mapserver connection issues

[Kar-ine]

hello all

 

I have this message since yesterday night (sorry for my english I am french) 

 

I never had this kind of problem since I have increase the game video quality so I have decrease it and I have already this message .

 

Could you help me please ?

 

 

i have try to lauch the game with the third version of the launcher with no change.

 

 

the game crash.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by Kar-ine

[Tock]

"Lost Connection To Mapserver" is not a game crash.  The client is fine, and so is your hardware.  This is a Network Connectivity Error.  There might be an outage somewhere, or an issue in your Home Network.

[Chris24601]

I've been having the same problem and according to the /netgraph readout I am at a steady 120-124 Ping with no lost packets and then with no warning and zero increase in Ping the system mapserves and then finally dumps to the log-in screen when the sent/received packets cycle down to about 70/100 each.

 

As an experiment I've logged into other internet games and streamed videos with zero connectivity issues with them.

 

I was playing before the last update without any issue at all. After the update on the 29th its happening every 20-30 minutes.

 

Despite advising that this is an issue with the ISP or home network connectivity, the fact that is ONLY happening here and only after the latest patch implies otherwise.

 

ETA: another aspect that argues against network connectivity is that when it mapserves in open world in the middle of a fight, when I log back in I'm still alive and surrounded by the spawn. If it were a loss of connection I should still be taking the hits from the opponents, just not registering them on my end so that I come back dead I'd think.

Edited November 30, 2019 by Chris24601
More details

[xaix1999]

yes you are correct it implies that the servers are becoming more popular so they will be an increase in traffic

[Kar-ine]

my ping is over 100 

[xaix1999]

lower numbers are better

[Kar-ine]

after 3 re-installation of the game i have got the same issue .... Cox does not like me toonight

 

[ScarletFe]

I am also having this same issue since the Thanksgiving patch. Can't seem to go 5 minutes without disconnect. Oddly enough there are two of us on two separate computers in the same house, playing this game. Only one of us is having the issue. Both are MACs, updated to the same iOS version. Exact same computers and set up. I had zero issues prior to the patch. The game is practically not playable at this point for me....    All this said, I highly doubt it has anything to do with anything windows related , server popularity, or anything on my end internet/network related. Though I would love to know what has went afoul where one of us is okay and the other constantly disconnects. Every. Time. 

[Chris24601]

12 hours ago, ScarletFe said:

I am also having this same issue since the Thanksgiving patch. Can't seem to go 5 minutes without disconnect. Oddly enough there are two of us on two separate computers in the same house, playing this game. Only one of us is having the issue. Both are MACs, updated to the same iOS version. Exact same computers and set up. I had zero issues prior to the patch. The game is practically not playable at this point for me....    All this said, I highly doubt it has anything to do with anything windows related , server popularity, or anything on my end internet/network related. Though I would love to know what has went afoul where one of us is okay and the other constantly disconnects. Every. Time. 

Yeah... I can't even finish an instanced mission without being mapserved to the login page. That's absolutely unplayable in my opinion. The issue started precisely with the post-Thanksgiving patch for me and nothing else is registering the slightest connection/streaming problems.

 

ScarletFe, since you have two identical systems available, could you try logging into your account from the other laptop? If your account runs fine when logged in on the other machine that could isolate if its an issue of connecting with specific computers. If it still mapserves you on the other machine, it could mean the probably is associated with the accounts experiencing problems (i.e. something in the spaghetti code is interacting with something in the account database in a screwy way).

[Chris24601]

Update: I created a new account and ran it from the same computer. Though it took longer to kick in (perhaps due to being Atlas Park with minimal zoning?) it the mapserver issue did pop up so we can rule out an account related issue.

 

ScarletFe's two identical laptops with one having the error and one not is the best lead I can now think of in terms of WHAT is causing the issue. Isolate what's actually different (perhaps one is using a different route through the internet despite the same starting point?) and maybe there's a solution to be found.

 

Does anyone perhaps know how to make a connection follow a different route through the internet? My ping is in the 100 range and I don't PVP so I can accept double the ping if I'm not being booted at random every 5-30 minutes.

