Ratt
07-09-2002, 03:59 PM
This is the development copy of the SEQ FAQ.
To Do:
Indexed
HTML-ized
Spell checked
Error checked
Updates incorporated
Please do not post questions about SEQ in this thread, it is intended soley for the purpose of fleshing out and refining the FAQ. Any posts should be directly related to the FAQ itself, and not SEQ.
------------------------------------------------------------
FAQ: The Amazing ShowEQ Frequently Asked Questions
Last Updated: 09 Jul 2002
FAQ Contributors:
fryfrog
high_jeeves
Mr Guy
Gullork
Dedpoet
If I have forgotten you, please drop me a line.
Purpose:
This FAQ is intended to be read before you post any questions to the forum. Read this entire FAQ before you post your question. If you can not find your question in this FAQ, use the SEARCH feature on the ShowEQ message boards BEFORE you ask your question. The search feature can be found at <A HREF="http://seq.sourceforge.net/search.php?s=">http://seq.sourceforge.net/search.php</A>
What is ShowEQ?
ShowEQ is a packet analyzer for the game EverQuest. It passively monitors network traffic for EverQuest data and displays it onscreen in a readable format.
What do I need to run ShowEQ?
In the broadest of terms: a 2nd computer, a Linux distribution, a hub and some time. oh, don't forget EverQuest the game and a non-banned account.
What information does ShowEQ actually show?
Anything that the EQ client knows, ShowEQ knows. This includes things like EVERY mob position in the zone, its level, class, race, items it is HOLDING which effect the way it looks, an accurate map of the zone, drops, traps... the list is very large.
Can ShowEQ be detected using software means by Verant?
The short answer is no. It would take a fair amount of work on their side to be able to tell that a NIC was in promiscuous mode, and even then they would not be able to tell if it was tcpdump, ethereal or ShowEQ that was sniffing packets. ShowEQ is totally passive and transmits no data.
Can ShowEQ users be detected in game by real people?
The short answer is yes. A ShowEQ user can very frequently spot another ShowEQ user. Knowing more information than you should is a dead giveaway. Making a beeline for a rare right when it pops (well, unless you are a druid/ranger) is a dead giveaway. Saying in game that you use ShowEQ or SEQ can also be a giveaway. Basically, don't be stupid and you shouldn't be caught.
Can I be banned for using ShowEQ?
Yes, you can also be banned for anything they want. If you don't want to risk your account, don't use it.
Does ShowEQ run on Microsoft Windows?
No, ShowEQ does not run on Microsoft Windows and it will never run on Microsoft Windows.
Why doesn't ShowEQ have a Microsoft Windows version?
The simple answer is this: So that the Linux version can exist. When the decryption library was open source, there was a Microsoft Windows version. Every time the decryption was broken, days or hours later Verant would rotate the encryption. Basically, they did not want a Microsoft Windows version to exist. The reasoning behind that is very simple and easy to understand. More people can use Microsoft Windows than Linux. That means that a MUCH larger number of players could use ShowEQ. Windows Bad, Linux Not-So-Bad.
Can ShowEQ tell me what loot a creature will drop?
More no than yes. The only information ShowEQ can display is that which the client receives. Loot info is not sent until the mob is actually looted. That being said, you can get a half decent idea if it is carrying something. An orc with a sword will probably drop some sort of sword. The shard wurms in GD that glow carry a light source, and that actually means they will drop the glowing bile.
ShowEQ is setup and working, but it looks like hit points are broken. It displays 65536, or a number between 0 and 100. When is this going to be fixed?
Group member hitpoints are always updated, no matter where in the zone they are. Player hitpoints are actual values, so if they have 1700hp it will show them having 1700hp. Mobs on the other hand were changed to ONLY reflect a percentage, and ONLY if you are within a certain range will you get an update. Until you have come close enough to a mob, its HP will show as "65535" or "-1" or perhaps some other value.
Back in the old days, I used to be able to figure out my exact faction. Now those dumb developers went and took that away, and all i see is one silly number! When is this going to be fixed?
Once again, this is a change Verant made. If you think about it, it really was silly of them to send a number between -32768 and +32768 when they only really had about 10-15 different things that it could be. Well, the realized this and changed it. Hurray for them, bad for us.
Dear god, the developers of ShowEQ can't seem to get ANYTHING right. Now the great experience watching portion of ShowEQ doesn't seem to work. When are they going to fix this?
Once again, Verant is responsible not the ShowEQ developers. Now instead of reporting all the number to the client, and letting the client display everything properly... they send a number which just tells the client to move the little orange/blue bar a tad. Fortunatly, since ShowEQ has a pretty good idea of what your experience is (it is sent when you zone in), ShowEQ knows which mob you killed, and the formulas involved in exp calculation it can make a pretty good estimate of the exp you just got. This portion of ShowEQ is being refined more and more in CVS.
