Lag??

[[SM] Boeny]

Hi. I'm from Belgium.
Just got this new pc 3 days ago and since then I can't play without lag anymore!! I always played on the Uk demo server before and never had problems with the old pc

Old pc: P3 800, 384Mb Ram, Geforce FX5200, Scarlet ADSL
New pc: Athlon64 3000, 512Mb Ram, Geforce FX5200, Scarlet ADSL

Don't know where to look anymore, tried everything and nothing helps!

[Ande]

Hi. I'm from Belgium.
Just got this new pc 3 days ago and since then I can't play without lag anymore!! I always played on the Uk demo server before and never had problems with the old pc

Old pc: P3 800, 384Mb Ram, Geforce FX5200, Scarlet ADSL
New pc: Athlon64 3000, 512Mb Ram, Geforce FX5200, Scarlet ADSL

Don't know where to look anymore, tried everything and nothing helps!

That's an odd problem if upgrading your machine made the game lag. But there are several things you can try to find out what the problem is. There also is a troubleshooting document in the doc directory which should help.

But first, you should find out whether the problem is in your network connection or in graphics. Try diagnostics key (F10) during lag and see if your ping is tolerable (does not vary a lot and serv diff is positive). If there is no network lag, the problem could be in graphics. Then the first things to try would be to use original resolution (640 x 480) and turn off alpha blending in the graphics settings.

Let us know if that helps or if you need more help. Your machine should of course be fast enough to run the game laglessly.

[Guest]

It always says serv diff -20, -40 or -60...
I run it in 640x480
When I start my own server I have no problems so I don't think it's the graphics

I used pcpitstop full tests and everything seems perfect, download 1800kb/s, upload 370kb/s and ping 140ms

[[SM] Boeny]

F10

Prediction: 120ms FPS: 50-52
Race ping: 20ms Load: 5-10%
Warps: f2 b0
Serv diff: 100

Oh and before I used Win XP Pro (illegal copy so no updates)
now I use a legal Win XP Pro with SP1...

[[SM] Boeny]

I even bought the full version of Turbo Sliders

[Ande]

It always says serv diff -20, -40 or -60...

Ok, if serv diff is negative, there are lots of problems so that is probably the reason for lag. It is odd though, if it is negative, since your ping was so low that there shouldn't be any problems with that. One more test to do would be to go to the server where you are having problems, press F10 and see what the ping is and how much it varies. If it is steady but your serv diff is negative, you should be able to make it positive by pressing pageUp a few times (in fact there should be red text suggesting pressing pageUp). Things get more problematic if your ping varies a lot - for example if it is 60 most of the time but sometimes gets as high as 200 or 300. That would mean that there is something wrong in your network connection (maybe a bad firewall or a router somewhere between your machine and the server).

But first thing to try would now be to test pageUp (or pageDown if you press that too many times) and if that does not help, tell me how the ping is varying.

[[SM] Boeny]

ping is mostly steady on 20, sometimes 40
when it says "press page up" and I do so then it says "press page down" immediately so I press page down, then it says again "press page up" and that keeps going on and on and on...

one friend with another ISP but also from Belgium has the same problem, another friend with the same ISP as mine has got no problems at all... it's kinda' driving me nuts

[Ande]

ping is mostly steady on 20, sometimes 40
when it says "press page up" and I do so then it says "press page down" immediately so I press page down, then it says again "press page up" and that keeps going on and on and on...

It shouldn't say "press page up" unless the ping is temporarily something like over 200. That would suggest that your ping is most of the time 20-40 but sometimes, there are temporary lags in the connection. You could try pinging the server from outside the game by using Windows->Start->Run... and then
type "ping -t 193.38.113.47" and press enter.

You should see "Reply from..." lines until you close the window. Look at the time fields of those lines. If there are very big times among steady small times, that would explain the problems. (Then what would remain would be to find out what exactly is causing that.)

Or if you give me your IP and there are no firewalls between us, I can test pinging your machine, too, and maybe find out what part of your connection might be causing problems.

[[SM] Boeny]

9/10 times it's 31ms, then 1/10 it's 46ms..

[Ande]

9/10 times it's 31ms, then 1/10 it's 46ms..

That is perfectly acceptable and shouldn't be causing problems - at least if you pinged the server more than 10 times. If not, try once more it so that you see the time at least 50 times and see if there are any very big numbers there.

But have you tested you are still having those problems in the UK server? If the pings are always that low and steady, it really *should* work perfectly ok. It could be that there were temporary problems earlier or with some other server.

But if the problems are still there, could you describe them a bit more. Is moving cars hard all the time or does it go smoothly for some time and then occasionally lag?

[[SM] Boeny]

9/10 times it's 31ms, then 1/10 it's 46ms..

That is perfectly acceptable and shouldn't be causing problems - at least if you pinged the server more than 10 times. If not, try once more it so that you see the time at least 50 times and see if there are any very big numbers there.

But have you tested you are still having those problems in the UK server? If the pings are always that low and steady, it really *should* work perfectly ok. It could be that there were temporary problems earlier or with some other server.

But if the problems are still there, could you describe them a bit more. Is moving cars hard all the time or does it go smoothly for some time and then occasionally lag?

I tried several times a day, for 3 days always lag.. (the car goes smoothly for some time with occasionally lag). I tried again now and it couldn't even receive the server list

[Ande]

I tried several times a day, for 3 days always lag.. (the car goes smoothly for some time with occasionally lag). I tried again now and it couldn't even receive the server list

Well that's odd and frustrating . I must assume, that there was temporarily something wrong with your connection, since the server list seems to have been up and it does work for me and many others (according to logs).

