Does the network debug give any clues? (shift+F8 ingame)

If your using ADSL, do you have the modem/router plugged into the master telephone socket?, can you disconnect all the secondary extensions to test?

Does all your telephony equipment have filters installed?

Good luck

SD.

Quote from TAYLOR-MANIA :

I'm of the opinion that contact should be avoided, although of course sometimes it is unavoidable, it is most definitely not 'totally acceptable'.

Very well put I totally agree

Defending your line is part of racing, however if a driver is drafting me along the BL1 straight, I cannot swerve this way and that to stop that driver overtaking me, the most I can do within the rules, is move from one side of the track to the other, once, then move back again, and onto the racing line for the next corner, if a driver moves more times than that, it turns the situation from defending to blocking, the latter being one the things that really "grind my gears" another is, drivers that swerve around trying to stop you getting behind them to get the draft in the first place.

Of course most passes are made into/out of, corners, and if you are on the outside during braking, and the passing car inside you with good overlap, there is not really much defending you can do, IMO squeezing a passing driver over towards the apex during braking, is an attempt at intentional crashing, the most one can hope for is that the inside passing car overshoots the apex, allowing you to "switch back" and regain the position, if not then they are already past, and its a case of tucking in behind ready to attack again.
Another thing Ive noticed when passing under brakes into slow turns is that some drivers thin its ok to turn into the passing car on corner exits, If someone is passing me side by side under brakes me on the outside, if I manage to turn in side by side I make sure I use all the road on corner exit to allow the other driver enough road, this is also the path of greatest acceleration, I expect the other driver to allow at least 1 cars width on the exit. Some drivers in this situation think its ok to finish their corner trajectory in the center of the track, fully knowing this restricts the car along the inside of them.

Sometimes you have to concede the place and attack in the next sector/lap, in the same way that sometimes you have to give up a pass in order to avoid bumping the car you are trying to pass.

IRL this is called "living to survive another day" or "safety first"
I try to always drive with zero contact, and treat others as I would like to be treated.
Maybe my my karmic mindset puts me at a dissadvantage in LFS public servers, maybe not.

I like to "race" others and relish a good battle, its the best part of LFS, but everyone needs to play by the rules, when it comes to blocking or bumping into others when its avoidable because as has been said lagg turns the slightest rub into an impact that can send you literally flying

SD.

Last edited by SparkyDave, Wed 24 Feb 2010, 20:46.

@ Gachaves

Did you remove/uninstall all the nvidia drivers before installing the ATI software?

SD.

Try pressing shift+F8 and note the debug messages in chat.

I remember some players always get disconnected when track changes are implemented, always the same players everytime.

Good luck.

SD.

T 7 r

Last edited by SparkyDave, Sat 20 Feb 2010, 12:53.

Try reinstalling directX.

SD.

I think the enviroment and hardware make a big influance on how a newcomer to LFS perceves its first impression.

If you put someone in a race seat with mid to high volume sounds, a 24" display, with a good quality and well set up, FF wheel (like the games conventions setups) and let them drive an RAC or LX6 round one of the longer tracks at South city, then they will report a different experiance to someone who experiances LFS for the first time on an 800x600 old laptop using very quiet and low quality sounds, using the KB or mouse, driving XFG.

additionally its not just the screen size and higher visual quality, but the ability to race against players of similar skill levels that will effect the overall feeling of enjoyment from the "gameplay" if you did an experiment where you let a subject race 3 races (online in a locked server with experianced oponants, at any given track/car combo)

The first race, you and the "oponants" drive very badly and let the subject win.
The second race you all drive at race pace and let the subject lose (unless subject is very good)
The third race you allow the subject to pass and be passed making sure the oponants keep the action close no matter how fast or slow the subject drives, and allow him to finish mid pack or top 10.

I would expect the 3rd race to score a much higher feedback in terms of addictive gameplay for the majority of "mainstream" subjects, maybe the gearheads would prefer race 1

IMO its not just the driving experance, more the close racing aspect that makes the online gameplay so adictive.

SD.

Update, I am thinking this problem is somewhere in the software/drivers, my reason is I have dual boot system and was getting the same errors in both Win7 and XP, I was doing all my testing (uninstalling things/updating drivers etc) in the win xp partition, nothing seemed to work.
last night I booted into W7 and tested and was very suprised to see lfs ran perfectly no debug messages what so ever (I had to check I had pressed shift+F8 lol) I promptly tried some TBO races at IHR, with no lagg or warping, I am super happy I can drive again.

So as far as the problem I have goes I am now thinking maybe an xp network adaptor driver or something in my xp install, i will keep testing when I get some more time, as I would like to put my finger on this one.

Incidentially I tried to update the ACPI drivers in xp and was told (windows is using the best driver) type message, so this may need manually updating maybe?

Will post more when I know it

SD.

