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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
Joined: 07/14/2005
Credibility: 933 pts
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Ok, is it me or does the Support staff for CoH/CoV really bite sometimes? Like lately, I've been having connection issues with the game. I can't stay connected for more than 45 minutes at a time (give or take) and get the "Lost Connection to Mapserver" message lots of times. So I petition the problem and I get a response asking me to DL a diagnostic program and send them the results in a text file. I run it and send them the file. After 4 days of waiting, I get a response. Long story short, they want me to update my video drivers. What?! I'm not having graphics issues. My internet connection isn't fizzling because my graphics card isn't up to spec. And if, for some strange reason, it was the cause of it, why would it work for over 2 years (for CoH) and over 6 months (for CoV) without problem only to fail now? I understand that sometimes the setting can mess with the game and cause lag and crashes, but my game doesn't lag. It simply disconnects. Even when I'm just standing there. Or adding background information to my character's ID. Or choosing a new power after leveling. I really don't think that my graphics card is overworked during those parts of the game.
Its like they're robots; running through the same routine for every problem. Its rediculous really. "Check your internet connections," "turn off your spyware," "restart your computer." Honestly. I know sometimes the problems can be simple, but for real...do I have to run through the same checklist of "solutions" everytime there's a problem? Its ludicrous.
Anyways, I guess I'm just mad they can't figure out what's wrong and feed me this junk...
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| 07/11/06 00:25 |
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LordXenophon
Posts: 2044
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In all the time I've been playing CoH, I've never gotten a useful responce from support. Usually, they treat my like I'm stupid. I tell them exactly what's wrong and they give me answers that aren't even related.
One example was the time we were doing the cauldron mission in Pocket D and the named boss was missing. We cleared the entire first floor, then searched over and over and never found him. We all sent petitions about it. Hours later, we all got out-of-game e-mails explaining that you can't finish the mission without a hero on the team. Not only was this un-helpful, but they didn't even check to see that all but one petition came from heroes!
I'm not even going to try to explain what happened when I bugged two Doctor Vahziloks in the same mission. There's no nice way to say it, other than that I never did update my video drivers.
These are very typical of my experiences with CoH support. I'm not surprised at all to hear they want you to update your video drivers because I7 crashes. It's not your video driver. The problem is universal, though most of us last longer than 45 min. I last about 4 hours on the computer I'm on now and about 2 hours on my brother's computer.
        
          
          
Now lurking on Twitter
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| 07/11/06 01:09 |
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Julia Heartilly
Posts: 257
Joined: 11/26/2005
Credibility: 241 pts
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Hmmm, as long as they don't tell me I need to upgrade my GFX drivers in order to do a character transfer.
If that happens we can officially declare them crazy. :-)
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| 07/11/06 07:11 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
Joined: 07/14/2005
Credibility: 933 pts
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Don't put it past them...
Image Gallery (CoH, CoV, GW, PS, etc.)
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| 07/11/06 08:24 |
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MightySmiter
Posts: 227
Joined: 11/02/2005
Credibility: 260 pts
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my old computer seeemd to crash alot as well, but since i got this new one, the game never even lags.i zone quickly, and i havent had any problems with the game connection or anyting. maybe its cuz my new comp is super cool and powerful, or mayeb the devs just like me better than the rest of you
COH GUARDIAN
MightySmiter dark/dark/body scrapper lvl 50
-Member of Protectors of Paragon City
PhantomPrincess ill/rad/fire controller lvl 50
-Member of The Golden Council
WoW Runetotem (retired)
Belain lvl 70 Human Paladin
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| 07/11/06 09:50 |
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Thundarpants
Posts: 1248
Joined: 12/18/2004
Credibility: 1924 pts
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I'm not going to back the devs, rather technical support practices. Trying to diagnose the problems on out of date hardware configs is very difficult. You may be having more than one problem, either they can't get past your out of date drivers to see what the software is really upset about, or it's compunding the issue. TRY IT! Is there some valid reason you do not want updated drivers for your vid card? Those do exist, but to my knowledge none of the major vid card suppliers have a totally rotten driver update out there right now.
Things that are seemingly unrelated can still have an effect on a particular problem. I do support for a living, this is common place.
They already told us that low end systems are going to have problems. I'm not labeling your PC as a low end system, more noting that they pushed the software and system uses up yet another notch with I7. In my SG I have about 10% of the crew reporting this kind of behaviour, the rest of us are fine.
This game is a HUGE strain on anyones vid card. Of any one component on your PC, that's the one that's getting it's butt kicked the most. Why is it totally impossible that a failure to handle the tons of graphics changes and communicate all of that to your network card/modem and not present incorrect or currupted data into the game causing a crash? The components still have to work together to make the game work.
