Aces High Bulletin Board
Help and Support Forums => Technical Support => Topic started by: Fianna on January 30, 2009, 11:41:05 PM
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...so I'm posting the pingplot thing.
(http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/the_fianna/pingplot.png?t=1233380379)
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You're hosed from the gitgo. Call Comcast and bark your way up a tier or two until you get an upper level tech agent.
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This is the same routing problem that has been going on now for weeks.
Look at that mess in that ping plot.
From Fresno to
Sacremento to
Oakland to
Sacremento to
San Jose to
Chicago to
San Francisco to
Los Angeles to
Dallas
Like Max said, you need to get a hold of Comcast, and get passed the first level of support. Once you get to Tier two support, point them at this thread. If they cannot see what the problem is, get another ISP.
This problem has been ongoing for over a month now. One day it works fine, the next day it is exactly what you see Fianna. Almost as though someone, somewhere has stored a bad backup of the BGP tables and they keep reloading that bad copy. This is reaching levels of incompetence I cannot comprehend.
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Ok, so, I did like you said to do, Skuzzy, and switched my ISP (from comcast to att dsl).
However, I'm still warping all over the place.
Since this is obviously not an ISP issue, do you still want me to post the pingplot?
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Warps can be caused by many things. A Pingplot is always the first place to start, but if it does not show a problem, then we move to resource issues with the computer, which requires a DXDIAG output.
I'd like to see that Pingplot, regardless.
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(http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/the_fianna/att1.png?t=1240001032)
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I traced back and it looks good going back, at this particular time.
traceroute 151.164.186.203
traceroute to 151.164.186.203 (151.164.186.203), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 206.16.60.33 (206.16.60.33) 0.687 ms 0.546 ms 0.470 ms
2 mdf1-gsr12-1-gig-2-0.dal1.attens.net (63.241.192.205) 0.301 ms 0.400 ms 0.266 ms
3 gar26.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.254.29) 1.667 ms 1.086 ms 1.022 ms
4 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.186) 1.699 ms 1.607 ms 1.227 ms
5 gar6.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.29) 1.177 ms 1.295 ms 1.072 ms
6 12.122.79.66 (12.122.79.66) 1.680 ms 1.517 ms 1.436 ms
7 151.164.38.70 (151.164.38.70) 52.265 ms 52.541 ms 52.185 ms
8 151.164.189.15 (151.164.189.15) 51.903 ms 51.899 ms 51.884 ms
9 bras1-l0.frs2ca.sbcglobal.net (151.164.186.203) 53.781 ms 53.931 ms 54.097 ms
Just on hop counts alone, your connection looks a lot better.
What does the process list (task manager, Processes tab) of the computer look like? Are you using a local wireless router? Watching the CPU usage in the process list, what does it do?
How about a DXDIAG output?
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I traced back and it looks good going back, at this particular time.
traceroute 151.164.186.203
traceroute to 151.164.186.203 (151.164.186.203), 30 hops max, 40 byte packets
1 206.16.60.33 (206.16.60.33) 0.687 ms 0.546 ms 0.470 ms
2 mdf1-gsr12-1-gig-2-0.dal1.attens.net (63.241.192.205) 0.301 ms 0.400 ms 0.266 ms
3 gar26.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.254.29) 1.667 ms 1.086 ms 1.022 ms
4 cr2.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.186) 1.699 ms 1.607 ms 1.227 ms
5 gar6.dlstx.ip.att.net (12.122.138.29) 1.177 ms 1.295 ms 1.072 ms
6 12.122.79.66 (12.122.79.66) 1.680 ms 1.517 ms 1.436 ms
7 151.164.38.70 (151.164.38.70) 52.265 ms 52.541 ms 52.185 ms
8 151.164.189.15 (151.164.189.15) 51.903 ms 51.899 ms 51.884 ms
9 bras1-l0.frs2ca.sbcglobal.net (151.164.186.203) 53.781 ms 53.931 ms 54.097 ms
Just on hop counts alone, your connection looks a lot better.
What does the process list (task manager, Processes tab) of the computer look like? Are you using a local wireless router? Watching the CPU usage in the process list, what does it do?
How about a DXDIAG output?
I use a wireless router. I get warps whether or not I'm connecting through the router, so the router can't be the problem. I'm not sure how I would describe the process list, other than it's a list of processes, but the total CPU usage hovers between 4 and 7%.
Here's what the in-game net status tab looks like, if it'll help.
