick kicking all the players on the server?
A. This is due to a setting you have in Autokick. For example, if you set the ping limit to 1, Autokick will kick all of the players whose ping is greater than 1 (which is everybody except for the admin on a non-dedicated server). Also, if you add a blank space or row to the Bad Names filter, Autokick will kick all players on the server since they all have a name.


Q. How do I completely remove Autokick?
A. If you're trying to re-install Autokick but having problems, you may need to remove the shared ActiveX objects and the registry entry. WARNING: you must take care when doing both of these things as you can screw up your computer. You've been warned. First, go to your c:\windows\system directory (in XP, its c:\WINNT\system) and make a new directory called ActiveXBackup. The reason for doing this is that the files you're about to move are shared among any programs that use Visual Basic. If other progams use them, they won't like you deleting them. Move the following files into the directory you just made:

- ASYCFILT.DLL
- COMCAT.DLL
- comct332.ocx
- flshtray.ocx
- MSCOMCTL.OCX
- MSFLXGRD.OCX
- msvbvm60.dll
- MSWINSCK.OCX
- OLEAUT32.DLL
- OLEPRO32.DLL
- Vb6stkit.dll

Make sure you move them and don't just copy them. If other programs give you errors of the type "Can't locate xxxx.dll", move the files back into the system directory. To edit the registry, go to the Start menu and select "Run". In the dialog box that opens, type "regedit" (no quotes) and click OK. This opens the registry editor. The registry is arranged in a folder hierarchy. Find the entry for Autokick at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VB and VBA Program Settings. Delete all of the Autokick folders you see here. NOTE: Screwing up your registry will screw up your machine - be careful. Once you've removed the Autokick folders, close the regsitry editor and you're done.


Q. How do I find my server's IP address?
A. The IP address for your server can be very easy or very difficult to obtain. If you are hosting your server with a gaming service, they will tell you both your IP and your port. It is important to get the port from the gaming service, as they often run more than one instance of a game on the same server and you may not have the default port.

If you’re running your server on your own computer, there are two easy ways to get the IP. First, start up your server and then get on GameSpy or All Seeeing Eye and look up your server. It will list your IP address. A second way is to go to MyWAN IP and download MyWANIP. It will tell you your IP address. If you’re behind a router, the IP you’ll see just by looking at your local environment will be different than the IP you need for Autokick. Use MyWANIP if you’re behind a router. For further assistance, visit the forums and check the guides at MOH Admin.


Q. What port should I be using for Autokick?
A. Autokick needs to know two different ports. The one you will need to tell it is the port on your server. If your server is on your computer, your server port (unless you purposely tell MoHAA otherwise) will be 12203. If you are having your server hosted by a gaming service, you will need to get your server port number from them.

The second port Autokick uses is the local port on your machine to send messages to the server. Autokick defaults to 1247 and, unless you have a good reason, you should not change it. If you have a port conflict, you can change the local port on the Options -> Settings screen.

For further assistance, visit the forums and check the guides at MOH Admin.


Q. Warning: Send commands timed out
A. This error is usually due to an incorrect IP or server port number. Check to make sure your server's IP and port numbers are typed correctly in Autokick's main window.


Q. Unknown command 'say'
A. This error is caused by a bug in MOHAA. If you go into the console while you're playing on the server and attempt to send an rcon 'say' command to the server, you will get the same error message in your console. This problem usually occurs on servers that have not been patched with the latest file from EA (patch version 1.11). After patching your server, reboot the hardware the server is running on and the problem should no longer occur.


Q. ParseScores[5]: Invalid procedure call or argument
A. This is caused by a garbled message coming back from the server. The original version of MOHAA as it shipped in the box will sometimes garble the status command - check to make sure your server is patched to vesion 1.11. A second possible cause is by a server that has too many players on it. When it is under a heavy strain, the server can sometimes return invalid status responses.


Q. Subscript out of range
A. This is caused by having a large number of items in your banned file. To avoid this bug, remove some of the older entries in your ban file.


Q. Run time error 13 – type mismatch
A. When this error appears when you try to start up MoHAA, you need to change your Regional Settings to United States and run Autokick again. Once it runs successfully, you can change your regional settings back. The cause of this bug is a time/date formatting bug in Visual Basic.

You may also see this error when trying to edit a numeric field (such as the port number) containing an invalid character. To get around the problem, click-and-drag inside the numeric field to select the contents, and then type in the proper value.


Q. Run time error 76 - file not found
A. This error (seen when launching AutoKick) indicates that a required file is either not installed or is not in the expected location. The most likely cause of this error is a missing VB runtime file (msvbm60.dll), and the easiest way to fix this problem is to download the file from Microsoft.

You may also see this error if AutoKick is un-installed and then re-installed in a different directory. Correcting this problem requires manual editing of your system's registry and instructions for doing so are beyond the scope of this FAQ, but additional information can be found in the forums.

Q. ActiveX Component Can't Create Object
A. This error (seen when launching AutoKick) indicates that the Scripting Runtime system is either corrupt or not installed. download the file from Microsoft.