Portable doesn't work after uninstalling MYSQL and Perl
 

I'm trying to get a portable server to work. I have it all set up and working within a folder that I can move from PC to PC and it runs the server fine. But when I actually uninstall mysql and perl from the PC so they are only left as folders in the portable directory, i start to see a problem. The NPCs no longer respond to me when I try to hail them. I'm not sure why. Reinstalling MySQL and Perl and running a non-standalone server worked fine. But I tried to uninstall them and set up a new standalone and I run into the same problems all over again.

It seems like there is something the emulator/database is using from the windows installations of mysql/perl that is not carrying over to the portable folder. Has anyone run into this? How can I fix it?

I'm guessing I should be able to run a portable server without installing separate programs like MySQL or Perl. The point is to be able to transfer it to any other computer and have it run, because all the necessary resources are in the file.

Take some time to learn Windows.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=windows+library+path

Yes, I know that sounds harsh but this is a forum for server administration and yet you do not know how to configure your OS (or even research with Google)?

Read through that link and thank me later.

Not sure I understand, even after reading.

I have no level of expertise with this stuff. I read the FAQs and have read this forum well enough to be able to get a server up and running.

I wouldn't have known to search for dll path issues because I had no way of knowing it was a missing dll issue (I still don't know if that's what it is, although you seem fairly convinced and knowledgable).

Bottom line is, reading the various links you pulled up from Google didn't really clear anything up for me at all. To be clear, I'm not getting any missing dll errors, so I don't actually know which ones aren't in the path.

And I am using a .bat file which sets the path to my eqemu\mysql and perl directories.

Is it just a matter of figuring out which .dlls are missing and adding them to my mysql and perl portable folders? If that's it, how do I figure out which .dlls I need and where exactly do I add them?

Paste the contents of your batch file.

Thanks. Will do so when I get home from work tonight.

If it helps for now, I can tell you that the .bat pathing instruction is as follows:


Path = %Path%;c:\Games\Everquest\mysql\bin;c:\Games\Everq uest\perl\bin


"Everquest" is my "Standalone" dir. That path instruction appears right at the beginning of the .bat file. I'll post the whole thing once I have access to it.

The above line has a typo but I'm not sure why.

Path = %Path%;c:\Games\Everquest\mysql\bin;c:\Games\Everq uest\perl\bin

"Ever quest" should be "Everquest."

It is correctly entered in the .bat.

Change it to:

To make sure the dlls in those directories are found first.

Changing the path code didn't work.

My .bat is as follows:

@echo off
Path = c:\Games\Everquest\mysql\bin;c:\Games\Everquest\pe rl\bin;%Path%

xampp_start.exe

cd .\eqemu

start EQEmuLoginServer.exe
echo
echo
start world.exe
cls
echo Wait for World to finish loading... Press Enter when done.
sleep 10
start eqlaunch.exe zone
exit

Runs mysql and the various server progs just fine and I can connect to my world, set up a toon and run around. I just can't get the NPCs to talk to me.

Try this:

Where xxx = your actual path.

What he has already should be setting the path properly. Environment variables aren't case sensitive.

Open a command prompt, cd c:\, run that path command, and then type perl -v

What happens? If Perl actually runs, is it the version you have installed with xampp or another version? Assuming you have Vista or Windows 7 you can also type `where perl` and see what it finds. If it is not the right directory then that's your problem.

The plot thickens. Thanks for the suggestion, I think it cleared some things up, but I'm still stuck.

Typing in that path and then perl -v does run Perl and pulls up v. no. 5.10.1. Looking in the Perl dir in my standalone, one of the exe's is ver 5.10.1.1008, so no problems there.

Typing where perl pulls up my standalone perl folder and standalone mysql folders. Again, seems like no problem there.

Sounds like it should be running fine right? Still not working.

no path for eqemu\plugins

Noport, what does that mean? How do I set one?

Yes, but SET is what I was meaning to point out.

Will try this tonight.

Also, I know that standalones can work, since I downloaded the DB 2086 repack on the tools section of this forum and it works perfectly. So there is something included in that repack that is obviously missing from mine.

Noport mentioned no path to plugins. I don't know how to specify this but I don't think it's the issue, since when I was running a non-standalone without plugins in the folder, the NPCs would still talk to me. I couldn't complete quests, but they would talk to me.

Right, no need for a path to plugins. That is specified in your config. Which brings me to ask if you've done anything exotic in eqemu_config.xml. Have you?

Nothing beyond the basics. I'll post it when I get a chance. But other than modifying my ip numbers and specifying the DB info, I haven't added any other settings.

Eh, still didn't work.

@echo off
set Path = c:\xampp\mysql\bin;c:\xampp\perl\bin;%Path%
start EQEmuLoginServer.exe
start world.exe
cls
echo Wait for World to finish loading... Press Enter when done.
pause
start eqlaunch.exe zone
exit


This is so frustrating. Again, the server and game load, but I can't talk to the NPCs.

You can test your paths and executables. open a cmd prompt and type your set path statement then do perl -v.

That was recommended and tried awhile back. Running perl -v after setting paths does access Perl and it looks like the correct. Version. I don't think there are any problems there.

So do I just have no options for portable then?

Has anyone else tried to follow the portable server using Xampp guide up on the eqemu wiki? And were you able to get a portable server running without installing MySQL or Perl to your windows?

I run on XAMPP 1.7.7. Beyond setting up my ENV variables, the only thing I had to do was import the missing MySQL lib/opt files for compiling.

Are those set forth in the guide on the EqEmu wiki? Because they sound like steps I never did, and I've read the guide many times now.

Basically, my process is unzipping the xampp-lite package linked to in the guide and then copying in all of the Perl addons, overwriting as needed.

After that, I can set a command line path to the mysql and perl dirs contained in the xampp folder and run mysql. Then I source in the DB and set up accounts as needed, create a batch file to run everything and start it all up. I also add in maps, quests, and plugins. Runs the server and game fine, but NPCs won't talk to me.

Joligario, what does setting ENV variabls and importing missing MySQL files encompass? I feel like maybe it's just a matter of adding some files to my xampp portable MySQL dir. It sounds like you're using them to compile the server itself? I use the precompiled binaries, so I don't think that would affect me. But what about ENV variables? How do I do that?

Maybe you are just too dumb?

I tend to assume as much any time I have a problem with something. But that doesn't really help me. I take it from your response that the solution is something incredibly simple that I've overlooked?