Norse_Harold

Trashy spammed the lobby tonight with repetitive phrases and ASCII art. He used offensive language about other users, including me, and one of the ASCII drawings he sent was the middle finger. I include only the screenshots that don't include profanity here. I have PM'd the screenshots with profanity to user1. User: Trashy Date: 07 May 2022 05:04 UTC

Great, sounds good. Follow-ups like this are much appreciated.

Apparently black screen problems are common when trying to use G-SYNC with a FreeSync monitor. First, ensure that you are using a DisplayPort 1.4 certified cable of not-too-long length. Second, only certain FreeSync monitors are certified by nVidia to be compatible with G-SYNC. Check out the list. I learned about this from this article.

Okay, thanks for running the tests. I doubt that the changes have solved the problem. (If they have solved the problem then I encourage you to look for an answer to why they've solved the problem.) You can try to reproduce the symptoms with further testing, or you can use the computer normally for a few weeks or months. Sometimes my video card would go for many months without the black screen occurring. The only thing that reliably stopped it, at least for years, was Debug Mode and replacing the power supply. If you want to use a progressive approach to testing then that's fine with me. A possibly faster test would be to temporarily re-enable FreeSync, restore any other changes you've made, then disable the factory overclock. If that also seems to fix the problem then it's very interesting. Also, if you think that you have found the root cause of the problem, try temporarily undoing the "fix" and test whether the problem re-occurs. Yes, adding the # symbol comments out the line in user.cfg. The game ignores such lines. If you later change that setting in the game's UI then it will add another line, uncommented, in user.cfg affecting the same variable, possibly in a much different place in the file. And, if there are duplicate configuration lines that affect the same setting then the last such line in the file is the one that takes effect.

Exactly. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." You need long-term testing in order to get a definite answer about whether the problem is fixed by a certain change, or not. Thanks for running this test. It is interesting. Even though it is the opposite pattern from what I saw with my video card, it doesn't conflict with the hypothesis that the black screen problem could be caused by factory overclocking of your video card or a problem with your power supply. Operating electronics at higher than their reference clock rate (ie. overclocked) means that the electronics are not guaranteed to function correctly. Current video cards are adjusting their clock rates and voltages frequently. When the FPS is low, the card will try to save power by reducing the clock rate and voltage. This sudden change in the current flowing through the card could be stressful on the components and cause glitches, especially in the power regulation circuitry (VRMs), which could cause glitches in the GPU (the main chip of the video card). An overclocked card is less tolerant of glitches because it's aggressively pushing for the next clock cycles faster than the electronics were designed for. Maybe if you get frustrated enough, like what happened to me, you'll try disabling the factory overclock, also known as "underclock" or "return the card to reference clock rates". Another hypothesis that comes to mind: maybe your monitor is using a refresh rate synchronization feature like G-SYNC or FreeSync. And maybe it doesn't like to have missed refresh cycles. Therefore, lower FPS would be more likely to cause the black screen symptom. A way to hopefully rule out this hypothesis is if the problem happens when the game is windowed. Also, test with other games! There are free (as in freedom and price) 3D games for Linux like extremetuxracer (downhill skiing as the Linux mascot), Nexuiz (similar to Natural Selection), quake3arena, Xonotic (fast-paced shooter), Chromium B.S.U. (overhead shoot 'em up like Raptor), Toribash (abstract martial arts), Cube2, Sauerbraten, Super Tux Kart, and more. Most of these are probably available in your distro for instant installation.

