Even since EA dropped support for BF2142, the game gets stuck at the master account logon prompt.   You have to disconnect from the internet in order to get the game to allow you to logon with an offline account.

However, you can't get this far if you are reloading or installing BF2142, because you can't set up a profile without logging into the master account server, which doesn't exist anymore.  So, it's a catch22 in this situation.  You need an offline profile to play singleplayer, but the game requires initial logon to the now gone master account server.   

A verified solution is here.  I have created and tested this generic profile.  The player name is 'singleplayer'

NOTE:  You still have to disconnect from the internet in order to be able to bypass the master account server login.  The game will try to login, fail and then give the option to play with an offline account.   After selecting the offline account, you can connect back to the internet.   But when you do select no when the game offers to connect to the master account server.

download here:
http://www.battlefieldsingleplayer.com/dna...ric_profile.zip

Unzip into your desktop or wherever is easiest, then move the Battlefield 2142 folder to your 'My Documents' folder.

Game Ranger issues

Note:  Game Ranger will disable the ability to play singleplayer, because it's backs up the existing profile and makes a custom one.  You can use this generic profile to play singleplayer again.  Just delete or rename the Game Ranger Bf2142 profile and replace it with the generic one from the link above.

Customizing the player name

Now, if you want to customize the name to your own name, here is how:

In the generic profile, in the My Documents\Battlefield 2142 folder open up the \Profiles folder and edit Global.con (notepad is fine for editing) and change singleplayer to the name you want.

Now, open up the \0001 folder and edit Profile.con and change all references to Singleplayer to name you want.