SSD Mac Trouble

[Valorin]

Hello all,

I'm having some problems with my new SSD setup. I've gotten all of the WoW folders setup on the SSD with symlinks to the Data and Interface folders. Worked great my first night. Now, I'm having this incredibly annoying crash going on 42 hours now. Judging by the error log, it appears that the Data files are getting corrupted. I presume that it's because I've got multiple clients trying to write to it with this new "update as you play" crap they have now. I've completely reloaded my client (I have a copy now incase I have to do it again) and I've just had the same crash again. Once it crashes, I can never load that toon again and the problems seem to get worse, adding more toons as I play.

So the question is, has anybody seen this? Anybody know of anything that I need to be doing with my setup that I'm not? I've hunted wow forums and here and not seen anything specific. In case it matters, here are the specifics of my system..

2.8 x8Core Mac Pro (early 2008), 10.6.4 OSX, 10g RAM, 60g SSD (OS on HD), ATI Radeon 5770.
WoW folder has 4 copied folders inside of it with just the App, symlinks to Data and Interface and now the other folders that get added. I'm using both MultiLaunchBox for launching and Plexer for plexing.

Thanks in advance.

[burningforce]

if you have another hard drive in the computer, non ssd that has the space, can you try making symlink folders on that hard drive and test it that way.

what crash are you getting with WoW? is it an error #132 or other? what do you mean you can not log onto that toon again? do you mean when boxing or when trying with 1 client?

backup interface,cache, WTF folders and delete and remake the symlink folders from scratch without any addons, or addon save data or cache files. could be a addon causing the crash, over heating computer components, driver issues, or SSD issue.

To me it sounds like a OSX problem or a SSD problem, if mac version of WoW has a repair utility, try running it and see what is happening.

Looking through my repair-on-demand.log file from the logs folder, it seems every time I load the world, or go through phasing, it writes to the log file that the files was corrupt. here is an example


#-----------------------------------------------------------
# System started at 2010-10-24 08:07:41.4388
# system: GORDON-PC
#-----------------------------------------------------------
09:44:50.5027 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
09:44:50.6717 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote
09:44:50.9981 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
09:44:51.1525 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote
09:44:51.4695 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
09:44:51.6314 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote
11:08:33.0913 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
11:08:33.3098 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote
11:08:33.6388 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
11:08:33.8179 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote
11:08:34.1360 Detected corruption for MD5 block #0, amount = 1794
11:08:34.3107 Failed to mark data (offset = 44706680, length = 1794) remote

so I need to find some info on this myself, though I do not crash just load takes a little while longer on my value SSD.

[Valorin]

I'm going to try 5 completely different folders (copying atm) to see if it is indeed a symlink problem. I don't have the exact error code, but I get a complete client crash and a "report to blizzard" message. I've looked through it and seen that it couldn't read xxx file, which posts on the forums say is a Cache corruption. I deleted my cache and sure enough it started again ok. Also, if I boot up a crashing toon from one of my old PC's it works fine, so it'd definitely something specific to the mac. But I wasn't getting these crashes until this weekend when I installed the SSD and went full 5 clients 1 box (is that a porn site?). Now it's crashing again with a different xxx file in the report. Each time I delete my Cache folder, it's a 4gig download with the launcher that takes hours. It's a major pain.

Anyway, what I mean about not being able to log into that toon again, is once it crashes, it will then crash at load-up whenever I select that toon, but if I select another, it's usually ok. Except the very last time, which I got all kinds of crazy files - hair skins, water elemental skin. The water elemental walked past me at the AH, I was on a shaman. So it was working for about 5 min before it crashed. Once it starts crashing, it doesn't matter any more whether I'm multiboxing or not. The file is corrupted and will not load that toon.

That's very interesting about your error log. I wonder if you don't have a different setup than mine that's allowing that to be fixed instead of crashing the client. Well, I'll report again what happens when I use 5 distinct folders, but I was wondering if anybody else is seeing this with their system. The problem with 5 folders, is that my SSD isn't large enough to handle that, I'm back on my old HD. :'(

[Owltoid]

If you use ISBoxer and an SSD, then there's no reason that I know of to use symlinks. Just food for thought

[burningforce]

If you use ISBoxer and an SSD, then there's no reason that I know of to use symlinks. Just food for thought


does isboxer work on macs? if so I did not know that, if not he would have to install bootcamp or something to boot and use windows.

@Valorin
I do not symlink as I use isboxer's virtual config settings, So maybe that is why I am not crashing.

i wish I knew more about macs to help you, but the last thing I would try is check firewall settings in osx and a router if you have one. other then that, backup wow and try using some hard drive testing tools to test the SSD performance. you can try to return/rma the ssd and try another one or a different brand and see if that fixes it.

edit** what SSD are you using? brand and model would be helpful, perhaps there are others with the same problem

[Owltoid]

my fault, I totally overlooked the Mac part. I don't know if ISBoxer works on Macs, but I highly doubt it.

[burningforce]

my fault, I totally overlooked the Mac part. I don't know if ISBoxer works on Macs, but I highly doubt it.
no worries dude, would be great if it did work on macs :)

[Valorin]

I have an OCZ Vertex 2 60g. Other than this, it seems to work great. Definitely super fast.

So I'm now running from 5 separate, complete wow folders and so far no crash. I have noticed them doing their "update" independently of each other. I bet I've got 5 clients trying to write to the same file. But seems like other would have the same problem, or they're doing something I'm not. Anyway, I think it needs some more testing.

[burningforce]

that sounds like the solution to your problem valorin. I would let the game patch the main folder and make sure it is updated, then delete the other symlinked folders and try again.

I do remember some people having trouble with patching multiple client installs with symlinking, so that is something you can try.

good choice on the vertex 2 and I just noticed your sig pic, I love slap shot ;)

[shadewalker]

Valorin, I had the same problem running 5 wow clients off of one wow folder with symbolic links. I agree it may have had something to do with the update while playing feature that they have implemented. I moved to 5 totaly separate folders on 5 different hard drives and the crashes have gone away. I haven't gone back to my sym links yet just because i was too frustrated with have 2 of my clients crash on every pull i made.

[Valorin]

OK.... good to know it's not just me then. Let me know if you go back to symlinks.

After talking to Morganti today, we may have discovered something about these crashes. I was playing fine, doing the Horseman and then running around with low levels doing pumpkins before my crash for a couple of hours. The first point at which I crashed, I accidentally split my group because my low levels didn't have all of their flight points. They ended up in an area that the main wasn't at. Morg wondered if they needed files the main hadn't updated with the new <cough> feature. It could be that just keeping them all together may help solve the problem. Right now, I'm too afraid of going back to one folder and symlinks.

Another interesting development in the download-while-you-play: I hit a giant blue wall in Shadowmoon Valley. It wouldn't let me pass and then finally went away and everything was fine. The next time I hit one, I noticed that my "downloading data" was red, meaning, presumably, core data. When it went yellow, the blue wall went away and I was able to pass. I appears that it's literally downloading data as you play.