Hi all,

When I try to use my mic on an HH server, everyone just gets their sound shut off. It's the same if I try mic self-test in the TF2 options menu while connected to that server.

Thing is, this only happens on HH. It works fine on all other public and clan servers I have tried, and fine in mumble (+ other audio apps) too.

So - any ideas? There's really nothing I can see in settings. I know it's not a unique problem, I've run across a few people on various servers over the years who had the same issue. Never known if there actually is a solution tho.

As I say - works everywhere but HH, so pls bear that in mind before silly suggestions like "did you try plugging it in a different port" etc

Thanks...

Yep - I was playing with you tonight and it sounded weirdly distorted - like a dalek undergoing some type of dental torture.

I have had it before with some other players (Madferret I think) who when notified of the problem went away and fiddled with something and came back crystal clear, so it's fixable whatever the problem is. The HH collective will probably have an answer for you.

I can't help you I'm afraid as my technical prowess only extends to pressing knobs and hoping something works. The chimp in sputnik was more technically advanced than I am.

btw - I may have come across as a bit tetchy tonight through chat, sorry about that. I was a bit tired and I'm having new carpet issues - you know how it is.

Indeed, indeed, carpet can get even the best of us down.

I just spent a little time in the steam forums solution-hunting, and oh god, my eyes bleed.

Did your new carpet just get laid? ...

Maybe it has something to do with the server OS? I don't know what proportion of servers also run off Linux rather than something else though, so I'm probably totally wrong.

I seem to have found a mic solution - turning on "DC mode offset" in the realtek/windows control panel settings has worked. No idea why or what that does, but there you go.

Unfortunately, also being reminded today of how frustrating the HH lag is so it's probably a bit of a moot point anyways. It;s such a shame...used to be a great place to play, a long time ago. But a low level of delay all the time (most noticeable, oddly enough, when landing from jumps - the sound of shins breaking is a 1/4 second too late and it really stands out) coupled with stuttering and juddering when it actually fills up to 24 players... meh.

I don't mean to complain - am in no position to do so, having not donated or anything - but really, it appears from the outside to be very clear that the server hardware's not up to the strain on it. Feels like the server FPS/tickrate just goes through the floor whenever there's too much happening (i.e., full of players). Maybe worth trying to run a bit less in the way of HH 1/2/3/4/5/however many there are, and just focus on one or two?

I don't want to open up this can of worms again, there is a long thread all about this topic. What it boils down to is not the hardware, or the number of servers that we run. It's due to the flavour of Linux that we run, CentOS (5.x), it used to be one of the recommend options for a gameserver box, but not anymore. The server hardware itself rarely goes above half load.
The planning, rebuild and switch to Debian (or Ubuntu) isn't something I've found time to do. It needs coordination with data-centre and down time of a day or 2.

I see - thanks for the explanation. 'Tis such a shame though... I remember when the HH servers used to always be full and were the best place to find pub-playing but with skilled players. Now they're usually empty and abandoned

(and ppl are on Uberium instead)

I would have to disagree, right now HH1 is completely full and Uberium is completely empty.

The reasons for the decline are varied, but also include the introduction of quickplay, our ip addresses changing and TF2 growing long in the tooth.