This is a list of top issues, work-arounds, discussions, reference guides, FAQs, and tweaking discussions. Please look below for a table of contents regarding topics relating to technical issues with the game and similar performance and operation concerns. We are also building a libray of self-help knowledge Base articles that can be found at http://www.station.com/kb. Make sure to select EverQuest II as your product and search appropriately. For issues relating to billing and accounts, please contact the Account Support department via the following methods: Email, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Live Chat, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, excluding some holidays Telephone: +1.858.537.0898, 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, excluding most holidays
Top Issues List Issue occurs During Installation of the game: Optical media (DVDs) not working properly. InstallShield -6001 errors (or similar). Issue occurs During Launch of the game: "Failed to create D3D render device" error (or similar). Game crashing with "D3DERR_INVALIDCALL" error (or similar). LaunchPad, EQ2.exe, or EverQuest2.exe cannot connect. Issue occurs During Gameplay: Crashing randomly with Kernel Panic (Blue Screen error). Video crashing, sometimes brings up "VPU Recovery" error. Crashing randomly with "Out of memory" error. Unexpected performance (stuttering, running too fast, warping, animation/model corruptions). Keyboard settings reverting to default. References, Documentation, and Frequenty Asked Questions Click here Options Discussion and Tweaking Guides Click here
Description: During installation from the optical media (CDs/DVDs from retail package), the installer program may encounter a fatal (CRC) error. In nearly all cases, this is caused by the CD/DVD drive not being able to read the format that the CD/DVD is produced using. Work-Around Steps: You may need to update the firmware of the CD/DVD drive, but this can be a tricky or very technical process that might cause the early demise of your CD/DVD drive if not performed precisely. If this does not resolve the issue and you have a high-speed Internet connection, then use the "Web" installer of the game, which may be found at everquest2.station.sony.com/install Development Status: Issue investigated and work-around steps provided. Talk-back: None at this time.
Description: When attempting to run one of the EverQuest II installation applications, an error may be displayed stating that the setup application has failed with an error code -6001. Usually, this is not an issue with the installation media, but it is an issue with the InstallShield application. Work-Around Steps: This InstallShield application error indicates a corrupt verison of InstallShield is installed on your computer. To correct this issue, simply delete the following folder from your computer and attempt to run the installer again: C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Professional\RunTime\0701 If this fails to correct the problem, we recommend you RENAME (not delete) the entire C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\ folder and try again. You may rename the folder to anything you like, but we recommend something similar to 'InstallShield-old'. Development Status: Issue investigated and work-around steps provided. Talk-back: None at this time.
Description: When starting the game, you may experience an error message stating that the game "failed to create D3D render device" (or similar) for the graphics device. This issue is caused by multiple things, but the most common are incompatibilities between the graphics device and the game or improperly configured device drivers. Work-Around Steps: Certain devices, such as the nForce4 Hardware Firewall (AKA "Network Access Manager") or the Logitech QuickCam will cause the game to not see that there is a video device that can perform 3D rendering attached to the computer. Uninstalling those conflicting device drivers and hardware will in most cases resolve the problem. Sometimes, however, known-compatible video devices can generate this error if the video drivers are not installed properly. Merely uninstalling the video device drivers, restarting the computer, and then installing the suggested video drivers will (in most cases) resolve the problem. If everything else fails to fix this issue, then make sure that the Compatibility Mode setting for "256 Color Mode" is not enabled in the properties for the LaunchPad's icon on the desktop. Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: Additional discussion about the nForce4 Hardware Firewall may be found here.
Description: Upon clicking "PLAY" on the LaunchPad, the game may immediately (or moments before the character is normally displayed) crash with an error message about "D3DERR_INVALIDCALL" (or similar). This particular error is caused by a minor incompatibility with certain features that the video card supports and what the game requires. Work-Around Steps: Fortunately, there are some steps that usually resolves this particular problem. Merely go to the EverQuest2 folder (usually C:\Program Files\Sony\EverQuest2\) and delete the file named "EQ2_RECENT" (it may say .INI at the end). This will also reset some other settings in the game, but only with graphics and sound settings. Please note that this issue is usually caused by setting the "Graphics Resolution" slider to lower than 0.700 inside the game. Make sure that this slider is set HIGHER than 0.700. Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: None at this time.