(http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/the_fianna/seriouslywtf.jpg?t=1240003413)
I've emailed the DXDIAG.
Thanks.
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That net status variance says something is firing off in the background taking the CPU away from running the game.
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Is there any way I can pinpoint what is doing it?
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Look at the process list in Windows. How many are running? For Windows XP, a clean system will run between 19 and 21 processes.
Sort the list by process time and see what pops up. Shutdown everything you can until the problem goes away.
Every computer is different. Every computer has a different set of processes.
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Are there any that I absolutely shouldn't shut down?
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Sure there is. Unfortunately, as every computer is different, I would not trust a list handed to you.
The safest way to do it, is to Google the name of each process when you are not sure what it is.
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I made it through 7 or 8 processes before I blue-screened myself. :lol
Looks like I'll be doing a lot of googling. :lol
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fianna read this page
Black Viper (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm)
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Does it make a difference if the spikes are above or below the red line?
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Does it make a difference if the spikes are above or below the red line?
lag is lag did u update to service pack 3 by chance? Heard lots of bad things about it. I think skuzzy even got a system hosed by it
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After further investigation...
When I'm in the tower, my variance is perfectly flat. When I start flying, however, it starts bouncing all over the place. Does this mean anything?
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Yes. As stated before, your processor is being taken away from the game.
Most likely, when you're in the tower, your processor doesn't have to work as hard to process the game data and therefore working on the background processes isn't as difficult and doesn't really take it away from the game. However, when you're flying, the processor has to perform multiple functions to track others, to track you, your flying ammunition, your movement, and the physics involved in all of this. Obviously all this work is more difficult to process and therefore makes the occasional move to take care of background processes more noticeable.
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Yes. As stated before, your processor is being taken away from the game.
Most likely, when you're in the tower, your processor doesn't have to work as hard to process the game data and therefore working on the background processes isn't as difficult and doesn't really take it away from the game. However, when you're flying, the processor has to perform multiple functions to track others, to track you, your flying ammunition, your movement, and the physics involved in all of this. Obviously all this work is more difficult to process and therefore makes the occasional move to take care of background processes more noticeable.
My old computer (bought in 2004) ran AH fine. The computer I have now, bought about 6 months ago, has problems. This doesn't make sense to me. Does the game really strain my dual processors so much that they can't run it?
Also, why does this effect other people? If my comp is the one that has the problem, why do I warp for other people?
edit: sorry if this post comes off as confrontational... I'm not trying to be. I'm very frustrated with this issue. I've done everything I've been told to do and the only progress I've made is not warping while I'm in the tower.
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I had the same problem with my old computer, the only thing that fixed it was changing out the CPU. I tried everything from reinstalling the OS or swapping out the HD and ram all without success.
Fianna, my background in computers is limited and I would not take my advice without some skepticism, but that net status is exactly what I saw and couldn't alleviate the problem no matter what I did.
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It is a laptop. Newer laptops, in order to conserve power have the CPU's and the video chips shut down parts of the circuits which can cause this. Shutting down any and all power management, and not running off the battery should help this.
It is also running Vista, if I recall. Vista in of itself will aggravate the situation. You must shut down "Ready Boost" and "Super Fetch".
It also has a very poor sound chip (Sigmatel) which has absolutely no sound hardware acceleration support and very poor DirectX drivers. This will cause local stutters and there is probably not anything that can be done about it.
All the above could be causing the issues. You warp for everyone else because your computer cannot keep up with timely updates to the network packets. Generally speaking, this is usually a network issue, but you have a grand connection to the game servers now that you got away from Comcast.
Newer is not neccessarily better. OEM's are always finding cheaper ways to build computers, and it usually comes at the expense of the hardware surrounding the CPU.
Allow me to give you some insight. Llama and I spent about 6 to 8 hours on a laptop brought to the last Con before we finally got it to run the game smoothly. Today's laptops are a pain to get them to run a game like this. There is no easy answer.
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...Allow me to give you some insight. Llama and I spent about 6 to 8 hours on a laptop brought to the last Con before we finally got it to run the game smoothly. Today's laptops are a pain to get them to run a game like this. There is no easy answer.
Wow! Whoever it was that owns that laptop got a great deal.
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I took out the battery, turned off superfetch and ready boost, and i'm still warping all over the place.
Is there a way to disable/uninstall the sound chip? If I do that, and I don't warp, I'll have isolated the issue. If I do warp, then I know that the sound chip isn't to blame.
