How to diagnose the "Awaiting Session Start" bug in Tarkov?

[Burma]

As evidenced by https://forum.escapefromtarkov.com/topic/64964-stuck-at-awaiting-session-start/ https://forum.escapefromtarkov.com/topic/150803-endlessly-awaiting-session-start-bug/ https://forum.escapefromtarkov.com/topic/121320-stuck-on-awaiting-session-start/ over the years, in Tarkov there is a bug (or multiple bugs with the same effect) leading to a player regularly not spawning. The game fails to provide any meaningful message apart from eventually a notification about connection loss, the only symptom is that no progress beyond the "Awaiting Session Start" screen is made, stopping before the "Get ready" countdown that would ordinarily follow.

Standard diagnostics did not help:

1. "Clear cache" button in game launcher
2. "Integrity check" button in game launcher
3. Reset configuration to defaults:
   • close game, then delete Settings folder in %appdata%\Battlestate Games\Escape from Tarkov\)
4. modify server selection in Launcher, trying both "Auto" or a single low-ping server
5. fully remove third-party "antivirus" software
6. in game options, modify "notifcation channel type" to try the other choice
7. trying Scav instead of PMC play

To distinguish: this one happens on a server on which other players - potentially players entering the queue together - can play just fine. Only a single player is experiencing the problem. The application.log file encodes the last successful step as GameSpawn, stopping before the PlayerSpawnEvent step that would ordinarily follow. The bug does not always happen, but when it happens its always the same person.

[briley]

I am still searching for answers, but these solved the problem for others:

1. disable VPN software, if present

   • fully, including background services

2. play with 1 (one), wired connection only

   • disable any wireless/modem/unused network interfaces

3. fix or workaround bad internet service

   • switch to "dual stack" or "static IPs" (with fully featured IPv4 service, not just DSLite)
   • try different internet provider, e.g. cellular broadband via phone hotspot

4. install game on reasonably modern solid state drive

   • and ensure windows page file is on such drive as well
   • and meet the rest of the https://www.escapefromtarkov.com/support/knowledge/68 , specifically 16GB of RAM

Then there is the desperate one:

1. format disk and reinstall Windows and EFT from scratch
   • triple-check everything is backed up to a disk not attached during wipe

A few useless suggestions I have found during internet search, listed for completeness sake:

1. break, block or disable IPv6 connectivity in some way

   • does neither help nor hurt Tarkov, Tarkov uses IPv4 only

2. remove certain items from PMC inventory or reduce total number of items brought into raid

   • trying to play as Scav already rules out problems with the PMC inventory

3. Restarting the game, as suggested to fix similar issues https://forum.escapefromtarkov.com/topic/150569-01210011565-patch-notes/ :

   We are aware that during the "Awaiting session start" stage some players may occasionally run into a rare issue, as a result of which loading into the raid will last indefinitely. If you get effected by this please send us a bug report, and then restart the game to fix it. We are working on resolving this issue. Thank you for your understanding.

   I have not found reports of the problem going away after any number of restarts.