TTFL (and the Bandwidth Patch)

[Aysedasi]

Hopefully the members of the TTFL will by now have all received Tony's e-mail about Zandvoort. No comment on the re-run decision (aside from the fact that I agree 100% with that decision).

I also have no adverse comment about the additional rule, but, as Tony has invited comment about the use of the bandwidth patch, I think we ought to talk about it.

I have the patch but I've never installed it. To be honest, until last Tuesday I'd had no real problems, wither joining host servers or running my own, and, with the seemingly complicated instructions which come with the patch, I decided not to bother with it.

We now have a recommendation that we install the patch. I am happy to do so, but it does mean that if any host installs it, members will not be able to join that host unless they also have the patch.

Does anyone want to comment on this? Does anyone need any further information about it before they make a decision?

I think it's important after the problems Spudgun had at Mosport (which led to me hosting instead) and after the problems most people had with my host server at Zandvoort.

Thanks

[pirenzo]

I had the patch, but the thing is, it relies on the server not "forcing the bandwidth" in which case, the patch does nothing, plus you have to remeber to put "use core.ini settings" when you go to a race, and it does involve altering your core.ini. There are other scenarios where it requires you to adjust the ini, and then you'll eventually have to put it back the way it was. Really it involves a lot of fiddling, for really little effect. Plus it sometimes caused me problems, such as when a server forces the bandwidht (and nearly all of them do).
I'm not keen on using it, but i suppose i'll try it on sunday. Maybe we should all instal it for then and see if it brings any benefits?

[Aysedasi]

I must admit I was concerned about the ini file changes. I've always worked on the basis that "if it aint broke, don't fix it", but as my server seemed to be "broke" to some extent on Tuesday evening, I guess Tony is right to raise the issue now. I suppose we should bear in mind that Tony has the patch installed and he was the only member not to get booted on Tuesday, which perhaps says something......?

[pirenzo]

lemme just see if i can dig up the instructions....they're here somewhere...

[pirenzo]

no haven't got it anymore...

[pirenzo]

looking at this i don't think there's anything being broken here. I think when the patch is installed, if you don't allow GPL to use it, then it'll have no effect, that's what i think this is doing

[ Communications ]
net_mdm_client_send_every = 3
net_mdm_client_send_size = 84
net_mdm_server_send_every = 3
net_mdm_server_send_size = 384 ; show 19 cars
net_use_mdm_bandwidth_for_tcp_ip = 1
The 384 (show 19 cars) above is the maximum. It will work with
all servers. Depending on how many cars the server really shows it may
be too much for your connection. See "Additional Information" below
for estimates of what your connection should be able to handle.
Note that you must set the net_mdm parameters, not the net_lan.

N.B. There is one exception: if you want to join a non-dedicated
server that does not force the bandwidth in Winvroc, set the
server_send_size equal to what the server specifies, usually 84.
Alternatively you can temporarily remove the more cars patch.
Otherwise you will have trouble to see the server car.

[Aysedasi]

Unfortunately, much of that is simply Greek to me - I'm just a simple soul.......

[pirenzo]

Well i have it installed now.

[Aysedasi]

So exactly what changes did you have to make to actually "install" it, p?

[pirenzo]

You open the little program icon.
Then it asks you to apply the patches you want, then you leave that, and then looking at the core.ini stuff above, you change the first value from 2 to 3, the same for the third value, and the forth goes from 84, to 384. The last and second values stay the same. When you apply the patch, it allows you to see more cars behind/infront. I think the changes to the ini tell GPL it can do that.

[Aysedasi]

Well, I guess I'll have to give it a go then.....

[Aysedasi]

Seems like you and I are the only ones vaguely interested in this, p......

[Damon]

I've tried it before but had problems connecting to ANY races after it was installed. I've tried it a couple of times and had the same problems so I don't really no what to do.

P.S. I never got the email from Tony so what was the decision made about Zandvort?

[pirenzo]

Re-run, June 3rd.

A change to the rules, can all be found on the site...

[Damon]

now got a mail from Tony (did he not want me to know about the re-run? :confused: ) .Thanks anyway for letting me know.

[Aysedasi]

Well we do need to sort this patch business out. If Spud applies it and some of us don't, you can kiss goodbye to the remainder of the season. I getting concerned about it as I've had so few problems and I don't really want to apply it unless it can be clearly demonstrated as 100% necessary.

[Damon]

Same, lets see what this afternoon is like and go from there.

[pirenzo]

Everyone go and D/L it now, then we'll try without.. If anyone has any problems (ie repeted disco's, etc) then we'll scrap and start again with the bw patch... It's only the praccy race, and i doubt it'll be much use to anyone we'll be in the lamposts so often...

[Aysedasi]

Well all I can say it I thought Spud's server was absolutely rock solid on Sunday. No problems at all, no warping, low latency - spot on.

[Tony_Simpson]

I agree with the fact that the server, when i was on it, yesterday was fine.

The only thing I can think of why we had a bad race last week was the fact it must have been busy and everyone suffered as a result.

Spud's and Aysedai's servers has always been quite good, so it must have been fate with the connection that night to the fact it was bad.

I will also hold my hands up and say my reaction to put the bandwidth on your computer might not be the best solution, as i have read/heard that it might hinder performance, as i had it installed and the host server Aysedai did not, therefore not fully compatable with each other fully. That race was the first time I have had bad Latency.

At least you backed up your gpl.exe file so should have no problems returning to that version with out the bandwidth, if you want to.

I will try and understand it a bit better and hopefully sort it out.

Sorry for the misunderstandings,

Tony

[Aysedasi]

Thanks Tony. I will certainly stay as I am for the time being then.

[pirenzo]

After what happened to me on Sunday, i can only assume that the bwpatch had something to do with it, and GPL didn't like it even when i got rid of it... So i won't be using it again... So i hope we never need to