What EVIL things can be done with ShowEQ (what do the developers NOT want you to do)?
ShowEQ makes it fairly easy to farm rare spawns. It also makes it easy to find and kill rare spawns that others might have already been after for hours. This is NOT what ShowEQ was intended to do. Farming for EBAY is another of the bad uses. While the developers can't stop anyone from doing this, they ask that you don't.
What GOOD things can be done with ShowEQ?
Probably the best thing that can be done with ShowEQ is not getting lost. Verant could easily implement a mapping skill to the game, and a map reading skill. This would remove one of the biggest reasons for using ShowEQ. It makes finding corpses pretty easy as well. There is nothing like helping a newbie find their lost body to make them happy and increase your Karma. Finding rare spawns falls in both the good and evil question. Use this feature in a way that would increase your Karma. ShowEQ also tracks spells cast by the user. This feature is great for timing your buffs. You can see all your skills and stats, as well as watch your experience rates. It shows exp / kill and a lot more information based on exp. It includes chat-monitoring capabilities, and can be very useful for organizing, running and tracking large raids. The list of things ShowEQ can do is huge, and getting bigger every CVS update.
Will ShowEQ run on a default install of Mandrake 8.1 or RedHat 7.2?
No, but all you need to get is qt-2.3.2 and compile it and it will then run. See the wonderful HOWTO's for help with this.
Why does ShowEQ require gcc-3.0.1 and qt-2.3.2?
There are a number of reasons behind this, a couple of them are:
1. An impromtu intelligence test. If you are not capable of following directions and asking intelligent questions, you are probably not the sort of person that needs to wield the power of ShowEQ. There will be exceptions to this rule, however, the line must be drawn somewhere, and it just happens to be here. If you simply can not get ShowEQ to run unassisted, chances are you will get banned for doing things in the game that mark you as a ShowEQ user. We don't want you to get banned.
2. To increase the stability and features in ShowEQ. QT-2.3.1 had some bugs in it that were causing issues. Compiling qt-2.3.2 with the -thread option helped solve a lot of these. The version of gcc that RedHat uses is an odd one that caused a lot of compile problems. Standardizing on ONE compiler and ONE qt release allowed them to move forward with out have to worry about backward compatibility.
I am having problems compiling/running/using ShowEQ, where can I turn for help?
The http://seq.sourceforge.net forums are the best place to find help for ShowEQ. They can be found here. Keep in mind that your question has PROBABLY been asked. Before you post a new thread, take the time to use the <A HREF="http://seq.sf.net/search.php>search feature</A>. If you fail to do this, someone will insult your thread and it will probably be locked as well. Lots of flames are likely to follow. You will feel bad, hurt and unfairly punished. This is normal and acceptable behavior. It is yet another test of your ability to read and comprehend information presented to you. If you are unable to do this, you need to find another place to hang out, this is not the place for you. We will beat you over the head until you get understand this.
I went where you said to get help, but everyone called me mean names and my problem still exists. Did you know that would happen?
People probably made fun of you and called you mean names because you asked the same question that many others have asked before. Did you use the search feature? Maybe you were unable to find anything related to your problem, so you posted your question as "My ShowEQ is broken, help!?" and this could be the problem. When asking for help, you need to provide as much possible information as you possibly can. This includes pasting the exact error message and maybe even logs of the problem. Most of the people who help on these forums are not psychic or choose not to use their psychic abilities on these types of posts.
I have it installed and have seen it decode, but when I goto empty zones like Kedge Keep it doesn't decode. Why doesn't it decode in these zones?
ShowEQ runs a brute force attack on the encryption used to keep the data secure. The weakness in the encryption makes it fairly easy for ShowEQ to compare certain things to new spawns. So, ShowEQ depends on NEW SPAWNS to decode. This can be you summoning a pet, someone zoning in after you or a mob spawning because you killed him 20min ago.
For some reason even though I compiled and run ShowEQ, it doesn't actually show me a damn thing. Is ShowEQ broken?
