Dedicated server + page file
Virtual_Addict
US Join Date: 2014-04-13 Member: 195367Members
US Join Date: 2014-04-13 Member: 195367Members
I've been running a dedicated server for a few weeks now. It was going very well, a lot of people said it was one of the best performing servers they've seen on NS2.
Recently the machine running said server got a bluescreen (0x00004E) My research suggest it's an issue with the page file/virtual memory. The BSOD did not occur while the server was running, in fact it happened upon shutting down the machine.
Ever since this happened, I get tiny little lag spikes (does not affect the ping of anyone) but everyone is noticing it. It seems to happen in consistent sequences, I'd say around every 20 seconds. I'm on LAN with the server, so I doubt its the connection. And it happens regardless of how many players are connected.
I have done a reset of my page file (turned it off, restart, turned it back on, restart) and various other known fixes and tweaks regarding page files, none of them worked. I've done HDD and memory checks, they were all successful.
I don't know what else to try, except for re installing the server. If I do re-install it, is it possible for me to keep the config folder and then just copy&replace it once everything is installed, so I don't have to redo my settings?
Or can anyone think of a different cause/solution?
Server specs and system info:
Win 7, 64bit
i7 2600k @4.8Ghz
8GB Ram 1866Mhz
840pro SSD
DL: 250mbps
UL: 25mbps
Server mods:
Shine Admin
NS2stats (shine)
NS2+
PreGame Plus (shine)
Badges+
Recently the machine running said server got a bluescreen (0x00004E) My research suggest it's an issue with the page file/virtual memory. The BSOD did not occur while the server was running, in fact it happened upon shutting down the machine.
Ever since this happened, I get tiny little lag spikes (does not affect the ping of anyone) but everyone is noticing it. It seems to happen in consistent sequences, I'd say around every 20 seconds. I'm on LAN with the server, so I doubt its the connection. And it happens regardless of how many players are connected.
I have done a reset of my page file (turned it off, restart, turned it back on, restart) and various other known fixes and tweaks regarding page files, none of them worked. I've done HDD and memory checks, they were all successful.
I don't know what else to try, except for re installing the server. If I do re-install it, is it possible for me to keep the config folder and then just copy&replace it once everything is installed, so I don't have to redo my settings?
Or can anyone think of a different cause/solution?
Server specs and system info:
Win 7, 64bit
i7 2600k @4.8Ghz
8GB Ram 1866Mhz
840pro SSD
DL: 250mbps
UL: 25mbps
Server mods:
Shine Admin
NS2stats (shine)
NS2+
PreGame Plus (shine)
Badges+
Comments
About your issue:
I had the similair issue some time ago and couldn't find any other way to fix then to reset the hole server system + reistalling ns2.
Could you also maybe check if the server maybe drops the tickrate while starting to lag?
"net_stats" in client console <- shows alot usefull stuff to analyze server issues.
BTW: never ever use the webadmin if not really needed it causes lag issues. More details about that
So I got this screenshot from localhost/index.html#
Really the print out info is displayed in the right top corner and you have to be ingame to use it. Again for the sake of your user don't use the webadmin.
It was 29.62 - 31.04
What caused the issue in my case was a corrupted hdd which i had to replace but good news the cause should not be your cpu or a mod or the network as the tickrate seems to be stable.
To be on the safe side could you just post your current log of your server (maybe delete names, chatmsgs and etc before you do so )?
So i guesss you allready tried another server restart. Next would be to just validate the game file cache (same what you do at a ns2 update ).
Otherwise i have no idea so far what could have caused this weird issue. Maybe someone else knows or you find it out. Will follow this thread to see what happens
I kept on testing the HDD cause I also suspected a problem with it, but it seems like it's 100% fine. All the error checking tools came up clean and the performance tests indicate that the drive is running fine.
Are the .json file or anything regarding the server dependent on Java Runtime Environment?
Because I did update from Java 7 45 (64bit) to Jave 7 55 (I assume 32bit because it didn't specify) on the same day the problem started to occur. So I got rid of 55 and got 45 64bit back. I also uninstalled a bunch of stuff regarding C++ and Visual Basic, reinstalled Framework and so on.
Cleaned up the registry a bit as well. Changed a few file associations.
It might have done the trick, I will be able to tell for sure tomorrow.
If not I'm going to reinstall the server and the client. Few questions regarding that:
I've spent a lot of time fine tuning my user settings in the client and don't want to lose any of that. Which file do I need to back up? Is it System_options".xml in %appdata%\Natural Selection 2 by any chance?
Also, is it enough if I just delete the server folder and run the install process with SteamCMD again? Or do I have to delete anything else? Any sort of cache?
I've also noticed a bunch of other files regarding the server in AppData. For example, there is a ServerConfig.json file, I opened it up and it had old settings which I've changed in the server/config folder a while ago. Is that file relevant at all? Should I replace it with the current one or delete it?
I'd also like to clear out my workshop items. I've unsubbed to all of them but they still appear in my mod menu and are also present inside the workshop folder. I could imagine the workshop updater and whatnot might still scan for them, which could explain the consistent intervals for the lag spikes.
How about the AppData/NS2/cache folder? Any harm in clearing that out?
That's about it. I'll check back tomorrow.
And thank you for all your support. It seems like you have an answer to all of my threads. I truly appreciate your commitment to this site.
Just backup the hole %appdata%\Natural Selection 2\ folder to be on the safe side. It contains mostly all client and server configs (if not given otherwise a folder with the -config param and also for the local server, you can start up easily in the game browser via the create menu
So that outdated file will be only used if you start up a local server via the client gui
The Workshop folder just contains all mods you ever downloaded. The workshop updater plugin doesn't check that folder in any case it gets the currently loaded modids from the server ( the mods that show up at the loading screen ) and checks if those mods got updated at the workshop.
Deleting the workshop folder from time to time is always a good idea to get free space and avoid corrupted mod files( playing ns2 a half year i collect around 5 - 10 GB of mod files sometimes
NS2/cache contains all precached shader files. Deleting them won't do any harm just that you have to load longer for one timeas ns2 has to rerender all those files again. Ns2 does this anyway after each patch to avoid weird graphic artifacts.
And yes deleting the ns2 server folder and redownloading it via the steamcmd is kinda a reinstall.
BTW: You are aware that the current Java RE is allready version 8?
I did restart my router and modem. (Although I have done that before and it never affected the server)
My IPv4 is static. All the ports are forwarded the way they should be. Nothing in the network configuration has changed whatsoever!
This is what the console says:
Client disconnected (192.168.1.1) Time out
Error: Steam player does not exist
I've also re-installed the server, same issue still. (heck I've formatted Windows) Don't know what to do anymore.
Now I see my server twice in the server browser. One listing is the regular one with my external IP and the other listing has (LAN) written in the name and it lists my internal IP.
Whats different though is this:
I've seen the second (LAN) listing before. But it always showed IP: 192.168.1.1 (my router)
192.168.1.50 is the IP of the computer I'm trying to connect with.
What I really don't understand is how the hell these things changed? I can 100% confirm the ports are forwarded.
Alright, blue screens can occur because of the overclock you have made on your box. maybe the overclock needs to be tweaked a little, try some prime 95 testing to see how well the overclock holds, maybe you need to up the voltage (that was the case for me)
About the LAN thing, got the same, shouldn't be a problem.
Maybe you can look into the memory timings, maybe increase them a little to compensate for the overclock.
Next thing you can do is disable all the mods, see if that does the trick,
Make sure you don't have webadmin enabled, although that has already been noted here.
Also, I would clock the memory on 1600 Mhz, since the controller on the cpu can only handle 1600Mhz tops.