Running P99 from USB Drive

[Beldon]

I have heard some talk about people doing this and wanted to get some more information.
I am usually playing on 1 of 3 machines at the house depending on the situation and am constantly having to adjust/tweek my interface to match when I swap over to a different PC.
Is it possible to install this on a Flash drive and just play off of that regardless of the PC I am using?
Or is an easier fix just to find the correct files related to the GUI/layout and keep them available on the network?

[r00t]

Yes you can just copy/paste your EQ folder onto a USB drive and run it from there. Make sure to use a USB3.0 slot (if available) for best speeds. There is a script (http://www.project1999.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7186) that will strip it down to under 2 gigs.

[no chewie dont]

dont strip it down imo
was good in theory but it just causes problems down the line :/

[Thulack]

Yeah dont bother stripping down. The only thing you would have to change depending on which PC to went to is the drive letter your running the flash drive off of. You will just have to go into the eq shortcut and change the drive letter to whatever the PC assigned it.

[Beldon]

Thanks guys. I will have to give this a try later this week.

[Whoop]

How well did it run? I'm alos looking into using a usb on my work comp instead of buying a new laptop. But how much slower will it be i wonder....

[Nuggie]

I've done this. There are a few times times it's slower, but it's mostly not noticable.

[Whoop]

I've done this. There are a few times times it's slower, but it's mostly not noticable.

With just a standard 2.0 usb?

[Thulack]

With just a standard 2.0 usb?

Unless your use to playing on a top of the line system with SSD etc. your really not going to notice a difference with it playing off 2.0 usb drive.

[Whoop]

Unless your use to playing on a top of the line system with SSD etc.

lol those were the days :p

Ok I'll give this a shot, thanks

[Whiteberry]

Yeah dont bother stripping down. The only thing you would have to change depending on which PC to went to is the drive letter your running the flash drive off of. You will just have to go into the eq shortcut and change the drive letter to whatever the PC assigned it.
not really.. just delete the shortcut and remake it off the eqgame.exe it does it automatically

[phacemeltar]

if you edit the EQlite batch file you can see how it works. i would suggest using EQlite to create the install directory on your flash media.

if you are going to run EQ from flash media, using this can potentially increase the life of your drive. also i have been running EQ from a SD card now for a few months and not only is it alot faster on zones, but i crash ALOT less. would HIGHLY recommend.

[Thulack]

not really.. just delete the shortcut and remake it off the eqgame.exe it does it automatically

Yes you could delete the shortcut but much easier just to go into its properties and change a letter for the drive its on..

[blondeattk]

EQ from a SD card

which type of card?

how can a sd card be faster than a ssd for loading zones? sd cards dont have any cache on them ?? where you running eq from a ide drive or something?

[Nuggie]

With just a standard 2.0 usb?

Yes.

[phacemeltar]

where you running eq from a ide drive or something?

yesd. using an SD as a ghetto SSD. the SD says 90mb/s xfer rate, but it really only is like 8mb/s

still, zoning takes maybe 2 seconds and someone with an SSD thought i had one too because i was zoning as fast as him.

[Whoop]

if you edit the EQlite batch file you can see how it works. i would suggest using EQlite to create the install directory on your flash media.

if you are going to run EQ from flash media, using this can potentially increase the life of your drive. also i have been running EQ from a SD card now for a few months and not only is it alot faster on zones, but i crash ALOT less. would HIGHLY recommend.

I would try this but I don't have a SD card reader in the laptop so I would need an usb adapter but then I night as well use a stick since the bottleneck would be the usb connection?

[blondeattk]

yesd. using an SD as a ghetto SSD. the SD says 90mb/s xfer rate, but it really only is like 8mb/s

still, zoning takes maybe 2 seconds and someone with an SSD thought i had one too because i was zoning as fast as him.


that doesnt make any kind of logical sense..... your really using some sort of possesed sentient, majic enhanced sd card....comon own up! :rolleyes:

`but it really only is like 8mb/s`

can you make some tests(with software) and measure the actual rate?

how is the sd connected to the motherboard? which interface is this data going through?

do you have more than 4gig ram in the machine?

[phacemeltar]

that doesnt make any kind of logical sense..... your really using some sort of possesed sentient, majic enhanced sd card....comon own up! :rolleyes:

`but it really only is like 8mb/s`

can you make some tests(with software) and measure the actual rate?

how is the sd connected to the motherboard? which interface is this data going through?

do you have more than 4gig ram in the machine?

when i do file transfers in windows, it caps me at 8mb/s.. which is the only way i know this, by pushing the little "show details" arrow.
my SD card is one of this class 10 XC cards, rated way higher than my drive capabilities.
the SD slot is in PCI bus 0, whatever that means.

i bought this SD card mainly for this game, as i noticed that EQ was doing alot of read/write and my HDD was spinning like crazy any time i'd play. now i have oblivion running from it too, and that game loads in like 5 secs lol. only 4GB ram

[blondeattk]

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDMxWDUxMA==/z/F2cAAOSwd4tT4Zqu/$_12.JPG

^^should be even faster....

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/34580-32-software-test-data-transfer-rate
(how to test your drive)

`the SD slot is in PCI bus 0, whatever that means.`

makes no sense. describe how you physically connect the card to the computer.......and dont just say ` i push it in` /facepalm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_Tach

am sure othere folks can recomend similar software you can use....

[phacemeltar]

and dont just say ` i push it in` /facepalm

lmao ok.. you may have to ask some more descriptive questions, but i will try.. theres a slot under the front left side of the machine. its a laptop, so its all built into the case.

[blondeattk]

` its a laptop, so its all built into the case.`

bah! stymied! am not good on laptop hardware....never owned one.

dont you have a proper pc ?

(chuckle)



__________________

[phacemeltar]

lol yea like 3 of them, but pooping while playing on them turns into quite the ordeal

[Thulack]

` its a laptop, so its all built into the case.`

bah! stymied! am not good on laptop hardware....never owned one.

dont you have a proper pc ?

(chuckle)



__________________

If you buy a SD card you would need to get a internal SD card reader. they come in like 6 in 1 harware the size of a cd rom drive that you can install directly into a CD bay.

[blondeattk]

lol yea like 3 of them, but pooping while playing on them turns into quite the ordeal

you have IBS ?

or did the failed education system in `western hemisphere` not teach you to know the art of bowel control ?

I realise that knappies are an expensive option here...

[blondeattk]

this sort of thing is an extention of the idea of putting eq on a card:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2013-PCI-to-4-Compact-Flash-Cards-Raid-Adapter-Enables-CF-to-be-used-like-Solid-/360733359299

tbh when it comes to pricing, could be cheaper to buy a small sata3 ssd.

compact flash cards, especially the fast ones, are overpriced.

sadly above link doesnt actually give data transfer rates.....needs to be over 80mb/s, to be worth the effort.

more modern versions :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CF-Compact-Flash-to-Mini-PCI-E-Card-PCI-Express-WLAN-Laptop-Wifi-Adapter-/360871075227

external version :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Port-USB-3-0-to-PCI-E-5Gbps-Add-on-Card-Express-Expansion-Card-Adapter-Chipset-/331043554065

pluging in via an adapter into usb3 slot, is in theory the fastest route.....in practise the adapters are the low quality bottleneck.

[Kaeras]

I've used a thumb drive on a couple lap tops and it works fine the only really noticeable thing is it zones slower and to start it you have to look for the EQ file on the drive but you can copy it to the desk top and click it there after you find it