Description: The LaunchPad (or EQ2.exe) cannot connect to the update server or EverQuest2.exe cannot connect to the world or login server. These problems are usually caused by a misbehaving or improperly-configured firewall or router. However, there are other causes for this to occur, such as having Internet Explorer set to "work offline". The final possibility is that if your computer has Windows Vista installed, it may not be configured to allow the game to download files successfully. Work-Around Steps: Please remove any firewall applications (not just deactivate them) and any routers, just to clear away possible causes in hopes to troubleshoot these issues. In many cases, firewall applications will detect minor changes in the game files and rule them as a possible threat to computer security (even though they are benign in nature). Alternatively, some routers employ a security system called Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI), which is incompatible with most MMO-style games and nearly all game consoles (Wii, Xbox, PS2, etc.) -- disabling that feature is highly suggested. If you have Windows Vista, then please follow these steps to ensure that the game is set to run with Administrator credentials: Right click on the program launch icon Left click on "Properties". In the new window that pops up click on the "Compatibility" tab. In the "Compatibility Mode" area check the box next to "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" In the drop down list make certain that "Windows XP (Service Pack 2)" is selected. Under "Privilege Level" make certain that the box next to "Run this program as administrator" is checked. Click on "Apply" then click on "Ok". Double click on the program launch icon. Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: Additional discussion regarding Windows Vista and the game may be found here.
Description: On Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Vista, kernel panics (also known as "Blue Screen" errors) are not caused by application programming. They can, however, be caused by errors in device drivers and system services as well as general hardware failure. Most crashes seen in EverQuest II are caused by device drivers that are not compatible with each other or the technologies that the game requires. Work-Around Steps: Since EverQuest II uses the audio technology library known as "Miles Sound System" (to provide support for various 3D audio technologies in the myriad of operating systems that the game runs on), the latest audio driver must be installed and operating properly. Also, certain video drivers can cause crashes referencing "NV4_DISP" or "ATI2MTAG" (or similar) -- these are usually signs of hardware failure, but uninstalling the video drivers and reinstalling the newest drivers that specifically support your video card may help. Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: None at this time.
Description: Certain video cards with ATI processors have been known to cause video black-outs that also sometimes bring up a "VPU Recovery" error. The affected video cards are: Radeon 9550 (RV350 / RV360 chip) Radeon 9600 (RV350 / RV360 chip) Radeon 9800 (R350 / R360 chip) Radeon X300 (RV370 chip) Radeon X550 (RV370 chip) Radeon X600 (RV380 chip) Radeon X1050 (RV370 chip) Work-Around Steps: For the Radeon 9800 cards, any video driver newer than Catalyst 6.1 must be used. This means that the Catalyst 6.2 through Catalyst 7.4 (or newer) drivers can be used without problem. For the other Radeon cards listed above (excluding the Radeon 9800, Radeon X550, and Radeon X1050 cards), a very old driver must be used -- Catalyst 5.2. Unfortunately, ATI no longer provides a link to those drivers, so one must download them from an archival web site, such as Guru3d.com For the Radeon X550 and Radeon X1050, unfortunately there is no known fix available, as the earliest drivers that will allow those cards to even operate were made after Catalyst 5.2 was released. Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: Additional discussion regarding this issue may be found here.
Description: There have been reports that the game sometimes quits out randomly during standard gameplay with an error message similar to "Application Ran Out of Memory While Requesting _____ bytes." The cause of this error is not exactly known by the quality assurance team at this point, but it has been narrowed-down to potential issues with code in the DirectX library, a potential hardware failure, or overclocked hardware. Work-Around Steps: If you are overclocking any of your computer's components, please reset them back to factory default values. If you are unsure what "overclocking" is, then it is a possibility that the manufacturer of your computer has performed minor overclocking to match performance to higher-cost hardware with lower-cost hardware. If your video memory or motherboard's memory controller is failing, then a memory tester program can be used to track down those failing components. We recommend testing the memory using at least one of these memory testers for about 8 uninterrupted hours. There are many different memory tester applications available, but the most common ones are: Windows Memory Diagnostic MemTest86 Gold Memory Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: Additional discussion regarding this topic may be found here.
