EverCrack... I mean Quest Issues

[Mortis]

Greetings... I think I am having connections issues- here's the deal: I am trying to install and create an account with EverQuest (first time install and new purchase game). I install the game, update it and then click on Account, New Account. As soon as I click on NewAccount, I am dropped back to the DeskTop. I thought possibly it was a Driver Issue (even though Machine has all latest Drivers, BIOS and DX Version) so I proceeded to install it on a different machine on the same network that has all recent drivers except is not running DX9, but 8.1a. Same EXACT Results. It appears to not be a driver or DirectX issue. I looked at the Support Page and read info about ZoneAlarm and the BEFSR41 Router. I have lowered the Settings in ZA as instructed with no success and killed it and all associated services. I both updated and dropped back the Router's Firmware and reset to default settings as well as Bypassed the Router and connected cable directly to machine. I have also tried PortTriggering suggestions when the Router was in the Loop. What else should I try?

Again, on both machines- the behavior is identical. Install goes fine, updates are successful, it is only when I click on the NewAccount button that I get dropped. A friend was over and he tried logging in with his AccountInfo- Dropped.

Help and Ideas are Appreciated.

Mortis

BTW- Systems Info:

First Box
WinXPPro
P4 2.53
MSI 648 Max-L
Ti4200P Turbo
Onboard Gigabyte NIC
PC2700 512mb

Box Two
Win2kPro
XP1600
MSI Turbo2
Ti200
Intel NIC
pc133 768mb

Cable Modem (Linksys Etherfast)
Linksys BEFSR41 4 Port Router

Or, maybe I should take this as a Hint from the EverCrack Gods and Run ;) .

[Mortis]

Greetings... I now think this is an IRQ Conflict. Both my Sound and NIC share IRQ 18. According to what I have read, EQ is intensive in its demands for full attention with Video and Sound. Since my Sound is sharing with my NIC, I wonder if this could be causing my prob.

How do I go about resolving both Items sharing IRQ 18?

Thanks,
Mortis

[mholtum]

hmmm, not sure. But I will look into it. Are these by chance interagted Sound/Video?

[Mortis]

Yea, the Sound and NIC are integrated. I looked through my BIOS and dont have Options to force assignment or self stipulate... and it is my understanding (now, after reading some) that I cant change IRQ settings in Win 2k and XP. The options to ReAsign are greyed out.

I am hoping to have it resolved this week. I ordered an Audigy Gamer and it should be assigned IRQ 9 (which I think is the Common Assignment for SoundCards) when I install it. If the prob is in fact an IRQ one, this should resolve it. If it doesnt, I am at a loss.

I had emailed EQ TechSupport, after jumping through some initial generic hoops, they requested that I export and send info from DivX... etc. I emailed off their requests and much more info and of course havent heard back from them...

Thanks!

EDIT: EQ TechSupport did state that with Sound Integrated Boards, Shared IRQ's is a common issue.

[Nukes]

To change the IRQs in 2k or XP, you need to be prepared to lose a few things. In Win98 etc, you could change the IRQs by going to the device properties in control panel and edit the resources tab. They have disabled this in XP/ME and 2K due to the implementation of ACPI. you can revert to APM, but as I understand it, you will no longer be able to use standby or have the computer turn off on its own. I'm unsure about this as I have older (non-acpi) systems that support this.
Go to device manager, and click computer
It should say ACPI PC. Open it, go to update driver and choose Standard or APM PC. Then it should let you change the IRQs.
There really should be an option in your BIOS though. Are you sure you haven't just set it to auto and it hid all the IRQs?