EQMac.com

This post is intended to include all of the most common ways you can improve the performance of EQMac, it is currently a work in progress and I will be updating and completing it shortly.

Index

[01] Optimize DataRate.txt
[02] Prevent log bloat
[03] Disable Spotlight (OSX 10.4-10.6)
[04] Disable Time Machine (OSX 10.5-10.6)
[05] Use an optimized UI


[01] Optimize DataRate.txt
(must be completely exited from game)

Open DataRate.txt (found in the eq “game” directory) with TextEdit and change the number to 9.0 then save. If this causes excessive lag or packet loss exit the game completely and set it down one whole number (8.0). Repeat until you have the highest possible number 1.0-9.0 that is stable with your connection. (Note: if you frequently use different connections you may notice instability with higher numbers, simply adjust for each connection location.)

[02] Prevent log bloat
(should be exited from game to prevent crashes)

Open terminal, type:


then do each of these commands in order:


next, go to your EverQuest directory (default is below, your location may vary):


and use commands:

Repeat for each EverQuest directory if you have multiple installs for boxing. If you should need to re-enable any of these logs for troubleshooting purposes you can just repeat the rm line to remove the disabled file and EQ will recreate the file automaticly.

[03] Disable Spotlight (OSX 10.4-10.6)

Disable only indexing of EverQuest directories (recommended)
Open System Prefereces, open Spotlight preferences, select privacy. Click the “+” in the lower left corner of the window and add your Application/EverQuest directory (if you have multiple copies for boxing add each one).

Disabling Spotlight Entirely (advanced)
You can completely disable spotlight if you only use your machine for EQMac or have no interest is using this feature; however, doing this may make some other applications that rely on Spotlight for searching unstable.

OSX Tiger (10.4):
Enter the following command into a Terminal window:


To re-enable use the following command:


OSX Leopard (10.5)
Move these two files to another safe location and then reboot your mac


Re-enable Spotlight by moving those files back to their original location, reboot, and Spotlight will work again.

OSX Snow Leopard (10.6)
Enter the following command:


To re-enable:



[04] Disable Time Machine (OSX 10.5-10.6)

If you have Time Machine enabled for your Mac, disable it while you are playing!

[05] Use an optimized UI

The default EQMac UI features textures and attributes that decrease the performance of the game significantly. Using a UI that follows the constraints identified by Maktub will greatly improve game performance. More information on what was done to improve these UI’s can be found here.

Suggested UI’s:

Power of Two 1.0 info/download – Default replacement, nearly identical to UI included with the game.

Power of Two 2.0 info/download – Customized UI based on the SARS EQPC UI

AYA^2 info/download – Customized UI based on the AYA EQPC UI

WizMod info/download – Customized UI by Wizman aimed at casters

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Awesome work, thanks bijaz.

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Darco 65 Enchanter <Destiny> Australia
Darcreign 65 Magician <Destiny> Australia
Darcnite 65 Paladin <Destiny> Australia

Great thread idea Bijaz! I will contribute a bit.



[06] Install OSX 10.4 (Tiger)

In general, the older an operating system is, the faster the computer will run. This rule holds true when we compare Tiger to some of the later versions of OSX. If you aren't completely computer-retarded and primarily use your Mac to play EQ, you might want to consider reformatting with Tiger.

Some benchmarks:
http://www.primatelabs.ca/blog/2007/10/ ... ober-2007/

There are certain situations in which Tiger will actually perform worse than Leopard / Snow Leopard. Certain recent video cards have different sets of drivers for different versions of OSX. These cards will still generally work under Tiger, but they will not be as optimized. (This is typically a Hackintosh scenario. Also keep in mind that EQMac is driven almost entirely by the CPU, not the video card. You can find more information by Googling your video card + "driver" + "tiger", for example.)

You can usually find a copy of Tiger on Craigslist for pretty cheap. Alternatively, if you are a bad person, you can steal one by searching Google for "osx tiger torrent".



[07] Set your Mac to be the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on your router

Some routers, including the common WRT Linksys series, have problems dealing with heavy data transfer within EQMac. For instance, you might find that you get huge delays before and after you cast spells on 40+ man raids, but experience zero lag at all during 30 man raids. Setting your Mac to be the DMZ will usually fix this.