No, chances are pretty good that you are using a switch instead of a hub. To get the information that you are seeing in EverQuest, that data has to be seen by the Linux computer as well. A switch directs traffic only to the two computers (nodes) involved. A hub broadcasts all traffic to all nodes that are connected to it. Also, if you are connected to the internet with your Microsoft Windows box using a directly connected dial up, dsl, or cable modem, Microsoft Windows will not broadcast the packets out over the second nic. Also, 99.9% of the time those Residential Gateway/Routers with X number of ports are switches. This means you will have to plug all your computers into a real hub, then uplink that hub to your router/gateway. Another recent "feature" of most current hubs is that in a large number of situations, they will behave as switches. This sucks, but can be worked around. Typically, the 10mbit and the 100mbit section of a 10/100 hub are switched. So if EQ is 100mbit and SEQ is 10mbit, they won't see each other's traffic. Also, if a 10mbit device is hooked to the 10/100 hub it will frequently become a REAL hub on the 100mbit section. So, if your router is 10mbit and your SEQ and EQ boxes are 100mbit all hooked to the same hub-switch, you should probably be able to sniff packets! This is true for most Linksys hubs, and some Netgear and Bay Network hubs.
(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. Where do I download ShowEQ?
A. From the unix command prompt type (without quotes):
"cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/seq login". Press enter when asked for a password (the password is blank). Next, type "cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/seq co showeq". This will download the source and maps for ShowEQ.
There will probably never be a place you can download a tar file again. Please don't ask.
(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. How do I build and install ShowEQ?
A. Please see the documentation in README.newbies, or one of the walkthroughs that can be found at seq.sourceforge.net in the help forum.
(Submitted by Gullork)
Q. How do I update ShowEQ?
A. The first step, is to make sure that you have the lastest libEQ.a file. You can tell if you have the correct one by looking at the top of the main page of these forums and writing down the number it lists. It looks something like this:
The current md5sum of libEQ.a (14/Jun/02): 23249.... (and so on)
Then use the md5sum command in this manner:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cd /usr/lib
md5sum libEQ.a
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It will return a unique number like so: 23249b5a6a04f2b900449d9c4aa0994a
If the numbers do not match, then you need to get the newest libEQ.a file. Now be careful to get the file from a trusted source such as those listed in the readme file. Here are some trusted locations for the file known at the time of this faq (again, see the readme file to verify):
ftp://azriel.trifocus.net/pub/libeq/i386/linux
ftp://smurfette.trifocus.net/pub/libeq/i386/linux
http://www.doomed.to/showeq/
So... now it is time to get the new file. First, lets rename the old file so that you have a backup that ShowEQ can't find and use accidentally (in other words, don't just copy the file somewhere else):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cd /usr/lib
mv libEQ.a libEQ.a.old
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Now lets get the new file:
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wget --passive-ftp ftp://smurfette.trifocus.net/pub/li...6/linux/libEQ.a
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And double check that it is indeed the right one:
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md5sum libEQ.a
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If it matches the posted number at the top of the home page of this website, then we are ready to move on to the actual upgrade:
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cd ~/showeq
cvs -z3 update
make -f Makefile.dist
CC=gcc3 CXX=g++3 QTDIR=/path/to/qt ./configure
make && make install
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(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. Where can I find libEQ.a?
A. Please see the README.libEQ file that comes with the souce, one you have downloaded ShowEQ. To download any of these files, use "wget <url>". You may need to use the --passive-ftp switch "wget --passive-ftp <url>" for some of these locations. Once you have downloaded this file, type "md5sum libEQ.a" on it, and make sure that the output matches the md5sum printed on the top of the page at seq.sourceforge.net.
If ShowEQ is on sourceforge.net, shouldn't it be open source?
Yes, and it is! That was a very smart question. Now, we know you are asking this because you want the source to the libEQ.a file. This file USED to be distributed with the ShowEQ source on CVS, but eventually someone pointed out that since the source to this file is unavailable it is against the GPL. So, ShowEQ was made so that it can optionally use this file... and the download was placed separately from CVS. See the file "README.libEQ" file from CVS for download info.
(Submitted by Dedpoet)
Q. EQ just got patched today, and SEQ doesn't work anymore!
A. Verant often makes changes in the network packet structure on patch days that Seq doesn't know about, causing it to choke. This is usually resolved in the code within a few hours, and can be fixed with a cvs update and recompile (see above). Checking the Announcement forum at seq.sourceforge.net on patch day will often let you know when the update is complete.
(Submitted by Mr Guy)
Q: How do filters work? What is regex? Where can I get some default filters?
A: Filters work by building a string from the information received about mobs (and PC) from the EQ servers. The filters search these strings using regular expressions. You can find the exact description of the string in the file "conf/filters.conf.dist" off of the directory you downloaded the CVS into.
A regular expression is a way of describing patterns of letters, numbers, spaces, and other symbols. When this pattern is compared to a string, it is said to match if the special symbols in the pattern match the symbols and characters in the string. Think of it as algebra for words.