Does this happen with other 3D games? My nVidia graphics card had a similar problem. When playing any 3D game, sometimes the screen would flicker black and then return to normal, and sometimes the screen would stay black until I rebooted. Other times the screen would flicker black and then the game would crash to desktop, and a message about video driver recovery would appear. I tried many troubleshooting steps, including updating the drivers, reinstalling software and the OS, etc. When I replaced the power supply and disabled factory overclocking, the problem was resolved. When I temporarily re-enabled the factory overclock, the problem re-occurred only while the factory overclock was enabled. So, one hypothesis to consider is the "black screen problem" that many factory-overclocked video cards have, especially as they age. I recommend the same steps that solved the problem in my case: disable factory overclocking of your video card, and if that doesn't resolve it then replace your power supply with a high quality power supply. I recommend using a power supply that gets good reviews from jonnyguru.com or another review site that stress tests power supplies at high temperature and load, checks them with an oscilloscope, and disassembles them to check whether quality components were used and whether they have good design and soldering. The Superflower OEM consistently has good power supplies. EVGA sometimes rebrands Superflower power supplies. The EVGA SuperNOVA G3 was the last series to use SuperFlower. They're still available direct from evga.com. A pattern that I noticed with my video card, before I made the recommended changes to fix the problem, was that high FPS situations would make the black screen problem more likely to occur. For example, the simple menu of many games would allow the graphics card to pump out several hundred FPS, maybe close to 1000 FPS. The fans would speed up, which was an indication that the graphics card was drawing a lot of power and generating a lot of heat. This was also the most likely time that the factory-overclocked boost clock rates would be used. You can run a simple test by monitoring the FPS when it's in the menu. Edit your user.cfg file (probably in ~/.config/0ad/config/user.cfg), and change or add the following line. overlay.fps = "true" Then watch the FPS when the black screen problem occurs. Also consider watching the clock rate, power consumption, etc. of your video card with appropriate software. Later, for testing purposes, in order to treat the symptoms of the problem, you can enable "FPS throttling in menus", as well as in games. The equivalent user.cfg settings are as follows. Check how it's configured already before changing it, and please tell us. If it was set to 100 then FPS throttling was disabled. adaptivefps.menu = "60.0" adaptivefps.session = "60.0" As time went on, my card got worse and worse with the black screen problem. It would happen even when using Firefox with layers.acceleration.disabled = false in about:config. This was until I disabled the factory overclock and replaced the power supply with a good one, as explained earlier. In order to disable factory overclocking of your video card, you can enable "Debug Mode" in the nVidia Control Panel, at least in Windows. This changes the clock rates to reference clock rates, and it limits the power level that the video card can operate at. There is very little change in the FPS as a result of enabling this, and a very big change in the reliability. It is necessary to enable Debug Mode again after every reboot. In Linux, if you can't find an equivalent feature in the nVidia settings UI, then you can replicate the feature with the nvidia-smi command, as follows. I looked up the likely reference clock rates for your video card at https://videocardz.net This is not a perfect replication of "Debug Mode" from the Windows nVidia Control Panel, because this locks your video card at the maximum reference clock rate. So I would suggest enabling this underclock only when you're gaming. Reboot in order to disable it. nvidia-smi --id=1 --lock-gpu-clocks=1500,1500 nvidia-smi --id=1 --power-limit=100 Remember that It is necessary to run these nvidia-smi commands again after every reboot. If that doesn't completely fix the problem then try using a power limit of 85. If that still doesn't fix the problem then try installing Windows, and enable "Debug Mode" in the Windows nVidia Control Panel before gaming. If that doesn't fix the problem then get a quality power supply. If that still doesn't solve the problem then continue the troubleshooting process. The fact that a screenshot is normal when the screen is black implies to me that the problem is most likely related to your video drivers or hardware, especially your video card, monitor, monitor cables, or power supply.

@user1 explained via the game lobby that DemitriTool received a warning, I assume for the offensive room names described in this forum thread. Later he received a 24-hour ban for the (unrelated) offense of making duplicate accounts. On Friday evening DemitriTool tried to login and the game lobby announced that he had a 24-hour ban for making duplicate accounts. So, hopefully DemitriTool never does this again. Thanks, case closed.

First, maybe you haven't found all of the maps that are already available in the game. When you start a new game, change "Map Type" to Random, then click "Browse Maps", and you will see a lot more maps than with the default "Map Type" of Skirmish. Second, the way to install new maps is to install mods. In order to install mods, from the main menu, click Settings, Mod Selection, Download Mods, Accept, (choose the mod to install), Download, Back. Click on the mod at the top, click "Enable" at the lower left, then click Save and Restart. Now you should have some new maps when you next play the game. But in order to play in the game lobby it is probably necessary to disable the mod. Unfortunately, the only mod that would contain new maps currently is "delenda-est". The maps that it adds are: "Britannic Road (2 players), Caldera (3), Miletus Peninsula (2), Treasure Island (2), Two Seas Redux (6), White Cliffs of Dover (5). Acropolis Bay heavily altered. Autymn Fields is a reskinned Gallic Fields, and Alpine Valleys reskin. New sandbox scenarios for many of the civs. Started on Corinthian Isthmus (8 players), Blue Nile (4), and Scythian Steppes (4)." (From the description of Delenda Est here.) Sometimes the community-maps or community-maps-2 mods are signed for in-game installation, but they haven't been signed recently enough to work with the current version of 0 A.D. Installing mods with the in-game interface is the only way that is recommended for new users. Mods available there have been verified to be free of malware.

