Zugg Software :: View topic - zMUD 7.20 and Kerio Personal Firewall 2.1.5

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

I'm having a major problem with these two and I'm not sure what the problem is caused by, nor can I find anything in the Knowledgebase. After using zMUD for varying lengths of time, a window will pop up that's labeled "Windows Fatal Application Exit." The text is "Kerio Personal Firewall Driver: ApiInsertEventIntoQueue: Unable to allocate memory for event struct." When this occurs, zMUD disconnects and a window pops up that states "No entry in Domain Name Service (DNS) server for that host." At times there is an error message at the bottom of the zMUD screen that states something to the effect of the network not being able to run 32-bit software. The entire computer seems frozen.

In any case, only a reset/reboot of the machine fixes the lockup. Has anyone encountered anything like this or does anyone know what might be happening? Thanks!

zMUD 7.20b
Windows 2000 Professional
Athlon XP 2200+ 1.8Ghz
512 M RAM

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

It sounds like Kerio has a memory leak. You should look for thier site and see if they have an updated version or if you can contact them.

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

Did you uninstall Kerio or just turn it off? Firewall software uses a low level driver to intercept the network packets. Just turning the firewall off still leaves this driver intercepting then passing on the packet. If the driver fails then your whole network is broken.

I would suggest looking for updated network card drivers also.

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

I'll consider uninstalling Keriom although I don't much care for the idea. I did, in fact, just update the NIC drivers yesterday. I did this because it was suggested to another user who appears to have had the same problem. That poster, however, never came back to say whether this was a successful remedy or not. Thanks.

Apprentice Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 135

I'm running zMud with Kerio. No problems here. Maybe reinstall Kerio?

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

I'll try reinstalling Kerio this evening. My suspicion is that it's not a Kerio issue though. I think that Kerio was just getting caught in the crossfire of whatever issue zMUD itself is having. All applications appear to lock up. I think that Kerio is just the only one that complains about it.

That "network cannot run 32-bit software" message has got to mean something specific in relation to zMUD I would think. I'm surprised that no one has seen it before. I did a search and one person was having the same issue. She was advised to update her NIC drivers. I did that and still have the problem. If I knew what caused that message in zMUD, then I'd have a better clue as to what is actually the problem.

GURU Joined: 26 Jul 2001 Posts: 1958 Location: Canada

Joliver's response http://forums.zuggsoft.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=22461&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=32bit+software

Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 4:36 pm

The error about "not being able to run 32-bit software" usually means that your WSOCK32.DLL system library has been overwritten by something else, or is being intercepted and patched somehow. This used to be a problem with big ISPs that distributed their own network drivers. It's possible that Kerio is doing something in the WinSock library to intercept and block stuff in a way that it shouldn't. In any case, if your WSOCK32.DLL file has been changed, then just disabling the Kerio software might not have any effect on the problem.

To understand this a bit more: there are two "WinSock" libraries on your system. The WINSOCK.DLL file is for 16-bit and legacy applications. If you try to run a 32-bit program like zMUD just using WINSOCK.DLL, then you will probably get an error about not being able to run 32-bit software. WSOCK32.DLL is the 32-bit WinSock library that was added later (in Win98 I think maybe?). I think Windows is set up to use WSOCK32.DLL as a default these days, but will revert to WINSOCK.DLL if needed.

In any case, this isn't a problem in zMUD (or at least not something I can do anything about). zMUD just calls the standard Windows networking routines. It's up to Windows to handle them via it's library files. So *something* on your system has changed the standard Windows libraries.

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

Thanks for the ideas, folks. I really appreciate it. None of the solutions has worked so far. My current opinion after watching this behavior is that it's memory related. As I said, I have 512 M installed. I'm wondering if it's Firefox and its dreaded memory hogging problem that some people report and others deny exists. Much as I don't want to, I'm thinking of using IE when use zMUD. I sometimes need to have a browser window open when playing. So far this hasn't really been a problem, except for annoyance and the hassle of having to do a complete reboot to get anything to work. But I dread the day that I'm fighting a mega-monster and this occurs. Sad

Thanks again for the help.

Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 4:11 pm

I doubt very much that it is memory related and I would read Zugg's post again. Even if you have not managed to figure out what may have changed wsock32.dll I bet that Zugg is right and something has, it could even be Kerio.

Newbie Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 6

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 2:34 pm

You could use the System File Checker utility that is built into 2k and XP. Open a command prompt and type in sfc to get the usage.

Do you get these memory issues before you get the 32bit software errors, if so it may well be worth running a memory checker, download one from http://www.memtest86.com/ there are others available if you do a google search. Although rare sometimes these memory checkers can pass even after running for a long time, I myself have had this recently, so if possible use memory from another box and see if the problem clears.

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 3:43 pm

Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2005 3:59 pm

That will only work if it is not a system protected dll which I suspect it will be.

You can see what happens if you try messing with system protected files, try deleting some of the dlls in the Program Files\Outlook Express folder and watch them come back.

If it is a system protected dll and you try to replace it manually as you suggest it will just get replaced with the cached copy. At this point sfc.exe will allow the user to check and restore to orginal MS versions.

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

I am loathe to do this, but anyway:

Apprentice Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 135

Sure. I'll post my observations after I get back from the dentist later this morning.

Posted: Thu Dec 15, 2005 1:11 pm

If the dll is a system file and it says that you cant delete it, or it's getting replaced with a cached copy, I downloaded a program called moveonb (move on boot)
You run it, tell it what file to move (or delete, or copy (i think)) and when the computer is booting up the next time it will take care of it (as long as it's not a file that's loaded like 1st thing before anything else type of thing)

http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/moveonboot.html

Maybe it will help

Apprentice Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 135

Kerio Personal Firewall 4
System service: 4.2.2
User interface: 4.2.2
Driver: 4.1.6003

KPF ran at a constant 6,340 KB mem usage from a range of 10%-98% CPU usage.