The most commonly used special symbols are as follows:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
: matches one character inside the brackets
eg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[aA]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
would match either 'a' or 'A' but not 'b'
\w : matches any word character (letters, symbols, numbers, but not spaces)
\s : matches any space character (space or tab)
. : matches ANY character except return
Special symbol modifiers
+ : Matches 1 or more
* : Matches 0 or more
{ } : Matches X number
eg:
\w+\s would mean at least one letter (or many more) followed by a space
Example Regex for EQ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: [gG]riff.*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Translation:
The exact characters N a m e : {space}
follow by either g or G
followed by exactly r i f f
followed by 0 or more anything
This would match:
Name: griffawn
Name: Griff The Wonder Basher
Name: griff
Name: griffon, a
and many more.
This would NOT match:
Name: Grimfeather Race: griffon
You can learn more about regular expression all over the web, or with 'man perlre'.
BlueAdept has worked very hard to provide us with some nice default filters to use. They can be found on his website at
http://www.seqstuff.cjb.net
or the mirror:
http://www27.brinkster.com/blueadept
What hardware/distribution do YOU recommend?
There are a number of answers to this question... in short:
For advanced users:
<A HREF="http://www.gentoo.org">Gentoo Linux</A> is amazing
For moderate users:
Mandrake
Suse
Debian
For beginners:
RedHat
It all depends on what you want out of it, how skilled you are and how much time you have. Go to linuxiso.org for more distributions.
Hardware wise, go with the best you can afford. While ShowEQ can be run on something as slow as a Pentium 133, performance will be abysmal (not to mention it will take nearly a week to compile, depending on memory). The general minimum reccomended specs would be a PII 400 with 128 MB RAM and a 4 GB hard drive, a hardware accelerated video card is a plus.
Does ShowEQ work with the EverQuest Emulators that are available?
The short answer is "Sort of." If you are asking this question, then answer is "No." Those that would be able to get it to work with the emulator(s) would not be asking this question, so forget about it.
I have a question that isn't in this list, if its good will you add it?
Of course.
I don't want to piss anyone off, but I would like to point out that a lot of the developers are pretty mean. What is up with that?
Well, I will try and answer this to the best of my ability based on my opinion and my observations over the past nearly 2 years. Nearly all of the intelligent Linux users who also use ShowEQ start out with the best of intentions. If you go back in time, you would find that both Ratt and Casey were very nice and tried to help everyone they could. Another good example is Ahimus (and I'm sure I have the spelling wrong) who wrote a VERY good install guide for RedHat 7.1 and answered many questions, but has since disappeared off the face of the earth. They answered the same question over and over and over again. At some point, they snapped and decided that answering the same stupid post time after time after time was a waste of their time. Then they got mean. Right now, Zaphod is in the helpful stage and I am in the helpful -> asshole stage. If you ask a stupid question, I will call you a dumb ass while helping you.
(Submitted by: Gullork)
Q. I zoned in, but not all mobs showed up, or the mobs show as unknown. What is wrong?
A. Could be several things, but the most common is a missed transmit between the servers and your EQ client. You could have a problem on your network causing your EQ computer to ask for retransmits from the servers more often than is considered normal. Since ShowEQ doesn't see retransmits, the zone was not properly decoded due to missing information. The problem can be anything from a bad network card sending erroneous packets over the network, to a low quality hub, to a bad wire.
(Submitted by: S_B_R)
Q: I went to the Plane of Hate and saw an invisible mob called "ShowEQ users suck." Have any of you guys seen this?
A: Yes, we have and we think it is very funny. We are glad you got a chance to go up to hate and see the special content that is for showeq users only. Be careful not to laugh about it in /gu or /shout or what not
(Submitted by: high_jeeves)
Q) A walkthrough I found lists these commands:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cp /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf.dist /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf
pico -w /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i tried to do it.. but it tells me i don't have showeq.conf in the directory...
A) You are using a slightly old version of the walkthrough. These files are no longer used, the new file is XML based. As posted in the CHANGES file, and Announcements forum:
From Zaphod, reposted by TDES:
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CVS Commit, May 11, 2002
dohpaZ (11/05/02)
------------------
Modifications:
version 4.2.0
(snip)
No longer save preferences on exit, only save when user chooses to via the menu "File" -> "Save Preferences" or via the CTRL+S accelerator
Migrated to an XML based preference system.
The configuration file seqdef.xml contains the ShowEQ defaults and will usually only be modified to change site specific things, if ever.
The user configuration file showeq.xml can be used as a template to create user specific overrides of specific options. It contains Category Manager and Message Box (Channel messages) window descriptions by default. Many user settable parameters may now be set via the GUI and will be saved to this file via the "File" menu's "Save Preferences" option.
The DTD describing the specific XML format used in the files is called seqpref.dtd for those who understand such things.
The old configuration files will no longer be used, a method for migrating configuration information from these files has not been provided.