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Could it be a firewall, AV software issue? I used to have problems like yours with Norton. Did a clean install without it and went with AVG free and the problem went away. Now i dont use any anti virus at all on this "old" lappy but that i dont recomend to everyone.
If it is a soundcard issue then you could try getting a USB soundcard. Im not talking about the creative/logitech 5.1 types that takes alot of resources but one designed for audiophiles..... here you have a few that are excellent but without the sticker shock you get from brand "audiophile" external cards: http://www.hotaudio.com/zen-cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=70&zenid=c32cb9945b272ce143bc75bad99a9804
When you plug them in they bypass all other audio drivers and gives you outstanding STEREO sound... so no surround.
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Did you disable all power management? How many background processes are running on that machine?
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Fiana, if you uninstall the sound drivers you won't be able to play the game. The game requires a sound device in order to work properly. Uninstalling the sound drivers would be the same as deactivating the sound card/chip.
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Did you disable all power management? How many background processes are running on that machine?
I've taken out the battery and set the power plan to high performance. As far as I know, this is disabling power management. If I need to do something else, let me know what it is.
37 processes are running in the background, down from 90-something. Still no difference.
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Power management can be accessed by right-clicking the desktop, going to properties, clicking on the tab labeled, "Screen Saver," then clicking on the button named, "Power." Make sure all options are set to, "Never."
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try reinstallling the game into a NEW folder.
then run the game from that location.
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Another thing to try is reduce the "Maximum Texture Size" to 256.
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Another thing to try is reduce the "Maximum Texture Size" to 256.
How do I do this?
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In the game's "Video Settings".
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Have I missed the part where he says what security software he's running on this thing?
-Llama
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Mcafee... But alacrity/fsautostart turns it off before the game launches. Neither changing the texture nor reinstalling helped.
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Llama, remember that Sony laptop we wrestled with at the Con? This sounds like that one all over again.
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Llama, remember that Sony laptop we wrestled with at the Con? This sounds like that one all over again.
Yeah. The solution was to manually edit the video7.cfg file to force AH to load textures. For whatever reason, the game wouldn't allow him to select that option with the GUI.
However, that sort of problem resulted in a stutter whenever a new texture had to load (that is, when a plane transformed from a dot into a textured element.) This seems more like a regular stutter, that happens regardless of textures.
Or am I missing some element of the description?
-Llama
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Yeah. The solution was to manually edit the video7.cfg file to force AH to load textures. For whatever reason, the game wouldn't allow him to select that option with the GUI.
However, that sort of problem resulted in a stutter whenever a new texture had to load (that is, when a plane transformed from a dot into a textured element.) This seems more like a regular stutter, that happens regardless of textures.
Or am I missing some element of the description?
-Llama
No, you've got it right.
Offline, with all graphics options set to maximum, including the use of soundpacks and skins, it's fine.
Online, with everything set to minimum, default skins and sounds, and at a deserted field, the variance is all over the place. Also, the variance drops down to -1 whenever I look up, both when I use the joystick or just keypad 5.
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It may be a bad file in the AH settings folder.
Or possibly a bad network card driver.
backup and reinstall procedures would be a good idea to try if you currently do not have any other ideas to try.
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It may be a bad file in the AH settings folder.
Or possibly a bad network card driver.
backup and reinstall procedures would be a good idea to try if you currently do not have any other ideas to try.
Neither changing the texture nor reinstalling helped.
:P ;)
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Aces High II should be using 100% of the CPU. DirectX is configured by Microsoft to do that. You should be worried if Aces High II is using less than 98% of the CPU.
Take a look in the "Processes" list to see how CPU percentage it shows "aceshigh.exe" is using. It should be above 98%.
Saw this in another thread...
AH only uses 50% of my cpu. Is this because I have two processors? Is there a way for me to get it to use both?
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I would make a guess and say that reinstalling the game may not overwrite all files and if so, the files that do not change may be the problem, therefore making a reinstall seem to have no effect, unless you reinstalled into a different folder.
:pray
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The Task Manager does not know how to report CPU usage correctly in a multi-core computer. That has been a bug in it since Windows 2000.
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I would make a guess and say that reinstalling the game may not overwrite all files and if so, the files that do not change may be the problem, therefore making a reinstall seem to have no effect, unless you reinstalled into a different folder.
:pray
I reinstalled into a new folder.
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The solution was to manually edit the video7.cfg file to force AH to load textures. For whatever reason, the game wouldn't allow him to select that option with the GUI.
How do I do this? I'm willing to try anything.