I know the answers feel canned, but with all of the support calls they have to handle, spending time trying to fix software problems on systems that are not kept up to date is a waste of a support tech's time. They'll give you the "Get everything up to date and try it again answer" every time. It's how support works.
Support is a multi level process. The first level of diagnosis is to get everything up to date. When they design and test software, they test it against current driver configs. There may be a conflict with how the data is handled by the current driver you have. They will not spend any time making the game work on anything but current industry drivers. A small data issue can equal a huge game problem. Once you have updated your drivers, the next level will be another update from that diagnostic software they had you download if your problems persist. Then you can tell them "I updated the drivers and still have the problem". Then they can move on to the second level of diagnostics. If your vid card is sending corrupted data to the network card..........connection problems.
The sooner you get step 1 done, the sooner you can get them to go to level 2 diagnosis. Even if you think it's BS.......TRY IT! They aren't going to help you till you do. Believe it or not, their support techs are probably pretty good, and better than most of us at diagnosing the problems that occur on PC's running COH.
Again, I know the answer sounds canned, but they are not going to tell everybody this long speel about how support works. It's your responsibility as an end user to at least try their suggestion, and report back pass or fail. They cannot load the drivers for you.
My advise, I'd update the drivers for your network card if possible to boot. That way when they bring that up, you can tell them....."Already done it...Go fish".
I've got a couple of questions for you.
What speed is your processor?
How much RAM do you have?
What kind of connection are you on?
I know the game was almost pure hell for me just before a recent change. I added a lot more RAM to take me from 512MB to 1.5 GIG. I was having similar problems and crashing once my memory ran out completely. Swap space is a terrible place for the game to run. I7 almost forced me to quit. My processor is OK, 3GHz, and I'm on dial up. After upgrading the RAM, the game runs like I'm at my friend's High Speed Cable connection.
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| 07/11/06 11:18 |
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Istalon
Posts: 78
Joined: 08/06/2004
Credibility: 177 pts
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Good advice Thundarpants.
I do systems de-bug and have had some of the lamest things be the problem. If you've been running the same setup for so long, you might be running stuff to slow to handle it. Or, I7 needs the latest drivers or you get exceptions on occassion. I don't know and neither does CoH tech support. I've done over the phone trouble shooting, and it bites in the extreme. I can't imagine how hard it is using emials.
What I do know, is that they are going to start with the easiest and most commmon causes and work on from there. And I don't blame them for not helping if you wont do something as simple as load new drivers.
(Now for corny-ness)
Help them Help You!
:-)
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
Infinity
Villians
Corruptor
In Cold Blood Lvl 31 Ice/Ice
Master Mind
Metal Legion Lvl 36 Robot/Force Field
Brute
Naked Hate Lvl 30 Fire/Dark
Hero's
Blaster
Ion Shock Lvl 50 Elect./Dev.
G I Joe Mama Lvl 31 Assault/Dev.
Tank
Quantum Anatomy Lvl 36 Invul/SS
Scrapper
Drider Lvl 27 Spines/Regen
Defender
Darkeness Lvl 22 Dark/Dark
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| 07/11/06 11:46 |
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blackphoenix
Posts: 487
Joined: 09/23/2005
Credibility: 723 pts
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Maybe this might help:
The Internet Help Desk
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
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| 07/11/06 12:06 |
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MightySmiter
Posts: 227
Joined: 11/02/2005
Credibility: 260 pts
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thundar is right. my old comp is running a amd athlon 2000+ with 3/4 of a gig of ram. this comp had near constant problems even though it has a BFG nvidia 6600 overclocked with 256 onboard.
my new comp only runs a nvidia 5800 or something, but runs dual core 2.8 ghz pentium, and has 2 gigs of ram. this one has never had a problem runnign CoH or CoV, and runs them with blazing speed. as Wierd Al put it, its alla about the pentiums
COH GUARDIAN
MightySmiter dark/dark/body scrapper lvl 50
-Member of Protectors of Paragon City
PhantomPrincess ill/rad/fire controller lvl 50
-Member of The Golden Council
WoW Runetotem (retired)
Belain lvl 70 Human Paladin
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| 07/11/06 12:11 |
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Thundarpants
Posts: 1248
Joined: 12/18/2004
Credibility: 1924 pts
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OMG Pheonix! My life is hell, and I just got to watch it on that clip! Give the guy really long hair and it's just like a day here feels! The other Techs are getting a big kick out of that link!