[ScarletFe]

at this point I have entirely removed and reinstalled COH. Within 15 minutes of being on, I disconnected twice.... the first time, I didnt even zone the toon in. It tossed me straight back to the log in screen after the zoning screen froze for a minutes. The second time, I was jumping across a zone. Not even in an instanced mission. Froze in the sky with the mapserver message. 

i tried the account (this account) on the secondary computer.... no issues. not a single disconnect for 45 minutes. 

 

I really hope they read these threads and fix this soon. Its totally unplayable for those of us with this problem. 

and coming from a programmer that specializes in the maintenance of 'old' code in data bases.... the term spaghetti code makes me cringe. LOL

 

P.S. someone should really rename the HELP channel. Its anything but helpful. them:"get a better internet connection" me:"did you even read my post? 2 computers?"

[Chris24601]

I’ve experienced the same thing while just flying around. There is no rhyme or reason to when the lost connection hits. If there were I could at least avoid those things. I’ve tried all three clients (64, 32, Safe) and they make no difference. I’ve also tried complete uninstall/reinstall and a different account on the same machine... no difference.

 

It does make me want to see if my old laptop can run it (even at minimum settings) since if has no issues that’s another datapoint that the issue is NOT the internet connection, but something in how the Homecoming server is talking to certain computers.

 

And it’d be one thing if it was just the type of lost connection where you’d freeze for a second or five then resume. This freezes you out for at least a minute before dumping you to the login screen and I already have the long load time for the character select screen that’s a known issue with Win7 (and we can already rule out OS as a cause since it’s happening with your Mac (but not another one on the same connection).

 

I’ve also got two other things to try. First, I’m going to dump the settings to dead minimum and then stay in a single zone with minimal interaction with anything (hover at altitude and move just enough to avoid an afk) and see if that matters.

 

If that does keep me from mapserving then we can say there’s some sort interaction that triggers it... even if it’s not something we perceive; a certain piece of geometry of GFX is loaded or something like that.

 

If that doesn’t help... well, at least it’s another data point.

 

The other thing I’m considering is maybe trying out a VPN service and setting my location elsewhere to see if that can’t change the route to the Homecoming servers. Maybe the issue is that my PC and your one Mac is using a different route than the Mac with no issues somehow.

 

Basically, I want to get the devs a start point to help them look for this because it seems pretty clear it’s a rare enough issue that all their own machines might not even experience this.

 

The obvious solution would be to revert to the pre-Thanksgiving patch since every last complaint of this issue started AFTER that patch... but the vast majority enjoying the holiday content might get annoyed at that.

[Chris24601]

Update on testing.

 

I think might have something, but its so bloody stupidly obvious I'm going to sound like an idiot for not having tried it first thing... its also a potential difference between two otherwise identical laptops; particularly given that one where there's no issues is a secondary machine.

 

When was the last time you completely shut down your laptop that's having the mapserver problems?

 

Because I generally put my system to sleep instead of doing a full shutdown because I'll be back on it in basically 6-8 hours and it takes forever to start up from a full shutdown. I've never had an issue with any of my programs while doing so in years. But thinking about that old laptop I mentioned; one of my programs on it sometimes runs into problems communicating with the printer after awhile if I've only put it to sleep instead of fully shutting it down, but it starts working fine after a complete shutdown.

 

So that's what I did with my desktop... just to rule it out mostly. So I completely shut down (not just a restart, but let everything spin down completely) and re-started the computer. After that I was able to run for an hour and twenty-minutes (nearly triple the time before I'd usually get mapserved) before logging off.

 

Now, it could be a coincidence related to the time of day or some other factor and the next time I log in, the mapserver issue could return... but right this second that seems to have fixed things for me, and if your laptop has similarly been left 'on' (i.e. only put to sleep instead of turned completely off) while the other laptop does get turned off completely... THAT could be the common link between who is having problems and who isn't.

[Lazarillo]

1 hour ago, Chris24601 said:

So that's what I did with my desktop... just to rule it out mostly. So I completely shut down (not just a restart, but let everything spin down completely) and re-started the computer. After that I was able to run for an hour and twenty-minutes (nearly triple the time before I'd usually get mapserved) before logging off.

I suddenly started having these issues constantly today, myself (and not any sort of similar disruptions in any other net traffic), and "turn it off and on again" is often my goto solution.  Unfortunately, I was back on again for about 5 minutes before another one just kinda "bam!" outta the blue.

