Stutters. (and what I have tried so far)

[E69_Mezzer]

Hi Kelso,

Any hints or ideas for players like Flyhog and me who fly online
using a Wifi connection? I have been searching, but can not find
any relevant info.

Thanks and S!

All I can think to do is that you follow the steps outlined in my post #133, should work for wifi adapters also.

[Lapwin]

Kelso: Thanks I'll do that! Will report later.

Bliss and Colander; thanks guys for chiming in. I'll put this on my
to test list. There's still a few things to test and always new ones
coming on it. As long as there are things to be tested, there's hope.

:-)

[flyhog]

All I can think to do is that you follow the steps outlined in my post #133, should work for wifi adapters also.

I have done these steps, but they have not produced the desired effect on CloD.
Nevertheless, they are useful for the computer

Also I tried to play background streaming audio for firing up WiFi-adaptor -
the same result, useless for me

By the way, I think it is not necessary to play streaming audio exactly, it is enough
to ping router constantly:

Win+R, input command (for example)

ping -t 192.168.1.1 -l 1024

where 192.168.1.1 - router's ip-address

Huh, I think my WiFi-adapter is hopeless. So sad, CloD is only online game
with problems for me. It's definitely an example of bad programming - to freeze
on network lags the whole environment instead of just a "network" game objects...

[E69_Mezzer]

Guys, do you always flying with software, indicating FPS, such as Bandicam, Fraps and etc. ?

No I don't use to fly with recording sofware, only sometimes, I use Nvidia Shadowplay to record.
To see the FPS on the game you can use the console command "fps START SHOW" to show your fps on the top of the screen and "fps HIDE STOP" to hide the fps counter.

[fly4ever]

I personally use the in game FPS feature/counter.I try to keep my rig as more as "lighter" possible concerning other programs running aside ClOD.

Nick

[flyhog]

...

[Lapwin]

Kelso, Flyhog... any news? Are you still flying without the lag-spikes Kelso?

I have tried the last options (streaming audio in background, a few tweaks I
thought of myself, and others... ). To no avail.

I have just one question about Colander's suggestion to shutdown all but
one sound/mic devices. Which one do I need to disable here? Please view
screenshot of my device manager, attached. Thank you gents.

device-manager-sound.jpg
(translated screenshot from dutch to english)

[flyhog]

No news, disappointments only. Going to delete this game to avoid further suffering and wasting of time.
The only way to solve this quest (with Windows 8.x) - get strong network cable connection with minimal lags
to ATAG server, it's impossible for me. Good luck gents, I hope you'll find solution sometimes, somehow, somewhere,
in the nearest future.

[E69_Mezzer]

Hi Lapwin
Nice to hear from you on the Forum again. Im flying nice and smooth on the Atag server most of the time. As soon as possible I will describe the procedures and steps taken so far to avoid/minimize the stutters on windows 8.1 This involves the adjustement of the network adapter, windows registry modification, Clod conf.ini modification and other several steps. Hard work is kicking in and I dont have time available now. Stay tuned.

[fly4ever]

O.k. Kelso,I 'll stay tuned waiting for your tweaking guide.

Thanks for the info you PMed me.I already set my Launcher.exe to run at High priority and set the Process Affinity for this program to run on all 8 cores I have available which by the way are all unparked.However,I'm still missing the specific line you told me in [rts] section of my conf.ini inside my Mod folder.Therefore I doubt the changes I made in the way Launcher.exe is handled by my system had really any effect at all!

Nick

[TWC_BikerJack]

Kelso et al

I am very impressed by your combined tenacity to cure the stutter problem.

I have followed the thread and tried a couple of things - using Win 7 64, not Win 8.

Something I need help with though is understanding how one increases the buffer sizes. My Realtek PCI GBE Family Controller will only allow a max transmit of 512 and a max receive of 128. How do you "tell" it to accept higher buffer values or is it locked at these levels? Or, can I get hold of a better controller, i.e. a bit of hardware that can be inserted into the mobo with greater capacity rather than the embedded device on my Gigabyte board?

I have a really hi-spec Netgear router so I doubt there is an issue with that - it must be my PC that is causing a "blockage" if indeed that is the case? Rather than an ethernet cable or wireless, to get from the router to my PC (upstairs) I use a Devolo adapter system that plugs into my mains sockets using the house electrical circuitry and that runs at between 170 and 210Mbits/s which is quite good - apparently.

Or, it could just be crap Sky Broadband??????

Thanks for any advice.

Bikerjack

[Lapwin]

Sorry TWC_BikerJack, I don't have the expertise on this subject.

Kelso. Awaiting your guide sir. As I scratched all items to tweak on
my things to test list, to no avail. 'Still have the stutters'.
Good luck with your work load, and please come back when you found the
time to write your tweak guide. As a designer I would like to help out creating
a lay-out and a pdf so all 8.1 jockeys would be able to download it.

S!

[E69_Mezzer]

Optimum MTU setting.

