Protowall and Blocklist Manager Guide

by **miner** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 12:57 pm

This tutorial was written for

Protowall v 1.42 Build 5300
Blocklist Manager 2.44 Beta
Windows XP Pro with service pack 1
Since installing PW and BM i have installed service pack 2 and they both work fine with it.

Protowall Homepage
Blocklist Manager Homepage

Download and install Protowall v 1.42 build 5300. Microsoft will give you a couple of warnings about how the software you are installing for this hardware has not passed Windows Logo testing. Just choose Continue Anyway. Choose the default install options. After running protowall your program should look like the screenshot below.

If you receive the error message "Protowall.sys not loaded" please refer to one of these stickies at the official forums.

ProtoWall Sys not loaded
XP Driver Solution
Protowall Help

In File > Preferences make sure there is no check beside 'Automatically check for a new IP database every 12 hours' as this function does not work.

Now download and install Blocklist Manager. The first thing you should do is press the Check Sources button in the top left hand corner of the program. Now go into Tools > Options > App Locations and Enable Protowall Integration by checking the box and pointing to where your ipfilter.p2p file is located.

Now press the Download Blacklists button in Blocklist Manager

Export this list to protowall by choosing Export > Ip Blockers > To Protowall or just press F9.

In protowall choose File > Load IP table and select your new ipfilter.p2p file. Your updated ipfilter.p2p file is in your C:\Program Files\Dudez\ProtoWall folder. As you can see in the screenshot below I am now blocking 16,522 ranges instead of 5,930.

FAQ

Q: I just installed protowall for the first time and after I ran it I got an error message stating "Protowall.sys not loaded"

Please check out the official forums at bluetack.co.uk as their are many stickies and threads on this subject.

Q: After installing protowall I can't get to one of my bookmarked sites anymore

When I try to go to the weather forecast page in my bookmarks protowall blocks it and the output in my pwconns.log file reads

Code: Select all: 2004/08/28 14:40:32 [<-] BLOCKED [!] - Destination is Department of Environment DOE-CA (NET-199-212-16-0 (199.212.17.28) [protocol: TCP / destport: 80]

1. Open up Blocklist Manager
2. Click on Check Sources and then on Download Blacklists
3. From my pwconns.log file I would copy the text "Department of Environment DOE-CA"
4. In Blocklist Manager I would choose Edit > Find and then paste in the text and choose Find Next
5. Once you have the entry you are looking for right-click it and choose 'Add to Exclusions'
6. In the Exclusions Manager window choose Add > Save > Exit
7. Now press the Download Blacklists button once more
8. You will notice that the Deny has been changed to Permit
9. Press F9 to export the Protowall Blocklist
10. In Protowall choose File > Load IP Table and choose the ipfilter.p2p file

Q: How do I choose different blacklists

In Blocklist Manager if you go to Tools > Options > Sources you will see all the blacklists you have access to. In the pic below I have the 5 which are enabled by default. You can, of course, choose to enable or disable as many as you want. I have noticed that enabling them all can cause my pc to hang when merging the lists together.

After booting into windows I got a message stating "Found new hardware" for either Protowall Miniport or Protowall Miniport #2

Disbale Protowall Miniport in device manager. Uninstall protowall through add/remove programs and reinstall.

by **Unbiased_Opinion** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 1:02 pm

Very good and well put together tutorial miner!!

This will surely help all the newbies with ProtoWall.

by **HouseCrowd** » Sun Aug 29, 2004 2:18 pm

Excellent guide Miner!

*sticky*

by **SlyckChuck** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 2:27 am

Very nice guide for those who use this. Useful and a handy reference tool. Nice goin`

by **Mrs. 2p** » Thu Sep 02, 2004 3:47 am

thanks miner!!!

I treid installing protowall a few weeks back, but didn't realize it would take so long and so much reading, and really didn't have the time for it. So I let the idea drop. I'll be giving it another go now!

by **southpawphilly** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 8:16 pm

I think I have followed all the driver install directions but I keep getting an error that reads:
"ProtoWall.sys is not loaded. Install the driver then reload the application."

I'm stumped. Using Windows XP Service Pack 1

by **HouseCrowd** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:06 am

southpawphilly wrote:I think I have followed all the driver install directions but I keep getting an error that reads:
"ProtoWall.sys is not loaded. Install the driver then reload the application."

I'm stumped. Using Windows XP Service Pack 1

Hi southpawphilly - Welcome to Slyck!

Have you (carefully) gone through this, step by step? ....