 

This does seem a little weird, as it's not like the issues that normally arise when I'm having connection problems, but I can't figure out the pattern to them, either.

[Chris24601]

19 hours ago, Lazarillo said:

I suddenly started having these issues constantly today, myself (and not any sort of similar disruptions in any other net traffic), and "turn it off and on again" is often my goto solution.  Unfortunately, I was back on again for about 5 minutes before another one just kinda "bam!" outta the blue.

 

This does seem a little weird, as it's not like the issues that normally arise when I'm having connection problems, but I can't figure out the pattern to them, either.

Welp, you're right. Dammit.

 

Played for over an hour yesterday afternoon before posting with zero issues. Logged in this afternoon and Mapserved within 5 minutes.

 

Devs, please roll at least one server back to Pre-Thanksgiving because this is unplayable. I can't make plans to play with anyone. I can't even finish most door missions without having to start from scratch and HOPE this time it doesn't mapserve until I get the last objective.

 

I don't really want to go looking for another CoH server to play on because most of the others don't sound that hot to me... but playing on one of those is better than not playing on yours which is what's happening right now.

 

[Chris24601]

I can also confirm that the mapserver effect has ZERO to do with activity or graphic settings (since the restart didn't fix things I went back to my original testing regimen).

 

I put the settings to minimum and just sat in a lifeless area (just inside a door mission) while working on something where I could keep on eye on the screen and just nudged the toon every couple minutes so an AFK wouldn't happen. After about 10 minutes (so a typical period of activity before a mapserve) and a minute or two after my last nudge (so literally no activity from my end) the "Lost Connection to Mapserver" message popped up and a minute later I dropped to the login screen again.

 

So that leaves trying a VPN to force a different route... but at this point I really don't think its the route. I don't see how it can't be something related to the "Black Friday" patch. That's when the game turned basically unplayable.

[ScarletFe]

In response to last couple posts.... I agree that graphic settings aren't it. I've tried a bunch of different settings. Even tried something as stupid-goofy as setting it to 'windowed'. Same ordeal.

And both of my laptops get shut down daily. 

Went on today and I couldn't even fully zone in. It immediately map servered me and bounced to the login screen without ever even seeing a toon zone into the game.  The next 5 minutes, it happened 2 more times. One of which was quite literally the second I zoned in on the second try. I literally did not even move the toon. Insta map server message. Then I was actually able to complete a door mission. Then I got booted again.  Very random with timing.

I too am not buying the route. The part I may have not made clear earlier is that the 2 laptops are often playing the game at the same time. 1 has no issues. The other does. Same set up. Same computers. Same servers. Same internet connection. Same everything. It's quite frustrating. For the life of me I cannot figure out what could possibly be different between the two. As mentioned before, I have entirely removed COH and Island Rum from the DC-faulty computer and reinstalled. No dice. 

 

At this point I am praying that the next patch is soon, and someone... anyone... is looking at this problem 
 

[GrUnTuS]

So my silly fix is to run a youtube video in the background at the lowest resolution and the sound off.  No idea why but this stops most of my disconnects.

 

This is the video  I run at 144p  muted.

 

[Chris24601]

On 12/13/2019 at 11:51 PM, GrUnTuS said:

So my silly fix is to run a youtube video in the background at the lowest resolution and the sound off.  No idea why but this stops most of my disconnects.

I suspect your solution may be psychosomatic, because I tried the video and it made zero difference whatsoever. I mapserved less than 5 minutes after logging in.

 

I think I'm going to have to try one of the other servers for awhile just because this is unplayable for me and anyone saying its not something broken by the Black Friday patch is kidding themselves. No one was reporting this problem before the patch turning on the Holiday Even went live. Immediately thereafter some computers started getting constant mapserve crashes.

 

The absolute lack of Dev response on this is disheartening. Since I haven't been able to play for more than about 10 minutes at a time (and thus have barely logged in this month at all when I could have really used some fun stress relief) and can't even reliably finish a single instanced mission there's no reason for me to donate this month.

