Guide TeamSpeak 3 Client Not Responding? See this thread!

[JoelJCE]

UPDATE:
The TeamSpeak Team has released Client version 3.0.15 (the version that resolves the BBCode exploit) to the stable channel. The update must be triggered manually at this time, until a new Server version is released that will prompt this update.

To install version 3.0.15, go to Help -> Check for Update and you will begin the installation process.

Greetings MCGamer Community,

Any time players of this community discover a problem with TeamSpeak, I typically get a number of inbox messages asking for help. Recently (after the most recent Client update to 3.0.14) I've been getting a number of inboxes that have similar symptoms:

• The player is running Windows and TeamSpeak version 3.0.14
• The player is not able to connect even when the TeamSpeak server is online and functioning properly
• The player attempts to load the MCGamer TeamSpeak, their Client immediately stops responding and the TeamSpeak application crashes.

An error report done after these crashes shows nothing out of the ordinary. The Client connects successfully to the MCGamer TeamSpeak, but the Client simply crashes. However, the user is able to join any other TeamSpeak server, just not MCGamer's server. Sound like you? Don't worry, I've got you covered!

Why exactly is my TeamSpeak Client crashing?

Note: In this section I will be explaining in-depth what is happening to cause your TeamSpeak to crash. I'm aware that any one of you could easily Google the exploit and use it to cause havoc on multiple servers. But a word of caution; sending these messages (or more properly termed, "attacks") on a public TeamSpeak server is illegal. It is a denial of service attack on a paid service, and you can be fined. It does not matter how easily it can be performed or the method that you use to execute this type of attack. These messages are easily traceable by any server host or even a server administrator with proper tools. If you decide to attempt an attack on any public server, you do so at your own risk and with full knowledge that you can be held criminally responsible for your actions.

I'll try and keep this section moderately understandable for those of you who don't consider yourself as technically savvy.

In the most recent TeamSpeak Client update to 3.0.14, the TeamSpeak Team updated from Qt4 to Qt5. What's Qt5? Qt5 is the base framework for the actual TeamSpeak application. Because of this update, many things needed to be rewritten or updated to the new framework (in a way, it was similar to the Minecraft protocol update for 1.7).

Following the update, many posts started to surface on the official TeamSpeak Forums about issues with certain characters (especially in different languages), and issues with certain BBCodes. And this is where this entire problem starts to unfold: BBCodes.

What are BBCodes? BBCodes are small tags that are used in many forums (including this one), websites and applications to format text. This is done by placing tags around certain blocks text. For example, to bold text on the forums, you could write something like this:

What you type:
Everything in this sentence is normal except [B]this[/B].

What is displayed:
Everything in this sentence is normal except this.
​

These BBCodes can be used to bold, italicize, underline, color, change alignment, change font, change size and so on. Anything with regard to text can be modified with BBCodes (for a full list of BBCodes available on this website, check out: http://www.minecraftsurvivalgames.com/help/bb-codes). You can also insert images, lists and quotes with BBCodes.

So what do all these BBCodes have to do with TeamSpeak? Well, on TeamSpeak you're also able to use BBCodes. And there's a problem: there's an exploit for BBCodes on the current Windows TeamSpeak version.

In version 3.0.14 on a Window system, when a message is received that contains a certain combination of BBCodes (some messages contain nested [IMG] tags, others make use of base64 images) it will cause the entire Client to become unresponsive and eventually crash. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal, right? It only crashes once? The problem with TeamSpeak is that by default it is configured to load the last 100 lines of chat in a channel you've been in before. So what do you think happens when these messages are placed in the default (entry) channel of a TeamSpeak server? You guessed it, you can't connect. When you attempt to connect back to the server after the initial crash, you're put back in the default channel, the chat log for that channel is loaded and your TeamSpeak crashes again.

And so what do you think happened to our wonderful MCGamer TeamSpeak Entrance Hall? That's right, someone's been dumping these messages in the Entrance Hall every day for the past few days. Unfortunately for them, there's a number of solutions available to stop them until a future update is released where these BBCode exploits are patched.

