Pwnboxer issue

[Aviar]

Tim I have been to several of your broadcasts to try to make you aware of the issues several of us are having with the pwnboxer software. I saw you having the same problem during your broadcasts. What I am referring to is the windows lagging out and dc'ing when you try to switch accounts to the main screen. I am asking you now formally to provide a fix. This issue is obviously with pwnboxer there is no way that this many people with different machines can have the same exact issue. The program is not working as described when we purchased it. It is something in the last update as before I downloaded that update I had no problems at all.

[Tim]

Hello Aviar,

I know what the issue is actually. The issue isn't a Pwnboxer issue, but rather, it is due to how WoW.exe re-calculates the sizes of the graphics that it draws to your screen.

So let me explain.

Say you are standing in an area in WoW that has minimal objects around you. Lets say you are outside Karazhan, with only 5 mobs around you, not doing very much.

When you hit the fast window switch key, WoW actually gets resized (obviously), but during that resize, WoW actually has to re-calculate every graphic object it has on the window. This recalculation requires CPU, memory, pagefile paging, and video card GPU cycles and memory.

So when I am in an area that is "normal", the window swapping is extremely fast. This includes just about every instance and just about all areas in WoW except the populated ones.

But when I am in an area like super crowded Dalaran or Orgrimmar, sometimes this can take 1-2 seconds, or more if its super busy. This is because there can be tens of thousands of objects in the area that need recalculating by WoW.

WoW doesn't crash, but the recalculation will take longer in areas that are more intense. This can be partially worked around by setting your alts to have LOW graphics and a lower frame rate, not to mention having an unfragmented pagefile (YES, this gets used regardless of your RAM), and a ton of RAM free. Also, make sure your WoW.exe has a low committed RAM number listed in Task Manager.

I hope that helps explain things a bit!

[Bubba]

The recalc is a problem with marginal equipment also. I mean anywhere in WOW. I dont switch windows but may have to if I box more than 3 at once.

[Aviar]

Originally Posted by Bubba

The recalc is a problem with marginal equipment also. I mean anywhere in WOW. I dont switch windows but may have to if I box more than 3 at once.

I am not sure I am understanding you about marginal equipment, if you mean my machine that is not a problem I multibox on a laptop with 5 accounts its a smoking machine, I have no problems with ******** it seems to be an issue when I run pwnboxer. I have tried everything people said on here but it still freezes when I fast switch. really frustrating

[LindlineOLD]

Originally Posted by Aviar

I am not sure I am understanding you about marginal equipment, if you mean my machine that is not a problem I multibox on a laptop with 5 accounts its a smoking machine, I have no problems with ******** it seems to be an issue when I run pwnboxer. I have tried everything people said on here but it still freezes when I fast switch. really frustrating

The thing is, there really isn't a solution here. The problem as its been outlined has nothing to do with how PwnBoxer handles WoW but with how WoW handles resizing. Now, I suppose PwnBoxer might be able to fool WoW into thinking it hasn't been resized. Well, maybe its not possible. Still, is there any other program that affects WoW is quite this way? I'm not saying its a definitive answer, but lets go with it. How could we perform the same task that PwnBoxer does with fast window switching without having PwnBoxer perform fast window switching?

Sure, maybe PwnBoxer is causing an issue, but if it is, it'll definitely help narrow down the problem by causing it manually as opposed to what PwnBoxer down automatically.

[Aviar]

Originally Posted by Lindline

The thing is, there really isn't a solution here. The problem as its been outlined has nothing to do with how PwnBoxer handles WoW but with how WoW handles resizing. Now, I suppose PwnBoxer might be able to fool WoW into thinking it hasn't been resized. Well, maybe its not possible. Still, is there any other program that affects WoW is quite this way? I'm not saying its a definitive answer, but lets go with it. How could we perform the same task that PwnBoxer does with fast window switching without having PwnBoxer perform fast window switching?

Sure, maybe PwnBoxer is causing an issue, but if it is, it'll definitely help narrow down the problem by causing it manually as opposed to what PwnBoxer down automatically.

if that was true then it would have ALWAYS happened from the beginning and that is not the case. this started after the last update

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Aviar

I am not sure I am understanding you about marginal equipment, if you mean my machine that is not a problem I multibox on a laptop with 5 accounts its a smoking machine, I have no problems with ******** it seems to be an issue when I run pwnboxer. I have tried everything people said on here but it still freezes when I fast switch. really frustrating

Well the biggest bottleneck is disk IO, and laptops really do have the least disk IO, and even more so, the slow multi access IO.

Best bet is to defrag, rebuild your pagefile.

Also, your wow addons play a HUGE part in this as well, not to mention general WTF folder stuff.

[Hots]

i had the same issue in ******** with fast window switch, with, specially in crowded areas as tim mentioned.

Now how it works on pwnboxer i have really no idear but okay this is my second day trying it, so maybe i i learn with time. If anyone ha´s a link to a nice tutorial for pwnboxer, how to switch window or other nice features it has i would be really happy to see it

There by so far im way more satisfied with pwnboxer rather then ********, its way more easy to setup and get started specially the windows layout facilities it has are great.

Another question i have is how can i make a setup for 4 accounts when i play my druids, and 5 accounts when i play my locks?

as you might noticed im pretty bad with software, so for me making pwnboxer work in about 10 min was awsome. Good job Tim

[LindlineOLD]

Tim suppositively found the solution to the issue. It has nothing to do with the multiboxing software. I'll nag him to post it up.

http://multiboxing.tv/forums/f2/yay-...again-833.html

[Tim]

Yup guys after some intense uhh, well lets just say intensive guessing, I've found out what the problem is.

The problem is due to how WoW builds up a local cache of items, descriptions, and the like as you progress through the game.

When your WoW window is resized, just like I mentioned, it has to recalculate all of the ID's on your screen. But here is the kicker - This recalculation must hit up the WoW local cache file, over and over again, and when that file gets huge and (as with most cache files) inefficient for constant multiple lookups, things start to get real slow. In addition, as what was happening in my case, the cache file once large enough eventually leads to a situation whereas your game may take 20-120sec to fully load.

So here is what you do:

#1 Easy Method
Run the repair.exe in your main wow install. Check all the options and tell it to clear cache and repair.
Then move your addons/wtf folder back


#2 Method which is a little more hit+miss as I haven't tracked all the cache files yet
Go into your wow directory "cache" and just delete it all

I opted for the #1 method on my Shamans, and the #2 method for my Auction guy.

The results?

Prior, my fast window switching in Orgrimmar staring at the ground would take 2-10 seconds, and that is on my extreme BEAST of a system.

After the repair.exe and wiping of cache, I can now switch windows literally MULTIPLE times per second.


Now let me go on a bit. Because I'm INSANE, I actually restored my shamans from a backup directory (1.5TB drives FTW). Sure enough, piss poor initial screen draw times. So I wiped the cache via repair.exe, and guess what, BLAZING SPEED yet again.

A note is that this does not effect just your fast window switching, this effects zone loads, initial logging in, instances, etc.

Because this has such a huge, HUGE affect on the performance of the gameplay, I think this warrents an intensive FAQ/GUIDE to speed up your WoW multibox. I cannot stress enough how much of an absolutely fantastic increase this was for me.