Really Bad LAG issues during raids – help?

Discussion in 'Player Support' started by Hazimil, Mar 7, 2015.

  1. Hazimil Lorekeeper

    During the last two raids nights I have attended I have experienced really bad lag, to the point that it is unplayable. i.e. I cannot move, cast spells, press hot buttons, etc. and everything on screen is very very very slow!


    My last raids nights where:


    28/02/2015: Dead Hills 2 and Argin Hiz

    06/03/2015: Argin Hiz



    For example, on the Dead Hills 2 raid the loot was shared in /rs, yet on my screen the Captain was still at 18% and 8 adds were up! Loot was finished by the time the fight was over on my PC!



    I only seem to experience this lag when raiding, sitting in guild hall when a raid is in progress is fine, grouping and playing solo is fine, just being at the raid lags me out.



    My PC is a Windows 8.1 64 bit PC with a i7 4770k @ 4.0Ghz processor (on a MSI Z87-G41 PC Mate(MS-7850) (SOCKET 0) motherboard), 32GB DDR3 RAM (of which GB is a RAM drive), and a MSI Radeon R9 270X Video Card.



    The O/S and EQ is installed on a SanDisk 256GB SSD, and my EQ logs are ported to my ram Drive (i.e. MKLINK /J C:\SoE\EverQuest\Logs R:\EQLogs), thus are wiped every time I boot, so are not large.



    My internet connection is a Sky Fibre with 40MB download and 10MB upload! Running a test on http://www.speedtest.net/ I get 37.56Mbps download and 9.47Mbps upload!



    The /net command results are:



    Ping Times

    Master=53

    Average=44

    Low=41

    High=53

    Last =53

    Reliable avg=363



    Packet Loss

    Sent=0.00%

    Rcvd=0.00%



    Within EQ I have no filters on, I have /log on, and also use /loginterval 0!



    The only other programs I have running are GINA and Magelo.



    This set-up has been in use for months, at the latest since 29 April 2014 (when the /loginterval command was released).



    I have no idea what the problem could be, any ideas?

    Haz!
  2. Sarkaukar Augur

    Too many variables and not enough info atm. It could be a network issue itself but you would need to be running a program that is running tracert/ping during raids to record package loss/ping increases.

    On the other hand, if it is system delay due to files being scanned/chat window spam/etc.

    First, Alt J, disable Journal if it is not already disabled. This has been made disabled for a few years on new accounts (not characters, setting is per character though after account creation). But if yours is an older account... Anyhow, it acts like the log file in that it write/saves every NPC emote/response. Files are in EQ's userdata folder. And with you being a paladin, you are upclose to the NPCs so that file is likely VERY LARGE.

    In game audio triggers can also have an impact on gameplay. If using them, suggest breaking them up in raid/expansion subgroups.

    Have you turned off the log during a raid to see how it reacts?

    Antivirus program - exclude EQ folder and subfolders from active scanning.

    Reboot router/modem/gateway. On router/gateway check for firewall. This was previously known as SPI (stateful packet inspection). Depending on firewall settings on all devices it can delay packet updates as it is being scanned by firewalls.
  3. Sarkaukar Augur

    Just to add for everyday settings.

    Control Panel, Power Options, set to Full Performance

    PS, the journal logs in userdata will appear like this, CJ meaning character journal:

    CJ_Tadalada_povar.txt

    example in the tutorial:

  4. Sarkaukar Augur

    Edit is freaking out.

    Also, to pass the load, locate eqclient.ini and search for CPUAffinity. Set the last number to a negative 1
    CPUAffinity0 = -1
  5. Sarkaukar Augur

    Hmm,, looks like the forums are having an issue with javascript, regardless of browser, not able to edit previous posts.. /shrugs.

    The CPUAffinity will allow EQ to spread its load across all of the cores instead of pegging out only on one CPU core.
  6. Hazimil Lorekeeper


    Hi all,

    Thanks for all the advice.

