Desync issues in GFaydark and Felwithe

[kartikeya200]

Here goes with the second issue. Once again, I'm pretty newbish at this, so I beg forgiveness in advance. I'm running a server off my own machine, having used the new Windows installer and done a few personal edits (mostly just enabling bots and changing a few respawn times and item stats). I'm running my own login server, but people are also able to connect via the EQemu login. I'm experiencing this issue regardless of which method I myself use to log in. ROF2 client, and I've tried multiple reinstalls from different sources just in case.

Here's what happens: I usually origin back to Kelethin. Originally, for anywhere from one minute to five, nothing in the zone would be responsive. Can't open doors, use merchants, even spells will cast but hang before completing. I can run around and click on things all I like, but until whatever's causing the desync ends, there's nothing I can do client-side to affect it.

Yesterday I had cause to enter Felwithe for the first time, and I noticed the problem was substantially worse. I would desync so bad that I couldn't even zone from Felwithea to Felwitheb, or vice versa. My position was kept (because if I managed to /q out and come back, I'd be where I'd last seen myself, including in the other zone if I was at the zone line), but it seemed like from the moment I logged in it would start desyncing. I was doing the batwing quest and noted how at first it would work fine, then the responses would get slower, and slower, until I was unable to do anything and would have to /q out and wait for the server to boot my character. A few times I had to end EQ via the task manager as not even /q would let me escape.

Sadly, after nearly a full day of trying to figure out what was going wrong, I've been unable to make any difference, and now it seems like Kelethin is getting about as bad as Felwithe. I haven't noticed this problem in other city zones such as Freeport, Qeynos, Neriak, PoKnowledge, etc.

Does this sound like a server issue or a client one? Does it sound like a problem with quad cores? None of the solutions I've tried there have done anything to help it, sadly. I have one friend who has been playing in other zones who hasn't experienced this issue at all, but she hasn't tried to be in the two zones I know are affected. Logging in via my laptop didn't seem to produce this trouble either. I could put up with the original Kelethin annoyance but now both zones are practically unplayable.

Edit: I forgot to add, in case it matters, this machine is running Windows 10, and has an intel processor.

Edit2 to update: I had my friend run around Kelethin while I had been desync'd for quite a while. She had no problems. She could see me, and see me move, but doors wouldn't open on her end either when I clicked on them. She also has a quad-core intel processor and is running Windows 10.

[Uleat]

TBH, there's not a lot of confirmed issues with windows 10..so, it will be hard to pinpoint an issue there specifically.


If you can, I would suggest trying another client version - and if possible - trying on an older windows install.

There more possibilities that you can discount, the better the chance of finding a solution.

[kartikeya200]

I'll see about snagging an older client. As for Windows 10, I don't think that's particularly the issue unless something about it would interfere with a client running on the same machine as the server, as my friend is also running Windows 10 and didn't experience any of these issues. Ditto for the RoF2 client; she's also running that one, and no problem.

[Uleat]

I know win10 uses the IPv6 '::1' for localhost where older clients use the IPv4 '127.0.0.1'

Not sure if that's the issue..but, you might look for some posts regarding that, if you think packets are not getting through.

[kartikeya200]

I'm afraid I don't really know enough to be able to try anything with the IP6 myself, and I didn't find anything that seemed relevant.

Snagged the Underfoot client, it's having the same issues.

Edit: As another update, I've had on again off again brushes with this issue in the Dreadlands, and Surefall Glade. Occasionally, if the desync resolves itself, I'll get the server message: WARNING: World server connection lost. This only happens if the server and client manage to resync with each other, however. If they don't, it just lets me sit in limbo forever until I /q out.

[Uleat]

This is only on your system, running both the game and server?

[kartikeya200]

Correct. If I connect via my laptop (Windows 8, ROF2 client), I haven't run into these issues, though playing on it long term isn't very feasible. Friend with Windows 10, quad-core and the RoF2 client has no issues at all. She was running around killing things and doing quests in Gfay while I was frozen in place for at least thirty minutes without a single slowdown. I'm baffled.

Edit: We can add Erudin Palace to the list of places in which desync seems almost immediate.

[Uleat]

I think that you've diagnosed the issue down to playing on the same computer as your server with no zone-specific issues.


If you don't mind, post your 3 config files (eqemu_config.xml, login.ini and eqhost.txt) - just make sure to redact any login information, if you do. (Or, you can pm it to me.)

[kartikeya200]

Sure thing. And thank you muchly for your time with this.

