PATCHING THE GAME The patch server address is compassion.owo.com Once you have successfully installed Ultima Online, the next step is to patch. This process transfers all of the updates that have been released over to your client. This is an automatic feature that is initiated when you run the game from the Windows Start menu (Start-Programs-Ultima Online). You can also run "uopatch.exe" located in the UO directory on your hard drive, but this will not launch the game, it will only attach your client to the patch server to receive any updates. Downloading the patches can take a while and the speed and quality of your Internet connection play a significant role. As long as the progress bars are advancing and an error message hasn't appeared, it should be fine. "Connecting to patch server 207.239.134.110:8888 Could not connect to patch server 207.239.134.110:8888 Could not connect to a patch server Make sure you have an active connection to the Internet via an ISP or a direct connection. Trying alternate versioninfo file... Could not read versioninfo file Your client may not be the most recent version. You may be able to play the game with your current client. Click OK to play the game or Cancel to abort" To fix this patching issue you will need to edit the verinfo file that is contained in the Ultima Online directory. To do this, click on your Windows start button, then "find", "files or folders." Once the verinfo file has been found, you'll right click on the file and select "open with." In this case, you'll choose the Notepad program. Once the file has been opened within Notepad, you'll see a line with the following number string, 207 239 134 110 8888. You'll need to delete this line and replace it with the following number. 159.153.197.91 8888 Once this new number has been added, close the file and save it when you are prompted. Once this has been accomplished, you should be able to logon and patch fine. "Could not connect to patch server, make sure you have an active connection to the Internet" If you receive this error you should make sure that you are connected to the Internet before launching the game. If you are connected, then try running a web browser or other application that uses TCP/IP. Also, make sure that you have a 32-bit Internet connection, if you don't know, ask your ISP. Firewall or Proxy You may also receive the above message if you connect to the Internet from behind a firewall or proxy server. We currently do not support access to the Ultima Online servers from behind either of these configurations. AOL If you are using AOL and are having problems connecting, check the AOL version. From the AOL toolbar select "Help", then "About AOL". Check that the version is "AOL 3.0 for Window95" or "AOL 4.0". You WILL NOT be able to connect using "AOL 3.0 for Windows". Network Card The "Could not connect to patch server" error can also occur if you are on a LAN (local area network) and/or have a network card installed along with the modem. If this is the case, remove the TCP/IP bindings from the network card, Start>Settings>Control Panel>Network. Locate the listing for your network card (on the "Configuration" tab), double-click on it then select the "Bindings" tab. Remove the TCP/IP check mark (do NOT remove any bindings from the dial-up adapter). If none of the above apply, you simplay may not have a stable Internet connection. Check the Connectivity-Lag section to learn how to determine the state of your connection. "Your client may not be the most recent version..." This error occurs when the patch function does not complete. The patch must complete or the game will not work properly. There are 2 possible messages the program will give in addition to the above error. To view the error, scroll up the message box or check the "patchlog.txt" file (the latest messages are stored at the bottom of this file). ERROR 1: "Error reading file block from socket" This is a generic "file transfer failed" error. The patcher includes crash recovery, so you should be able to just restart the process and it will begin where it left off. Restart as many times as necessary until the function completes. ERROR 2: "Error applying patch" Make sure there is enough free space on the target drive (at least 200MB), that the drive has been scandisked recently, and is not an external device such as a ZIP or JAZ drive, etc. You must also ensure that the PC is virus free, the Win32 CIH Spacefiller virus will cause the patch to malfunction, see below. If the PC is virus free and you have enough space, your connection to the patch server may be suspect, run a trace and adjust your modem settings. If that doesn't work, try disabling "read-ahead optimization". Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties" then the "Performance" tab. Click "File System" then the "Hard Disk" tab and set "Read-ahead optimization" to "none" and reboot. If the patch completes, re-enable read-ahead. "Your account doesn't exist…" Make sure you are running UO from the "Start" menu or a shortcut to "uo.exe". If you are running a shortcut to "client.exe", you will not connect to the patch server to update the client and will get the message that your account doesn't exist. If the patch function is not completeing you will also get this message. The Win32 Spacefiller virus If you see an "Error applying patch" or "This account doesn't exist" message, it means that the patch function is failing. The patch will fail if certain conditions are met. If you have ever changed the name of the transerv.exe file, change it back. It is also possible that your PC could be infected with a virus, or you may have a really poor connection to the patch server (see the Connectivity-Lag section for more information). The main cause of this error does seem to be infection by the Win32 Spacefiller virus. To learn more about the virus, go to http://vil.mcafee.com/dispVirus.asp?virus_k=10300&. You will not be able to patch the game until this virus is removed, but that is the least of your worries. This particular virus is one of the more dangerous ones out there. If left unchecked it will overwrite your BIOS and render your PC unbootable. The only way to remove the Win32 Spacefiller virus is with commercial Anti-Virus software, if you don't have any, this is the time to get some. If you are using AV, then you will need to update your .dat files. .dat files contain the virus definitions that your AV software needs to be able find and remove specific viruses (approximately 200 new viruses are released every month, so it is imperative that you stay updated). The Win32 Spacefiller virus WILL NOT be removed unless you obtain the .dat files that will detect it, you MUST make 100% sure that your version will detect this virus. If you are unsure if your version is the latest, or unsure whether or not it will detect this virus, you should contact the vendor. Once you have run a complete scan on all files, uninstall UO, run Scandisk (Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools), and reinstall UO. If you determine without a doubt that you aren't infected with the virus, but are still getting this error, then it is possible that either you don't have enough free space on the target drive, or the connection to the patch server is extremely poor. Make sure that you have at least 150mb of free space for your Windows swap file and that Windows is managing virtual memory (Control Panel>System>Performance>Virtual Memory). If you happen to be using a modem, there are some adjustments you can make which may improve data transfer stability. Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties", then "Device Manager". Find the "Modem" line and double-click on it, then double-click the line that appears underneath. You should now be in "Modem Properties". Click the "Modem" tab and set the "Max Connect" to 38400. Click the "Connection" tab and then "Advanced". Disable "Compress Data" and "Error Control". Click "OK" on everything until you return to the Desktop. You will need to disconnect and reconnect for the changes to take effect. If you are using Win95 there is a utility available that can aid in increasing the quality of your Internet connection. Download http://www.mjs.u-net.com/mtuspeed410.exe, or go to www.download.com and search for "mtuspeed". Run the program. Select "Optimum Settings" then "Update Registry". This application decreases the Windows95 default packet size of 1500 bytes down to 576 bytes, this makes it easier for packets to travel to the host server. Set the read-ahead optimization to 'None', (Control Panel>System>Performance>File System) and run uopatch.exe (in your UO directory) a few times, check the patcher message to see if the download is progressing. If it is progressing, then you should be able to just keep running uopatch.exe until the function completes. It could take a bit of time, depending on the quality of your connection. Set read-ahead back to full when you are finished.