Aaarrrgghhh..... crash

[Rewde]

In the entire time I have been playing EQ, not once have I ever crashed to the server select screen(I have only had the fortune of being disconnected by my stupid ISP). Well, that all changed on Wednesday.
I log in my new cleric alt. He is in Rivervale. I run to the bank, merchant, then head to the zoneline. Zoning...........
Server select screen. WTH?? Click play. 1018.. you have an active character.. yada, yada, yada. OK. I wait a few minutes. Click play.. loading.... Character select... Ah ha, he is in Misty Thicket. Enter World..........
Server select screen!!! WTF??? I go through this 5 times. I figure I am not getting back into game with him. So I log in Rewde. Figure I will go get the one more bile I need, and then go to Velks to meet up with some friends farming velium and get the no-drop threads. Porting to GD, zoning.........
Server select screen. Aaaarrrrrgggghhh. Same thing. tried a couple more times to get in. Nada. Zilch. Zippo.

Ok. Shut down EQ. Restart computer. Re-connect to ISP. Log back into EQ. Finally able to get my cleric back into game.

Now, I am afraid to even try going on another LDoN adventure. That would be very ugly to crash to server select and not be able to get back in.

Has anyone else been having problems like this since the last patch?

[Itek]

Um... you will not like my advice...

Sudden and repeated crashes generally have a couple different causes...

Easy) Corrupted zone file. Delete the effected zone files. (sometimes just the s3d files, but usually all the zone files just to be safe) This will patch quickly and you should see results instantly. However, usually if this is the culprit you are completely unable to log on to that zone with any characters. So this is probably not your specific problem.

Moderate) Delete all the texture cache files if you use them. I love them because while the first time I go to a new zone it takes FOREVER to zone in each zone after that is much faster. Got a 933 P-3 and I zone pretty fast. (txc files)

Hard) Ok... step away... I want a good head start when you come after me with the bat. (and it's not a nice flappy soft bat or nerf bat, you will be swinging wood/metal)
...
...
Back up all your option, config, ini files. Custom UI/Storyline mods. MAPS.
...
...
Uninstall EQ. All of it. (wait, wait..)
Defrag your hard drive. (all of them, ideally you have more than one and have your OS on a seperate drive from your Programs, but most people don't) Be SURE to delete temporary files FIRST, especially temporary internet files. General disk cleanup for wasted space wouldn't hurt. (please stop attacking me...)
Reinstall EQ. (this should go fast)
Copy back (don't MOVE, copy so you have a backup) the options etc.
Patch (Itek has zoned and gone /role so you don't know which zone he moved to)

Yes it sounds stupid.

It works. 90 plus percent of the time. (I could ramble on about seek times, fragmentation, registry kludges, etc etc etc .... but it comes down to "this way EQ has less junk to sort thru and is less likely to lose itself mid-sort" ...)

I learned this trick way way back when I was a guide. From another guide. And I've never had someone try it and not get some improvement .... except the one time....

Freakishly Incredibly Nasty) It happened to me. I have an Associates degree in, and lapsed MCSE in, computer technology and Network Administration. I've worked as a troubleshooter / analyst for about 2 years of professional experience. I've been playing with computers and their guts for a decade. From soldering components on boards to Enterprise-Server-Admin tasks and everything in between. (So you know I know whereof I speak.)

My wife and I had switched from "dial-up" (we'd blown thru 3 different services, all of them horrible) to a "broadband" service. Not cable modem, not DSL. Point to point wireless microwave RF. It's VERY fast and much cheaper. So cheap they don't make money with it so they stopped marketing it but won't drop their current clients. (we slipped in under the wire by about 2 months)

EQ ran like a dream for exactly 8 days. Never got disconnected. Not after 8+ hours (two dial-ups autokicked after 8 hours) nor after massive Hate-Raids. (all previous dial-up services ranged from 2-3 LDs a raid to one every 72 seconds. No, i'm not kidding.)

So much to my surprise I got "you have been disconnected" in the middle of a run thru Misty Thicket.

Back on. Couple minutes pass. Disconnected.

Different character. Minutes pass. Disconnected.

Zone files. *sigh* ok should be fixed.

Move to different zone.... Minutes pass. Disconnected.

Ok, sense a pattern. Seem to be getting Disconnected in very short periods. (this was before texture cache)

Uninstall, reinstall, patch. (patching with broadband took less than 8 minutes, I was suitably impressed.)