[Lazarillo]

I had no problems at all for the last week or so, but today, the spats started up again.  4 over the course of about half an hour, after which I left the house, came back in the afternoon, and had no issues until maybe half an hour ago during which I've got the boot 5 more times.  I tried swapping my connection during the morning spat, using a hot spot instead of my home network and the boots still happened, so it's hard to imagine it's a problem with my ISP.

 

EDIT: So upon further playing around, I tried the VPN solution that I saw mentioned in this topic and elsewhere...and it appeared to work.  It honestly kinda surprised me since swapping ISPs didn't, but, whelp.  Not sure if this is because there are spikes on my end but the VPN stays connected, or something.  I rust runnro, Raggy.  Heck, it could be coincidence, but I did 2 runs of nearly an hour each with no issues until I disconnected from the VPN and re-logged, at which point I was dropping in just a couple minutes each time again.

 

VPN isn't a great solution for me since I have limited bandwidth; it's more than enough to play CoH alone, assume I plan to play less than 15 hours per day, but obviously, multi-tasking would cut into that (and I often work on stuff in the background).  But at least until more information can be determined/a fix can be made, it might be the only route available.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Lazarillo
FURTHER INFORMATION

[Chris24601]

If VPN is actually a solution (and not a placebo like the "play a video in the background" above) then I'd be very curious about two things...

 

First, which VPN service you used and where you set your location to while using it.

 

Second, where you're physically located.

 

Why where you're located is relevant (and everyone else experiencing the glitch is) is that the particular route taken by some data might be the problem. For example, I'm in Fort Wayne, Indiana. If everyone else experiencing the problem is located in, say, the American Midwest, that would explain some things (i.e. they're running into the same network that has an issue with the CoH data stream).

 

The main reason the VPN might be the solution is that the issue is in the routing. Your computer to your local ISP, to one or more intermediate networks then finally to the HC server. The VPN channels your signal to the location you choose before the internet routes you to the HC servers.

 

So if everyone experiencing the problem passes through one of the same intermediate networks where there's a glitch, THAT could be the problem and the route to the VPN exit point (the thing that makes it look like you're in some other part of the world) changes the route in a way that bypasses the glitchy intermediate network.

 

For a rough visual...

 

You -- Your ISP -- Bad ISP -- HC's ISP -- HC Server

...................\___ VPN -- Good ISP __/ 

[dvirb]

i too have this problem for some months now and the only thing that helps me is to use a vpn

[Chris24601]

So, having now tried it for a bit I feel fairly comfortable saying that a VPN (a proxy server might work too) seems to fix the problem.

 

I used ExpressVPN and their closest server (New Jersey) for my connection and via the in game /netgraph I can confirm no loss of ping while doing so.

 

What WAS interesting in the /netgraph report was what happened with a lost packet. Prior to this there'd be zero lost packets then it'd just mapserve and eventually dump to the login screen. WITH the VPN running I got the occasional lost packet (denoted by a red or yellow line on the graph) but the game kept right on running past what I suspect would have been a mapserve for me otherwise.

[PeterDutcherJr]

Bump. I don't know how to use a vpn, and I should not have to. I live in Florida.

[Chris24601]

Unfortunately you WILL have to because the problem isn't actually on Homecoming's end (or on yours). Someone's internet along the fastest path between you and the servers isn't working right (Given that you're in Florida, I bet it heads up through the Midwest, where I am, and probably into Canada around the Detroit area... I'd bet the problem is in some Detroit server farm somewhere that your signal and mine just happens to pass through) and the only way around it is to re-route your connection using a VPN or proxy server (VPNs being far safer for your computer security).

 

In my case, my connection bounces directly to New Jersey before going anywhere else so its probably then connecting to Canada (where the HC servers are) through Buffalo instead of Detroit and the connections through Buffalo aren't borked.

 

As to using a VPN, they're stupid easy. If you can download Homecoming, you can get a VPN running.

 

In the case of ExpressVPN (what I'm using after doing some research into different options as the best compromise on price, locations and ease of installation), you sign up, download and install the software. When you click on the icon it brings up a window with a big button and a list of places you can connect to.

 

Select the location you want (I used the closest option in New Jersey), click on the button to turn it on and that's it. I then minimize it and just leave it run (you can also set it in the options to turn on at startup so you don't even have to turn it on again... you can literally just forget about it). It's using zero processing power and about 165 MB of my RAM as I type this through it.