Today some guy from my ISP company replaced my broken router for a new branded one:

Zyxel P660HW-D1


We tested cable connection and wifi and everything seemed to be fine. Even the PSP can surf the web with no prob

I then start playing LFS in hotlapping mode untill I manage to complete a good lap and think of doing the same in online mode...

Here's where the nightmare starts

I get a freeze lag of .25sec every 4-5 seconds. This lag includes graphic and sound lag, like a stutter. I know this is not an unknown issue as I've found out several posts in search mode but no one solved my problem

I've tried changing the Vsync and Minimum Wait values, I've updated directx to the latest version (december 06) and of course I've tried rebooting my computer, the router, deactivated the wifi and even installed the game in my bro's computer and the stuttering problem also happens in his comp

That's why I think this is an issue that has to do with my router configuration + LFS configuration because my ping is fine with any other game (and I've tried quite a few) and there are no stutter problems in any game but LFS, and before the router change both my brother and me played with no issue


Any help will be appreciatted but please keep in mind what I've already tried to fix the problem with no result at all

Try this, worked for me (never had this again):

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=3105

Thanks for your help bbman, but already checked that post with no result, even though I've found a new solution:

"First off ensure DNS caching isn't enabled in your services list, especially if you are a hosts file user, (right click my computer and goto manage, click services section). This is stereotypical of a DNS caching error under 2000/XP, although it's peculiar it only manifests in LFS."

This was posted by Becky Rose in another post, I told my brother to try that and it didn't work, but then a few minutes ago he installed the directx update and LFS WORKED FINE

How could this be possible? I already had installed that update with no result, well, it seems that if you combine the directx update + the DNS fix you get a perfect working LFS with no stuttering or freezing pro

Hope this can help everyone else out there with the same issue

Ok forget about the fix I said because it must be coincidence that it worked because now I'm suffering the same issue again while my brother isn't

It's not my connection since he's playing fine and I'm lagging again every 4-5 seconds

Very annoying because I can't compete online now

sounds to me like a CPU problem.... check that it isnt overheating. i had that issue with my intel pentium D dual core. only to realise the crappy stock heatsink wasnt attached propperly to the board as the push pin design is crap!

anyway back to topic.... do a google search for a program called speedfan, and check your temperatures.also close all apps running in the background that arnt required for your racing!

The CPU is working at 29ºC since I've got a good cooling system and a Rehobus (Cooler Master Aerogate II) to keep track of CPU, Sys and HDD temperatures

Btw I've used the SHIFT+F8 shorcut to bring up something interesting, everytime the game stutter the console display a message:

TCP ES: InitTime += Number

Here's a screenshot to make it easier




I don't know if this have something to do with the stutter but they both come at the same time so I think they may be related and probably the server sending that message is the one that provokes the stutter


Hope it helps to find a solution!

is there any other computer using the internet at the same time when you are racing...im sorry thats all i can think of... seems like a rather strange situation.

No, I made sure the laptop is shut down and no other cables other than my lan cable is connected to the router

I even tried disabling the W-Lan function from the router itself so I don't think it's my connection because if I connect my brother's comp and play LFS it runs smooth

this is what i get playing online. i don't have any problems, lag or stutter.
something might be wrong with the numbers you get.

Thank you for posting your image, there must be definitively something wrong in my LFS configuration since my messages are pretty different from yours and the stutter coincide with the TCP ES message

you'r welcome.

I hope someone who knows what those values mean posts here the solution

been 3 days and not a single idea?

c'mon guys I know you can do better =)

Where are the developer guys? They should be the ones who know about these messages

Here's another idea..

A friend of mine has similar problem, he thinks it's because of his sound card and he's right. When disables the card, game runs flawlessly. It happens in all versions..(u or v)

Can you try to disable your sound card from windows hardware manager.?

wtf? the sound card!
Sadly I checked a bit too late, I'm going to sleep now so I'll try the trick tomorrow

Do you know if your friend's soundcar is a pci one or is it integrated in the motherboard?

this is directly from the manual webpae. I did this and it removed the studdering for me. / When you do so make sure you do not have the computer scan for the best driver. Manually pic the driver to reinstall. Worked like a charm for me.

http://en.lfsmanual.net/wiki/F ... sn.27t_have_this_issue.3F

The game stutters/freezes approximately every 5 seconds while playing online and single player mode doesn't have this issue?

For some updating the Windows ACPI drivers has cured the issue. First backup all important data. Then go to device manager and expand the computer setting, and right click on Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC and choose update driver from the list.