(A note on security: You should know that setting your computer as a DMZ technically makes it more unsecure since it can "make visible" the ports that happen to already be open on your computer. That said, setting up a DMZ is generally harmless, but the more security-paranoid of this forum would be uproarious if I didn't include this cautionary passage.)

I will provide a mini-guide for setting up a DMZ, but your mileage may vary. There are a lot of tutorials on Google if you need more information.

1) Step 1 - Set your IP to be static

Routers usually have a set of around 100 IP addresses that they give out automatically when computers want to connect to them. Most commonly, this is usually the numbers 192.168.1.100 through 192.168.1.200 or the numbers 192.168.0.100 through 192.168.0.200. You will want your IP address to be unchanging, so you will want to set your computer to have a static IP. On the Mac, do:

System Preferences --> Network --> TCP/IP tab (might have to click "advanced" first)

You should see a line that says "Router". Take note of the IP address listed next to it; that is the router's IP address. Most commonly, it will be 192.168.1.1, or 192.168.0.1. Whatever the first 3 numbers are, those are your network numbers. The final number is the computer identifier number, and for the purposes of this tutorial we will pick 100 to be our static IP address.

"Configure IPv4" is probably already set to "Using DHCP". Change it to be "Using DHCP with manual address". Then type in your IP address to be your 3 network numbers and a 100. (In other words, type in 192.168.1.100 or 192.168.0.100, depending on what your network numbers are.) Then, type in your router's IP address for the DNS server. (This step may not be actually needed; try removing this line later if you encounter problems.)

2) Set 192.168.x.100 to be the DMZ

Log on to your router. Usually, this is done by opening up your internet browser and typing in your router's IP into the address bar. (You should have your router's IP from the previous step. In other words, go to http://192.168.1.1/ or http://192.168.0.1/, depending on what your network numbers are.) Then, you will be prompted for a user name and password. If you don't know what they are, they are probably still set to be the router default user name and password, which vary depending on the model of router that you have. You can find this out by simply Googling "default password XXXXX", with the product number of your router instead of the X's.

Once you are logged on to the router configuration page, go through every menu section systematically until you find the DMZ setting, then set it to 100, then hit save. Sorry friens, I can't be more specific because every router has their menus set up differently.

3) Adjust your DCHP lease range

Go through your router's menus until you find stuff relating to DCHP. Basically, the DHCP range for leases should already be set to something like 100-200. Since you want only your computer to be 100, adjust it to be 101-200, then save. This step is so that no other computers will accidentally grab the 100 address that your computer is set to.

4) Check to see if the internet works

Restart your computer and see if the internet works. Does it work? Yes? You're done! No? Here are some things to try if you can't figure it out:

1. Set your static IP to be within the DCHP lease range, but at the higher end of the spectrum so that it won't conflict with anything (since the router gives out addresses from bottom to top).
2. Most routers have a menu where you can manually assign IP addresses based off a computer's MAC address (a computer's unique network card address). Use this feature (it should be pretty straightforward) and then on the Mac just keep "Configure IPv4" set to "Using DHCP". If you don't know your computer's MAC address, Google "how do I find my MAC address".

Hmmm I was considering doing Tiger.

What video card you using Zam?

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Elder Judah, Harvester of Tares Lichen

V

I have a G5 Quad w/ GeForce 6600. I think Wizman or maybe Devour can probably chime in about the kinds of video cards that have better drivers in Leopard.

I have to respectfully disagree with this point. The DMZ thing is both dangerous (as you've noted) and shouldn't make *any* difference to network performance or packet loss assuming your router isn't horribly retarded or broken. Also "heavy data transfer" ? EQMac's data transfer needs are tiny. On any modern broadband connection, all you have to worry about is latency and packet loss, not bandwidth.

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Pretty much agree with Cabot, DMZ's are only dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Not really that much different than a multi-port router, just with emphasis on the ability to set different access privileges on the ports, generally something associated with firewalls rather than routers. If used correctly, DMZ's will leave you more secure. As far having any impact on load/etc. with respect to EQ, utter bs. If setting up a DMZ makes a difference then you've got other issues.

Cabot is dead on about bandwidth, is not an issue. The 10.4 vs 10.5 thing is also a bit skewed. Straight out of the box 10.5 has more things going on than 10.4, so there's some truth depending on the circumstance. Again, it's more about what you know to set things according to what you're doing.