How to fix your TeamSpeak Client:

There are two solutions to fix this. One of them is temporary and the other one is a plugin solution that is a little more permanent (and in my opinion, much easier).

Solution A (Temporary Solution):

If the continual crash is caused by chat logs being reloaded, then the obvious solution would be to clear your chat logs, right? Precisely! And this is how you do it:

1. Open File Explorer
2. In the address bar, type in %appdata% (yes, these are the same steps to finding your Minecraft files, but we're not going into .minecraft)
3. Scroll down until you find "TS3Client"
4. Double-click on the "chats" folder (You'll notice that there a number of folders inside with really weird letters a numbers. Don't be alarmed. These weird letters and numbers is what TeamSpeak uses to identify who you are talking to, on what server, and in what channel)
5. If you have TeamSpeak open, close it. Otherwise, move forward to Step 6.
6. Delete all of the folders.
7. Exit File Explorer
8. Reload TeamSpeak

You should find that you're able to connect to MCGamer's TeamSpeak normally. If these steps don't work, it may be a sign that you have other issues on your system. Don't hesitate to inbox message me or reply on this thread and we'll see if we can further diagnose the problem.

Solution B (Plugin Solution):

In response to the number of users attempting to crash servers, TeamSpeak Forums' Screech developed a plugin that both protects you from the malformed BBCode exploits AND notifies you of the user who attempted to crash your Client.

I recognize that the website I'm about to provide you seems very shady. In a forums post (which is here), Screech explains that he's not putting much effort into the plugin's thread or web page because it's only a solution for a limited time (until the TeamSpeak Team fixes the issue). Therefore, the page is incredibly simple, but it serves its purpose. A Staff member is free to check the link and scan the download. I can assure you that the website and download are 100% safe.

1. Navigate to http://screech.me/ts3/plugins/antifreeze.html
2. Click Download under the current release
3. Run the Installer
4. Select Install
5. Select Yes to trust the Plugin
6. Reload TeamSpeak
7. On TeamSpeak's menu bar, select: Settings -> Plugins (Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+P)
8. Enable (or check) the "Lua Plugin"
9. Right-click "Lua Plugin" after it's enabled and select "Settings"
10. Disable (uncheck) "testmodule", but keep "antifreeze" enabled.
11. Reload TeamSpeak again and connect to any server you'd like

Conclusion:

Either of the solutions I have listed above should fix the not responding error for Windows clients. If you need any further assistance, please don't hesitate to reply below or even inbox message me and I'll try to help you out!

Much love,
Joel

 

[Random|]

Hi

 

[Manos]

Finally! Thank you so much

 

[Cartercraft99]

Thanks again for all the help! This guide is awesome.

 

[JoelJCE]

Finally! Thank you so much

Thanks again for all the help! This guide is awesome.

Glad to hear that everything's working out for you! Let me know if you have any further issues! :]

 

[HarborSeal]

joel is sexy

 

[Vinyl]

Great thread would sticky 10/10

 

[Pacador]

I appreciate this so much, it's been bothering me for a couple of days now xD

 

[Nephilim]

So today, my teamspeak crashed but I am on a mac. I tried reinstalling Teamspeak 3 but I just can't get on the mcgamer teamspeak anymore. Does anybody know how to fix this problem on a mac?

 

[masond123]

The MCGamer TeamSpeak is currently down. Please bear with us for the moment as we try to get it back up.

 

[Nephilim]

The MCGamer TeamSpeak is currently down. Please bear with us for the moment as we try to get it back up.

So everybody who was attending the new map Q&A got basically disconnected from the teamspeak along with everybody else?

 

[JoelJCE]

I appreciate this so much, it's been bothering me for a couple of days now xD

Not a problem! I'm glad this helped you out!

So everybody who was attending the new map Q&A got basically disconnected from the teamspeak along with everybody else?

That's correct. The entire server is experiencing issues. The problem outlined in this thread only affects Windows users. Since you're on a Mac, you're in the clear! :]