Back on... *big sigh* start looking for ... Disconnected.

Ok... time to check the logs...

I was getting disconnected PRECISELY every 6 minutes. Not "average" six, -precisely- six minutes. Not "after six minutes in a zone" but "your character has been logged in for 6 minutes, time for you to go bye bye."

Ok, I know EXACTLY what has happened. Someone has changed a router table between SOE and me.

Call my NEW ISP and explain that i'm getting disconnected on a "repeatable and timeable" basis and ask if they changed a router table.

ISP: Nope
Itek: Um, I'm pretty sure you did. It worked fine for 8 days since I got it installed, now I'm getting disconnected from the server every 6 minutes. You see I've got a...
ISP: We don't support running game servers, or gaming...
Itek: I'm not asking you to support the gaming, your router table is interrupting a UDP datastream. I've got an AA degree and an...
ISP: We don't support gaming...
Itek: Odd it worked for 8 days, I've got an MCSE and done helpdesk level 2 support for 2 years. Please check the router tables, it's a simple setting error.
ISP: We haven't changed our routers.
Itek: Lemme talk to a level 3 tech please.
ISP: We don't support gaming. We didn't change anything. Have a nice day. (please go away, no ticket will be opened for you.)

SOE: Hi, how can I help.
Itek: Trying to track down the problem i've been having with routing. Can you give me traceroute names and numbers to test and run reciprocal tests and send me the data?
SOE: .... ... Um... sure.
Itek: Great. My IP number is XYZA
SOE: ....
SOE: Wow, we are consistently getting "timed out" in domain EDFG.
Itek: Thanks, who owns EDFG.
SOE: Big-Internet-Inc

Big-Internet-Inc-Helpdesk: How can I help you?
Itek: I'm having a problem with one of your routers.
BIIH: Um... are you our customer? (we usually don't deal with end users, but large companies i.e. ISPs)
Itek: No, I get my service from HUGE COMPANY but their helpdesk people won't listen to me. AAS, MCSE, 2 years experience. Know what the problem is, have the proof.
BIIH: Ok..... what's the problem.
Itek: My traceroute from me to SOE takes route A and never times out. Traceroute from SOE to me takes route B and -always- times out in domain EDFG.
BIIH: Gonna forward this to Level 3 tech. That should not happen.

Big-Internet-Inc-Level 3-Tech: We have determined that there IS a problem with router Q. However, despite the name resolving as it being one of our routers it's actually owned by HUGE COMPANY.
Itek: Um, that's not what the name says, nor what HUGE COMPANY says.
LEVEL3: Um, ok telnet to the box. See what it says.

telnet Q: This device is owned by HUGE COMPANY. Unauthorized access is punishable by 50 strokes with a cane and banishment to the rings of Saturn. If you have a problem contact our Network Operations Center at (800) no-way-i'm-telling.

Network Operations Center: Hello?
Itek: Yes, I'm having a problem with router Q.
NOC: Um, ok what seems to be the problem?
Itek: It's interrupting my UDP datastream and misrouting packets. Traceroute from me to SOE goes route A, traceroute from SOE to me goes route B. And route B always times out on router Q. I suspect that Q's table was messed up a week ago, because pervious to that date I had no trouble the first week of service.
NOC: _SERVICE_ ... you are a USER? HOW did you get this number? This is for Network Operations internally... this isn't a helpline.
Itek: I got the number from trying to telnet to the device. See I called the helpline but they didn't listen to me. They claim the router table was not changed, when clearly it was. They claim the device is owned by Big-Internet, when while the name says so, the "telnet" access screen clearly says YOU own it.
NOC: ....
NOC: Hmm.... seems we do own it. And it does list our number. (we have to fix THAT right quick)
NOC: Send me the traceroutes.
...
NOC: Let me investigate this.
...
Email-NOC: The router table was changed, and badly. We will be doing emergency service to that router TONIGHT. Please let us know if this fixes the problem.

Lo and behold the VERY NEXT MORNING I was again able to play EQ without a problem.

Pray ye whatever gods ye may that you don't have to do more than reinstall EQ after a defrag.

(some people say "just defrag, you don't have to reinstall" ... but the whole point of defraging is to have files in order, and the only way to do that is reinstalling on a defraged drive)