I chose the title "potentially offensive" instead of "offensive" for multiple reasons. First, the title was chosen when only one screenshot was provided. Second, I want to avoid telling the admins how to decide on issues of rule infractions. I oppose the practice of "trial by media", and I want a fair trial for anyone who stands accused. Any statement that labels a person as guilty, except by a judge after a fair trial, is a type of "trial by media". Third, yes, I'm trying to be nice and encourage a community attitude among everyone. In other news, user1 said via IRC that he has seen this forum thread. He said, "yup, thanks for the report :)"

Two more room names insulting me.

Come to think of it, I did mention DemitriTool in the lobby, but I did not speak to him directly. He was busy playing a game at the time, likely saw what I wrote after that game finished and then chose to make an insulting room name about me. Here's the relevant chat log. <mr.michael> Norse_Harold host <Norse_Harold> no one else is able to host right now? <Norse_Harold> oh how nice, DemitriTool is hosting a game with the name "prison rape" <Norse_Harold> small wonder why he's muted in the lobby <mr.michael> hots? <mr.michael> i don't know <Norse_Harold> you don't want to join DemitriTool's team game? <Norse_Harold> I'm working on a project right now <Norse_Harold> I might host a game but not play in it <Norse_Harold> if there is enough demand <Norse_Harold> anyone else want me to host a TG right now? <mr.michael> ok <mr.michael> yes <mr.michael> DemitriTool can't join <Norse_Harold> ah <Norse_Harold> mr.michael, join ... and then DemitriTool hosted the game with the room name in the first screenshot of this thread.

DemitriTool wasn't content to make one profane room name. That game finished and he has started a new game with another profane name. "Vladamir putin's Pocket P*ssy Pick Up Team Game. Welcome welcome coem have fun. we welcome noobs. Have fun. no judgments"

Lion.Kanzen, what you have written resembles lyrics of a song. Apparently the lyrics of some songs by Linkin Park are about being strong despite being bullied. I agree. At first I was going to confront DemitriTool, but I decided to be the bigger man and not say anything to him. We'll see what the admins decide.

DemitriTool was hosting this game today with the title "Norse_Harold's Team Game lots of butt s*x and cheese cake". I haven't said a word to DemitriTool. @user1 and other admins, please have a look at the screenshot and decide whether this violates the rules. He's already muted in the lobby, likely for offensive speech. I would argue that his room name is a violation of rules 3 and 4 of the Terms of Use for the Wildfiregames game lobby.

All right, finally! Thanks for not giving up, mr.michael. And, thanks to farabundo and guerringuerrin for translating to/from Spanish for mr.michael and me yesterday. "It won't load" apparently meant "I can't find the OOS_dump.dat and OOS_dump.txt files". After I posted instructions on where to find the files (AppData\Roaming), mr.michael said that he was finally able to find them and send them to the devs. Also, user1 sent me a PM confirming that he received the OOS dump files from mr.michael. It helps to have a positive confirmation, thanks. The next step is waiting for the files to be analyzed by Silier and user1.

Well, that's getting closer. You were able to make compressed folders, and it's user data related to 0ad. But, it's not the files the devs are looking for. Those files are found in C:\Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Roaming\0ad\config You need to go to C:\Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Local\0ad\logs If you don't see the Local folder in AppData then try enabling view of hidden files and folders. Here are instructions on how to do that. Open File Explorer from the taskbar. Select View > Options > Change folder and search options. Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives Select show system files Click OK These instructions are based on the official Microsoft instructions here. Alternatively you can click in the empty space to the right of the current folder at the top of the Windows Explorer window. It will show you the full path and highlight it. Delete it and type the path that you want to navigate to. Press enter. It should go directly there. If you see mainlog.html then it's the correct folder. Then if you don't see the OOS_dump files then I'll stop bugging you about this. :-) Anyway, if you do see the files then please compress OOS_dump.dat and OOS_dump.txt and attach the .zip file in a private message to @Silier and @user1 (not usuario1) instead of posting them in this publicly readable thread. After you've done that, please post a reply here stating that you have sent the files.

