Can't get anywhere - download hangs at end (fixed)

Mac_Fife · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 6:34 pm

Thanks Romer, I'd kind of forgotten about BBReport's Tweak Test, but you still need to use DrTCP or TCP Optimizer to apply the recommendations, and we've basically been through a very similar process using "first principles" as it were. Although Rusty's connection is marginally sub-optimal, we're only talking about 50 bytes in 1500 and I don't think a 3% increase in speed is going to help

In any case I don't think the root cause lies in Rusty's PC, Modem, ISP, etc., but rather that it's some client-server interaction that's being kicked-off as a result of the relatively slow download speed.

What I find intriguing here is that Rusty didn't have any problems with MOUL, and his connection is now 50% faster than it was then, and the MOUL problem occurred after you started the game proper, not during the Patcher phase

However, that doesn't mean that there isn't a similarly buggy bit of code in the patcher as used to be in the MOUL in-game download.

Ian Atrus · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:30 pm

I'm having the same problem here. For some reason I never got the confirmation email, so I only discovered yesterday that I was in the beta. So I get the launcher, start updating (at a snail's pace), and when it finally hits the end... it just hangs there and does nothing.

If the issue is in the download speed, it's not on my side: my line is 8mbps in download, and I can get stuff from Cnet at 700Kbps or more.

HenryMikel · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:57 pm

My connections were even faster but it still took four attempts to finish the download. The first time everything slowed to zero I waited about 20 minutes before hitting cancel. I tried again a few seconds later and everything ran quickly again... for a few minutes, then slowed to zero. Waited a minute and tried again... on the fourth attempt it downloaded for less than a minute. I noticed that it had just downloaded (and expanded?) MQLauncher.exe. I clicked on that and within a minute or two I was in Avatar Cutomization.

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:43 pm

My communications path isn't as straightforward as that, Mac_Fife. My original MOUL was 512Kb/sec, which was upgraded to 1 Mb/sec while I was with Nildram. When I changed over to AOL it went back to 512 Kb/sec and it has only very recently been increased to c 0.8 Mb/sec. To add to my changes, I had a broadband modem originally, but I now have a wireless router.

What would EnablePMTUBHDetect=1 do? That's the only recommendation I got from a tweak program.

There is more than one issue, Ian. If you have an nvidia network card or chipset, there is the checksum offload problem lurking in the background as well.

Mac_Fife · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:58 pm

Ian Atrus wrote:

So I get the launcher, start updating (at a snail's pace), and when it finally hits the end... it just hangs there and does nothing.

That may be a slightly different issue. A few people have noted a long "hang" at the end of downloading. Rusty's download is going nowhere, because it keeps resetting the files back to zero bytes every 60s or so. Smaller files, that complete within that 60s seem to be OK. But then again, there may be a connection.

I didn't pay much attention to what was happening when I downloaded onto my desktop PC (wired to my router) as I was busy doing something else, but I know it ran a bit slowly and seemed to pause a few times for quite a while, and possibly at the end. When I DL'ed onto my laptop (wirelessly) I was watching it like a hawk and Wiresharking the whole thing, but it "whizzed through" in 12.5 minutes for 128.5MB with no apparent delays and popped almost immediately into the login screen once the patcher DL finished.

HenryMikel wrote:

My connections were even faster but it still took four attempts to finish the download.

It may be that some people are getting temporary slow downloads due to server load, etc., causing a "recoverable" failure, but Rusty's connection is going flat out at his full line speed (except for blips when the resets occur), so server load can't be a factor for him.

It's unfortunate that some of the useful info might lie with people like HenryMikel who had some problems but got by. If we could turn the clock back and Wireshark those downloads it might tell us a lot about the marginal condition. Hindsight is wonderful.

Nit'Ram · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:57 pm

Shorah,
I think, it's NOT ONLY a bandwidth problem.....

Following this thread (reminds me very much to the prob's since prologue...), I gave him a try:

Me original speed is 6Mb -- never had any probs
I tried "NetLimiter" to reduce my internet-speed (it's working !)

I reduced my incoming speed to 0.5Mb/s (what's less than RR's connection) and my Updater is still running !
(incredebly slow, but,: atm 37.2MB remaining 9:00 min) -- no Probs at all !

what's up now ?

Martin

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:03 pm

Look at the files themselves. You won't learn anything from the status bar.

Mac_Fife · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:03 pm

Thanks Nit'Ram. From this it's clear that speed isn't the whole story (it may not even be any part of the story

)

Maybe I should spend a bit of time with Rusty to work out why his connection wants to use an MTU of 1450 to see if there's more going on there...

Nit'Ram · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:05 pm

Just for info:

Download finished w/ 500kb/sec -- no prob's !

Martin

Nit'Ram · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:09 pm

@Mac_Fife

Maybe his ISP is adding some more "routing-informations"

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:14 pm

AOL Wireless Broadband - could be doing anything. It was useful when we were on gametap though.

Nit'Ram · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:20 pm

Only to make things sure:

Just started a fresh MQ-Update @100kb/s ..will take me rough 2:30 Hrs .... but it's running still

(I can't forget Orwell.....)

Nit'Ram · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:21 pm

Only to make things sure:

Just started a fresh MQ-Update @100kb/s ..will take me rough 2:30 Hrs .... but it's running still

(I can't forget Orwell.....)

Mac_Fife · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:23 pm

Rusty_Russell wrote:

What would EnablePMTUBHDetect=1 do? That's the only recommendation I got from a tweak program.

Doesn't seem like very helpful advice. This turns on Black Hole Detection. It only works if you also have MTU Discovery enabled (look at the General Settings on TCP Optimizer). It reduces the packet size during MTU Discovery in an attempt to get ACKs back from some Routers that don't want to respond. Generally, I wouldn't think it'd help and may make your connection worse as I believe it can increase the number of re-transmissions.

I remember you being on AOL at 512kbps. The odds between the broadband modem and the wireless router should be nil. Basically the latter is just the former with a wireless access point bolted on. Your logs show a rock steady data rate at around 750kbps, so I'm not worried about your method of connection.

Edit: I meant to say, I seem to recall reading a long while back that Vista has some kind of built in TCP optimization and that "tweak tools" don't have any effect. Well, that can't be entirely true since we've "tweaked" MTU and seen evidence of the effect.

Rusty_Russell · **Posted:** Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:36 pm

Thanks. MTU Discovery was enabled by default. They now both match (on). Shall I turn them both off?

Can't get anywhere - download hangs at end (fixed)

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