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| 07/11/06 12:20 |
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blackphoenix
Posts: 487
Joined: 09/23/2005
Credibility: 723 pts
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Glad I could brighten up someone's day. I know how you guys feel, I do the same, only I'm a level2 support tech, so if the guys that answer the phone can't get it, I get to deal with these people face to face. I answer the phones sometimes too and I can tell ya, I'd rather be there physically lookin at it, than trying to fix it over the phone.
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| 07/11/06 12:31 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
Joined: 07/14/2005
Credibility: 933 pts
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See, here's my problem: I didn't have these problems since the start of I7, I only started having them a few days ago. All the way up to and a day past the latest patch, my game has worked fine and beautiful. As a matter of fact, I got a Thug MM all the way up to level 18 without any problems. Since a day after that patch (I played it fine after it was first issued), I can't stay connected for more than 45 minutes at maximum (but its usually more like 5-10 before I lose connection). I told them all that. THAT is why I'm upset they're talking about video card drivers.
"Lost Connection to Mapserver" has been haunting my dreams all damn weekend.
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| 07/11/06 13:51 |
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blackphoenix
Posts: 487
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Credibility: 723 pts
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I forget if someone already mentioned this and I don't feel like reading back through the posts again...
I was having issues with that memory leak think ever since i7 release. I read somewhere that it had something to do with how the game stores the texutures on your hard drive. Anyway, mine would work for about 2 hours, then I'd have to kill it and restart for it to run properly. So I found somewhere that said about turning down the graphics settings. I did that and it's been running just fine since. Granted it doesn't look as pretty a game as it should, but it is at least not frustrating to play now.
So, go into your graphics settings and set the slider all the way to performance instead of quality. See if that helps. I'm not saying that your graphics card can't handle it, mine's a GeForce 6200 with 256mb of memory, it's just that they apparently screwed something up with how the game renders on the higher settings so turning it to performance might help as on performance, it doesn't try to reference the thing they screwed up...or something like that.
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
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| 07/11/06 14:03 |
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blackphoenix
Posts: 487
Joined: 09/23/2005
Credibility: 723 pts
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Ok, to better back up my arguements:
| QUOTE | | The Lost Connection to Mapserver error message is a caused by a synchronization issue between your local machine and our servers: your system thinks you are in one place in the game world and our servers think you are in another. This can be caused by several things, ranging from long ping-times between hops across the Internet to disk access times on your local drive. |
Specifically:
| QUOTE | | disk access times on your local drive. |
So if this graphics thing is related to reading textures from your hard drive, it's possible that the constant mapserver error you're getting is related to disk access time, as the reading textures is eating all that time up.
The next question then would be, does it sound like your hard drive is going non stop when this happens?
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| 07/11/06 14:11 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
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Credibility: 933 pts
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1) I already turned down my graphics card to performance. Didn't help. I did that before I Petitioned Support.
2) My hard drive isn't loud at all when I'm playing. Not unless I've been going for hours nonstop (which hasn't happened in over a week).
3) The Gameamp Alliance people know I was ok after the I7 update; I was teaming with a bunch of you guys to take down Paladin. I have no clue why this started suddenly.
4) I do plan to update my drivers, what do I have to lose? I'm just upset that its cookie cutter logic for the problems. Its like they take the generic problem, type it into a program, and a pre-typed response comes up on screen and gets sent to me.
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| 07/11/06 14:26 |
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Thundarpants
Posts: 1248
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Credibility: 1924 pts
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I know you may have already tried this, but have you run the verify files on the updater screen yet? I know that I just blew this feature off when I had problems because it never found or fixed squat, but the last time I had COH issues and ran this, it actually found something and fixed it.
Sounds like you've tried most of the basics already. Just checking to be thorough.
I've seen a lot of different processors that seem to handle this fine. How much RAM are you running? Memory leaks could be causing this. Not that it's the solution, the Devs have to fix that. I'm just wondering if it's contributing.
Another thing to try while you wait for a responce from the devs is to run a defrag. Yet another test you may have run. It's definaltely another "What can I loose" sort of test. I know I don't defrag mine enough. If you haven't done the defrag test yet, I would run the verfy files again afterwards. It may be able to find a problem it couldn't before. If a small bit of code is sitting on a bad spot on the drive, the defrag should put what it can in one place, and the verify might recognise it's broken.(There is no such thing as a 100% useable hard drive. They ALL have bad spots. Your CPU is just smart enough to not try and use them in most cases)
The fact that most are not having this problem means it's not something globaly wrong. That doesn't mean that their developers still won't have something that has to be fixed. The trick is finding what unique situation on your PC is generating the problem. I am hearing this from some other players as well, although a very small percentage. That means that there is some sort of setup that a percentage of the players have by default. The problems are so similar, they are most likely the same issue.