Thanks for the links MadCat, I did some searching for network debug, but didn't find alot
my PC seems to keep good time but Ill test LFS time against real time soon,
Going to try unplugging perifirals (sp) also to see if I can track it.

thanks for your help.

SD.

Hi all, I have a strange network problem that is preventing me from playing multiplayer, I am not completly sure where the problem is so have been doing some testing using the LFS (shift + F8) net debug messages.
My first question is what do all the messages mean exactly?

messages like.
TCP AV : InitTime +=1 (yellow)
TCP ER : InitTime -=20 (red)
TCP ES : InitTime +=20 (green)
MP time speed adjust -2.6 (blue)

The main reason I ask about these messages is that, when spectating a single car lapping in multiplayer mode, if I change the view from TV to wheels for 20 secs then back to TV for 20 secs, the messages change from red ERs (wheels) to green ES (TV) as seen in these pics.......


Is this normal?

Another thing I noticed was when joining a much more populated server and spectating (mostly from TV or chase cam) The TCP ER messages get more frequent and the numbers climb slowly until when over aprox TCP ER -=300 everyones cars just show the (lagXX.XX) stationary at what I assume is their last recieved position, however I don't get dosconnected, the numbers keep climbing, and when spectated players cross sector/lap checkpoints the timing is shown perfectly.
Now if I leave the server and go to play the replay file (autosave on) the replay plays perfectly for all cars, maybe a little laggy, but why couldn't I see these cars when on the server?
another screenshot below from online at a busy server.


Any help would be apreciated, I am continuing testing LFS on other PCs because I am not sure if this prob is with PC, LAN or WAN, HW or SW, and I admit I know little about most of it
If I know a little more about the network debug messages it might help, I think I can guess at most of them tho.

SD.

Hi again all,
D66n I also have dual boot (xppro/w7/xp64) and another seperate older xpPC, on the older PC lfs seems to work fine but fps is very bad online with alot of cars so not really usable other than for testing, on the multiboot PC I get the same TCP ER -=300+ on all os's what I did notice is after the TCP ER climbs over -=500 everyones cars dissapear and the (LAG XXs) appears at the cars last position (this is in spec mode) but the timer keeps split and lap times for all the cars. after the race finishes and restarts most of the time I don't see the cars, just the lagg messages, but if i go to my replay of the same race (autosave is on) the replay plays perfectly and I can watch the action that I couldn't when on the server!! very strange.

So I've been doing some more testing.....

Swapped the filter and lan cables around a few times, no better, then a day or so later the router started to drop the internet conn intermittently so I thought maybe the router is overheating and/or on the way out
So now trying a new router I got a belkin (N wireless modem router) when I first set up (one evening last week) it would not connect to the adsl at all, oh dear thought I and put back the DG834, the next day out of curiosity I tried it again and it connected straight away, whoohoo I thought and tested LFS straight away it looked really good for around 1/2 hour before the same lagg started again
Checked everything again before phoning the support peeps.
Support said noise on the line was high and that could be the prob, so started a cat and mouse game of trying different S/N ratios and error correction profiles, over the course of a week, nothing worked and yesterday I asked them to try a 2meg profile (I was on upto 8meg) as with slower speeds the effects of noise can be reduced, last night around 5pm the router started its little connect/disconnect, rinse/repeat dance and I went to bed feeling deflated.
This morning 8am turned router on connected 1st time and stayed on all day with still the TCP ER's but not too bad.... until 4:39pm when the router dance alll started again

Next step for me will be moving the BT master and router to another room in the house away from the Sky and TV etc, there is a good possibility that this is external problem and needs BT to sort out the faulty line.

d66n, some interesting info, see if any fits your prob and let me know
also whats the S/N like on your conn? (router connection or info page should show adsl noise in db)

Good luck

SD.

There is a super easy way to setup your clutch so it only uses the amount of pedal you require.

start LFS with the wheel plugged in, go to options controllers, then click on axis/ff

now push the clutch pedal to the floor and hold it there, then click recalibrate axis, now pump the gas and brake and rotate the wheel lock to lock, all the time keeping the clutch fully pressed down, then just release the clutch a tiny bit (as much as you require watch the axis bar display) then push it back down again, you now need to click "lock" before letting your foot off the clutch.

Thats it take out your fav car and test it

This works well for me and I don't use the logi profiller, You might need to do this each time you start LFS, try it

SD.

Hi Hank.

I have used overclockers for years the provide a very good service and if you buy a PC from them they will build and ship normally well within a week.

I wouldn't advise you to get an "overclocked" PC because things are more likely to go wrong but they make good PC's and will advise you on the phone too

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=43

SD.

Hi all
I totally missed this thread until now and it seems I am having a very similar problem.
My problem manifests itself identically to yours except most times I can join a server and spectate until the cows come home However if I join to race, I can get anything from 5 to 10 mins before I lose connection, this happens 80% of the times I want to drive some LFS.
The other 20% I can connect and drive as normal without issue.