EQemu_config.xml

<?xml version="1.0">
<server>
	<world>
		<!-- Set the shortname to ONE word. The longname is what shows up on server list -->
		<shortname>RensEQ</shortname>
		<longname>Ren's EQ</longname>

		<!-- DO NOT EDIT ANY LINES BETWEEN HERE AND THE DATABASE SECTION -->
		<address>98.225.28.153</address>
		<localaddress>192.168.1.3</localaddress>
		
		<!-- Loginserver information. DO NOT EDIT -->
		<loginserver1>
			<host>login.eqemulator.net</host>
			<port>5998</port>
			<account></account>
			<password></password>
		</loginserver1>
		<loginserver2>
			<host>192.168.1.3</host>
			<port>5999</port>
			<account></account>
			<password></password>
		</loginserver2>


		<!-- Server status. Default is unlocked DO NOT EDIT RIGHT NOW -->
		<!--<locked/>-->
		<!-- <unlocked/> -->

		<!-- Sets the ip/port for the tcp connections. DO NOT EDIT -->
		<!-- <tcp ip="127.0.0.1" port="9000" telnet="disable"/> -->
		<tcp ip="127.0.0.1" port="9000" telnet="enable"/>
		<!-- Sets the shared key used by zone/launcher to connect to world -->
		<key>12345blahblahblahblahblahblahblah</key>

		<!-- Enable and set the port for the HTTP service. Defaults are shown -->
		<!-- <http port="9080" enabled="false" mimefile="mime.types" /> -->
		<http port="9080" enabled="true" mimefile="mime.types" />
	</world>

	<!-- Chatserver (channels) information. DO NOT EDIT -->
	<chatserver>
		<!-- <host>192.168.1.x</host> -->
		<!-- <port>7778</port> -->
		<host></host>
		<port>7500</port>
	</chatserver>

	<!-- Mailserver (in-game mail) information. DO NOT EDIT -->
	<mailserver>
		<!-- <host>192.168.1.x</host> -->
		<!-- <port>7778</port> -->
		<host></host>
		<port>7500</port>
	</mailserver>

	<zones>
	<!-- The defaultstatus is what status the new toons will have on your server -->
	<defaultstatus>0</defaultstatus>

	<!-- Sets port range for world to use to auto configure zones DO NOT EDIT RIGHT NOW-->
	<!-- <ports low="7000" high="7100"/> -->
	<ports low="7000" high="7400"/>
	</zones>

	<!-- Set username to root and password is your MySQL password and db to peq -->
	<database>
		<!-- <host>127.0.0.1</host> -->
		<!-- <port>3306</port> -->
		<!-- <username>root</username> -->
		<!-- <password>xxxxx</password> -->
		<!-- <db>peq</db> -->
	   <host>localhost</host>
	   <port>3306</port>
	   <username>redacted</username>
	   <password>redacted</password>
	   <db>peq</db>
	</database>	

	<qsdatabase>
		<!-- <host>127.0.0.1</host> -->
		<!-- <port>3306</port> -->
		<!-- <username>root</username> -->
		<!-- <password>xxxxx</password> -->
		<!-- <db>peq</db> --> 
	   <host>localhost</host>
	   <port>3306</port>
	   <username>root</username>
	   <password>redacted</password>
	   <db>peq</db>
	</qsdatabase>

	<webinterface>
		<port>9081</port>
	</webinterface>

	<!-- Launcher Configuration DO NOT EDIT-->
	<launcher>
	<!-- <logprefix>logs/zone-</logprefix> -->
	<!-- <logsuffix>.log</logsuffix> -->
	<!-- <exe>zone.exe</exe> -->
	<!-- <timers restart="10000" reterminate="10000"> -->
	</launcher>

	<!-- File locations. DO NOT EDIT -->
	<files>
	<!-- <spells>spells_us.txt</spells> -->
	<!-- <opcodes>opcodes.conf</opcodes> -->
	<!-- <logsettings>log.ini</logsettings> -->
	<!-- <eqtime>eqtime.cfg</eqtime> -->
	</files>
	<!-- Directory locations. DO NOT EDIT -->
	<directories>
	<!-- <maps>Maps</maps> -->
	<!-- <quests>quests</quests> -->
	<!-- <plugins>plugins</plugins> -->
	</directories>
</server>

login.ini

[database]
host = localhost
port = 3306
db = peq
user = root
password = redacted
subsystem = MySQL

