Re: [CF:1317] client 0.95 dies with "Got error on read", other probs

[Peter Mardahl <>]

> Problems:  This week I upgraded my system to SuSE 6.4 (Kernel 2.2.14),
> and, while I haven't hit any problems with the OS proper, I have not
> been able to get the "new and improved" Crossfire 0.95.4 working.

>  1) Major:  Frequently but intermittly both client and server die.
>     This mostly (but not always) occurs when switching maps.  cfclient
>     exits from its main loop follwing DoClient() with the message "Got
>     error on read (error k), exiting.", where 'k' is usually 0 (but was
>     11/EAGAIN on one occasion).
> 
>     This error seems to take out the server at the same time.

This seems like the server crashed for some reason, not a client problem.
A lot of the bugs which would crash the server have been fixed recently,
you might have better luck with a current snapshot, if you're up to
the effort of downloading and installing crossfire from source code.
http://langmuir.EECS.Berkeley.EDU/pub/peterm/crossfire/todays_snapshot/
get the maps.tar.gz file and the crossfire.tar.gz file.



>  2) Serious:  Performance is noticeably worse than 0.93.x.  Movement is
>     sluggish, then "bursty", so it is very difficult to react properly
>     to on-screen events.  I'm talking about the kind of jerky
>     interaction that can (excuse the expression (;-)) get one killed.
>     I saw some comments in this list's archive that seemed to indicate
>     that this was due to a change in the server-client interaciton, but
>     no hints on how to make it better.
> 
>  3) Serious:  On several occasions my character would get "stuck" and
>     only move north or northeast.  There are any number of places where
>     this is Not A Good Thing, leading to death or starvation.

I don't have anything useful to say about these, other than that the
curent version seems fine in both these regards.  However, I'm using
a 400MHz PII with 256M memory....

>  4) Minor:  The old "single invocation" feature(?)  seems to be gone.
>     Not too big a deal (I think) once I get past the other problems, I 
>     just need to set up a script to fire off the server and client.

This is a result of the effort to rid the crossfire server code of
all X stuff.

> So...  hints, suggestions, and pointers to places that might help will
> be appreciated.  I am very impressed with the time and effort that has
> gone into this piece of software, and, while I suppose I _could_ go back
> to 0.93 the new graphics are _so_ much better (;-).

Ah, if you've a slow machine, the better graphics might be what is
slowing you down.

Good luck,


PeterM