Enjoy,
Zaphod (dohpaZ)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Do:
Indexed
HTML-ized
Spell checked
Error checked
Updates incorporated
Please do not post questions about SEQ in this thread, it is intended soley for the purpose of fleshing out and refining the FAQ. Any posts should be directly related to the FAQ itself, and not SEQ.
------------------------------------------------------------
FAQ: The Amazing ShowEQ Frequently Asked Questions
Last Updated: 09 Jul 2002
FAQ Contributors:
fryfrog
high_jeeves
Mr Guy
Gullork
Dedpoet
If I have forgotten you, please drop me a line.
Purpose:
This FAQ is intended to be read before you post any questions to the forum. Read this entire FAQ before you post your question. If you can not find your question in this FAQ, use the SEARCH feature on the ShowEQ message boards BEFORE you ask your question. The search feature can be found at <A HREF="http://seq.sourceforge.net/search.php?s=">http://seq.sourceforge.net/search.php</A>
What is ShowEQ?
ShowEQ is a packet analyzer for the game EverQuest. It passively monitors network traffic for EverQuest data and displays it onscreen in a readable format.
What do I need to run ShowEQ?
In the broadest of terms: a 2nd computer, a Linux distribution, a hub and some time. oh, don't forget EverQuest the game and a non-banned account.
What information does ShowEQ actually show?
Anything that the EQ client knows, ShowEQ knows. This includes things like EVERY mob position in the zone, its level, class, race, items it is HOLDING which effect the way it looks, an accurate map of the zone, drops, traps... the list is very large.
Can ShowEQ be detected using software means by Verant?
The short answer is no. It would take a fair amount of work on their side to be able to tell that a NIC was in promiscuous mode, and even then they would not be able to tell if it was tcpdump, ethereal or ShowEQ that was sniffing packets. ShowEQ is totally passive and transmits no data.
Can ShowEQ users be detected in game by real people?
The short answer is yes. A ShowEQ user can very frequently spot another ShowEQ user. Knowing more information than you should is a dead giveaway. Making a beeline for a rare right when it pops (well, unless you are a druid/ranger) is a dead giveaway. Saying in game that you use ShowEQ or SEQ can also be a giveaway. Basically, don't be stupid and you shouldn't be caught.
Can I be banned for using ShowEQ?
Yes, you can also be banned for anything they want. If you don't want to risk your account, don't use it.
Does ShowEQ run on Microsoft Windows?
No, ShowEQ does not run on Microsoft Windows and it will never run on Microsoft Windows.
Why doesn't ShowEQ have a Microsoft Windows version?
The simple answer is this: So that the Linux version can exist. When the decryption library was open source, there was a Microsoft Windows version. Every time the decryption was broken, days or hours later Verant would rotate the encryption. Basically, they did not want a Microsoft Windows version to exist. The reasoning behind that is very simple and easy to understand. More people can use Microsoft Windows than Linux. That means that a MUCH larger number of players could use ShowEQ. Windows Bad, Linux Not-So-Bad.
Can ShowEQ tell me what loot a creature will drop?
More no than yes. The only information ShowEQ can display is that which the client receives. Loot info is not sent until the mob is actually looted. That being said, you can get a half decent idea if it is carrying something. An orc with a sword will probably drop some sort of sword. The shard wurms in GD that glow carry a light source, and that actually means they will drop the glowing bile.
ShowEQ is setup and working, but it looks like hit points are broken. It displays 65536, or a number between 0 and 100. When is this going to be fixed?
Group member hitpoints are always updated, no matter where in the zone they are. Player hitpoints are actual values, so if they have 1700hp it will show them having 1700hp. Mobs on the other hand were changed to ONLY reflect a percentage, and ONLY if you are within a certain range will you get an update. Until you have come close enough to a mob, its HP will show as "65535" or "-1" or perhaps some other value.
Back in the old days, I used to be able to figure out my exact faction. Now those dumb developers went and took that away, and all i see is one silly number! When is this going to be fixed?
Once again, this is a change Verant made. If you think about it, it really was silly of them to send a number between -32768 and +32768 when they only really had about 10-15 different things that it could be. Well, the realized this and changed it. Hurray for them, bad for us.
Dear god, the developers of ShowEQ can't seem to get ANYTHING right. Now the great experience watching portion of ShowEQ doesn't seem to work. When are they going to fix this?
Once again, Verant is responsible not the ShowEQ developers. Now instead of reporting all the number to the client, and letting the client display everything properly... they send a number which just tells the client to move the little orange/blue bar a tad. Fortunatly, since ShowEQ has a pretty good idea of what your experience is (it is sent when you zone in), ShowEQ knows which mob you killed, and the formulas involved in exp calculation it can make a pretty good estimate of the exp you just got. This portion of ShowEQ is being refined more and more in CVS.