Information on the Internet is transferred in packets. The MTU setting controls the maximum Ethernet packet size your PC or Router will send. Although larger packets can be constructed and sent, your ISP and Internet backbone routers and equipment will chop up (fragment) any packets larger than their limit. These parts are then reassembled by the target equipment before reading. This fragmentation and reassembly is not optimal. Windows 8.1 internet default MTU is 1500 which is OK unless you are running PPPoE, want to use IPSec (Secure VPN's) or both, then it's too big.

Open an administrator Command Prompt and type:

C:\Windows\system32>netsh interface ipv4 show subinterfaces

You should get something like this:

MTU MediaSenseState Bytes ent. Bytes sal. Interfaz
------ --------------- --------- --------- -------------
1500 1 59010070 11419651 Ethernet
4294967295 1 2207 30401 Loopback Pseudo-Interface 1

If you are using Ethernet cable you will be looking for “Local Area Connection” or “Ethernet”. If you are using Wireless you will be looking for “Wireless Network Connection”. The MTU is in the first column. We need to set the MTU to 1500 if it is not set already, on the Command Prompt type:

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface "Ethernet" mtu=1500 store=persistent

Note.- Change "Ethernet" by your actual network interface name ("Local Area Connection", “Wireless Network Connection”, whatever). Reboot your system.

-Finding the "Optimal MTU size" to connect to the ATAG server IP 216.52.148.29

Open an administrator Command Prompt:
-If you connect to your ISP using PPPoE type:

ping -f -l 1464 216.52.148.29

-If you are not connecting to your ISP through PPPoE type:

ping -f -l 1472 216.52.148.29

(That is a dash lower case "L," not a dash "1". Also note the spaces in between the sections). Press Enter.

If you get the "packet needs to be fragmented" error message, then reduce the initial 1464/1472 by 10 until you no longer get the "packet needs to be fragmented" error message. Then increase the setting by 1 until you are 1 away from (less than) getting the "packet needs to be fragmented" error message again. If you can ping through with the number at 1464 (for PPPoE) / 1472 (for non-PPPoE), with no error message, you are done! Stop. Add 28 to the highest number pinged with no error (for both PPPoE and non-PPPoE), and that sum is your Max MTU setting. My Max MTU settings is 1492. Set "your" Max MTU value as follows:

administrator Command Prompt type:

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface "Ethernet" mtu=xxxx store=persistent

(Replace xxxx by your Max MTU, and "Ethernet" by the name of your network interface). Reboot your system.

[Lapwin]

Thank you man. I am not a techy, don't understand all the details you
are talking about, but I sure as h*ll will give it a try. This wifi jockey
will be back with a report as soon as work/RL permits.

[Baffin]

I decided to remove my Cisco wireless router from in between the internet source (DSL Modem) and the computer. With a high quality network cable running directly from the DSL to the computer, I see a significant reduction in stuttering. The framerate is unchanged but the experience is greatly improved with the router out of the chain. I was able to tolerate my three big monitors setup with a Spitfire in "Hellfire Corner".

I installed the wireless router on one of the other computers in the network, so no loss of utility there.

I hope this helps someone...

[Also posted in General - Pilot's Bar area]

[fly4ever]

Kelso!!!!
You left me speechless man!!!You must truly be a real Expert!!We're so happy we have you with us in this "Killing the Stutter Daemon" fight we carry on all together here!
Starting from tomorrow afternoon I'll try to adapt my settings step by step as per your instructions and test thoroughly right after that.
Although there were some points in your last post I didn't completely understand as I'm also no expert, I'll do my best to configure my rig the way you say.
Do you believe all adjustments must be done at the same time prior testing or one at a time?Also,is there any kind of priority in what must be done first and what second,third and so on or simply all adjustments must be adapted considered as of equal importance?

I hardly can wait till tomorrow when I'll have the opportunity to "manipulate" my system and check if we finally won the battle or it simply continues!

If this really works...Oh man, only if this works...Kelso
You saved a lot of computers from

Nick

[flyhog]

Thank you, Kelso! Great job!
You made me with your post to reinstall CloD, tonight I'll try these clues, I hope it will, finally, kill daemons.
Cheers!

[Lapwin]

Lol @ Fly4ever... man... that selection of emoticons... hahaha :-)

Seriously. Keep the faith Flyhog. My guess is most tweaks Kelso
is suggesting are for ethernet connections, not for wireless (wifi). But that
link in the last section of his post is worth a try.

[ATAG_Lolsav]

Glad to see a community effort producing results. Once evryone gives their feedback, proving this solution does work, i would strongly suggest to replace/alocate Kelso post to first in the row of this thread. Also a translation to other languages would be advised.

Good job evryone, specially kelso there. A special mention to Lapwin who started the thread and posted detailed information about the problem.

[fly4ever]

Lol @ Fly4ever... man... that selection of emoticons... hahaha

It was the simplest and only thing I could do to show my enthusiasm and excitement to Kelso at least for his effort irrelevantly the outcome and also my admiration for his knowledge on the subject!
And of course,everything with a taste of humor Lapwin!Happy I made you lough...!!

Cheers
Nick

[fly4ever]

Glad to see a community effort producing results. Once evryone gives their feedback, proving this solution does work, i would strongly suggest to replace/alocate Kelso post to first in the row of this thread. Also a translation to other languages would be advised.