Ok I've already tried the ACPI solution but didn't work

Just tried the soundcard trick and didn't work

BUT I've installed the latest ATI Drivers (10 Jan 07) and now it's working fine, even though I've still suffering some stutter when my fps drop at 5-10 but I can race now because the 3-4secs stutter have disappeared

Now my Shift+F8 log is the same as ZORER's but I'd still like to know a technical answer about the weird log I posted when I was suffering from stuttering -->

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3828/stutternt5.jpg

Hello,

I am experiencing the same problems as Dani King shows in his screenshot and have similar messages when F8 pressed.

This problem occurs randomly and can sometimes be "fixed" by rebooting my machine a few times.

I also noticed that sometimes my LFS client seems to run too fast, that is, when comparing the time elapsed in a hotlap to the time elapsed on my watch, LFS displays more time elapsed than my watch.

So I guess that the stuttering lag happening to me AND the "fast client phenomenon" could be caused by my system clock running too fast. This could cause my machine to run out of sync with the host machine, thus causing the LFS client to try a synchronisation resulting in connenction hickups and those strange messages.

What do you think?

Greets,
J.P.

Hello,

although this doesn't seem to get much interest (however, it should in my opinion) I thought I'd post my latest observations:

In the past time I did some checks everytime I booted my machine and played LFS.

Everytime I boot the system clock (the BIOS clock) runs at correct speed compaired to my watch.

In many cases (today 100% out of about 5 boots) the windows clock will run faster about 1 second per minute. This always results into the stuttering lag phenomenon.

The stuttering lag has different intensities with no observable tendencies. Whether it is proportional to the grade of acceleration of the clock I cannot say due to missing measurement equipment.

Developers, can you please state your opinion regarding this case? What may cause the windows clock running so fast?

Greets,
J.P.

The debug messages in SHIFT+F8 do definitely indicate that your time clock and the server's time clock are running at a different speed. Those debug messages are posted when the LFS game timer is adjusted to catch up.

LFS can deal with up to 5 ms per second difference perfectly smoothly. Because it's quite common for computer time clocks to vary by a couple of ms per second. Any more that that and it cannot deal with it.

It's a serious problem with your computer setup if the clock is running more that 5 ms per second different from real time. There's nothing I can do about it, sorry, and I can't explain it either.

On some motherboards the battery eventually runs low and that can cause anomolies with the system clock. Replacing the battery might solve the problem (if that's what the problem is). You wouldn't expect this issue on a new(ish) board though, but if you have had your PC a while it could be the issue.

Motherboard batteries are common and inexpensive. Your system BIOS may reset to defaults if you replace the battery.

Hooray,

turning off APIC for my system solved the problem for me. The last three times I connected there was no lag issue anymore.

This included reconfiguring my system from APIC to "Standard PC", however, which costed me some sweat.

From what I read on the internet (www.planet3dnow.de seems to be an interesting source, for example) it may be that on older nForce2-Platforms (which mine is) the APIC feature isn't implemented very well. Switching my system made it possible to switch APIC off. Now the lag is gone.

On the other hand, the reconfiguring procedures Windows did after switching scared me a lot and there seem to be little issues with my floppy and harddisk driver, but the system works.

By the way: Does anybody know how to permanently deinstall the floppy driver when windows reinstalls it at every bootup, although it's deactivated BIOS-wise? Thank you.

I'm happy again.

Greets,
JP

Quote from Scawen :

The debug messages in SHIFT+F8 do definitely indicate that your time clock and the server's time clock are running at a different speed. Those debug messages are posted when the LFS game timer is adjusted to catch up.

LFS can deal with up to 5 ms per second difference perfectly smoothly. Because it's quite common for computer time clocks to vary by a couple of ms per second. Any more that that and it cannot deal with it.

It's a serious problem with your computer setup if the clock is running more that 5 ms per second different from real time. There's nothing I can do about it, sorry, and I can't explain it either.

Well, that makes sense. I was just looking over my event into in sysmanager. One of the errors listed was W32time. This controls time synchronisation with a time server. The error was caused by XP not being able to contact the server (which was inaccessable). Given what you said, do you think this could be causing the time lag between the cpu clock and computer time clocks? Is there a way to find out wot that difference would be?

After spotting bunch of errors, I went thru them all fixing those I thought needed fixing (click on properties, click on link, that'll open IE.) which will tell you how, and if something needs attention. If you don't know what your doing, leave it alone. lol To fix this clock error, just click on your clock, and pick a different server and click on Update (time, not xp).

I just tried lfs again after doing this & updating the acpi driver and it doesn't seem to be stuttering anymore... though I'm reluctant to say its fixed, cause I only gave it a short test. I'll test it more tomorrow.

Hope this helps

Venus