Troubleshooting
General Problems
This MAY fix alot of peoples problems. (works for
me)
Rahzad
Posts: 20 posted 09/23/01 18:17:05
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, to fix a significant portion of your potential sound/crash/zoning
problems with Directx 8.0+, you have to do a few things. =)
You see directx 8.0+ has a fault, it puts your soundcard
into debug mode. Which can cause massive framerate issues, and
poor quality to glitchy to no sound, even constant crashes in
MMORPG games. You need to download the DirectX control panel,
which will allow you to disable all these useless debug options
that are causing millions of people problems. Check it out at:
http://members.home.net/sweetgrass00/directx.cpl
(Ed Note: The above file did not work well for me,
but this one did: http://www.digital-digest.com/dvd/downloads/directxcpl.html)
(this is my personal site, and YES the file has been
scanned for Trojans and viruses, I’ve been using this file
for almost a year with no trouble plus, its just a control file
for control panel, and cannot contain anything else)
Download this and copy it into your windows/system
directory, and an icon will magically appear in your control panel
for Direct X. Click on it, and check ALL tabs, and most likely,
one or more of them are set to debug. Move ALL the sliders back
to the left, and this will disable all of these machine problem
causing options.
Live on happily with Directx 8.0+ after this, and enjoy
greatly enhanced performance. =)
3D Initialization Error
FIX #1: Reboot, sometimes it takes several reboots.
FIX #2: RAISE all of your graphics settings in the
WW2OL settings app except antialiasing and shadows. This fixed
the problem for me.
FIX #3: Well, a workaround for this has been discovered.
Its not an ideal fix, but it seems to get people into the game,
at least. The workaround is to lower AGP to 1x or 2x. This can
be done in the BIOS or with external apps available as downloads
from tweaking websites. This isnt an ideal fix. If you are running
at 4x and set the AGP to 2x or 1x, expect degraded performance
in other games an applications. But apparently it is causing some
people problems, so if you are getting the 3D initialization error
and you have tried everything else, this solution may just have
to work until something better can be found.
CTD = Crash To Desktop
CRS has been doing a decent job stomping out these
bugs, but some people are still having these problems. There is
a pretty good chance that a lot of CTDs now are not CRS's fault.
One of the biggest causes of client CTD in any program that uses
a lot of RAM is bad, mismatched, or misplaced RAM. Considering
that a lot of people bought new RAM for this game, its not inconcievable
that they A) bought the cheapest RAM they could find, B) Bought
slightly wrong RAM, and C) put it in the wrong slot.
The first problem is easy to deal with. Dont eat the
brown acid and DONT BUY $8 RAM FROM PRICEWATCH! Simple as that.
You get what you pay for, and if you buy $8 RAM, you are paying
for crashes. Break down and buy good RAM from a large manufacturer
like Crucial or Corsair. Get rid of any cheap RAM you are using.
Second problem is fairly easy to deal with too. Either
match the RAM that is in your machine spec-for-spec or replace
all of your RAM with new RAM that is all matched. If you have
128megs of PC133 CAS2, dont buy PC100CAS2 or PC133CAS3 because
they are cheaper. They will run together, but they will slow down
your original PC133CAS2 stick. Thats bad. If your machine is capable
of using better RAM that what is currently installed...say you
are running PC100CAS3 and your machine will run PC133CAS2...then
you should replace ALL of your RAM with the fastest sticks you
can use and it will significantly improve performance.
Third problem isnt a difficult one either. Your first
RAM slot must always be filled. Furthermore, it must be filled
with the largest stick in the machine. If you have 128 meg stick...and
you want to buy a 256 meg stick to add in, you cant just shove
the 256 stick in any empty slot. It MUST go in the first slot.
This means you need to remove the 128 stick and install the 256
in its place, then install the 128 stick in the second RAM slot.
As a side note, if you replace all of your RAM with
faster RAM, you need to set up your computer to use the new RAM
at its fastest speed. You can learn how to do this on the Advanced
page, 'Overclocking RAM'.
There is a fourth problem too, and that is simply a
bad stick of RAM. It happens often. You can check both the specific
type, speed, and manufacturer of your RAM with Sisoft Sandra and
check to see if it performs up to par with the memory benchmark
in Sandra.
CTHL = Connection to Host Lost: General Info
For All Users
Okay, I begged for someone to write an article on
tweaking internet connections, but so far no one has taken me
up on it. I am NOT an internet connection expert, but I know a
few things that may help some folks...so here goes.
This error message means that the server is unable
to process your request to join the game server; this error message
does not mean that the server is down, but that the server is
either at maximum capacity, that the server is unable to process
any more entries into that server, or that there is a connection
problem between your PC and our servers. It is important to note
that users with firewalls may need to disable the firewall or
open the appropriate ports to eliminate these errors.
Thats what CRS says about these errors. There are,
in fact, quite a few different ones besides the popular 10057
error. These numbers actually mean something, and if you know
what they mean, then you know where to start looking to find the
problem. According to CRS, these are some of the error codes and
thier meanings:
- 10057 -- This error means that you have lost connection
to the server; check your connection by running the MS-DOS command
tracert www.playnet.com. This will help determine at what point
the connection is being lost.
10054 -- This error indicates that the connection was
reset by some peer along the route to our server, or by our server
itself.
10050 -- This error means that some network in the path
to our servers is temporarily down.
- 10053 -- This error means that the connection was
terminated by software on our server, usually due to a transmission
error or a bad protocol.
-
- These are fairly self-explanatory. 50, 53, and 54 generally
resolve themselves shortly and are not a persistent problem.
