[EL 1.0198] Question about UDP and the Evochron Legacy 2D server *FIXED*

[Marco]

I have been trying to setup a Dedicated server on a Windows 2008 Machine that is on another IP (and network) from my Evochron Legacy client. So far, it has been a bit frustrating. On this machine, I have hosted other multiplayer games and MMO emulators with 100% success in the past. So I think my port forwarding setup through the firewall is working correctly.

According to the 2D server window, I am able to connect, but then get disconnected. In my client, I receive a message about "Connection Failed. No response from server on UDP port. {insert IP address here}." I disabled the port forwarding and received an error about the TCP and UDP ports not working and actually lists the ports. So as far as I can tell, both UDP and TCP is forwarded correctly and the program is accessing it. Windows built in firewall was also forwarded correctly as well.

I also did a netstat -a and saw both ports showing up, only when running the server program.

Now, I am unable to run the 3D server due to no graphics card. I use Remote Desktop connection to access this server, so a graphics card was never needed.

I've come to the conclusion that either the 2D server has a bug in how it handles UDP packets with the 1.0198 build, OR there is something else going on here that is terribly fouling up the server program.

Also, I have three NIC cards in the machine, and I made sure to set the proper local IP. Would a 10.0.0.xxx local IP be a problem? I know it is not the standard 192.x.x.xxx setup.

As well, should the CPU bar in the server window be RED with a value of 92 and a red 5 below it?

Any help, will be appreciated.

Side note: The server did show up in the Public list, but had the same error when I tried to connect to it, instead of the direct IP.

Code: Select all

Solution.  Issue was due to a Direct X missing component.
Reinstalling Direct X 9 fixed the Server problem I was experiencing.

[Edited on 2-24-2016 by Marco]

[Vice]

Sounds like the program just isn't able to run fast enough on the system to provide the performance needed for proper UDP updates through the handshake process. 92 and red 5 is indeed not something you'd want to see displayed and indicates extremely low performance being available. Check to make sure there are enough resources on the system to provide the server program with adequate CPU and memory. You likely do have the ports set up as needed if you went through those steps, so whatever is holding the program back at a sub 5 FPS level is likely the cause.

[Marco]

Sounds like the program just isn't able to run fast enough on the system to provide the performance needed for proper UDP updates through the handshake process. 92 and red 5 is indeed not something you'd want to see displayed and indicates extremely low performance being available. Check to make sure there are enough resources on the system to provide the server program with adequate CPU and memory. You likely do have the ports set up as needed if you went through those steps, so whatever is holding the program back at a sub 5 FPS level is likely the cause.

Thanks for the response. This helps alot in narrowing down what is causing the issue.

The server is currently not running anything application wise, except for EL 2D server application.

The server has 16GB DDR3 RAM with a 3+ GHZ 8 Core XEON CPU. Could the Intel chip becausing the issue? I noticed you had a line in the configuration file about CPU 0 to 25, or leave blank for optimization.... could this be the culprit?

[Vice]

If it's not left blank, it could be part of the problem. But if it's left blank, then the program should be running way (-way-) faster than that on a system like that. There would have to be some other condition that is holding it back that much (which is about a 95% reduction from expected norms).

[Marco]

If it's not left blank, it could be part of the problem. But if it's left blank, then the program should be running way (-way-) faster than that on a system like that. There would have to be some other condition that is holding it back that much (which is about a 95% reduction from expected norms).

Did some playing around with the task manager and core affinities... no joy.

CPU registers a 5% load at 1.5GHZ, and not upclocking to full speed.

The server program still shows 96 red number for CPU, and a 5 red number below it. I'm a bit stumped at what is causing the program to be throttled.

Also. I left that line blank. I'm still researching around to see if anything else can be interfering.

[Edited on 2-24-2016 by Marco]

[Vice]

What the server program is indicating is that it is not being allowed to update even the screen more than 5 or fewer times per second (which would equate to less than 5 update ticks per second, way too low to host a session). So something, maybe display or software related, is likely inhibiting its ability to run at a required level.

You likely did this already, or the program likely wouldn't run at all. But just to be sure, the prerequisite runtime referred to in the instructions does also need to be installed.

[Marco]

What the server program is indicating is that it is not being allowed to update even the screen more than 5 or fewer times per second (which would equate to less than 5 update ticks per second, way too low to host a session). So something, maybe display or software related, is likely inhibiting its ability to run at a required level.

You likely did this already, or the program likely wouldn't run at all. But just to be sure, the prerequisite runtime referred to in the instructions does also need to be installed.

Yes I did install the prereq. as listed in the readme. I think I might have figured out where the culprit is... I use Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) and am running the account under the RDC login. Even though I disconnect my side before trying to connect, I think this may be what is causing the application screen to not "refresh" as you mentioned.

[Marco]

OK. Found the problem. It was a Direct X fluke. After reinstalling direct X, the server window functioned normally and I was able to connect. After spending a good 6 hours, it all turned out to be a direct x issue. I downloaded an older direct X standalone install package that reinstalled Direct X 9. That fixed it.

Thanks for the assistance Vice. At least it helped me grasp a better understanding of what was wrong with the application.

[Edited on 2-24-2016 by Marco]

[Vice]

Thanks for posting the follow up, glad you got it sorted.