[DumB] ServerChecker v3.03 Options

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

For those that got immediately sent here, click through to the description of ServerChecker first to read more about it.
The changelog for version 3.0 can be found here.
A quick link to the v2.0 post.

For all of the fast guys amongst you, some notes:
- Uninstall previous versions of ServerChecker through the control panel before you continue
- Read the online/included Readme/Help/Description here. It contains everything you need to know.
- For reasons explained in that very Readme I was unable to maintain
file compatibility with version 2.0. I'm sorry for the inconvenience caused. For future updates this will not be an issue anymore.

ServerChecker is a growing success. v1.0 was able to get over 275 downloads in 1 month. Version 2.0 beat that hands down with over 1000 downloads in less than a month. I received a lot of positive feedback, and requests. Almost every feature request was implemented and now I can present you version 3.0 of this nice piece of software. It has support for over 100 games, allows for scheduling, non-gameserver programs and it will keep your server's uptime skyhigh.

I'd like to remind you however that Dumb and Dumber is a community that survives on donations. So if you think my work is worth it, please check out our donations forum.

As with the previous version, there's 2 downloads:
[list]
[*] The installer. Remember to uninstall previous versions first.
[*] The source code. (I wonder who's downloading it, and for what purpose . Let me know...) ServerChecker is GPL licensed!
[list]

edit:
I've made a quick update to ServerChecker: the order of start and stop times does not matter anymore.
edit:
Corrected the time-bug. (see readme)
After installation, start and stop times may be different. All other settings should remain unchanged.
edit:
A workaround for the HLDS CPU-affinity-bug is present. All it does is set CPU-affinity to 1 CPU and then back to all CPU's. It will not affect other types of gameservers. I did not yet have time to update the source-code.
edit:
Seems like sometimes the cpu-affinity workaround does it's job too fast. I've changed it so he fix applies after the server has started up.


edit:
We moved webby hosts and something seems to have broken the downloads. Forum upload function is temporarily broken as well so it seems.
links:
http://highguy.dumbclan.com/ServerChecker.msi for the Program itself. (+- 1500 downloads)
http://highguy.dumbclan.com/ServerChecker302.rar for the Source Code (+- 650 downloads)

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

this version should be 3.02

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

I've recompiled and uploaded the project. all should be fine now.
Sorry for the inconvenience

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

I must have been sleeping :|
It's fixed now

Aside from that I've started a complete rewrite in C# today.
It'll be running as a service and will only be controllable through a remote program (running on either the server or your home-pc). Currently I'm using Rijndael for encryption and XML as data format. This should make it easy for someone else to make another interface to the server.

I'm not sure whether I'll be able to complete all of it in the near future, but I'm doing my best. Something else I've noted: the service is currently using 8.8MB :s I don't think however that it will increase a lot. The program itself is currently 28Kb :wink:

We'll see what the future gives us.
---------------------------------------
currently implemented:
- ported the serverchecking core to C# + added processor affinity.
- running as a service (basic)
- partially completed communications (encrypted TCP-connection using Rijndael)
- made an XML Schema to be used in communications.

next up:
- complete communication
- implement configuration saving (config files etc)
- implement better scheduling
- plenty more

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

As far as I know it adjusts some timer which causes work to be done more frequently instead of saving it up for later.

think of work flowing in at a constant rate while you process the work in groups of work.
When you check out the work queue more often you'll process more smaller groups of work.

People believe this boosts server fps. You can probably find more information on the steam forums about this feature.

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

make sure that ServerChecker is being started with the /startup parameter.

(check the shortcut in your start > programs > startup menu.)

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

Well,

let's say... it's delayed

I'm busy finishing my thesis subject and after that there's gonna be exams...

I don't think I'll be able to do anything untill then,
Sorry

[Guest__*]

when i have 2 servers put in ,i can´t shows one ? onely i can put a new server in , nothing else.

when i whant to stop server 1 i cant do it ??

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

when i have 2 servers put in ,i can´t shows one ? onely i can put a new server in , nothing else.

when i whant to stop server 1 i cant do it ??

eh ?
what do u mean ?

if necessary use screenshots to explain what u mean or post in your own language. We might have somebody around who can translate it to proper english.

[Guest_user10_*]

I seem to have a problem in the executable part, I use the example shown
with the steam.exe -applaunce 5 and that was the only time It started to
work but it didn't start my dedicated server. It just stayed in the options
of it when choosing the map, game type, players, etc. What exactly do you
have to put in the executable after steam.exe to make my dedicated start up
with serverchecker? I'm using a mod game (coldblood) a half life 1 mod. I
really need this since my server randomly crashes (error hld.exe) so you
know how helpful it would be if serverchecker would start it back up when it
goes down.

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

first of all:
are u sure you didn't make a typo (applaunch instead of applaunce) ?
I also think that game number 5 is counter-strike. not coldblood.