What EVIL things can be done with ShowEQ (what do the developers NOT want you to do)?
ShowEQ makes it fairly easy to farm rare spawns. It also makes it easy to find and kill rare spawns that others might have already been after for hours. This is NOT what ShowEQ was intended to do. Farming for EBAY is another of the bad uses. While the developers can't stop anyone from doing this, they ask that you don't.
What GOOD things can be done with ShowEQ?
Probably the best thing that can be done with ShowEQ is not getting lost. Verant could easily implement a mapping skill to the game, and a map reading skill. This would remove one of the biggest reasons for using ShowEQ. It makes finding corpses pretty easy as well. There is nothing like helping a newbie find their lost body to make them happy and increase your Karma. Finding rare spawns falls in both the good and evil question. Use this feature in a way that would increase your Karma. ShowEQ also tracks spells cast by the user. This feature is great for timing your buffs. You can see all your skills and stats, as well as watch your experience rates. It shows exp / kill and a lot more information based on exp. It includes chat-monitoring capabilities, and can be very useful for organizing, running and tracking large raids. The list of things ShowEQ can do is huge, and getting bigger every CVS update.
Will ShowEQ run on a default install of Mandrake 8.1 or RedHat 7.2?
No, but all you need to get is qt-2.3.2 and compile it and it will then run. See the wonderful HOWTO's for help with this.
Why does ShowEQ require gcc-3.0.1 and qt-2.3.2?
There are a number of reasons behind this, a couple of them are:
1. An impromtu intelligence test. If you are not capable of following directions and asking intelligent questions, you are probably not the sort of person that needs to wield the power of ShowEQ. There will be exceptions to this rule, however, the line must be drawn somewhere, and it just happens to be here. If you simply can not get ShowEQ to run unassisted, chances are you will get banned for doing things in the game that mark you as a ShowEQ user. We don't want you to get banned.
2. To increase the stability and features in ShowEQ. QT-2.3.1 had some bugs in it that were causing issues. Compiling qt-2.3.2 with the -thread option helped solve a lot of these. The version of gcc that RedHat uses is an odd one that caused a lot of compile problems. Standardizing on ONE compiler and ONE qt release allowed them to move forward with out have to worry about backward compatibility.
I am having problems compiling/running/using ShowEQ, where can I turn for help?
The http://seq.sourceforge.net forums are the best place to find help for ShowEQ. They can be found here. Keep in mind that your question has PROBABLY been asked. Before you post a new thread, take the time to use the <A HREF="http://seq.sf.net/search.php>search feature</A>. If you fail to do this, someone will insult your thread and it will probably be locked as well. Lots of flames are likely to follow. You will feel bad, hurt and unfairly punished. This is normal and acceptable behavior. It is yet another test of your ability to read and comprehend information presented to you. If you are unable to do this, you need to find another place to hang out, this is not the place for you. We will beat you over the head until you get understand this.
I went where you said to get help, but everyone called me mean names and my problem still exists. Did you know that would happen?
People probably made fun of you and called you mean names because you asked the same question that many others have asked before. Did you use the search feature? Maybe you were unable to find anything related to your problem, so you posted your question as "My ShowEQ is broken, help!?" and this could be the problem. When asking for help, you need to provide as much possible information as you possibly can. This includes pasting the exact error message and maybe even logs of the problem. Most of the people who help on these forums are not psychic or choose not to use their psychic abilities on these types of posts.
I have it installed and have seen it decode, but when I goto empty zones like Kedge Keep it doesn't decode. Why doesn't it decode in these zones?
ShowEQ runs a brute force attack on the encryption used to keep the data secure. The weakness in the encryption makes it fairly easy for ShowEQ to compare certain things to new spawns. So, ShowEQ depends on NEW SPAWNS to decode. This can be you summoning a pet, someone zoning in after you or a mob spawning because you killed him 20min ago.
For some reason even though I compiled and run ShowEQ, it doesn't actually show me a damn thing. Is ShowEQ broken?
No, chances are pretty good that you are using a switch instead of a hub. To get the information that you are seeing in EverQuest, that data has to be seen by the Linux computer as well. A switch directs traffic only to the two computers (nodes) involved. A hub broadcasts all traffic to all nodes that are connected to it. Also, if you are connected to the internet with your Microsoft Windows box using a directly connected dial up, dsl, or cable modem, Microsoft Windows will not broadcast the packets out over the second nic. Also, 99.9% of the time those Residential Gateway/Routers with X number of ports are switches. This means you will have to plug all your computers into a real hub, then uplink that hub to your router/gateway. Another recent "feature" of most current hubs is that in a large number of situations, they will behave as switches. This sucks, but can be worked around. Typically, the 10mbit and the 100mbit section of a 10/100 hub are switched. So if EQ is 100mbit and SEQ is 10mbit, they won't see each other's traffic. Also, if a 10mbit device is hooked to the 10/100 hub it will frequently become a REAL hub on the 100mbit section. So, if your router is 10mbit and your SEQ and EQ boxes are 100mbit all hooked to the same hub-switch, you should probably be able to sniff packets! This is true for most Linksys hubs, and some Netgear and Bay Network hubs.
