a few problems running myseq

[kunark]

after a few hrs playing maybe less a few things happen

first i run server on eq comp and client on separate system, both are win xp pro sp2 net 2.0 ( server 2.0 gig cel, 1 gig ram, 256 ram ati vid, client 2.0 gig p4, 756 ram, 64 ram ati )

1. con colors all switch to red on everything players, npcs, ground, etc. ( goes back to normal most times after i zone )
2. client map doesnt switch to new zone after i zone.
3. server system gets real laggy at same time client system isnt updating properly.

one way that i get the problem in 1. is die and hover, other times it just happens.

one way that i fix the proplems i have to go windowed and shut down and restart the server. ( stopping, restarting, shutting down and restarting client does not help at all when the above happens )

another note, it only happened a couple times that i can think of before TSS went live, and that was after all day playing.

if any other info on systems etc is needed ill be glad to post it.

any ideas on how to fix this, or prevent it?

Thnx for both keeping this live and free, and thnx for all the info and help you give.

[Seaxouri]

It sounds like there is some network issue between the two systems.

The fact you are running a slow (Celeron?) system for the server might come into play, especially in the newer zones where there can be near 1000 spawn entries in the zone, which is more than triple what we used to get.

The client makes a request to the server 4 times a second (every 250msec), to update the entire spawnlist in the zone. If you server and/or client is too bogged down to handle this, it may cause problems.

You can try testing this theory by increasing the time between requests to something like 2000msec (2 seconds). This in the Options dialog. This will cause the server to only update once every two seconds, so it will not appear as smooth as the 250msec setting, but it may reduce the demand on your server enough to fix the problem.

The only other thing that I can think of would be to break up the client/server request algorithm so it comes across in pieces. However this would require a major overhaul of both the client and server network code. Most folks have decent systems these days so this is not an issue. Even computers made 5 years ago should be more than sufficient to handle MySEQ and today's EQ (which is more demanding than EQ was in previous years).

You can try reducing some new lag in TSS zones by disabling tattoos and floral inside EQ itself.

[kunark]

You can try testing this theory by increasing the time between requests to something like 2000msec (2 seconds). This in the Options dialog. This will cause the server to only update once every two seconds, so it will not appear as smooth as the 250msec setting, but it may reduce the demand on your server enough to fix the problem.

You can try reducing some new lag in TSS zones by disabling tattoos and floral inside EQ itself.[/QUOTE]
tried the above, and tried few things, it even does it on my p4 bot system.

but like i said only makes the game laggy after a few hrs of play.

dont have any idea why con colors do as they do, it may be something soe did when they changed it with tss, its funny to go into a newb zone with a lvl 71 and all the cons con red lol. but sux when in a high zone, dont know which are db, yellow red etc. till u can see them and con ingame.

the floral and tattoos i did soon as tss came out., only real non myseq lag zone is blightfire moors and CR for somereason.

a side note, with the con colors all red to my 71 after i logged a lower toon, they all went back to normal. ( other toon was in 50's ).

but for now to keep server and client running when it gets bad ill just alt out shut it down and restart :)

its still the best and always will be.

my first guess as to the problem is Bill Gates /nod, my second guess is Bill Gates shabby products aka Windows, .net, yada yada. lol ok jokes over.

Thanx for the info tho, I'll keep playing with it, ill even try running 2 clients on 3rd system, and server on each game system and see what happens lol havent tried that yet, but being i usally box 2 different lvl toons, you never know.

[Seaxouri]

I also assume you updated the ConLevels.ini file as indicated in this thread.

http://www.showeq.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5719

Also, when things con all red, press F1 to target yourself and note the level it reports.

[God's Backhand]

I noticed I got a bunch of red cons sometimes... it happens when I'm mounted (I assume because my horse is level 30 or something, making everything red to it). Could that be your problem as well?

[kunark]

havent had a chance to try the conning myself yet seax, been doing quest on lower toons, but i will and let you know.


also the conlevels file i was using, till i checked your link was dated end of september like the 29th or 30 i forget now lol. i did replace it with the one in your link tho.

ill make a point to log my 71 mage tomorrow night after work and check., ill try it both on and off mount and see what happens, also if it all turns red, ill dismount and see if they change, etc.

but ill keep you posted on it.

[Seaxouri]

The Races.txt file should end in 'Goo'. (9/?/2006)
The Conlevels.ini file should end with a '75' entry. (10/2/2006)

Both are only relevant on the machine running MySEQ client.

[kunark]

aye ones im using.

i did some playing on my 71 mage tonight....when whole zone cons red my lvl shows right.

I can confirm that it only does it when on mount. when i click off mount con lvls return to normal, re mount and they go red again.... i tried it a few times, and in different zones.

so that explanes the con's.

still no idea on the lag after quite a few hrs of play...but i can live with the stop and restart both server/client.

[kunark]

seax another problem ive seen and confirmed tonight

when i die ( any lvl ) and wait on timer get rezzed, ( without going to bind point ) spawns do not show on map, maybe 1 or 2 will show but thats it, have restarted both server/client still same until i zone.

but if i return to bind point then get rezzed all is well.

may have something to do with the new hover for rezz not sure, but do know it happens each time to me that i hover get rez.

[Seaxouri]

Something is very odd with your setup. Are you running the latest client and server?