Next:
It's really better to run a HL Dedicated server i.e. not through Steam.
I also noted this in the ServerChecker Readme.

[Guest_user10_*]

When I use hlds.exe It won't start up like it did before with the steam.exe , should I use hlds.exe -game coldblood +ip______ or hlds.exe -applaunch _ ?

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

be sure to use the -console argument as noted in the readme.

how to set up a suited command-line for your server is not something I know or am responsible for. I think u can find plenty of example command-lines on for example the steam forums.

afaik u are not having any ServerChecker-specific issues

[Guest_|GFTU| The mEtEorS_*]

ok versuch ichs mal auf deutsch hoffe es kann mir jemand helfen,

also ich habe mir den servershecker installiert , danach einen server eingetragen,den ich auch starten konnte.
danach habe ich den zweiten server eingetragen , den konnte ich auch starten.

nur wenn ich jetzt auf den ersten server wieder zugreifen wollte (stoppen oder so)
ging das nicht , konnte kein server an klicken .
nur halt welche eintragen danach hatte ich keine möglichkeit einzelne server upzudaten retsarten oder zu stoppen außer ich habe server check geschloßen
dann gehen alle aus aber ich möcht ja einzelne server anwählen an und aus schalten können ?? please help

http://www.gftu-clan.de/MainWindow.gif

[Guest_t55_*]

I am confused about the CPU affinity thing. When I start 2 of my servers, they are fine without having to do anything with the affinity.

But when I start my 3rd or 4th server, the first CPU sky rockets so I tried changing to CPU0 then setting it on all and the server keeps restarting over and over. Am I not doing this correctly?

[[DumB]TeXas]

There is a bug with hlds/srcds which binds the game process to the first core by default - what the new serverchecker should do is to remove the affinity on one core and then put it back on - which seems to solve the problem. (You should not need to set any affinity your self) This is something we noticed when getting our own dual core machines - in the future when HG has time for it we might see functionality to set affinity and priority in each servers settings.

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

ok versuch ichs mal auf deutsch hoffe es kann mir jemand helfen,

also ich habe mir den servershecker installiert , danach einen server eingetragen,den ich auch starten konnte.
danach habe ich den zweiten server eingetragen , den konnte ich auch starten.

nur wenn ich jetzt auf den ersten server wieder zugreifen wollte (stoppen oder so)
ging das nicht , konnte kein server an klicken .
nur halt welche eintragen danach hatte ich keine möglichkeit einzelne server upzudaten retsarten oder zu stoppen außer ich habe server check geschloßen
dann gehen alle aus aber ich möcht ja einzelne server anwählen an und aus schalten können ?? please help

http://www.gftu-clan.de/MainWindow.gif

my little knowledge of german tells me you cannot select a server:
when u select a server the information at the bottom does not change.

This is an odd problem. I've rechecked the code and cannot really find why it would not do that.
I've been thinking about a localization issue but I don't think it would effect that.

What version of windows are you running ?

[[DumB]H!GHGuY]

I am confused about the CPU affinity thing. When I start 2 of my servers, they are fine without having to do anything with the affinity.

But when I start my 3rd or 4th server, the first CPU sky rockets so I tried changing to CPU0 then setting it on all and the server keeps restarting over and over. Am I not doing this correctly?

are you saying that the automatic CPU-affinity patch does not work on your 3rd or 4th server ?

In general: you should not care about CPU-affinity at all. Windows does a good job by default.

If on the other hand there's a bug, as HLDS seems to have, it might be necessary to fix this. That's exactly what SC does now. You should again not care about CPU-affinity anymore because of this workaround.

as a sidenote:
somebody on IRC pointed me to this site:
http://www.robpol86.com/Pages/imagecfg.php
Use it at own risk. I'll try and see if I can find out something more with this program about why HLDS is bugged.

[Guest_|GFTU| The mEtEorS_*]

We have a windows 2003 server

[Guest__*]

H!GHGuY]

I am confused about the CPU affinity thing. When I start 2 of my servers, they are fine without having to do anything with the affinity.

But when I start my 3rd or 4th server, the first CPU sky rockets so I tried changing to CPU0 then setting it on all and the server keeps restarting over and over. Am I not doing this correctly?

are you saying that the automatic CPU-affinity patch does not work on your 3rd or 4th server ?

In general: you should not care about CPU-affinity at all. Windows does a good job by default.

If on the other hand there's a bug, as HLDS seems to have, it might be necessary to fix this. That's exactly what SC does now. You should again not care about CPU-affinity anymore because of this workaround.

as a sidenote:
somebody on IRC pointed me to this site:
http://www.robpol86.com/Pages/imagecfg.php
Use it at own risk. I'll try and see if I can find out something more with this program about why HLDS is bugged.

Yes that is correct. The first two servers are 17 slots while the 3rd and 4th are 32 slots each but I even tried changing the slots to 17 and it still sky rocketed. I don't know what else to do.