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EQ Item Collector: Non-Existent Invalid Items on MerchantsFollow

#1 Dec 19 2015 at 10:44 PM Rating: Excellent
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tl;dr: EQIC doesn't see any items on merchants/traders and instead displays 2 invalid items on every merchant.


First off, I try to get everyone to a KNOWN state of information to prevent misunderstandings and confusions. Thus, what follows is rather verbose, but it's so you know what I know. If anything I say below is erroneous, please supply the correct information which may clear up what I thought was a problem.

Part 1 is to ensure that I correctly understand how EQIC should behave and display items.
Part 2 pertains to the actual problem I am encountering.
Part 3 is requesting additional information from any EQIC programmers or knowledgeable Allakhazam user.

Okay, it has been quite awhile since I've done inventory diving of merchants (similar to dumpster diving for uber junk) throughout the lands to see what they have to offer. I then examine this merchant's Allakhazam page for the active list of goods they were last known to sell to see what has been added, updated, and/or removed. For any changes, I'll reupload his entire inventory from my logfile noting what the differences were. I believe it was easier for Allakhazam administrators to update a merchant's inventory en masse via a script/program they have/use rather than entering one or two changes by hand.


Part 1: Defining Optimal EQ Item Collector Behavior

EQ Item Collector: When you load EQIC, it checks for any new program updates and waits for the next character to enter the game or an active character to change zones and then starts cataloging what that character has in their inventory and banks. You see this as the items and their attached item numbers are shown in EQIC's View window. EQIC then checks for any new or updated items found in this list and submits them. It is also bound to that character's data stream so that even with multiple instances of EverQuest characters changing zones on that PC, it ignores them.

Merchants: If I recall correctly, when you right-clicked a merchant and their Purchase/Sell window opened up, EQIC would start cataloguing their inventory while displaying the results in the View window of EQIC, similar to what it does when you change zones. Any new or updated items are submitted. As stated earlier, I'd then check Allakhazam's entry on this merchant and update it as needed.

Traders: When you right-click a trader and their Purchase/Sell window window opens up, EQIC does the same actions as it does for Merchants, cataloging and displaying what it sees.

In essence, any time you look at a merchant's Purchase/Sell window or a trader's Purchase/Sell window, their items for sale will be catalogued by EQIC and can been seen in EQIC's View window? Or is my recollection wrong or has the way EQIC works been changed since then?



If it's suppose to show that merchant's and/or trader's inventory in the EQIC View window, then I am encountering an error with EQIC. Every time I try to look at a merchant's inventory, EQIC finds 2 invalid items. The numbers are usually consistent with that merchant when you reopen their Purchase/Sell window multple times. They usually change when you look at another merchant.

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1936290384) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (1818652233) detected, ignoring.


So, to see if one of the merchants items is causing this error, I start going through their inventory list, right-clicking every item for sale, top to bottom. A window containing information about that item pops up but EQIC doesn't do anything even though it just said it saw 2 invalid items. While still perusing the merchant's inventory, I can click an item link somebody may have given in /gu and EQIC immediately displays it on it's View window, so EQIC is still alert and active.

Should EQIC catalog and display an item that I right-click in a merchant's Purchase/Sell window? I ask because that item's information window pops up just like when you click on an item link in a chat channel.


Because of this, I have to send myself a /tell with a link of those items by clicking their icons:

Screenshot

Once my tell shows up, I can then click on the new links and EQIC will see those items, catalog and display them:

Screenshot

#2 Dec 19 2015 at 10:45 PM Rating: Excellent
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Part 2: The Invalid Items Error

I went through the entire inventory of a merchant (using the method stated above to get EQIC to catalog that item) looking for the offending items. Nothing. Clicked on the Recover tab and checked all those. Again, no items were invalid and they all displayed their appropriate item names in EQIC View window as was seen.

Since the merchant's inventory appeared to be fine, perhaps it was something in the Recover tab that was messing up EQIC. I made a brand new level 1 Human Warrior Agnostic named Falgin (autogenerated). I then entered Crescent Reach and EQIC did the following:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
Setting up session: Client port 57834, Server port 1559. SKey is 0x53a7540d.
Processing player profile.
Processing player inventory.
Item(58647): Crescent Reach Guild Summons [Looks like it's worth reading]
Item(32601): Backpack* [Backpack]
Item(9991): Bread Cakes* [Bread Cakes]
Item(9990): Skin of Milk [Skin of Milk]
Item(21779): Bandages* [Bandages]
Item(9998): Short Sword* [Short Sword]
Item(9979): Gloomingdeep Lantern [Gloomingdeep Lantern]
Item(32601): Backpack* [Backpack]
Item(124452): Tailored Excellent Bag [A surprisingly well crafted container]
Item(85418): Red Santug Cap Ornament []
Item(85421): Santug Helper's Striped Cap Ornament []
Item(124452): Tailored Excellent Bag [A surprisingly well crafted container]
Item(124452): Tailored Excellent Bag [A surprisingly well crafted container]
Item(124452): Tailored Excellent Bag [A surprisingly well crafted container]

