Windows 7 64bit PeerBlock is unable to load the packet filtering driver

Hi,
I have been using PeerBlock happily on Windows XP but have just upgraded to Windows 7 64bit. I've installed PeerBlock version PeerBlock-Setup_v1.0.0.r187 but I get the error above when running it.
I've attached the conf and log files. A colleague has installed it on his Windows 7 64bit and it works fine. I've followed some instructions in other threads with no success. Output follows:

Z:\untitled\Programs\PeerBlock>sc qc ipfilterdriver
[SC] QueryServiceConfig SUCCESS

SERVICE_NAME: ipfilterdriver
TYPE : 1 KERNEL_DRIVER
START_TYPE : 3 DEMAND_START
ERROR_CONTROL : 1 NORMAL
BINARY_PATH_NAME : system32\DRIVERS\ipfltdrv.sys
LOAD_ORDER_GROUP :
TAG : 0
DISPLAY_NAME : IP Traffic Filter Driver
DEPENDENCIES : Tcpip
SERVICE_START_NAME :

Z:\untitled\Programs\PeerBlock>net start ipfilterdriver

The IP Traffic Filter Driver service was started successfully.

Anyone any ideas?
Thanks
Paul

Hey csjjpm

This problem has been noted by our lead dev's and is being investigated. I believe it is issue 75 and if you want it fixed staring the issue on google code is the best way to get the dev's attention to that particular problem. [code.google.com]

You can try one of the beta versions as that issue could be resolved by using one of them. [peerblock.googlecode.com]

Seen this before...usually the beta fixes the problem as per DarC.

---

This business is binary. You're either a one or a zero.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2010 07:39PM by zerocoolxp.

I'm running PeerBlock on Windows XP, and I've been getting that same message: "peerblock is unable to load the packet filtering driver" for 2 days now.

I completely uninstalled PeerBlock then downloaded the latest beta release on the PeerBlock site.

Still getting that same error message.

Carly G



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2010 04:48PM by Carlygates.

Carlygates,

Can you uninstall PeerBlock, restart the computer and install PeerBlock again, see if that works.

Please note that if you were having problems with the Stable Release not being able to load the packet-filtering driver, simply installing the latest PeerBlock Beta Release won't work - you'll need to reboot your machine too.  The problem is that the MS IpFilterDriver that we hook into hangs when it's being stopped, and to get it out of this state you need to reboot the OS.

So try rebooting after installing the latest PeerBlock Beta Release, and see if that resolves your problem.  If not, let us know and we'll continue looking into it.

        ---  Mark  ---

---

Lead developer of PeerBlock

I just left a VERY detailed post at the code.google site on this VERY same problem with Win-XP. The problem appeared today and appears to have happened after a Windows update within the last month or so, since it's been that long since I fired up PeerBlock. According to the posts at the other site, this has been an ongoing issue for almost a YEAR?!?!?! Downloading and installing the latest Beta version (r404) and rebooting solved NOTHING!! There are apparently only 2 alternatives - Leave PeerBlock resident at all times or reboot after EVERY time you exit the program, unless, of course, you DO NOT want it to run!!

Seriously, now... A YEAR!?!?!?!?

As you can tell by my username, I'm FRUSTRATED!!!!!

And Mark - YES!! - it was ME that chatted with you this morning on IRC. Blame Microsoft or Win-XP all you want - I want to know why it was working before and NOT NOW!! If it WAS due to a Windows update then the PeerBlock developers need to get on the ball!! Check out my post at the other site - it's the one dated today.

You seriously need to reconsider your tone in this post. PeerBlock is provided for free and support is offered to you for FREE! We aren't here to take grief or aggrevation. We are on the ball but do realize every dev and mod in this forum have lives outside PeerBlock.

Demanding answers in that tone won't get you anywhere. Remember this isn't a paid service which requires immediate answers!!!

---

This business is binary. You're either a one or a zero.

Quote

I just left a VERY detailed post at the code.google site on this VERY same problem with Win-XP. The problem appeared today and appears to have happened after a Windows update within the last month or so, since it's been that long since I fired up PeerBlock.

In my opinion, a windows update has nothing to do with it as ipfitdrv.sys has not been updated since August 13, 2001 ( That's one day before Windows XP was released to the manufacturers ). I have Windows XP SP3 fully updated as of today, and have not had this issue.

Quote

According to the posts at the other site, this has been an ongoing issue for almost a YEAR?!?!?! Downloading and installing the latest Beta version (r404) and rebooting solved NOTHING!! There are apparently only 2 alternatives - Leave PeerBlock resident at all times or reboot after EVERY time you exit the program, unless, of course, you DO NOT want it to run!!

