Yo Check-it!

I finally figured out why my map changes are so slow.  I'm running Win2k
Server along with the latest version of McAfee NetShield + newest DATs.
Disabling the virus scanner did NOT fix the problem, but shutting off the
service altogether fixed the slow map changes.  Now my maps change within 10
seconds, compared to up to 1 minute while running NetShield.

Has anyone else run into this same NetShield issue?  If so, do you have any
resolutions to this problem?  These days, I really would hate to run any
type of server without a virus scanner.  Is a virus scanner something I have
to sacrifice in order to run CS?

BTW:  If I run Win2k Professional with McAfee VirusScan (not NetShield),
everything runs fine.

In addition, is Win2k Pro sufficient to run multiple CS servers on 1 box?
The reason why I run Win2k Server is because I was told that Server has a
more robust IP stack compared to Pro and is more reliable overall in terms
of stability and performance, especially when running multiple instances of
CS.  I'm not running any of it's additional services (DNS, DHCP, AD,
etc...), just CS...

Any feedback is good feedback...


-ronnie


----- Original Message -----
From: Ryan McCullough
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 2:31 PM
Subject: RE: Timeout During Map Changes


This has been covered many times but I will give you some pointers.

It looks like you have fast drives. That was going to be my first question.
Next, it looks like you have plenty of ram so you shouldn't be using the
pagefile too much. The next thing I would suggest is to unpak the files in
your pak0.pak file. This can save alot of loading time.

Basically the thing that slows down map changes are your hard disks, the pak
file, and the map. Some maps take longer to load than others. Have you
noticed problems on particular maps? I am told there are a couple maps that
are particularly easy to load(de_dust). You didn't mention if you are
running any kind of raid?? It might help to run some type of striping, or if
you don't have too many maps you might be able to fit your hlserver
directory on a ramdrive. This would make it alot faster.

-Ryan
-----Original Message-----
From: Ronnie Enriquez [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 09, 2001 1:55 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Timeout During Map Changes


Hi Everyone!  I'm not sure if this was previously addressed or not....
but...

In a nutshell, my CS server takes way too long to change maps.  It is NOT
because no one is pressing fire.  I'll be in the server myself and will
press fire to initiate the map change.  I know the map is changing because i
get a "flatline" on my netgraph.  It is NOT due to the custom.hpk size.  It
is 7k.  In addition, I have disabled uploads.

Sometimes, it can take up to 1 minute to change maps.  When this happens,
people have reported seeing the dreaded message:  "Warning:  Connection
Problem..."  They will see this for a few seconds and will go away.  When it
goes away, they'll see the LOADING... message on the screen.  Then they will
enter the new map.  Some people won't even get this far.  They'll just be
dropped altogether.

When I do a manual changelevel, it takes even longer!  The server does not
crash during map change.  Since the server is co-lo'd at a data center, I
cannot physically see or hear if the HD is crunching away during the delay
period.  So I really don't know if there's anything happening on the server
end.

Bandwidth is not an issue.  There's plenty of it.  Also, some people say
that this is a known issue.  On the other hand, I've seen plenty of other
win32-based CS servers out that don't have this issue.  Anyone want to sell
me a clue?

BTW:  Everything listed above has been done with a fresh new install of the
OS, HL, and CS.

My CS server is running on a fairly decent system:

---Hardware---
Pentium3 / 1GHz
Asus CUSL2 Motherboard
768MB SDRAM
Adaptec 2940UW SCSI Controller
2 x Seagate Barracudda 9.1GB UW-SCSI Drives
2 x IBM Deskstar 18GB UW-SCSI Drives

---Software---
Win2K Server SP2
HLDS 4.1.0.8a
Counter-Strike 1.3 Full
20 players



-ronnie

_______________________________________________
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit:
http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Reply via email to