P1999 on Linux Manjaro, blank server list

[Shuffels]

Hi! I've been away for quite some time and have decided to get back into EQ, this time on a Linux install. I didn't have any problems installing the game via mounted iso files, everything went smoothly and I followed the linux installation files including extracting the p1999 files to a separate folder and copy pasting the files and folders separately. When I log in, I get a blank server list, however this isn't always the case. Occasionally the server list is populated and I'm able to get in game, but it seems to be blank 19 out of 20 tries. Any idea what could be going on here?

If there are any logs I could post to help you help me, let me know and I'll do my best to get them posted here. After I post this I'm going to be playing with wireshark to see if this might be caused by packet loss.

--Edit: Just realized I missed a step on the linux install guide at https://wiki.project1999.com/EverQuest_in_Linux_Guide. Toward the bottom of that page, above the section about getting MIDI music to work this step: If you are able to start EverQuest but the server list is blank/empty reference https://github.com/Zaela/p99-login-middlemand. Download and unzip the file. From within the unziped folder run the command $ make. Many errors are caused by missing libraries and can be corrected with the command $ sudo apt-get install build-essential.

I followed this, and running the make command from the unzipped folder works and yields
make
cc -c -o build/main.o src/main.c -O2 -Wall -Wno-strict-aliasing
cc -c -o build/connection.o src/connection.c -O2 -Wall -Wno-strict-aliasing
cc -c -o build/protocol.o src/protocol.c -O2 -Wall -Wno-strict-aliasing
cc -c -o build/sequence.o src/sequence.c -O2 -Wall -Wno-strict-aliasing
cc -o bin/p99-login-middlemand build/main.o build/connection.o build/protocol.o build/sequence.o -O2 -Wall -Wno-strict-aliasing

However, being on Manjaro which is based on Arch, the sudo apt-get install build-essential command is different. Manjaro uses pacman instead of apt, and I can't translate this to whatever arch would use being pretty new to linux. I tried sudo pacman install build-essential and get an error: no operation specified (use -h for help). Same error for sudo pacman build-essential.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Shuffels]

Seems like it might be packet loss. Here's my screenshot of wireshark output vs the screenshot of the guide's wireshark output. Sorry the quality isn't great, I tried an imgur link but it was even worse

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Edit: Is there anything I can do to help with packet loss, if that is the problem here? Router settings etc? I'm grasping in the dark here :(
Edit#2: After some googling it seems that Manjaro Linux comes packaged with everything that the "sudo apt-get install build-essential" command would install.

[loramin]

Short story: it's not Linux, it's Rogean's networking cleverness/fuckery (which term you use depends on whether you're having issues with it or not ATM ;) ... but unfortunately, because of insane ex-players that attack the P99 servers, no matter what you call it, it's necessary).

There is an open source app, P99 Middleman D, which used to fix this ... but for me (also on Linux, Linux Mint specifically) it stopped working like a year ago.

The solution I found was to get a VPN. It costs $5 a month, will (almost certainly) fix this issue, and it will let you download bit torrents without your ISP sending you nasty letters.

But, if you're on a limited budget, or philosophically opposed to a VPN ... well first get a VPN anyway, at least on a free trial, just to confirm that it fixes things. But then once it does and you've confirmed the networking stuff is the problem, you can start going through the laundry list of settings on your router that could be to blame.

There's other threads for that laundry list in the technical chat. Good luck!

[Shuffels]

It's bittersweet finding out that the problem isn't on my end lol.. Anyway could you recommend a vpn? There are so many choices these days. $5 a month might be worth it to play EQ

[loramin]

I use PIA (Private Internet Access) personally, but really any of them should work (there's not much to being a VPN: you more or less just build a server that repeats everything it gets, and passes along anything it receives, only changing their IP, and ... you're done).

But again, if the money matters (and you don't like Bit Torrent) there are threads where more committed folks than I have worked out certain router settings that can fix things ... but because different routing software has different features (and calls them different things), it's just a bit painful to work through, and using a VPN let's you avoid that.

[Shuffels]

On second thought, my friend who actively plays p1999 blue said VPN's might be against the rules around here. Is this the case? I personally have no qualms about using a VPN to play but I don't want my account banned because of it. A quick google search didn't yield anything about whether or not a VPN is strictly against the rules, just a few forum posts about people requesting all vpn use banned. Seems iffy :(

[Barm McLir]

I'm not currently running under Linux, but when I did I would get blank server select screens if connected over wifi and normal ones if using a wired connection.

[loramin]

On second thought, my friend who actively plays p1999 blue said VPN's might be against the rules around here. Is this the case? I personally have no qualms about using a VPN to play but I don't want my account banned because of it. A quick google search didn't yield anything about whether or not a VPN is strictly against the rules, just a few forum posts about people requesting all vpn use banned. Seems iffy :(

I can guarantee it's not, as I and many others use them, and have for years.

What might give the mistaken impression that they are banned is that they are banned ... if you use them to try and circumvent other rules.

For instance, let's say you think you're going to be clever and two-box by using a VPN to make it seem like the two accounts you're playing are separate computers: that most certainly is prohibited (and it will work right up until it doesn't, and both your accounts get banned for life).