Good job evryone, specially kelso there. A special mention to Lapwin who started the thread and posted detailed information about the problem.

+1!

Nick

[macnihilist]

Some great info you have collected, Kelso, especially the MTU part could help.

I have one question, though: I could have sworn the game used UDP and not TCP for 'game-state-stuff', exactly because of the lower latency compared to TCP. A quick look with tcpview and netstat seems to confirm this. Can you elaborate a bit on how CTCP/ECN and TcpAckFrequency/TCPNoDelay can affect UDP 'connections'?

[Lapwin]

I am going to test the coming hours. Before that, and what still
puzzles me is that the stutters kick in the second an enemy plane
(even before you see it) enters your 'bubble'. As long as you are
flying with friendlies only there is no problem. I was hoping that a
Team Fusion member could find an explination for this. Is it a code/
network thing concerning friend or foe?

Puzzled. But I am going to test now based on Kelso's guide.

PS: I know fly4ever, and right you are. You just made me laugh :-)


S! all.

[ATAG_Colander]

I am going to test the coming hours. Before that, and what still
puzzles me is that the stutters kick in the second an enemy plane
(even before you see it) enters your 'bubble'. As long as you are
flying with friendlies only there is no problem. I was hoping that a
Team Fusion member could find an explination for this. Is it a code/
network thing concerning friend or foe?

Puzzled. But I am going to test now based on Kelso's guide.

PS: I know fly4ever, and right you are. You just made me laugh


S! all.

Simple...
The 3D model and textures are not loaded until it's close to you. Your friendly planes share your same model+skin and most likely other models are already nearby when you spawn so they get loaded.

[ATAG_Lolsav]

Simple...
The 3D model and textures are not loaded until it's close to you. Your friendly planes share your same model+skin and most likely other models are already nearby when you spawn so they get loaded.

In old IL21946 map makers had a "trick" to prevent what was known as "spawn freezes". They would place in a corner of the map evry single plane used in the map, AI or human operated, so when someone spawn in it had alredy loaded that particular plane into the video card memory. But i guess the game engine has changed now, since the textures and 3d model only get loaded when it gets close. I see a single advantage point using this method: The loading times are shorter (ie, while connecting to server and loading the map), but this method as also brought disadvantages it seems.

[ATAG_Colander]

In old IL21946 map makers had a "trick" to prevent what was known as "spawn freezes". They would place in a corner of the map evry single plane used in the map, AI or human operated, so when someone spawn in it had alredy loaded that particular plane into the video card memory. But i guess the game engine has changed now, since the textures and 3d model only get loaded when it gets close. I see a single advantage point using this method: The loading times are shorter (ie, while connecting to server and loading the map), but this method as also brought disadvantages it seems.

Well, you could still place all planes hidden on hangars on every spawn point

[E69_Mezzer]

Some great info you have collected, Kelso, especially the MTU part could help.

I have one question, though: I could have sworn the game used UDP and not TCP for 'game-state-stuff', exactly because of the lower latency compared to TCP. A quick look with tcpview and netstat seems to confirm this. Can you elaborate a bit on how CTCP/ECN and TcpAckFrequency/TCPNoDelay can affect UDP 'connections'?

Edit note: entire answer delete. I've deleted or corrected all my entries in this thread referring to the windows 8/8.1 TCP/IP settings so that in the future others do not take improper steps. I made a serious error, launcher.exe uses udp for the network connection. I apologize, my intention was to try to fix the problem. I was really obsessed, many hours of testing and trial.

[flyhog]

Report on yesterday's evening flights online: not seen any improvement, there are still the same
as the usual problems. Well, looks as if there is an overflow of a some memory buffer (seems
my WiFi-dongle) or overheating hardware (but all are cool)... It's a pity, offline is "smooth
as silk".

[fly4ever]

Gd evening Gents...!

I'm just done with (almost) all my tweaking:
My MTU value was already o.k. @ 1500 by default.
I enabled CTCP and ECN (both were disabled as Kelso correctly wrote for Windows 7).
Disabled Nagle's Algorithm as per instructions given.
Checked "TCP Chimney Offload" and it was set to "Automatic" by default so I let it be.However,I'm not 100% sure if the "Automatic" state counts the same as the "Enabled" mentioned by Kelso!
Only thing left to be done is the more precise tweaking described by Kelso at his post #137 (http://theairtacticalassaultgroup.co...l=1#post138824) in this thread.

Even though I haven't tested the game itself yet,I have the notion that already my Internet is going considerably faster than never before!!!My browser is now speeding much faster than before,the several sites (including ours in here!) opens and change pages very fast almost instantly as I press the mouse button,Videos and media load faster than before too!Let's hope the in game results will be the same remarkable ones as outside of it.Ready to do the tests gaming online right now,I'll report later in the evening or tomorrow in the worst case.

C ya later chaps and I hope with the best of results!

Nick

[E69_Mezzer]

Fly4ever dont do the tweaking of my post #137, itt did not work, may cause more stuttering