(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. Where do I download ShowEQ?
A. From the unix command prompt type (without quotes):
"cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/seq login". Press enter when asked for a password (the password is blank). Next, type "cvs -d:pserver:[email protected]:/cvsroot/seq co showeq". This will download the source and maps for ShowEQ.
There will probably never be a place you can download a tar file again. Please don't ask.
(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. How do I build and install ShowEQ?
A. Please see the documentation in README.newbies, or one of the walkthroughs that can be found at seq.sourceforge.net in the help forum.
(Submitted by Gullork)
Q. How do I update ShowEQ?
A. The first step, is to make sure that you have the lastest libEQ.a file. You can tell if you have the correct one by looking at the top of the main page of these forums and writing down the number it lists. It looks something like this:
The current md5sum of libEQ.a (14/Jun/02): 23249.... (and so on)
Then use the md5sum command in this manner:
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cd /usr/lib
md5sum libEQ.a
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It will return a unique number like so: 23249b5a6a04f2b900449d9c4aa0994a
If the numbers do not match, then you need to get the newest libEQ.a file. Now be careful to get the file from a trusted source such as those listed in the readme file. Here are some trusted locations for the file known at the time of this faq (again, see the readme file to verify):
ftp://azriel.trifocus.net/pub/libeq/i386/linux
ftp://smurfette.trifocus.net/pub/libeq/i386/linux
http://www.doomed.to/showeq/
So... now it is time to get the new file. First, lets rename the old file so that you have a backup that ShowEQ can't find and use accidentally (in other words, don't just copy the file somewhere else):
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cd /usr/lib
mv libEQ.a libEQ.a.old
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Now lets get the new file:
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wget --passive-ftp ftp://smurfette.trifocus.net/pub/li...6/linux/libEQ.a
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And double check that it is indeed the right one:
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md5sum libEQ.a
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If it matches the posted number at the top of the home page of this website, then we are ready to move on to the actual upgrade:
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cd ~/showeq
cvs -z3 update
make -f Makefile.dist
CC=gcc3 CXX=g++3 QTDIR=/path/to/qt ./configure
make && make install
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(Submitted by high_jeeves)
Q. Where can I find libEQ.a?
A. Please see the README.libEQ file that comes with the souce, one you have downloaded ShowEQ. To download any of these files, use "wget <url>". You may need to use the --passive-ftp switch "wget --passive-ftp <url>" for some of these locations. Once you have downloaded this file, type "md5sum libEQ.a" on it, and make sure that the output matches the md5sum printed on the top of the page at seq.sourceforge.net.
If ShowEQ is on sourceforge.net, shouldn't it be open source?
Yes, and it is! That was a very smart question. Now, we know you are asking this because you want the source to the libEQ.a file. This file USED to be distributed with the ShowEQ source on CVS, but eventually someone pointed out that since the source to this file is unavailable it is against the GPL. So, ShowEQ was made so that it can optionally use this file... and the download was placed separately from CVS. See the file "README.libEQ" file from CVS for download info.
(Submitted by Dedpoet)
Q. EQ just got patched today, and SEQ doesn't work anymore!
A. Verant often makes changes in the network packet structure on patch days that Seq doesn't know about, causing it to choke. This is usually resolved in the code within a few hours, and can be fixed with a cvs update and recompile (see above). Checking the Announcement forum at seq.sourceforge.net on patch day will often let you know when the update is complete.
(Submitted by Mr Guy)
Q: How do filters work? What is regex? Where can I get some default filters?
A: Filters work by building a string from the information received about mobs (and PC) from the EQ servers. The filters search these strings using regular expressions. You can find the exact description of the string in the file "conf/filters.conf.dist" off of the directory you downloaded the CVS into.
A regular expression is a way of describing patterns of letters, numbers, spaces, and other symbols. When this pattern is compared to a string, it is said to match if the special symbols in the pattern match the symbols and characters in the string. Think of it as algebra for words.
