Please read all of this and follow all steps to correct your 1017 error.
Before anyone gets frustrated, let's go over the steps to playing eqemu. The first step is to patch to live. I believe you have done this. The second step is to read the most recent
guide.
Now, assuming that you have made the above changes, let's go over how this goes wrong.
1. If you run everquest.exe, you must make the changes to your eqhost.txt again. You must do this every time.
2. If you can't run eqgame.exe patchme in a shortcut, and NOT in the eqw window, then use this example to edit the Target section in the shortcut properties.
Example shortcut target
"c:\Program Files\Sony Entertainment\everquest\eqgame.exe" patchme
Please notice how the patchme is the only thing outside the quotes. The quotes surround only the location of the file, and not the patchme parameter.
Make sure also that the Start in section of the properties is the same folder that eqgame.exe is in. To match my above example, it must be the following
Example Start In
"c:\Program Files\Sony Entertainment\everquest\"
Please notice that the eqgame.exe and patchme is not included. That is how that input should appear.
Other causes of 1017 errors are that your files are incompatible - running a thorough patch with everquest's live servers will probably fix this. If you do that, you must change eqhost.txt again, like I mentioned before.
Another cause of 1017 errors is a minilogin misconfiguration. There is a sticky in the general help forum that you should read if you are using the "minilogin" program to run the server only on your own PC. If you are just trying to play, ignore this step.