EDIT: I should note that with a static IP and a less secure DMZ you would create the opportunity for someone to hack your EQ machine.

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Yeah I was going to edit that section to only include the port ranges that EQ uses since many people do use cheap, crappy routers, or have ISP's that NAT them so they end up double NAT'd behind their router. DMZ should always be a last resort to troubleshoot connection problems... ^_^

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Some clarification:

As I briefly touched on before, the DMZ passage was written to address a very specific problem that only happens on raids with a lot of people. For that reason, it might not belong in a general guide to optimizing performance and I didn't mean to imply that setting a DMZ will make EQMac "faster".

Cabot, while the terminology of "heavy data transfer" may be a misnomer, I'm not sure how to specifically describe the problem other than it seems to be a port issue that only manifests itself with a large number of players in the same zone. I am certainly not making up out of thin air the fact that setting the DMZ fixes the problem. =p Perhaps some casters who attended either the large GM arena event a while back or Gnostica's recent Ring of Fire raid can attest to this specific lag anomaly.

Yes, Bijaz, I would agree that the more correct solution is to set up port forwarding rather than to set a DMZ. According to Sony, the world server is 9000 and the zone servers are 1350-1430, but in my brief personal tests forwarding these ports did not seem to fix the problem, so further testing is needed. (It might just have been an error on my part, who knows!) However, I know the DMZ works and I figured I would share my solution to this frustrating problem with others.

As for the DMZ being "dangerous", Wizman, the language you are using there is a little misleading and we could probably go back and forth on that point in a nerd battle. =p I will say that the bottom line is, setting a DMZ is no more unsecure than not having a router at all, and it seems a little silly to automatically condemn any household without a router as one that "creates the opportunity" for a hacker to hack them.

I definitely have experienced this a few times. Terris Thule event when the butterflies spawned was one time.

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Darco 65 Enchanter <Destiny> Australia
Darcreign 65 Magician <Destiny> Australia
Darcnite 65 Paladin <Destiny> Australia

About the only thing that changes lag with lots of people is adjusting the datarate.txt file that has been discussed numerous times. If in fact the establishment of a DMZ improves your performance, then you have something wrong elsewhere, either on your computer or router/modem. If you are running an Intel Mac, then there will additional issues do to prior apple network stacks being based on Mentat streams, current on BSD sockets, and rosetta causing blocking issues.



I was at the Ring of Fire raid, did not have any lag, again lag comes from the client, either adjust your datarate.txt file, the myriad of other settings that have been talked about, or get a different machine. As you have previously stated that you're running a G5 tower, I don't know what your issues are, but a DMZ should not have any impact.



I believe I said the combination of static IP and a DMZ, a DMZ without the proper security settings. I'll stand by that.

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Even port forwarding should not be necessary. You shouldn't have to even know these port numbers. The NAT on your router/firewall box should open up for the reverse traffic when the client initiates communications on these ports. If turning on this "DMZ mode" for your eqmac box really fixes anything for you, it means your NAT is broken. In any case it would be fixing completely broken connectivity, not performance issues.

Even in DMZ mode, your router is still having to do NAT translation on all traffic, it's just allowing backtraffic for which no forward traffic has been seen to validate that the connection originated at the client. If your issue relates to double-NAT at the ISP and your router, this still won't fix it, you'll still be doing double-NAT. Also, even with a cheap crappy router, NAT translation of EQ's tiny data stream is not a performance concern.



It's definitely true that DMZ mode is no more dangerous than running without a router at all (e.g. plugging your PC or Mac into the ethernet port of a cable modem or FiOS ONT, etc). That's still dangerous though. Firewalls (or the implicit firewalling offered by NAT routing) is essential for basic security. You're opening a wide array of attack vectors by not having that protection in place, and the vast majority of people reading this guide will have neither the clue, the inclination, or the long-term persistence of security practices to keep the machine secure under these conditions. I do network security stuff professionally (among many hats) and deal with backbone ISPs all the time, and I still run a NAT router between everything in my home and my FiOS uplink (for IPv4 anyways, obviously I don't NAT my v6, but I do firewall it). I know better than a whole lot of people how to secure a machine that's hooked up directly, but it's a constant process ensuring you're protected against the latest stupid zero day remote exploit, and I'd rather spend my time and worry budget on other things, especially at home.

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Is it worth adding a section about using USBOverdrive to improve mouse reaction time?