The most commonly used special symbols are as follows:
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[ ]
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: matches one character inside the brackets
eg
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[aA]
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would match either 'a' or 'A' but not 'b'
\w : matches any word character (letters, symbols, numbers, but not spaces)
\s : matches any space character (space or tab)
. : matches ANY character except return
Special symbol modifiers
+ : Matches 1 or more
* : Matches 0 or more
{ } : Matches X number
eg:
\w+\s would mean at least one letter (or many more) followed by a space
Example Regex for EQ
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Name: [gG]riff.*
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Translation:
The exact characters N a m e : {space}
follow by either g or G
followed by exactly r i f f
followed by 0 or more anything
This would match:
Name: griffawn
Name: Griff The Wonder Basher
Name: griff
Name: griffon, a
and many more.
This would NOT match:
Name: Grimfeather Race: griffon
You can learn more about regular expression all over the web, or with 'man perlre'.
BlueAdept has worked very hard to provide us with some nice default filters to use. They can be found on his website at
http://www.seqstuff.cjb.net
or the mirror:
http://www27.brinkster.com/blueadept
What hardware/distribution do YOU recommend?
There are a number of answers to this question... in short:
For advanced users:
<A HREF="http://www.gentoo.org">Gentoo Linux</A> is amazing
For moderate users:
Mandrake
Suse
Debian
For beginners:
RedHat
It all depends on what you want out of it, how skilled you are and how much time you have. Go to linuxiso.org for more distributions.
Hardware wise, go with the best you can afford. While ShowEQ can be run on something as slow as a Pentium 133, performance will be abysmal (not to mention it will take nearly a week to compile, depending on memory). The general minimum reccomended specs would be a PII 400 with 128 MB RAM and a 4 GB hard drive, a hardware accelerated video card is a plus.
Does ShowEQ work with the EverQuest Emulators that are available?
The short answer is "Sort of." If you are asking this question, then answer is "No." Those that would be able to get it to work with the emulator(s) would not be asking this question, so forget about it.
I have a question that isn't in this list, if its good will you add it?
Of course.
I don't want to piss anyone off, but I would like to point out that a lot of the developers are pretty mean. What is up with that?
Well, I will try and answer this to the best of my ability based on my opinion and my observations over the past nearly 2 years. Nearly all of the intelligent Linux users who also use ShowEQ start out with the best of intentions. If you go back in time, you would find that both Ratt and Casey were very nice and tried to help everyone they could. Another good example is Ahimus (and I'm sure I have the spelling wrong) who wrote a VERY good install guide for RedHat 7.1 and answered many questions, but has since disappeared off the face of the earth. They answered the same question over and over and over again. At some point, they snapped and decided that answering the same stupid post time after time after time was a waste of their time. Then they got mean. Right now, Zaphod is in the helpful stage and I am in the helpful -> asshole stage. If you ask a stupid question, I will call you a dumb ass while helping you.
(Submitted by: Gullork)
Q. I zoned in, but not all mobs showed up, or the mobs show as unknown. What is wrong?
A. Could be several things, but the most common is a missed transmit between the servers and your EQ client. You could have a problem on your network causing your EQ computer to ask for retransmits from the servers more often than is considered normal. Since ShowEQ doesn't see retransmits, the zone was not properly decoded due to missing information. The problem can be anything from a bad network card sending erroneous packets over the network, to a low quality hub, to a bad wire.
(Submitted by: S_B_R)
Q: I went to the Plane of Hate and saw an invisible mob called "ShowEQ users suck." Have any of you guys seen this?
A: Yes, we have and we think it is very funny. We are glad you got a chance to go up to hate and see the special content that is for showeq users only. Be careful not to laugh about it in /gu or /shout or what not
(Submitted by: high_jeeves)
Q) A walkthrough I found lists these commands:
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cp /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf.dist /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf
pico -w /usr/local/share/showeq/showeq.conf
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i tried to do it.. but it tells me i don't have showeq.conf in the directory...
A) You are using a slightly old version of the walkthrough. These files are no longer used, the new file is XML based. As posted in the CHANGES file, and Announcements forum:
From Zaphod, reposted by TDES:
quote:
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CVS Commit, May 11, 2002
dohpaZ (11/05/02)
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Modifications:
version 4.2.0
(snip)
No longer save preferences on exit, only save when user chooses to via the menu "File" -> "Save Preferences" or via the CTRL+S accelerator
Migrated to an XML based preference system.
The configuration file seqdef.xml contains the ShowEQ defaults and will usually only be modified to change site specific things, if ever.
The user configuration file showeq.xml can be used as a template to create user specific overrides of specific options. It contains Category Manager and Message Box (Channel messages) window descriptions by default. Many user settable parameters may now be set via the GUI and will be saved to this file via the "File" menu's "Save Preferences" option.
The DTD describing the specific XML format used in the files is called seqpref.dtd for those who understand such things.
The old configuration files will no longer be used, a method for migrating configuration information from these files has not been provided.
Enjoy,
Zaphod (dohpaZ)
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