This has got to be frustrating, I feel your pain. What Windows are you using? While this linked post below is not your exact problem its close enough that there are some similarities so maybe something like they suggest like drivers or overheating etc. I am leaning towards overheating since its random zones, like it builds up the heat and then the zones crash on you. https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq/index.php?threads/i-keep-crashing-to-desktop.283203/
Next time it happens, go into your EQ directory\Logs\dbg.txt and paste the output here. That should have a little more info about what is going on. If you've already done a full file scan from the patcher and verified there are no corrupt files, you can likely search for "Zone Connect" in the log file and include the text from that part to the end of the file.
Windows 10, I guess it could be a possibility, but I just pulled this computer out of the box 3 months ago. Have had zero issues with it and I only use it for EQ and I only play one character at a time so it shouldn't get hot. Also it only freezes right after the zoning please wait pops up. Never had it crash while in a zone. The other thing is after I did the first port forwarding you recommended, immediately everything was good again and all zones loaded like normal for a week, then a new zone crash pops up. Which led me to believe there's more ports being blocked and maybe i should expand the range on the port forward, I just don't know what exactly to change it to. I'll double check cards for updates and try to look into PC temp like the link said. But I definitely dont play 6 characters and go on raids and max out my PC, just one account, one character
Ok thanks Jedis, next time it happens I will check the logs and post it. I will see if its still crashing while entering blightfire when I get home
And yes I definitely have patched and validated files many times, everything shows up fine. Even tried deleting those zones files and deleted character files and UI files and patched again
So I finally got a chance to log in to EQ, it's been about a week since I tried to zone into blightfire due to it crashing. I spent the week before that trying every option I could to fix the problem and tried zoning into blightfire after each change and had no luck, still crash. Now, 2 weeks later, but specifically in the last week since the last crash, I have not changed any settings on my PC. Yet I just logged in today on both my characters and verified that I can now zone into blightfire moors. I have no idea what has changed or why this is, maybe it decided to use a different port finally for that zone? I don't know but I'm happy I can go there again. I bet in the near future I will find another zone that will crash on me and I will immediately check logs and post the info for further diagnostics. Until then, thank you to everyone that has tried to assist me with this issue, Especially Jedis and CatsPaws, thank you, much appreciated
Well, that didnt take too long, back to crash upon entering the estate of unrest. This is what log says [Thu Mar 09 16:44:37 2023]04412:Waiting to connect to zone... Character Daimiyen [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04413:Zone Connect -- 0 -- Received MSG_ZONE_ADDRESS [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04414:Zone addr [EQZONE-61.everquest.com:1495] received... [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04415:ZONING [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04416:Networking: Connection Closed [5] with 0 pending bytes. [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04417:Failed to establish connection to EQZONE-61.everquest.com:1495 [Thu Mar 09 16:44:39 2023]04418:Failed to connect to zoneserver (EQZONE-61.everquest.com, port 1495), result = 1, for MSG_ZONE_ADDRESS.
I have been considering using a VPN, might have to give it a shot. Yes I have centurylink, but not by choice lol. Only unlimited internet I can get out where I live. It's pretty slow, but load times are pretty quick if I only run my PC while playing
Same here very limited choices. If you have not yet tried disabling cyber security on your centurylink modem/router I would suggest trying that and if you have I would go check and make sure it is still disabled. I was having similar issues turning off cyber security on the modem/router fixed it. Then about 2 weeks later somehow it switched back on and I had to disable it again. I would also check and make sure any other changes you made to the modem/router settings are still the same. Gluck https://kb.plu.edu/page.php?id=109248
I have century link but guess I have a different modem cause don't have that security issue that others mentioned - good idea to check that. Was thinking of going Star Link but $600 for modem and then $110 a month is a lot more than the $45 I pay Century link