This has been going on for me since December
Things I have tried are;
Re-installing LFS, re-installing OS, reconfiguring router and updating routers firmware, swapping and changing cables, changing ADSL filter (Z blocker) I even took my BT telephone master socket off and re-terminated all the wires

Hardware we, d66n and I, have in common;
Intel cpu (but mines an older model)
The DG834GT << This is my main suspect and next item on my list to change.
I connect to the router via cable, but I do have the wireless enabled as my wife and 2 daughters all connect their laptops via wireless (yes I am surrounded by screaming females & not in the Tom Jones kinda way :schwitz
I've yet to disable the wireless in the router for an evening to test if this is the prob, but I value my life too much hrmm, maybe a "atmospheric" issue will come up over the weekend? we'll see.

ISP? This is another suspect, I am with Nildram, who unfortunatly were purchased by Tiscali a couple of years back
I have been told by my ISP's tech support chaps some different storys about "packet inspection" and "traffic shaping" so I'm not sure if its an ISP issue or not.
Just out of interest, is your ISP part of Tiscali? (it lets you know on most bandwith speed test sites) I am very interested to find out

Anyway I hope you can find some clue maybe in our similar issues and I will report back the results of swapping the router when I can get hold of one.

Just a thought my router does get a bit warm, and the kids often complain about slow internet, only to find they left the PS3 switched on, pumping out heat, that sits right next to the router in an often closed underTV cupboard, right next to our consumer unit, master BT point and electrical intake all in the same cupboard

Good luck.

SD.

Quote from TopTuner :

Hey, i'm Nismo i've been playing for about 3 years demo/S2 , umm I always play lfs and had no major lag problems but since the updated Z patches , ex:z17+ , i've been lagging like hell. don't know why , my Normal FPS is 30+. Now i join it lags , i drift it lags , drops from 30 to like 8fps randomly =l , here are my specs , please help

Hi and welcome to the forums

Are you talking about internet lag, or FPS performance? I'm guessing the latter, its just confusing because the word "lag" normally refers to slow or laggy internet connection, like when trying to play LFS with P2P running in background.

As I think you mean FPS performance;
Are your directX and nvidia drivers up to date?
Have you tried changing/reducing the graphics setting in LFS and/or your windows control panel?
Do you have AA & AF enabled? you could try reducing.
Check your LFS resolution, try a lower res?

Try switching off as many other programs/running processes as you can, does this make a difference?

Quote from TopTuner :

PS:just re-installed a fresh copy of LFS PATCH Z28 , didint help

Did you install to a new folder location? or did you install over your original LFS?
If you manually (external to lfs) downloaded skins or texture packs, remove them and retest

Good luck

SD.

Quote from Forbin :

The FXO would need to gain about 80 kilos and 10HP for me to take the TBO class seriously.

That 80 kilos is around what the RB4 needs to shed to help with the top speed issue, its fast out of the turns but is just so heavy

I like all the TBO cars but have got so used to driving the RB4 its hard to let go

SD.

Good value for money, but not cheap

To say cheap makes me think of the saying "cheap & nasty" implying that something out there is "more expensive and better"

So its not always the case that "you get what you pay for"

SD.

Welcome to the forums and S2 servers.

Don't be afraid to let people on the servers know you are new, if you ask for a setup online and someone sends you one, heres how to save/use it:
Press N until you see the list of connected players and click the little green S next to whoever sent you the setup, then when the save set box pops up, name it, and click ok.
now you can then go to the garage and select it from the list to the top right

Have fun.

SD.

Quote from 2ben :

i would like to add some cars ?
and some tracks (lanes)

Why not try S2 licence. it will allow alot more cars and tracks.


@ ACCaKut, I hope LFS never allows modding, just look at the state of rfactor.

SD.

I want to vote for more than one, but nevermind

SD.

Are you saying your insim restricts players to using just one car, even though in the LFS game lobby, your server shows as all cars available to drive?
I was under the impression that LFS already does what you say you want it to do

SD.

Last edited by SparkyDave, Sun 10 Jan 2010, 15:17.

The OP wanted to "switch off" chat on a dedicated server, you said "just press shift and minus", well that just makes the chat invisible to the client who pressed shift minus, it doesn't disable it for the server, indeed others can chat all they want and the OP will never know

I just thought it was funny!

SD.

Quote from broken :

What's so funny?
He didn't ask his question right..

No I was not laughing at the OP or his question, far from it, his question as I understand it, was answered in post #4, I was laughing at Shadowww's joke

SD.

Quote from Shadowww :

It is. Just press Shift and minus key ( - ) at same time.

lol

Quote from 132chris :

how do i change that"?:

Depending on your OS, it will be something along the lines of;

start/ control panel/ sounds & audio devices, then look for recording device.
or if you have a little speaker in your taskbar, right click it and go from there.

EDIT I think Macsy is referring to the sound input within frapps, you could always record it without the audio (you might need an older version of ffraps) and overdub a "soundtrack" of your choice

SD.