Thanks for posting commands.txt from the replay. The developers still need the following files. OOS_dump.dat OOS_dump.txt Please compress the files and then attach them in a private message to Silier and user1. Here are instructions on where to find the files. The folder that you want is described as "user config and logs" or "logs and cache". On Windows it's probably C:\Documents and Settings\JohnDoe\Local Settings\Application Data\0ad\. Replace "JohnDoe" in the path with your username. Here are instructions on how to create a "compressed folder", also known as a .zip file. You can either select multiple files by holding Ctrl on the keyboard and clicking on each file, or you can compress the entire folder. Right-click on files or a folder that you want to compress, hover over "Send To", then click "Send to Compressed Folder". Then attach only the .zip file in the PM to Silier and user1. If you are unable to create a compressed folder then you can attach the files to the private message without compressing them first. It may take a bit longer to upload them, but it should still work.

Okay, you're right. mainlog.html started as 283 MB, compressed to 38.9 MB, and attaching the compressed version was allowed in a PM. I thought that the attachment file size limit was set much lower on this forum. Even the 102 MB oos_dump.txt and 283 MB mainlog.html files appear to be allowed as attachments in a PM. In the case of mainlog.html it takes long enough to upload that the progress meter doesn't show any progress for many seconds. Perhaps that is why mr.michael thought it wasn't loading?

Yes, when I compress only OOS_dump.dat, OOS_dump.txt, commands.txt, and metadata.json then the result is 4.4 MB, and that's allowed as an attachment. But, I think that including mainlog.html exceeds the maximum file size of attachments. Is mainlog.html actually necessary for troubleshooting this OOS problem, or no?

Here is an update based on game lobby messages. <Norse_Harold> but please PM a download of your log files to Silier, who is a 0ad developer <Norse_Harold> then post a reply in the thread saying that you PM'd your OOS dump files <mr.michael> Norse_Harold is loading (ed. I think he meant: Norse_Harold, it is loading) <Norse_Harold> okay, cool <mr.michael> i already sent yhe file <Norse_Harold> you sent it to Silier? ... <Norse_Harold> mr.michael, you there? <mr.michael> i dont want to load Norse_Harold (ed. I think he meant: it doesn't want to load, Norse_Narold) <Norse_Harold> I don't know what you mean <Norse_Harold> did you PM your OOS_dump.dat and OOS_dump.txt files to Silier? <mr.michael> yes <Norse_Harold> okay, thanks ... <mr.michael> pm no <mr.michael> am <mr.michael> but it doesn't load <Norse_Harold> hey mr.michael <mr.michael> Norse_Harold hey <Norse_Harold> I replied to the forum thread <Norse_Harold> "PM" means "private message" <Norse_Harold> mr.michael, what is your primary language? Maybe someone can translate for us <mr.michael> Norse_Harold firned the porblem is that the file does not load == mr.michael has left I can only guess that "it doesn't load" means that he can't upload the files to the forum. The forum has a limit to the maximum file size that can be uploaded, so this is not surprising. That's why I said "PM a link to the files". This means "upload the files to cloud storage account such as dropbox.com or sync.com, then make a link and private message it to Silier and user1." If someone could please translate this to mr.michael's language then this would be great. Also, Silier PM'd me that mr.michael has not sent the OOS log files to him yet.

@MR.MICHAEL Please send a private message to Silier and user1 with a link to the following files: oos_dump.txt oos_dump.dat commands.txt and metadata.json (the replay files of the game that got the OOS. They are likely in a directory named like 0ad/replays/0.0.25/2021-11-08_0004) mainlog.html

If a person changes a setting on the router, such as the WAN MAC address, and then resets the settings to defaults, the new MAC address isn't being used...

Okay, I have PM'd you a link to my logs and OOS dump. I want to consider it confidential to 0ad devs in case there is private information in the game state dump. mr.michael, I recommend that you do the same. Thanks.

I think that you meant to say "you need to change your WAN MAC address and hardware power cycle the router" here.

Today I was hosting an 8-player team game with no AI. At about 45 minutes we saw an out-of-sync error message, "ERROR: Out-Of-Sync on turn 13420. Players: mr.michael (1446)". This is the second time I have seen this error in the past few weeks. An interesting trait of the game: there was a lot of "lag", but no player was indicated as having a high network latency. There was a lot of combat, and several spectators, and as a host I was getting sometimes 1 to 4 FPS, at the most 14 FPS. Normally I get a solid 60 FPS during early game. We asked some of the players which mods they had enabled. Norse_Harold: no mods. mr.michael: autociv and balanced mainland farabundo: autociv SSwordLurkk: no mods. Palaiologos: autociv, boongui, shiny UI We have several guesses for what could cause this. mr.michael, can you PM a link to a 0ad dev with the oos_dump.dat and oos_dump.txt files in your 0ad logs folder?