Official forums for BZFlag.org

I usually average lag around 250ms, and jitter around 45ms. I dont know if I should upgrade my computer, or get a new cable modem from my internet provider. By the way, I cant play on maps because of UDP. I know that problem is ISP related though. What should I do next? Thanks for feedback, gentle giant

Do a search. Then close applications, pause/stop downloads etc. Just have BzFlag running.
It might be your ISP so check with them if they're doing upgrades or whatever.

First step should be to make sure you have the latest drivers for your network card and all of your networking equipment (routers, wireless access points, cable modem) have the latest firmware.

Should probably run a full virus/malware scan too, as that stuff could induce jitter. (Scan with the free Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy)

The thing is, it has been like this since I started playing bzflag one year ago. So I don't really think I can reduce it at all. I noticed that six months ago I averaged lag around 500, so that was the only thing that went down in one year.

If you have done nothing to fix it, it won't change. So whether it has been 3 days or 6 years, with no changes on your part your jitter will not go down. If you are not interested or don't believe it can go down, why did you ask what you can do in the first place? We told you what to try, and then you said it won't work. Well that is a great plan...

I understand what you are trying to say Joevano, but im only in Junior High. I am having some trouble understanding what some of you are talking about. I understand the basics and am having trouble finding some stuff. Like Blast, that looks like it could fix my problems, but I don't know where to find it. You to Joevano, I understand the equipment, but not the the network card. So when everyone explains stuff to me, could you give me a little more deatail of where to find it. All I want to do is play . Sorry for the misunderstanding. gentle giant

No problem, we would be happy to help. You may also want to involve a parent if they know anything about the computer set up you are using (especially if you start uploading firmware to the router). It is not difficult stuff, nor particularly dangerous but it is good to let them know you are trying to do it so that if you should get yourself into trouble they know what you have been doing. First thing is what OS are you using? Windows XP, Vista, OS X, Linux? We will need to know that first so we can tailor the directions for your particular system.

I have Windows on a toshiba laptop.

Xp? Vista?

Also, what is the model # for the laptop? Do you connect using wireless?

I have Vista basic. And no, I do not have a wireless connection.

What is the laptop model so I can point you at the right web page for your network drivers...

We lost the owners manuel, and there are seven stickers on the bottom of the computer with none in particular saying computer model #. There are other ones like serial #, satelite#(which is my laptop), product key#, and part #. I think it is supposed to be the satelite #, but I didn't want to guess and get everyone helping me fix my problem, going in the wrong direction.

Start with the satelite# and the the Part#, as that's probably what we want. We don't need the product key, because that's for Windows. And the serial number probably won't help us either.

ok. my part # is PSADOU-ON5OON
my satellite # is A135-54656
I hope that helps.

OK, first off you had the part # wrong .. it is actually PSA0U-0500N (part numbers usually have 0s instead of Os, so it was easy to figure out)

The page you need for you drivers is here http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais ... 705|PSAD0U

There are two things there that you should definitely update (and note there are 3 pages of updates there). The first one I would update is the BIOS (page 1), then I would update the LAN driver (page 2, bottom) although this driver may be the same as you have right now since it is pretty old, but it is worth a shot. There should be instructions on the same page where you download them from. PM me if you need help...

Dependent on vendor, a bios downgrade can be really problematic (that's exasperating if a brand-new bios upgrade has bad bugs)
More important: generally a failing bios-Update can make your computer system even unusable.
So a bios update should be rather a last resort.

z[h]ero wrote:Dependent on vendor, a bios downgrade can be really problematic (that's exasperating if a brand-new bios upgrade has bad bugs)
More important: generally a failing bios-Update can make your computer system even unusable.
So a bios update should be rather a last resort.

While your thoughts are technically true, upgrading a BIOS is not nearly as dangerous as you make it out to be. Yes, a power failure in the middle of a BIOS update can brick your device. The number of BIOS upgrades that actually do go wrong would be a very, very small percentage. I would probably say it is less that .1% . I have upgraded thousands of BIOSes (yes, thousands) and have never had one go wrong. You are sensationalizing it, and selling fear which tends to be your norm.

The quintessence is that one should first try out the "risk-free" updates instead of starting with the risky updates. So I wouldn't recommand a newbie a bios-update as first step.
Btw, it's a very BIG difference whether you update thousands bios of some few brand-name computer systems, or thousands differents bios of thousands different "non-name producer" who don't care about their BIOS and don't care about their customers.

I take fault with you on several of you "points":
a) We are discussing a Toshiba laptop, not some "no-name" device. They ARE a well know producer.
b) The BIOS update is posted on their PUBLIC site, for the PUBLIC to apply. It has been tested and instructions are very clear, in fact BIOS updates on laptops are very easy and painless
c) the BIOS can affect low level functioning of a PC, in fact I know several PC models that cannot run XP or VISTA without BIOS updates. It can also affect the handling of bus issues, which could be a possibility here.

In recent years, things have gotten a whole lot more friendly on the BIOS upgrade front, and markedly more failure resistant too. It's likely that the major motherboard manufacturers realized that consumers were simply not bothering to update their motherboards due to the complexities involved. Since BIOS updates can add new features and considerable stability to their products, it was definitely in the manufacturer's best interest to find an easier and more fault resistant way for consumers to update a BIOS.

from http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1605