Really insane login issue
 

So starting a few days ago I can no longer log in to the server. I can get through the password screen, but no servers show up, and I can't bypass that by going straight to P1999. This was annoying, so I took a packet capture using wireshark. When I click on 'Follow UDP stream' (why on earth did the EQ developers use UDP and not TCP for their login server?) I get this:

......#*0.......#*0............................... ..........".................e....ChatMessage...... ..(....................)..!.,t..!0 .(...W>........X................
.'...r`+..v>z].....Ht_...[......B'h..A{.V..m..z........../t.-......xG...............................
.....+............e.....F...66.226.124.197........ .[A 0.8.0] Z Glooms of Hades.EN.US.........96.48.192.134.....
...[A 0.8.0] Rhodinian.EN.US.........abyss.mmoemulators.com.... .....[B 0.7.0] The Abyss.EN.US.........jfaith.dyndns.org.........[A 0.8.0] OldSchoolz.EN.US.........66.157.82.249.....
...[A 0.8.0] XxXDeathXxX Noraths Elite(Faster AA's).EN.US.........76.85.180.45.........[A 0.8.0] Vision.EN.US.........71.39.172.122.........[A 0.8.0] Vahalla - 5 bots allowed, test.EN.US.........50.47.3.226.........[.
..A 0.8.0] Wonderland.EN.US.........24.140.115.199.........[A 0.8.0] Adak's World - ALPHA.EN.US.........68.54.213.15.........[A 0.8.0] The Irreverent(The Solo Server,70,epic2,GoD).EN.US.........69.245.68.123.. .......[A 0.8.0] The Dark Server (Under Construction).EN.US.........ip.geminiserver.com... ......[A 0.8.0] Gemini (Legit-GoD) [www.geminiserver.com].EN.US.........70.88.103.26.........[B 0.7.0] SoA[Cust/Legit]4xXP/5xAA.EN.US.........71.114.243.164.........[A 0.8.0] Unreliable[testing].EN.US.........20.
..8.109.107.204.........[A 0.8.0] *Desdemona: Open Beta [Smart Bots/Legit/2xp].EN.US.....
...75.131.42.22.........[A 0.8.0] MythicEQ [SemiLegit-PVE-2X-Open to Public].EN.US.........67.23.190.75.........[A 0.8.0] Project 1999: The Ruins of Kunark.EN.US.....1...173.160.149.217.........[A 0.8.0] (Gnomish PG) Progression/3xXP/Some Custom.EN.US.........74.92.161.53.........[A 0.8.0] Darkstar.EN.US.........67.189.78.19.........[A 0.8.0] Advents Shadow.EN.US.........74.200.64.69.........[A 0.8.0] .Sarus : Solo/L.
..egit/Bots,1grp raids,WeakMobs,FastRespawn,Progression,Bots.EN.US. ........yimatz001.gicp.net.........[A 0.8.0] MyEQsf [Rev-2033Bots Spells GMcommands Legit].EN.US.........thflive.dyndns.org.........[A 0.8.0] The Hidden Forest [ www.thehiddenforest.org ].EN.US.........ultimatehell.dyndns-home.com..... ...[A 0.8.0] Uaellaen's testserver.EN.US.........eqtitan.com.....!...[A 0.8.0] ( EQT ) EQTitan [Legit PoP/LDoN/GoD].EN.US.....K...64.253.96.121....."...[A 0.8.0] Jorna's Playground.EN.US.........98.193.242.7......#*0...

The dots are unprintable characters, but the point is the login server is clearly sending my computer the information, i.e. the network really looks like its working, but nothing shows up!

Well I spent some time reading the eqemulator login server code, and what did I find but a complete reimplementation of TCP! I really have no idea why Verant decided to do this, but at least given that code (which has error checking based on my very brief look) I'm guessing that Rogean rewrote the loginserver in the simplest way (without implementing a TCP stack), and my internet connection (which keeps getting worse) is dropping a UDP packet here or there, and the login server isn't resending. I'm attaching the actual packet trace if anyone wants to take a look.

EQ devs used UDP because TCP may decide that it won't send data until you have enough saved up into reasonably sized packets. You want your client data to get to the server asap but TCP has a habit of delaying that.

Ah, that makes good sense. Although I have to wonder if there wasn't a configuration option they could set somewhere to turn it off. I would think it would be easier to change 1 line in the linux kernel than write an entire TCP stack. But maybe there were deeper issues.

I started having this problem two nights ago. It's really annoying :( Takes about a dozen login tries before i can see the list of servers. It's a shame the quick login doesn't work for p1999.