I then went to the closest merchant who had items pertinent to this warrior. I right-clicked on Larthutri (Warrior Tomes) and EQIC displayed the following:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1701670740) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (135594112) detected, ignoring.

Okay . . . . still getting invalid items even though her Purchase/Sell and Recover tabs look okay:

Screenshot
Screenshot

Closed her Purchase/Sell window and right-clicked her again:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1701670740) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (-133755627) detected, ignoring.

Trying again because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to come out different:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1701670740) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (-1525350272) detected, ignoring.

Come on, EQIC, baby needs a new pair of shoes!!:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1701670740) detected, ignoring.
Item(8839) being updated.
Item(8839): K9t¯»ƒ []
Processing queue...
..1 items.
Connecting to server... (208.43.200.49:23183)
Connection established...
Server is requesting 1 items.
Uploading:
K9t¯»ƒ[8839]

Server has accepted item data.

Wow. That's odd. Does it see that same data again? Here goes:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
invalid item (1701670740) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (286589056) detected, ignoring.

NOPE!!
#3 Dec 19 2015 at 10:45 PM Rating: Excellent
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Part 3: Requesting Information from EQIC Programmers

This one might be difficult because of the lay-offs Zam did, there may be just a caretaker programmer who only knows enough to replug the new locations of data from the game and recompile the program. But hope springs eternal!!
  • Is EQIC suppose to display the inventory of a merchant or trader in the EQIC View window?
  • What is causing the 2 invalid items error when I look at any merchant?
  • Can you put a switch in EQIC to be able to log the displayed window information to a file?
If not, can you at least increase EQIC's View window buffer substantially? The buffer is about 17,600 bytes and when EQIC errors out (still), the backend.exe program shouts "Elvis has left the building!" and crashes.

On Dreamrider, if EQIC crashes and doesn't go crazy with 300+ lines of "invalid item (0) detected, ignoring." then it'll display 175 items where it wants to update 111 of them. Looking at this data, it's only displaying as far back as my Bank Slot 24 which has a Wayfarer's Pocketed Rucksack (ID 56030), a 36-slot bag, and in bag Slot 15 there are 7 stacked Chunk of Alaran Flesh (ID 72354)

There is another problem where EQIC is mangling the names of items in the main inventory slots from this point forward, but if we can get EQIC to at least read Merchant/Trader items automatically again would be a good start.

I have 2 PC's, both running Windows 10 Pro and this happens on both machines. One is an Asus P9X79-E WS with 64 GB of RAM and the other is an Asus Z87-K with 16 GB of RAM (used for EQ).


I can't help keep Allakhazam up to date if I have to:
  • Right-click an item in a merchant/trader Purchase/Sell window
  • Start a tell to myself by typing: "[T Dreamrider "
  • Click the item's icon to make a link appear on my /tell message then press the Enter key
  • Click the link returned to me so that EQIC registers and catalogs that item
for EVERY item on a merchant/trader,

for EVERY merchant/trader I want to get data from,

for EVERY zone I want to update.


That is too taxing and a severe waste of my time. As it is now, I only click on item links shown in chat windows, such as the items in a treasure chest at the completion of a raid event.


So . . . any recommendations or suggestions for me? Any requests for additional information from me?

#4 Jan 01 2016 at 12:56 PM Rating: Good
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I am seeing the same thing, though it is worse for me in that it isn't parsing my bank and inventory. I think it stops after a certain number of 'Invalid item' detected. Obviously the items are valid since the game is the source of all things. A small sample of my issue mirrors yours except this is one of the items in my bag in inventory:

EQ Item Collector wrote:
Item(1869367040) being updated.
Item(1869367040): ÿÿÿ []
invalid item (0) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (1638432) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (65536) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (1) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (0) detected, ignoring.
invalid item (0) detected, ignoring.


I would like to get lucy updated, but with the current issues it isn't going to happen
#5 Jan 01 2016 at 8:47 PM Rating: Excellent
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Other users are reporting issues with item collector to me as of January 1st, 2016.
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