10057, however, is. This could be any number of things, and assuming
it is CRS's fault all or most of the time is probably wrong.
There are too many things that may cause this, so I'm just going
to list the things client-side that may contribute, and also
a way to find out (eventually) where exactly your CTHL problem
is coming from.
-
- One thing that can cause this is old, outdated internet software.
It could be your modem drivers, modem BIOS, router BIOS, or background
programs. Check the provider/manufacturer's website for possible
upgrades. I have a Cisco 675 modem that I had to unplug, wait,
and plug back in to restore internet about twice a day. I found
out several things by visiting my ISP, Qwest's, website. First,
there are viruses that affect cable/DSL modems. Without active
protection from a firewall, its very possible your broadband
modem is infected. I found a fix/patch for my modem on Qwest's
site. Second, my modem was several years old. New BIOS and software
upgrades had been released, and while they were time consuming
and a bit difficult to install, it was well worth it. I gained
30% more speed from my DSL internet connection and the line is
rock solid stable now...no more crawling under the desk to unplug
the damn modem twice a day! Its WELL worth it to look around
for software upgrades like this. Free performance.
-
- So you say it isnt your modem, eh? Okay. Make sure your ISP
has no timeout device...IE AOL will log you off if you dont respond
after a certain amount of time, even if you are online playing
a game. Make sure you have no programs running in the background
that try to access the internet on thier own (UD Agent, SETI@Home,
ect).
-
- There isnt much more you can do on your end after this to
fix things, but you may still want to know what is causing the
problem (or you may just want to blame CRS without knowing).
There are several ways to find out. Probably the best is...get
a PingPlotter
and run it at 5 second intervals in the background while running
the game (Yes, I know this contradicts what I said above...this
is for troubleshooting). When you CTHL, check the time, exit
the game, and look at the ping program's log of the exact time
you lost connection. You will very likely see a lost packet somewhere
along the way. I wanted to post a screenshot here of a lost packet
in pingplotter, but I give up. I pinged various sites for an
hour and got zero packet loss anywhere, including www.suddenstrike.de,
which, for me, hops Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, New York,
London, Paris, and Berlin. I guess I have a good internet connection
;) I very rarely get any CTHL errors, either.
-
- If you do this and discover packet loss, note where the packet
was lost. Is it at your computer or at the endpoint (ns1.playnet.com)?
If so, this is very important. If the packet loss is between
your computer and Playnet, then that isnt something that you
or CRS can fix...thats just the internet. If the loss
occurs near your end, check the IP address and remember
it. If you CTHL again at the same IP address, maybe its time
to call your ISP and see if that IP is a part of thier system.
If it is, tell em to fix it! If it isnt, you are pretty much
out of luck, unless you can change the path to CRS's server...I
dont know how or if that can be done.
-
- If you discover that the problem is at CRS's end (which you
probably wont) then maybe you can contribute to helping CRS solve
this problem. Get the diagnostic script wwiiol_netcheck.bat
here and run it both before and after a failed attempt or
in-game disconnection. This script will generate a .txt file
of results and save it on your desktop. Send the results to logs@playnet.com along with:
Your username;
Your game-name;
The game world on which you were playing, and the time and date;
Your system specs (via the DirectX Diagnostic Tool);
How often this happens and on which game worlds it happens most.
-
- That about covers it. If you are getting frequent, consistent
CTHLs, then this is how to troubleshoot it and narrow down the
problem. Just because you can surf the internet fine and play
other games fine doesnt mean that this problem is CRS's fault.
The path you take to get to CRS and the consistency of your connection
has a lot to do with it. Using the tools I've given you here
will allow you to zero in on the problem and understand exactly
where, if not what, the problem is.
-
-
- 10057 For Dial-Up Connection Users
-
- If you are unsatisfied with your current connection rate
or are getting randomly disconnected (error 10057) , you can
perform a test on your telephone line by doing the following:
-
- 1. Double-Click on My Computer
2. Double-Click on Dialup Networking
3. Double-Click on Make new Connection. Change the 'My Connection'
on the top to 'Line Test'.
4. Click Next.
5. Type in your local access number to your internet provider.
6. Click Next.
7. Click Finish.
8. Right-Click on line test. Left-Click on properties.
9. Click on the configure button.
10. Click the Options tab on the top.
11. Put a checkmark next to 'Bring Up Terminal Window After Dialing'
12. Click the Connection tab on the top.
13. Click Advanced.
14. In the top left corner, you will see 'use error control'.
If it is currently checked, uncheck it.
15. Click OK three times.
16. Double-click line test, then click connect.
17. Once the modems are done handshaking, you will see a black
window come up. Inside of this window, you will either see a
lot of unusual characters, or you will get a prompt that will
tell you Login.
18. If you see the Login prompt, and no other weird characters,
then the line is clean.
19. If you see a bunch of unusual characters, then there is a
problem with interference on your telephone lines, and that is
causing your problem. If this is the case, you need to contact
your telephone company to get these problems resolved.
-
- It is also possible, that your computer has what is called
a Winmodem. These modems are software driven, relying only on
your system, and operating system, to operate. Where as a hardware
based modem has components on the device itself, that have been
tested by the manufacturer through and through, a winmodem has
no such components, and uses whatever it finds on your system
instead. Though that does sound like a adequate use of resources,
many times, the winmodem does not have all it needs to run correctly
in many systems, and does not work properly or efficiently. You
should contact the manufacturer of your computer to find out
wether or not you have a winmodem or software-based modem. If
you do, this may also be the cause of your connection difficulties.