Same here. Lots and lots of logins 'til I get the servers to show up, then I'm crashing a lot when I zone. This never used to happen, seems to have started after the most recent patch.

I wonder if you guys would consider actually looking at the packets and seeing if we have the same issue? It's actually fairly simple:

download/install/run wireshark
select capture, pick the interface that looks like a network card
attempt to log into P1999
stop capture
post results

So I was able to log in today, and this is what a successful login looks like:

......l..A......l..A.............................. ..........".................e....ChatMessage...... ..(....................)..!.,t..!0 .(...W>........X................
.'...r`.JK.z....I.......rhV.Kv.!m-....$.....b.....?N.6j.........m...:|.............. ................
..................e.....K...63.131.167.27.........[A 0.8.0] EZ Server - Custom Zones, Vendors, Quests, Items, etc.EN.US.....*...96.48.192.134.....
...[A 0.8.0] Rhodinian.EN.US.........abyss.mmoemulators.com.... .....[B 0.7.0] The Abyss.EN.US.........jfaith.dyndns.org.........[A 0.8.0] OldSchoolz.EN.US.........thfdev.dyndns.org.....
...[A 0.8.0] THF Test Server.EN.US.........76.85.180.45.........[A 0.8.0] Vision.EN.US.........71.39.172.122.........[A 0.8.0] Vahalla - 5 bots allowed, test.EN.US.........50.47.
...3.226.........[A 0.8.0] Wonderland.EN.US.........66.157.82.249.........[A 0.8.0] XxXDeathXxX Noraths Elite(Faster AA's).EN.US.........68.54.213.15.........[A 0.8.0] The Irreverent(The Solo Server,70,epic2,GoD).EN.US.........66.41.242.123.. .......[A 0.8.0] The Scooby Doo Gang.EN.US.........ip.geminiserver.com.........[A 0.8.0] Gemini (Legit-GoD) [www.geminiserver.com].EN.US.........70.88.103.26.........[B 0.7.0] SoA[Cust/Legit]4xXP/5xAA.EN.US.....
...71.114.243.164.........[A 0.8.0] Unreliable[testing]..
..EN.US.........208.109.107.204.........[A 0.8.0] *Desdemona: Open Beta [Smart Bots/Legit/2xp].EN.US.........67.23.190.75.........[A 0.8.0] Project 1999: The Ruins of Kunark.EN.US.....L...173.160.149.217.........[A 0.8.0] (Gnomish PG) Progression/3xXP/Some Custom.EN.US.........74.92.161.53.........[A 0.8.0] Darkstar.EN.US.........75.131.42.22.........[A 0.8.0] AnvilEQ [PoP Legit with #Bots-GM Events Daily].EN.US.........69.168.254.241.........[A 0.8.0] (TEST) Akka's Fun House SOD Zones/Diablo Loot/All New.
.. Stuff!!.EN.US.........75.150.193.246.........[A 0.8.0] Everquest-Rebirth (in Development).EN.US.........thflive.dyndns.org..... ....[A 0.8.0] The Hidden Forest [ www.thehiddenforest.org ].EN.US.....8...ultimatehell.dyndns-home.com..... ...[A 0.8.0] Uaellaen's testserver.EN.US.........eqtitan.com.....!...[A 0.8.0] ( EQT ) EQTitan [Legit PoP/LDoN/GoD].EN.US.........64.253.96.121....."...[A 0.8.0] Jorna's Playground.EN.US.........99.241.80.179.....#...[A 0.8.0] LOTR: The Years of Trees (ALPHA custom legit .
..1.75x exp 2x aa exp, custom drops, quests).EN.US.........67.128.55.8.....$...[A 0.8.0] Old Brell Serilis.EN.US.........bekon.dyndns-ip.com.....%...[A 0.8.0] Home Test.EN.US.........99.90.120.61.....&...[A 0.8.0] SWDS EQ.EN.US.........173.168.10.83.....'...[A 0.8.0] Noslo Test Server.EN.US.........akkadius.rogean.com.....(...[A 0.8.0] Akka's Fun House (10-2-2011 Patch).EN.US.........yimatz001.gicp.net.....)...[A 0.8.0] MyEQsf [Rev-2039Bots Spells GMcommands Legit].EN.US.........74.129.141.102.....*...[A .