    • I can confirm the Journal (Alt-J) is disabled and has been for years.
    • I don’t use any in-game Audio Triggers (I use GINA).
    • I can confirm my Router/Gateway has no Firewall settings which would affect EQ.
    • I can confirm my Router/Gateway has been rebooted and has also been powered-off and reset.
    • I can confirm that my Power Options in control panel have been set to Full Performance since the PC was built!
    • I can confirm that I have no motherboard software loaded which limits/controls bandwidth usage.
    • My log file is deleted every time I reboot/turn-off PC. Therefore is very small.
    • My current CPUAffinity is currently CPUAffinity0=0 : CPUAffinity1=1 : CPUAffinity2=2 : CPUAffinity3=3

    Nothing has change on my PC either hardware/software for months (apart from EQ patches, and O/S patches). PC is fully patched with all drivers up-to-date!

    Things I need to try (one at a time!)

    1. Check Task Manager to see if anything is hogging the CPU.
    2. Disable log file.
    3. Filter out other hits, other misses from log file.
    4. Change /loginterval from 0 to 1.
    5. Disable Anti-Virus active scanning of EQ folder & Logs folder.
    6. Change CPUAffinity0 to -1.
    7. Use a hotkey to /showgrass off : /spelleffects off : /shownames 1
    Haz!
  7. Fenudir Augur

    Before filtering anything and crippling Gamparse, exempt the Everquest folder from your anti virus active monitoring and disable active monitoring of eqgame.exe. ONLY if that doesn't help should you start taking drastic cuts like filtering.
  8. Fenudir Augur

    Oh, and I highly recommend against setting your log interval to anything other than 0 if you rely on GINA. Some emotes barely give you any time as it is.
  9. Nolrog Augur

    Posts are only editable for a few minutes after they are submitted.
  10. Nolrog Augur

    OK, you can officially ignore me, if you weren't already. I just tried to edit and I'm getting that problem too.
  11. Sarkaukar Augur

    (chuckles) It is a hit or miss on when it will allow editing or not after just posting.

    For resource hogs, disable Windows Media Networking Sharing Service.

    Check Task Manager to see if anything is hogging the CPU. It can be difficult to check at times, since it is not necessarily the CPU but other resources.

    ** Do this one first for testing - Disable log file.
    **Also do this one first - perm //Disable Anti-Virus active scanning of EQ folder & Logs folder.
    **Change CPUAffinity0 to -1. (on this one change all of them to a -1)
    **F10 for testing ??? to hide all UI elements.

    ......do much later //Filter out other hits, other misses from log file.
    ......Dont change if using GINA for triggers, the 1 = 1 sec intervals //Change /loginterval from 0 to 1.
    Use a hotkey to /showgrass off : /spelleffects off : /shownames 1

    What brand/model are the router and modem? Are either leased from your ISP?
  12. Hazimil Lorekeeper

    Well the problem is now solved, sort of!

    To be sure I did a Malwarebytes Scan (All OK), Kaspersky Internet Security Full System Scan (All OK), Validated Files with EQ Launchpad (All OK).

    I then started to raid and the lag came back! So I checked Task Manager, and it was all OK, nothing was hogging resources and I had plenty of spare CPU, Memory, etc.

    So I did the first simple test and typed /log off – and the lag stopped! However as I want the log file for GINA, I then turn it back on and lag restarted.

    So the issue was with the Log file but why?

    I then left the log on (with all the lag) and temporary disabled Kaspersky Internet Security (firewall, anti-virus, etc.) and the lag stopped!

    So great, I now know the source of the problem and need to stop Kaspersky interfering with the log file. So I then enabled Kaspersky Internet Security expecting the lag to return but then allowing me to tweak Kaspersky options to ignore the log file – however lag did not return!!!

    So I have no lag on raiding now, and everything is back as it was……. Bloody stupid, but will keep an eye on it.

    Thanks for all the advice.

    Haz!
  13. Fenudir Augur

    Now you know why I made this suggestion. It's an issue with anti virus programs tryinv to real-time monitor the log file. Tge reason that the lag got worse on raids is simply that more was being written to the file.