But as long as you play by the "one human per account" rule (and all the other rules of course) VPNs are 100% acceptable.

[Shuffels]

I'm not currently running under Linux, but when I did I would get blank server select screens if connected over wifi and normal ones if using a wired connection.

I'm on a wired connection, though the router I'm on has other devices connected via wifi but I don't think that matters

But as long as you play by the "one human per account" rule (and all the other rules of course) VPNs are 100% acceptable.

Awesome, good to hear I'll be looking into VPN's then! Thanks for all the help and info :D

[loramin]

I'm on a wired connection, though the router I'm on has other devices connected via wifi but I don't think that matters



Awesome, good to hear I'll be looking into VPN's then! Thanks for all the help and info :D

Happy to help; us Linux weirdos have to stick together ;)

[tristantio]

PIA + OpenVpn is a great GNU/Linux setup for this.

[Shuffels]

I decided to try a free vpn for the purpose of playing EQ, and I'm having a little trouble connecting. I'm using the deepin desktop environment, and was able to successfully get a VPN set up through the deepin network manager (I like that it has a switch so I can turn it on and off without messing around in the terminal, great ease of use) but when I try to login to the eq server I get a "Connection to the server cannot be reached" dialog. Web browsing works fine, it's a little slower than it is with no vpn but EQ is acting like I'm not connected to the internet.

I know this isnt a Linux/VPN support forum, but seeing as you guys have some experience with it I figured I'd ask, I've had more luck getting help here than on the Manjaro Linux forums for my other non EQ issues lol :rolleyes:

The free VPN I'm using is from vpnbook.com, here's a copypaste of the .ovpn file (which I converted to a .conf file to import it using the deepin control center network manager) I had to do a little tinkering in the deepin network manager settings to get the vpn working properly in the first place, so maybe there's something I missed there that would allow EQ to connect to the login server.

---
client
dev tun1
proto tcp
remote 198.7.62.204 443
remote us1.vpnbook.com 443
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
persist-key
persist-tun
auth-user-pass
comp-lzo
verb 3
cipher AES-128-CBC
fast-io
pull
route-delay 2
redirect-gateway
<ca>
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-----END CERTIFICATE-----
</ca>
<cert>
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MIID6DCCA1GgAwIBAgIBATANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQUFADCBoDELMA kGA1UEBhMCQ0gx
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</cert>
<key>
-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
MIICXAIBAAKBgQCkTM/8E+JHCjskqMIwgYDrNCBTWZLa+qKkJjZ/rliJomTfVYwK
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-----END RSA PRIVATE KEY-----
</key>

---

Screenshot of network manager vpn config imported from .conf file
:12265

[Archalus]

Middlemand works great for me on my Vanilla Arch and Manjaro boxes so should be fine for you. Also VPN works well if you can't get to work.

[shinji_kun]

Hello fellow Linux and Classic Everquest afficianados! As of yesterday, I played on Teal for a few nights filled with enjoyment and nostalgia. When I went to log in after work today, I did not see Teal in the server list, and was soon presented with an error on a spell file when I proceeded to select Green, assuming a server merge. I downloaded and installed the v53 patch, and upon re-launch of the client, I found my server list was blank.

I am running Ubuntu 18.04 on an inexpensive HP chromebook 14 I bought on Black Friday at Best Buy last year. I have been using the aforementioned p99-login-middlemand program to get around the blank list issue I first encountered when I installed the Titanium client and P1999 files. It stopped working for me with the new update, for some reason. I did only try it 7 times with no luck, before I went searching for an answer and noticed this post.

@loramin: What you mentioned about using a VPN to connect gave me a bit on hope to fix my issue. I signed up for a free Windscribe account and installed the command line app. Sure enough, I was able to log in and see the full server list, as well as enter the game with a decent ping. Thank you, Sir! :D

@Shuffels: VPN worked for me after Middlemand stopped liking me. I wish you the best of luck!

[Shuffels]

So I got middlemand installed, ran it and got the p1999 server list to show up! Which exposed a new problem lol :confused:

Here's a screenshot. I tried re copying the p99filesb52.zip to the eq directory, again going directory by directory because of the linux quirkiness of overwriting the folders instead of replacing their contents. Still getting the same error message. Can anyone post the contents of their spells_us.txt file? I dunno why mine would be different.

12266

[Shuffels]

Got everything working and in game finally!

In my efforts to solve the server list being blank, I somehow had downloaded the wrong p1999 files patch, from the last update instead of the current one. Extracted the current release and was able to get in game :D Thanks everyone for all your help! If anyone has an alt around 55 I'm mostly going to be playing my 55 Iksar necro named shuffels :cool:

[Benanov]

-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----


...and now you need new Private Keys.

Please don't post private keys on public forums. At that point they no longer are PRIVATE keys and must be discarded.

[Shuffels]

I was only using those keys to troubleshoot, it was a random free vpn I googled. If I couldn't find another solution and the vpn worked, I would have paid the $3-$5 a month for a better vpn :)

[rns416]

how can i install or compile this tool middlemand sorry noob trying manjaro first time any direction will be helful thanks