Q: I just installed protowall for the first time and after I ran it I got an error message stating "Protowall.sys not loaded"

1. shut down protowall
2. go into your Control Panel and double click Network Connections
3. right-click your Local Area Connection and choose Properties
4. select Protowall and choose Uninstall
5. now hit the Install button
6. Choose Service and hit Add
7. Select Have Disk
8. Now select Browse
9. Navigate to your Program Files > dudez > protowall > xp driver folder and select Protowall.inf and then press Open
10. Now you will have to press OK twice followed by Continue Anyway twice

by **southpawphilly** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:02 am

9. Navigate to your Program Files > dudez > protowall > xp driver folder and select Protowall.inf and then press Open

THERE IS NO protowall.inf file under xpdriver.

by **miner** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 10:28 am

what files do you see in the following folder

Code: Select all: C:\Program Files\Dudez\ProtoWall\xp_driver

i am showing 4 files total

ProtoWall.inf
ProtoWall.sys
ProtoWall_mp.inf
pwdrvinst.exe

by **HouseCrowd** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:37 pm

southpawphilly wrote:9. Navigate to your Program Files > dudez > protowall > xp driver folder and select Protowall.inf and then press Open

THERE IS NO protowall.inf file under xpdriver.

Could you perhaps have 'hide extensions for known file types' turned on (default) in windows? are you seeing files named 'ProtoWall' but without extensions?

by **Ooble** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:56 pm

If you download the latest version of Protowall (http://www.bluetack.co.uk/) and reinstall it, the driver should install itself.

by **dhs** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 11:03 am

I have followed the instructions exactly about 20 times now but i still get "ProtoWall.sys is not loaded" when i attempt to load the IP table. Can anyone help my with this?

thanks

by **Nessmaster** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 11:13 am

A warning about the block list manager sources. If anyone has acess to the internet over a LAN then DO NOT enable IANA recources. I tried it and I got shut off the internet,a nd could never fix the problem until I had to reformat. So please be carfull of what sources you choose!

by **stupido** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 4:54 pm

I downloaded and installed but when I double click on it it doesnt open It appears in my task manager but i dont see it on the screen what Im I doing wrong

by **miner** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:06 pm

so this is appearing in your windows task manager but not in your system tray. are any of you icons in your system tray hidden.

by **Yozhno** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 6:37 pm

Nessmaster wrote:A warning about the block list manager sources. If anyone has acess to the internet over a LAN then DO NOT enable IANA recources. I tried it and I got shut off the internet,a nd could never fix the problem until I had to reformat. So please be carfull of what sources you choose!

Formating was not necessary. If you would of taken the 2 minutes to sign up at the forum you would of gotten immediate assistance. There is a very easy fix to that problem

by **stupido** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 7:13 pm

I just cant see it when I double click on it but i do see in the task manager like if it was running but I cant see it on the monitor.

by **miner** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 7:53 pm

if you try going to the following website

Code: Select all: http://www.riaa.org

can you get there. i have protowall running right now and i can't get there.

if you go into control panel > taskbar and start menu > taskbar do you have a check beside hide inactive icons. i don't.

by **Nessmaster** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 8:41 pm

I just downloaded eMule to reinstall, but first I wanted to download a new block list form the block list manager, so i first clicked to update sources and it wouldn't do it. It woudl just keep writting out Updating Sources or some stuff like that. So whats wrong? I don't know why it wont download the new sources, and problem is that the old sources are gone.

by **miner** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 9:52 pm

do you mean you click on 'Check Sources' and got this message.

Code: Select all: Source update complete. 0 new sources, 0 removed sources.

this is normal.

or, do you mean you pressed 'Download Blacklists' and the whole process basically froze up. if so, how many of the blacklists are you trying to add at once. i just stick to the 5 that are selected by default. i have tried all of them a couple of time and the process completely froze up when the lists were being merged together.

by **Yozhno** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:27 am

What version of BLM are you running? There is a new version out...LOL It sounds like you have an old version and the bug has been fixed in the new verisons.

by **turmoiltech** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 10:51 pm

Do you think you could show me how to block specific IP address with this program? I installed ok and everything is working great. But, I'm not too familiar with it. That would be a big help. Thanks.

by **mattjb** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:24 pm

I am trying to download protowall and it has a problem and an error pop's up and I followed the instructions in the first faq but I am not running xp I am running 2k and I can't get it to work can anyone help?

by **Nessmaster** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:34 pm

mattjb wrote:I am trying to download protowall and it has a problem and an error pop's up and I followed the instructions in the first faq but I am not running xp I am running 2k and I can't get it to work can anyone help?

Does the error ocure when installing the driver or when installing the program? If it's the driver then make sure you are installing the 2000 driver not the xp, if it's the program installing then you might have something messed up with a directory or you might not have compleatly downloaded the file. If it's something else then tell us...

by **mattjb** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 10:08 am

OK I am still having problems with geting protowall to work. I get to completing the protowall setup wizzrd, it says setup has finishd installing protowall on you computer. The application may be launched by selecting the installed icons, I select 'would you like to start protowall now? and click finish, here is were I run into problems a box pops up saying protowall.sys is not loaded. Install the driver then reload this application, know I go into my local area connection and hit properties and I choose Protowall and hit install, then I click servce then I choose have disk and choose protowall.sys and then I close the local area connection and try to start it again but the same thing pops up saying I need the driver. DO you know what I am doing wrong?