I will query my SG mate that is currently having this problem, and see what he has tried. It might rule out some of the possibilities that we're tossing around. He may have already tried them. I'll also be watching this post becuase the same problem is driving him nuts right now. I think you are more actively hammering the devs. I think he may be just waiting for it to go away.
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| 07/11/06 15:03 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
Joined: 07/14/2005
Credibility: 933 pts
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Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.40GHz, 2.39GHz, 1.00 GB of RAM
ATI Radeon 9600 Video card
I've got plenty of free space on the Hard Drive (over 2 GB) so that won't be slowing it down. I run a defrag every 2-4 weeks on my hard drive (I ran one just last week before the problems). All files verified in the check for the CoH Startup.
Thanks to everyone for helping me out with this. I go nuts when I can't play CoH/CoV.
And yeah, Thundar, I'm definately hammering the devs pretty hard. I let the tech guy have it with my last e-mail, I kinda unloaded frustrations on him, but not insultingly or overly rude (in my opinion; I coulda said a lot worse than I did).
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| 07/11/06 16:18 |
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Thundarpants
Posts: 1248
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Well Vince it's always easier to trouble shoot problems for those who don't know what they are doing. There is usually some simple thing that they don't know about to try. You hit everything that I would have tried and your system parameters and resources seem fine.
I do know that there were more problems with the ATI cards than the NVidia cards. You have a chance to update those drivers yet? I'm actually curious if it helps any.
Good luck. Please hit this post again if you get an actual resolution. I know that there are several that would love a little stability back in their game.
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| 07/12/06 07:35 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
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I did the driver update. Didn't help. I got DCd after 4 minutes.
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| 07/12/06 07:50 |
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Julia Heartilly
Posts: 257
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Credibility: 241 pts
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| QUOTE | | I did the driver update. Didn't help. I got DCd after 4 minutes. |
At least you can now tell them you updated your drivers and have them come up with the next step...
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| 07/12/06 07:58 |
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Solaronn
Posts: 631
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Vince, first check the things that are hooked up to your compuyter. I used to disconnect all the time, and I ended up running a new firmware upgrade for my router, and that cured my problem. Now if I D/C once every week it's a lot, and it's usually not even that. If that doesn't do it, check into your cable modem (I'm assuming you're on cable or DSL) when they get old they sometimes can't hold a signal, and need to be replaced. These are places to start, not the nonsense the tech support sends out. You are correct, it is all the same spiel. They told me the same garbage when I was having D/C issues last year. They read from a script, and ignore what you are telling them. Thirdly, it could even be your ISP causing the problem. I'm on the notorious Optonline, who has documented issues with running this game and every so often I have to send them a nasty email about it, which they have replied to saying "Yes we know we have problems running CoH, but it should be fixed now, blah blah blah."
So those three things should clear up your problem I'm running a 2800+ Athlon with 1 gig of ram and a 6600 GPU Nvidia card W/256 megs onboard. The system works great . lag is not an issue with eth 256 card (I Was running a 128 , 5200 Nvidia up until last month when I took the plunge and bought the 6600/256 card.)
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| 07/12/06 08:40 |
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dougnukem
Posts: 358
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The funny thing for me was that I updated my vid driver, and it then in turn prevented me from playing the game. So I had to reinstall the old driver.
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| 07/12/06 08:40 |
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VinceVoltage
Posts: 619
Joined: 07/14/2005
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Ok, it turns out that Solaron was partially right; I had the Comcast technician actually sit and watch me when I DCd (which is nice because none of the other techs seemed to even believe it happened to me). It turns out that at random times, for no apparant reason at all, my modem just shuts down and restarts. The Comcast guy says that its on their "End of Life" list. See, it goes something like this: when a modem can no longer recieve the updates that Comcast sends out (its not compatible with the new software sent out), its put on that "End of Life" list, meaning that its suggested you get a new modem and that the modem is more than likely the problem with any/all internet connection issues. None of the other techs that came out here bothered to check that (which p!$$es me off to no extent), which is rediculous. So my dad ordered us a new modem (he buys his own, doesn't rent from the ISP). Our old modem is a Motorola 4100, which is on that list. My dad ordered an RCA in the 300+ series, which are still good to Comcast. So HOPEFULLY that will fix the problems I've been having. We'll know in a few days when the modem gets here. Thanks for all the help guys, and I'll be sure to keep you updated.
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| 07/15/06 09:45 |
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