..0.8.0] Stormreach.EN.US.........64.77.193.218.....+...[A 0.8.0] [PROJECT AXCLASSIC] The Rathe.EN.US.........69.69.181.40.....,...[A 0.8.0] BOSS Server.EN.US.........mmoemulators.com.....-...[A 0.8.0] Morell-Thule: Resurrection (Non-Legit).EN.US.........209.17.190.171.........[A 0.8.0] *RED69* [Classic, PVP, GuildWars, No Boxing].EN.US.........174.66.198.2...../...[A 0.8.0] (Construction) - Wanderlust.EN.US.........74.86.211.50.....0...[A 0.8.0] [XJZ Philippines].EN.US.........206.169.89.79.....1...[A 0..
..8.0] Mudspudz and His World.EN.US.........69.148.154.232.....2...[A 0.8.0] Dungeon Crawl Test.EN.US.........24.18.87.212.....3...[A 0.8.0] WhitEQ.EN.US.........71.227.210.234.....4...[A 0.8.0] The Realm.EN.US.........76.108.169.17.....5...[A 0.8.0] ... The Sleeper: Scars of Velious [DEV].EN.US.........sunseq.no-ip.org.....6...[A 0.8.0] [Taiwan-CEQ] Sun's Style EverQuest.EN.US.........76.27.141.97.....7...[A 0.8.0] operation wolf.EN.US.........61.152.188.127.....8...[A 0.8.0] Dragon Soul - CEQ [zh-cn.
../legit/PvE].EN.US.....|...98.193.242.74.....9...[A 0.8.0] Nytemare.EN.US.........98.95.115.190.....:...[A 0.8.0] The House of Morokrist.EN.US.........98.24.11.106.....;...[A 0.8.0] Jay's Everquest-EMU Server.EN.US.........71.92.150.248.....<...[A 0.8.0] Raid Addicts (Fully Custom) - http://www.raidaddicts.org.EN.US.......5.68.123.....=...[A 0.8.0] The Dark Server (Under Construction).EN.US.........69.171.147.166.....>.. .[A 0.8.0] indevelopment.EN.US.........78.46.64.34.....?...[A 0.8.0] GEQ - Norrath's .
.
Waechter.EN.US.........67.189.78.19.....@...[A 0.8.0] Advents Shadow.EN.US.........184.174.137.130.....A...[A 0.8.0] !Nagafens Lair:Classic/Solo/You Unlock Progression! Scaled World, no CR.EN.US.........66.225.253.113.....B...[A 0.8.0] Alternate Universe.EN.US.........69.168.254.243.....C...[A 0.8.0] Storm Haven - High-Quality Custom Content.EN.US.....T...67.23.190.82.....D...[A 0.8.0] [PEQ]The Grand Creation [legit-god].EN.US.........71.227.137.155.....E...[A 0.8.0] Halls Havoc - Minor Fixes Only.EN.US.
...........67.180.133.133.....F...[A 0.8.0] Pi EQEMU Server [Custom-Legit].EN.US.........67.23.190.78.....G...[A 0.8.0] Project 1999: Classic PvP [Beta].EN.US.....G...66.28.184.13.....H...[A 0.8.0] [PEQ]The Old Creation [Test Bed] (ProjectEQ).EN.US.........173.165.205.3.....I...[A 0.8.0] The 9th Circle of Dante's Inferno.EN.US.........blackscale.dyndns.org.....J. ..[A 0.8.0] (BlackScale) : Progression Tier Server [kunark~pop].EN.US.........71.81.140.171.....K...[A 0.8.0] A Test Haven - Storm Haven Test Ser.
..ver.EN.US.........72.214.238.173.....L...[A 0.8.0] Ashenback - The Dragon Server.EN.US.........68.152.6.49.....M...[A 0.8.0] Meridian - Bringing back the Epic..EN.US.........216.49.224.132.....N...[A 0.8.0] Discordant Whisper (Level Scaled World Loot, New Stat Dynamics).EN.US.........69.168.254.242.....O...[A 0.8.0] . *(ReVamped)* EQ Resurrection.EN.US..... ...108.23.234.199.....P...[A 0.8.0] Fribbit's Test.EN.US.........96.18.67.76.....R...[A 0.8.0] Broken Cog.EN.US.........98.169.184.39.....S...[A 0.8.
.
.0] Wardens of Atlah.EN.US.........74.200.64.69.....U...[A 0.8.0] .Sarus : Solo/Legit/Bots,1grp raids,WeakMobs,FastRespawn,Progression,Bots.EN.US. ........lootfest.dyndns-server.com.....V...[A 0.8.0] Loot Fest-:sweet random loot,bot,powerful mobs.EN.US.....3......
..l..A..

Why I was only getting the first 3 packets before, I have no idea.

Are you on wireless?

No. Although I do have a linux box that sits between this computer and the Internet. I've really found the whole thing absolutely baffling - one day it worked, one day it didn't, and now it seems to be in a good mood again. It's not impossible that my ISP made some mistakes (we just got ethernet and they have been reconfiguring their network). At least I learned something out of the whole business.