Dual/Quad Core CPU Fixes

[trevius]

AMD and Intel Dual and Quad Core CPUs both cause problems if you don't have the right drivers, patches and settings. Below I have all of the fixes I am aware of to resolve these issues.

The symptoms of a Dual (or Quad) Core problem are:
1. Character appears to be sliding along then ground when running
2. Character speeds up and slows down oddly while running
3. Character seems to warp around
4. Everquest crashes often shortly after entering the game or even before connecting to the server.
5. The game will run very smooth for a few seconds and then completely lag out and get choppy for a few seconds, then return to normal and smooth again over and over.

Dual Core CPU Fix:

If you are running Windows 7 or Vista, the following should completely fix any Dual Core CPU issues. It may even work on other versions of Windows, but I haven't tried it.

Windows Vista/7 has an option that lets you start an application and set the CPU affinity, which assigns the application to run on a specific CPU in a multi-core system. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Right click on your EQEmu shortcut on your desktop.
2. Click "Properties".
3. Go to the Shortcut tab if you aren't there already (should already be on this tab).
4. Delete everything in the "Target" field, but make sure to leave the "Start in" field alone!
5. Paste the following line into your "Target" field:

c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe /C start /affinity 1 eqgame.exe patchme

6. Click OK and you are ready to start Everquest

Note that you will see a window blink quickly before EQ starts, but that is the command prompt doing it's thing and you don't have to worry about it.


If that fix doesn't work, try any of the other possible fixes below.

If you are running an AMD processor, you can fix it by installing the AMD Optimizer and AMD CPU Driver which can both be found here:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/...1_9706,00.html

For both Intel and AMD, you will want the latest Windows Updates to make sure you have the dual core hotfix. You can also download Windows XP SP3 which includes this update here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

And here is the actual Hotfix by itself if you don't want to update to SP3 completely:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

Windows Vista should not have this particular problem, so there are no patches or updates needed for that part of the problem.


Running in Compatibility Mode to fix Windows Vista and/or Dual/Quad Core CPU Issues:
1. Right click on the Everquest shortcut you created during the eqemu setup process. The wiki page can be found here for information to get setup:
http://www.eqemulator.net/wiki/wikka...akka=PlayGuide
2. Select "Properties".
3. Click the "Compatibility" Tab.
4. Check the box for "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
5. First try selecting Windows XP from the drop down menu there.
6. Click OK and run Everquest again to see if the problem is resolved.
7. If Windows XP compatibility mode does not resolve the problem, repeat steps 1 through 4 and try all of the other options 1 by 1 until the problem is resolved.

This fix does not work on all systems, but it has definitely helped to resolve issues for many people running Windows Vista and/or Dual/Quad core CPUs.

Finally, if you are still having issues, you can try turning off CPU Throttling which is what changes your processor speed and voltage depending on usage. You can do this by:

Disabling CPU Throttling (AKA Cool N' Quite):
1. Right Click on your Desktop
2. Select Properties
3. Click the Screen Saver tab
4. Click "Power..." in the lower right
5. Select "Always On" from the Power Schemes Drop-Down box
6. Click OK on both windows.

Dual (or Quad) Cores cause crashes, but you may be able to try this as well:
1. Start EQEmu
2. Before logging into the login server, ATL+TAB out of the program and hit CTRL+ALT+DEL
3. Select the 'Processes' Tab
4. Find the eqgame.exe process and right click it
5. Select 'Set Affinity' and then chose CPU 0
6. Return to EQ and run like normal

That concludes all of the most well known dual core issues and should work 99% of the time. If you are still having problems that seem related to a dual core issue, you might want to verify that your motherboard supports your CPU if you build the computer yourself.

[GeorgeS]

Excellent write up - made it stickified

GeorgeS

[trevius]

Thanks for the Sticky

I forgot to mention that if none of the above fixes your problem, you should be able to use one of these 2 programs to force EQ to run on 1 processor by setting the affinity from the start.

The first program is called Get And Set and it is fairly self explanatory. You can find it and info on it here:

http://www.geocities.com/edgemeal_so...nity/index.htm

Another program that sets the affinity is called RunFirst. You can find it here:

http://www.activeplus.com/us/freeware/runfirst/

RunFirst is fairly simple to setup for the eqemu, but you need to follow these steps:

Setting up RunFirst:
1. Download the RunFirst zip file in the link above
2. Unzip RunFirst into your Everquest directory
(This next part is similar to creating the EQEmu shortcut from the wiki)
3. Right click on the runfirst.exe in and click "Create Shortcut"
4. Drag the shortcut to your desktop
5. Right click the shortcut and go to Properties
6. In the Target field, you should see something like this:

C:/Program Files/Everquest/runfirst.exe

7. You need to add "eqgame.exe patchme" to the end of that line WITH the quotes like this:

C:/Program Files/Everquest/runfirst.exe "eqgame.exe patchme"

8. Then click OK
9. Optionally, you may want to rename the shortcut and you can change the icon as well if you like.
10. Double-Click your new shortcut and EQEmu should start up shortly after you see a command prompt load. Once you are all of the way into EQ, you should be able to close that other command prompt if you like.

And for 2 final things to try if you still aren't working (which you should definitely be by now) are process explorers that allow you to set your affinity no matter what. This will override any admin issues if you get access denied when trying to set them manually.

The first one I want to make note of is called Process Explorer. This one is really cool for any techie person. It is basically an advanced version of Windows Task Manager and can even replace it if you want. With this, you can right click almost any process and change the affinity at any time. Also, this is by Microsoft and is free, so it is of little risk to use it.