If the problem persists, please let me know.

I know this is getting repetitive and you have done this already, but it would help a lot if you could once more do all this (as soon as the master server list works again):

1) Do that ping thing I described earlier, see at least 50 times and make sure they are all small and steady (all under 100 ms or so).
2) Instantly after this connect the UK server and see if there still is lag. If there is lag, press F10 and see if FPS is ok (50). Then, see if serv diff is ok (a positive number). Then, observe ping and see if it is varying.

By the way what kind of connection do you have? Is it shared with other users so that if someone is downloading stuff it gets slower for you?

[[SM] Boeny]

Did this ping test again a few minutes ago and now it wasn't so steady: mostly 31 and 46 but sometimes 90, 190 and even 218ms!

My connection is not shared..

[Ande]

Did this ping test again a few minutes ago and now it wasn't so steady: mostly 31 and 46 but sometimes 90, 190 and even 218ms!

Ok, that probably explains the problems you are having. For some reason, there are pauses in your connection every now and then. In a game like TS, that unfortunately causes nasty peaks of lag.

If these problems really appeared after you updated your machine, it could be that some program you have in your machine is lagging your connection. I am not telling you you should turn off your firewall but it might be a good test to see if it is causing it. You might also ask your internet service provider about the problem. If you tell you did that ping thing and send them the output, they might hopefully be able to answer something.

There is also a more elaborate way to make sure that it is is your machine and not some other machine that is lagging. You must first run "tracert <server ip>" and then do ping -t to each of those machines that are in the list. This way you may find out what part of the connection is adding those peaks of lag. If you want to do this and need more help, I can give you more specific help.

But if your ping is never more than 218, another not-so-good workaround would be to press pageUp so many times that your min prediction is at least 220. This may cause some warping (and the text in lower right corner may tell you to use pageDown most of the time) but it might help against those peaks. But the best solution would of course to find out what is causing those lags in your connection.

[[SM] Boeny]

There is also a more elaborate way to make sure that it is is your machine and not some other machine that is lagging. You must first run "tracert <server ip>" and then do ping -t to each of those machines that are in the list. This way you may find out what part of the connection is adding those peaks of lag. If you want to do this and need more help, I can give you more specific help.

tracing route ... over maximum of 30 hops, I get a list but there's only the first on the list, the others say "request timed out" ??

then I do that ping test with the one on the list and that one goes mostly 15ms but also over 100ms some times

[Ande]

tracing route ... over maximum of 30 hops, I get a list but there's only the first on the list, the others say "request timed out" ??

then I do that ping test with the one on the list and that one goes mostly 15ms but also over 100ms some times

Ok, if it was the first IP on the list, it would suggest that the connection problem is either in your machine or in the first hop of the route (between your machine and maybe the first machine on your ISP). It would be a good idea to show the output of ping -t to that first machine to your ISP (they must have some kind of helpdesk mail address even though I know people there can be quite ignorant) and ask what they would suggest.

Temporarily disabling your firewall (if any) and testing that ping again might give more information, too. Another thing might be to run the machine in safe mode with networking (F6 during boot if I remember correctly) and test the ping again. It could be that some program is making things lag.

[[SM] Boeny]

pretty sure there is something wrong with my pc because after an hour or so my CPU-usage goes 100% and stays 100% while I'm not doing anything, everything slows down...

[Guest]

Spyware?

[Guest]

Spyware?

I've got Ad-Aware 6, Registry Mechanic and Panda Antivirus and every day they find some adware... what can I do more?

[[SM] Boeny]

I've got Ad-Aware 6, Registry Mechanic and Panda Antivirus and every day they find some adware... what can I do more?

that came from me but I forgot my username

[Ande]

Spyware?

I've got Ad-Aware 6, Registry Mechanic and Panda Antivirus and every day they find some adware... what can I do more?

This goes beyond my expertize but if they keep finding adware programs (not just some cookies or something else not-so-dangerous) that could actually cause bigger problems.

But if those programs can't get rid of the programs they keep finding, I would suggest making a Google search with the names of the programs to find if you can find any removal instructions. Some malware programs can be quite hard to remove.

[[SM] Boeny]

Think I found the motherf*cker that was using 100% of the cpu, a file called swwhost.exe in my registry and in my systemfolder... It's gone now and he runs great! My connection is doing fine too at the moment!

Thanks!

[Ande]

Think I found the motherf*cker that was using 100% of the cpu, a file called swwhost.exe in my registry and in my systemfolder... It's gone now and he runs great! My connection is doing fine too at the moment!

Good to hear you got your problem solved!

Those malware programs are a real problem nowadays. It seems that antivirus software don't always detect them and there is not way for basic users to know of their existence. Let's hope that the malware detection software XP is going to include in the future helps...

[Thunderer]

Let's hope that the malware detection software XP is going to include in the future helps...

[dby]

Wow, I helped (forgot to write the name). Been seing a lot of spyware lately myself. I've manged to keep it on a decent level on my computer, but I have helped a few less-aware friends who had a lot of problems with malware.

Some free anti-malware stuff I use:

AVG Anti-virus: http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/
Spybot Search & Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Ad-Aware: http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/

Sygate Personal Firewall: http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm

Panda Active Scan: http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/
RAV AntiVirus: http://www.ravantivirus.com/scan/
Trend Micro HouseCall: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/houseca ... t_corp.asp

And I guess keeping the OS updated helps too.