[options]
unregistered_allowed = TRUE
reject_duplicate_servers = FALSE
trace = TRUE
world_trace = FALSE
dump_packets_in = FALSE
dump_packets_out = FALSE
listen_port = 5999
local_network = 192.168.1.
auto_create_accounts = TRUE

[security]
plugin = EQEmuAuthCrypto
mode = 5

[Titanium]
port = 5998
opcodes = login_opcodes.conf

[SoD]
port = 5999
opcodes = login_opcodes_sod.conf

[schema]
account_table = loginserver_server_accounts
world_registration_table = loginserver_world_server_registration
world_admin_registration_table = loginserver_server_admin_registration
world_server_type_table = loginserver_server_list_type

And eqhost.ini (note that I've also tried this using login.eqemulator.net, 127.0.0.1, and my public IP, but sadly the issue still pops up).

[LoginServer]
Host=192.168.1.3:5999

[Uleat]

I generally urge people to use '127.0.0.1' over 'localhost' due to some address resolution issues that can pop-up...

But, since other people are capable of logging in and not experience issues, that's probably not the case here.


Everything looks correct..even where you are logging your client into.

I'll dig around and see if I can find anything on running a client and server on the same computer..of course, this probably won't be eqemulator-specific.

(Maybe someone else has experienced this?)

[kartikeya200]

Went into Howling Stones for the first time on this server and almost immediately got the same desync issue, badly enough that I had to use the task manager to get out of it. In doing so, however, I noticed that three zones (presumably the last three I'd been to), were taking up roughly 30% of the CPU, and a rather fantastic amount of raw memory considering I was the only one on the entire server (my zones are set to linger for thirty minutes or so, so mob corpses don't poof).

Rebooted the server, logged back in, and looked at the task manager again. This is from about twenty seconds having logged into the zone:



My understanding is that EQemu really doesn't need that many resources unless you've got a pretty heavy server load. Is there any reason why it would be hogging this much on a machine that's only a few months old, or am I mistaken? This doesn't really explain why the issues only crop up in certain zones (and instantly at that, with the random exception of Dreadlands), but my CPU load zipped up to 100% several times while I was looking at this. If it's doing that, little wonder my client is getting choked out.

[kartikeya200]

In comparison to the above, standing in Dreadlands for several minutes with a full bot raid up and buffing, the CPU percentage the zone is taking up keeps bouncing between 1-3%. Dreadlands is a zone this happens in, but only infrequently.

Edit: And the desync kicked in just as I was about to zone, so there's another spike up to around 40% CPU load. Again in contrast, killing Gorenaire with a bot raid only kicked it up to 9% at the highest.

[Uleat]

Does anyone else who logs into your server use bots in a manner similar to you?

[kartikeya200]

My friend is the only other semi regular player. She's been using a bot group of late (she's still low level), but hasn't had any issues like this with them.

This seems to happen regardless of bots being present too, I'm afraid. When I was testing it last night in Howling Stones, I was logging in and instantly getting desync'd, without even the chance to spawn bots if I wanted to. The same thing happened repeatedly in Felwithe without them as well.

[kartikeya200]

An update on this:

On a whim, I made another account and ran around Felwithe and Gfay. Felwithe has reliably locked up on me within minutes if not immediately. This account, despite being played from the exact same computer, had no issues.

I tried another, older account that was GM flagged (GM not turned on, just the account has high enough status). No problems. Trying to reproduce the effect, I race changed the character to one that can't normally be that class (barbarian/enchanter in this case, versus the one that locks up which is dark elf/ranger). I'm leaving her running in Felwithe for a while, but so far she still hasn't had any issues. At the same time, I logged in my trouble account and had her run around Felwithe. Things desync'd almost immediately. Logged out and back in: same difference. This happened at the exact same time I had the other accounts running around the same zone and interacting with NPCs.

I haven't changed anything with the problem account other than the race change as far as I'm aware. Apart from having played her for a few weeks (during which trouble was noticeable pretty much as soon as I was able to get into Kelethin without being KOS, and from the first time I zoned into Felwithe) I have no idea what's different. I'm going to take a hard look at it to see, but this is somehow even more confusing than before.

Is it possible that the bot data could be affecting the character? I've been raiding with her, so she has something like forty bots. I've discounted bots before since this happens with or without their presence, and because my friend has been able to use them without issue. The only thing I can think of relating to them is if somehow having that amount of bots regardless of being spawned is interacting poorly, which still seems unlikely.