I do not have the hover problem (tested in MPG instance zones)
I do not have the horse problem (tested in guild hall)

I have not tested TSS zones for either of these problems.

I am over 70, but under 75.

I am using server 1.19.1, client 1.19.0.4191, and the offsets from http://www.showeq.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5719

I know we had several variations of offsets provided by different folks when TSS came out. Are you using the ones I am using, or possibly one of them is slightly off? This actually might be an issue, since some offsets may work most of the time (e.g. when you are not mounted).

[kunark]

i know i sent this once but didnt show up lol
the offsets i was using before today was from here
http://www.showeq.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5715

[File Info]
PatchDate=9/27/2006

[Memory Offsets]
SpawnHeaderAddr=0x886650
CharInfo=0x886650
TargetAddr=0x886668
ZoneAddr=0x904728
ItemsAddr=0x0

the client side are same as your files in link.

i havent been in game today so dont know if old still works or if i need to use the 10/25 ones i see on boards.



Something is very odd with your setup. Are you running the latest client and server?

I do not have the hover problem (tested in MPG instance zones)
I do not have the horse problem (tested in guild hall)

I have not tested TSS zones for either of these problems.

I am over 70, but under 75.

I am using server 1.19.1, client 1.19.0.4191, and the offsets from http://www.showeq.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5719

I know we had several variations of offsets provided by different folks when TSS came out. Are you using the ones I am using, or possibly one of them is slightly off? This actually might be an issue, since some offsets may work most of the time (e.g. when you are not mounted).

[kunark]

just to let you know still get the blank zone and spawn list except for a couple toons and mobs on death/hover and rez back into zone.

my 60 pally died in wos tonight and it happened agian like before patch.

im using the new 25th offsets so you know.

still zoning fixes it but pain to run from cubby to nc then back lol

but like i said its just to let you know.

[Seaxouri]

Pushing Stop and then Go on the client should have the same effect as zoning.

I am at a loss as to why you are seeing these problems. I cannot recreate them no matter what I try. The only differences in the systems appear to be that you have much slower systems (2GHz) than I do, which can play a factor in seeing messed up spawn lists, especially in new zones with lots of spawns.

As a side note, not that I have looked at this code much, I use 'Follow Player' in Options->Map Settings. I am not sure if ths affects anything or not. I also use Show Target, Keep Centered and Auto Select EQ Target.

The only things I can think that can cause this are if there is something causing a change in the communication between the client and server, which would imply something in your network stack is unique or overlooked; or if for some reason memory is laid out differently on your system than everyone elses. This could potentially happen if you 'wrap' EQ inside some other tool, like EQPlayNice or WinEQ, but I am not sure. It might also happen if you have some RAM tool that forces your system to page out memory periodically. If this happens too often, you will see things like half spawn lists.

I know already that EQ will send the entire spawnlist when you first zone, however it does not send updates to spawns unless those spawns are near you or a group member. So a mob that pops on the other side of the zone may not appear to move until you get near it. It is possible there are other optimizations that EQ does where it might not send you the full spawnlist if it detects you are on an older CPU, or maybe low on memory. If these 'less important' spawns are flushed out of memory, MySEQ cannot see them, and the result will be a partial spawnlist.

These are all speculations, and will only remain as such because I cannot recreate the problem. Unless I can recreate the problem, I can only guess as to what might cause the problem, but I cannot fix it, unfortunately.

[Ubermage]

I too noticed the loss of Skittles/spawn list during hover... However I dont like hover anyway, so I just click respawn and I return to bind... for me Problem solved..

[Seaxouri]

Okay, I verified the problem with missing skittles after a hover/rez situation.

It appears that prior to hovering, we have been lucky that the pSelf also pointed to the first spawn in the spawnlist. We walk the list in one direction and when we get to the end, we are done.

However, after a hover/rez, pSelf actually might point into the middle of the linked list, so all you see are spawns after you, not before you. This will probably be a very easy fix to the server only. However, it will not address the Con problem, and I still have not seen that yet.

[kunark]

" However, it will not address the Con problem, and I still have not seen that yet."


Seaxouri, the only time i see it now is just while on a mount, i guess the client is using the lvl of the mount and not the toon to display con ranges in zone. Click mount off and all is fine, re mount and all cons red agian.

Hope this helps in tracking it down, while your working on the beta.

Ill be glad to help you test the beta also , on my systems :) slow as they are lol

Keep up the great work and thnx for keeping this alive have a good turkey day.

[Seaxouri]

I realize it happens when you are mounted. It does not happen for me, even mounted.

It is possible the new server and client will fix your problem, however. I rewrote a lot of the logic that detects a player change. There was a problem that when you shrouded to a different level, the con-levels did not change accordingly. Basically when a new zone was detected, we reset everything, conlevels and all. Until the next zone change, the con levels were essentially fixed.

There was logic to address this, but it was flawed. The logic now works. I do notice that when I am messing inside the menu, the con colors on occassion get out of whack. With the new logic, the colors all self correct within a few seconds. My hope is that whatever problem you are seeing, with the new logic, even if the colors go whacky for a moment, they will self correct in a short period of time. Every now and again the game regenerates the entire spawnlist in memory, usually when it runs out of memory or needs to adjust something major. When this happens, the entire spawnlist churns and causes glitches. During these periods, if you are holding a menu option open, you may see the entire spawnlist change to grey, or red. After a few seconds, it self-corrects.