Seriously, now... A YEAR!?!?!?!?

MarkSide and the other developers work on PeerBlock in their FREE TIME, they have real jobs like everyone else, and those are a priority.

Quote

As you can tell by my username, I'm FRUSTRATED!!!!!

We can tell.

Quote

And Mark - YES!! - it was ME that chatted with you this morning on IRC. Blame Microsoft or Win-XP all you want - I want to know why it was working before and NOT NOW!! If it WAS due to a Windows update then the PeerBlock developers need to get on the ball!!

MarkSide and the other developers work on PeerBlock in their FREE TIME, they have jobs like everyone else, and those are a priority.

Quote

Check out my post at the other site - it's the one dated today.

This you? [code.google.com]

Please forgive my tone - I've only been sitting in front of this keyboard since 10:00 a.m. poring over dozens of forum posts and trying every imaginable workaround to resolve this at my end, which, apparently, there is no way to do. No doubt you can understand my frustration when I attempted to use something that was working perfectly last month and is all but worthless this month. And I might not be so frustrated if I hadn't noticed that this problem has been festering in one way or another for nearly a year. Even more disconcerting is the fact that the problem here appeared within such a relatively short period of time. I'm still at a loss to understand exactly what changed (other than updates to the OS) that could have caused this.

I am sincere when I say that I do appreciate any help that is offered. Unfortunately, the best advice I've been given so far was simply to download and install the latest version (r404), which solved nothing - reboots and all. If it is indeed a problem with the Windows driver, is there any possibility of reconfiguring the driver to unload correctly? Maybe someone has developed / could develop a more functional driver? Has there been any contact with Microsoft regarding the issue? Does anyone know just what causes the driver to "hang" during the unload attempt? None of this has yet been mentioned in any of the forum posts I've read and it would most certainly have done a lot to ease the frustration if someone had stated something more than just "we're working on it".

Again, my apologies if I appear impatient. But, seriously... a year?

We're currently working to improve the XP driver for 1.1 release. We do not work/partner with Microsoft. Our devs have extensive knowledge in Microsoft platforms. I'm waiting for Mark (lead dev) to post some comments on the matter but realize that he's currently with his family.

When we say we're working on it... its cause we are. Devs don't have time to post comments/explainations for each issue that occurs. They're actively working on bugs, feature requests and fine tuning.

Yes, its close to a year since a stable release but this goes back to our previous statement.....its free. We aren't heavily funded, no paid full time staff, just a bunch of ppl who offer coding, support, documentation, hosting, etc all at their own expense and time. Personally I don't appreciate giving free support on the forums when frustrating statements like yours are made. I work 40 hours a week doing on-site tech support and the last thing I need (or we) is another user complaining about lack of support. If I wanted that I would have stayed at work.

Only thing I can say is to uninstall PeerBlock, reboot, delete C:\Program Files\PeerBlock, delete any registry keys related to PeerBlock (could be causing the pending deletion issue), perform another reboot and re-install the latest Beta.

---

This business is binary. You're either a one or a zero.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2010 07:16PM by zerocoolxp.

ineedalifetoday Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I have
> Windows XP SP3 fully updated as of today, and have
> not had this issue.

Me, too.

Based on the log snippets you posted to your bug comment, this is actually a different bug than one originally suspected.  That bug was one in which the IpFilterDriver was hanging while we tried to stop it.  This new bug (i.e. the one you're hitting) appears to be caused because our driver - pbfilter - is having problems when we try to stop it.  Similar symptoms, I know, but it is a different bug.  In fact, that bug you commented on doesn't even reference your 1072 error code anywhere in it.  The one you're looking for is Issue #336, posted just a month ago, and only "Starred" by one person . . . so it's not exactly a high-profile issue.  And I cannot reproduce the problem on any of my XP machines/VMs, which makes it difficult to look into.

To gain some traction on this issue, would you mind rebooting your computer and then reproducing the problem (both the intiial "no problem" run, as well as the subsequent problematic run) while logging driver tracing as per this post?  (Other than the bit about installing r226, of course.)  Posting the DebugView output as well your complete peerblock.log file should give us a bit more information to go on here, hopefully enough to better characterize this bug.

Also, what firewall & antivirus are you running?  Some of them cause us problems on XP...

Thanks, and so long as you can remain a bit more polite, we look forward to working with you to figure this out.

        ---  Mark  ---

---

Lead developer of PeerBlock