Thanks for the response Barton, I did try disabling my cyber security while trying to solve the blightfire zone crashing. It had a setting to disable for a period of time, so I set it for 4 hours while I was testing. It did not solve the crash issue. So I let it turn back on and it has been on since, then like stated above, I magically could zone into blightfire after a week of not trying. The weird thing is, the first zones I couldn't enter was the bazaar and the estate of unrest, then the port forwarding seemed to have solved that. Now I can still zone into bazaar but the estate of Unrest won't let me again, yet I did 2 quests there a week ago. So it keeps changing, but I will definitely go back and double check that my modem settings are still the same. I've been checking them almost daily because of these issues and so far they stay the same. Also thank you CatsPaws for responding, yeah ive had my modem for a few years from centurylink, it seems to work fine for everything besides a few things with EQ. I tried satellite internet twice and have a clear view of the sky for strong signal strength, I was barely able to get 1mb even though they promised 20mb at the least. It couldnt even play a YouTube video for 5 seconds without buffering constantly. They even did a complete reinstall of the system and had the same result. So I cancelled that, it was $100 a month and had low data limits. That seems pretty crazy for Starlink, $600 for a modem and $110 a month, I wonder what data packages they have, I doubt it's unlimited, and if you stream and game you will burn up data in no time. Centurylink is the only line in unlimited internet i can get, and its $49 a month, but it's only 3mb. It does run my tv's and streams everything no problem, even runs EQ pretty well for how low the speed is, besides this blocking issue im having. Whats weird is that i started playing EQ again after not playing for a really long time. New PC, I downloaded the game and recovered my old account and was playing in no time. I played off and on for 2 months with zero issues, never messed with any setting on PC or modem to make it work. Then the last 3-4 weeks the game runs perfect besides these random zone crashes
Awesome thanks Barton Im surprised the DMZ hosting didnt work, it says DMZ hosting enables a LAN device to use the modem WAN IP address as its own. DMZ places the LAN device outside the firewall. So enabling that and hooking it up and setting my PC ip to the hosted list. Shouldnt that bypass the centurylink firewall completely?
Also verified all my modem settings are the same xmPradah earlier in this post was saying something about Dynamic vs Static IP, anyone know anything about that and if it would make a difference?
Just for info Star link is unlimited - no caps. My neighbor gets 173 Mpbs, 35 mpbs upload and 39 ms latency. And says there is no interference like other satellite providers have, no problems in storms etc. But like you, we are stuck with CL although a lot of folks are using their phones as hot spots but I don't really see that working for EQ. Even on my slow Century Link, I can run 6 or more accounts on one computer while others in the house are streaming and doing xbox so for the price its where I will stay.
Ok wow, thanks for the info, didn't think Starlink would be that good. That's way better than Hughes net and via sat or any of those other ones I checked out. I guess Elon has been sending tons of satellites up. I tried my hotspot for streaming from my phone, and a Verizon jetpack, they work but only get good speed for 10-15 gigs before they slow down to 600kb. With gaming and streaming that goes quick, im sure you can get better plans but the cost is ridiculous. Thats crazy lol, my CL wouldn't run all the stuff yours does. If i leave my tv hooked up and try to game my speed suffers massively. I cant even have a party and stream youtube if I let more than a few people connect their phones to my WiFi. But your right, for the price and unlimited, it gets me by
Throwing one more suggestion out there. See if the CenturyLink modem supports bridge mode and then put a wireless router behind it. Connect all of your devices to that router. With the CenturyLink modem in bridge mode, it shouldn't try to do anything, including that security thing, and just pass through the connection to the router. I would hesitate to suggest a VPN, as depending on where you are playing, that can be seen as an attempt to bypass truebox restrictions and could get your account suspended if there's enough people also using that same endpoint. Depending where you are, you may be able to get LTE/5G internet. I have Spectrum cable, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Dish here. I have some crazy good deals/discounts, but combined I am paying $100/mo before taxes for all 5 of those ISPs. I play EQ on those and don't have any issues (except Dish 5G -- avoid like the plague. Uses AWS IP ranges, which are blocked by most providers).
Thanks for another idea and option Jedis, at the moment I only have my CL modem, but I can pick up a router if needed later. I did check my modem and under advanced setup and WAN settings, ISP protocol has a drop down box, it's set on auto select but there is a option for transparent bridging, not sure if that's the same thing your talking about though. I'll hold off on the VPN for now and see if I can get this fixed with what I have before I buy anything I live out in the sticks, my t-mobile phones don't get any signal out here, without WiFi they're pretty much useless at my house. Only Verizon gets 2-3 bars out here, so I might have to look into that 5g internet and see if its an option and how much for unlimited. Thanks again for the info everybody