Process Explorer
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s.../bb896653.aspx

The last one is similar, but it uses the current task manager and allows you to override access denied in most cases. It also has the ability to write to a config file so it will remember every time you start that application (eqemu) to set it to whichever processor you specify. I don't think Process Explorer can do that. This one is called Prio.

Prio:
http://software.techrepublic.com.com...x?docid=215888

If you have tried everything here, then you should definitely take a long hard look at your hardware as the root of the cause. Or, maybe you are having a completely different problem all together that just has similar symptoms to the Dual Core issues.

[Richardo]

Very good work. I know quite a few vista users who will find this handy.

[Malaiit]

The part about where you rightclick eqgame.exe under processes when I click affinity option I get an error stating access denied.

[Unholycow]

So,

I was just required to buy a Lenovo T61p for school.
T8300 C2D
3 gigs Ram
Nvidia Quadro FX 570M

I've verified my Directx 9c is updated.
I reinstalled Quadro FX drivers from the Lenovo website and have the latest drivers.
I have tried compatibility mode for all Windows operating systems listed.
I have used the RunFirst program to automatically set the affinity for the eqgame.exe program to Core 0 only and core 1 only. I verified after loading each time that the core affinity was correctly set.

I am still stuck with the expected choppy run speed.. mostly as if I were entirely snared and moving backwards.

Also, the combat animations, and animations for all NPCs, are moving at this slow speed. Chat, raw dps, appear to be unaltered. Ie, it's purely graphical.

Does anyone have any other ideas on what I could change on the system settings to speed up graphics animations to their normal values? Searching multiple forums has only resulted in the well documented solutions posted in this thread.

Thanks,

UHC.

[Unholycow]

Edit: I confirmed Directx10 is fully updated.

[trevius]

Is that Intel, or AMD processor? And I assume you are running Vista?

Make sure you ran all of the windows updates and they installed. Also, if you are running a laptop, then it probably has CPU throttling enabled. Try turning it off and see if that helps:


Disabling CPU Throttling (AKA Cool N' Quite):
1. Right Click on your Desktop
2. Select Properties
3. Click the Screen Saver tab
4. Click "Power..." in the lower right
5. Select "Always On" from the Power Schemes Drop-Down box
6. Click OK on both windows.

[Unholycow]

Thanks, Trev, I had tried that too.
However, I did find the problem, and it was sadly ridiculous.

It looks like the video card was determining the "Max Frames per Second" menu setting under the "Display Settings" in EQ was not managing the frames per second the same way all of my other systems have in the past..

If I placed FPS on 50, I was moving at about half speed. I had to jack it up to 100 to get normal movement and graphics animation. On my other systems and other laptops that I've worked on, (those that don't have Nvidia Quadro FX 570M), 50FPS setting was ample for gameplay.

My best guess: The Quadro 570M drivers were interpreting EQ's FPS setting as a # / 100, not a raw # of frames.

I couldn't find a control feature in the Nvidia control panel to correct this.

However, for the time being my problem is resolved. Thanks for your help.

-The Noob known as 'Cow.

[Rhodan]

And don't forget - people should be updating drivers before playing with the OS settings etc. When I first started playing with EQEmu my client was continually crashing and doing all the things described above. It had nothing to do with number of cores and everything to do with having forgotten to update my video card drivers!

[PathToEternity]

On Windows 7, you may need to click on "Show Processes from All Users" to change the Set Affinity if you are getting an error when trying the affinity fix.

[Bellos]

Did all of these things, and i still get kicked back to login after trying to join a server.

Windows XP

intel e8600
4gb ddr 1066,
gtx 260 video card
asus p5qpro mobo. Looks like i cant play eq 1 now lol

[vales]

Would just like to add that in Vista, you do not need any of these hotfixes or driver updates. They come natively installed in Vista (32 and 64 bit) right out of the box.

You will, however, need to set the CPU Affinity to a single core if you're using the Titanium client.

If you are using the Secrets of Faydwer client, then you do not need to do any of this as support for multi-core CPUs work right off the bat. Just install the game, edit the eqhost file, add the patchme at the end of the shortcut and launch the game. Works very smooth and no issues with it what so ever. I use my Titanium verson as a coaster now.

[So_1337]

You know, that right there is reason enough for me to buy the SoF client. Thank you very much for the information =)

[Isak922]

Having issues with my new computer... I can't even get to the login screen; never mind on a server!

The specs of my computer are as follows:
Intel Pentium D 940, 3.2GHz Dual Core
3.5GB of DDR2 (PC5400)
BFG Nvidia GeForce 9800GT with 1GB of DDR3 RAM, overclocked from the factory
2x 250GB HDD's
Fully updated Windows XP, albeit the Media Center Edition, not Pro.


I install a fresh copy of EQ Titanium (Tried on multiple sets of disks), I change the eqhost file to have "Host=eqemulator.net:5998" and the shortcut from eqgame.exe to have the " patch me" at the end.

When booting up the game, I get an error stating the following:

"eqgame.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
If you were in the middle of something, the information you were working on might be lost"

With options to Debug or Close... Debugging does nothing, other than close the window.

The Emu server runs great on my older comp, an old eMachines T3256 with an AMD 3200+ (2.2GHz single core), 2gb of PC2700, and a Nvidia 7600GS (512mb of DDR3). XP SP3 (Pro) for the OS.

Any suggestions on getting me up and running?