Description: While playing the game, player and non-player character models may be missing appendages (feet, arms, head, hair, etc.), "glide" around unnaturally while running, run unnaturally fast while not under the influence of beneficial movement speed effect, graphics display may "stutter" badly or have extremely low framerate, or the computer may crash/freeze while zoning. This issue is usually caused by an unpatched version of Windows XP (32-bit) while operating a Dual-/Multi-Core processor setup. This is not the same issue that Pentium-4 processors (or similar) with Hyperthreading technology enabled may experience. Alternatively, performance may drop sharply from normal operation and cause observation of 1 - 5 FPS frame rate. This may be caused by a number of reasons, but some of them are caused by issues in video card drivers and, to a lesser extent, hardware overheating. Work-Around Steps: For the GeForce 8000-series cards, we recommend using the newest driver available (158.18 or newer). These drivers can be found at nVidia.com or at archival sites, such as guru3d.com. For other cards, using the recommended drivers listed in our knowledge base (article 16089). Also, for testing purposes, we recommend running the game in "Balanced" configuration. This will help troubleshoot issues related to hardware compatibility concerns. If you have a dual-core processor, please ensure that the most recent processor drivers are installed and that Windows has been properly updated. Please refer to the Microsoft knowledgebase article regarding updating Windows properly. If you have an AMD dual-core processor (such as the Athlon 64 X2 or Turion 64 X2), please ensure that the AMD Dual Core Optimizer is installed, as well. NOTE: The Optimizer will not work on Intel processors, such as the "Core 2 Duo" or "Pentium D". Development Status: Work-around steps provided, but the development and quality assurance teams are still investigating potential causes for some of these issues. Talk-back: Additional discussion on this issue in regards to dual-core processors may be found in the official thread or this player-made thread. Discussion regarding older nVidia video cards and the "stuttering" phenomenon can be found here, but discussion regarding the newer "G80"-based video cards (GeForce 8800, etc.) is found in this player-made thread.
Description: The keyboard settings seem to not save properly after camping or quitting the game. This issue should be resolved (now), but it may reappear in the future. Work-Around Steps: There are many different ways to work around this issue, but the best method is one written by forum member FloridaFringe, which may be reviewed here. Development Status: Issue investigated and is suspected to be resolved. However, work-around steps have been provided, just in case. Talk-back: Additional discussion regarding this issue may be done in this player-made thread.
Another possible 6x00 stutter fix (DEP) VPU crash recovery explained and how to fix (Informative Suggestion) More information on the VPU crash recovery and possible fixes DirectX9RenderDevice.cpp Unable to create D3D device ERROR solving (may help other DirectX errors) New LaunchPad Update information and troubleshooting Why is a Power Supply so important? Critical Error - Failed to create D3D device ... D3Derr_notavailable error (one possible fix for the error) Corrupted Font/Text issues Kindom of Sky Common Issues Crashing at Loading Entity Resources (Windows 98SE and ME only) Testing your connection to the Patch server for Fallen Dynasty downloads Download Location for Full Version of the Game (free!) Link to Technical FAQ The Complete Guide to Display Settings Options Guild Web site and forums creation. Step By Step Cross-server and cross-game Tells (the Guide v.0.02) ATI Driver version cheat sheet Boost performance and reduce stuttering guide! What happens when you zone?
This is a list of tweaking guides and options discussion that players have initiated. If you would like to have a guide or discussion added to this list, please contact a Technical Support Moderator to review it and potentially add it to this list. Can anyone run SMOOTHLY at Extreme Quality? (very good discussion regarding performance tweaking) Neat rendering engine tricks thread How to target yourself with the mouse (Self-Picking) Getting the game to run on a MacBook Pro (Totally unsupported... but works!) How to disable the introduction movie PC and NPC name tags How to make a custom Key Mapping configuration
