VOGONS


First post, by Yasashii

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I have a Windows 7 SP1 x64 machine connected to a D-Link Dl-524 router (with a wire), and an old XP SP3 machine connected to that router, also wired.

I want to play old games (or at least those of them that also run on Windows 7) over LAN. The purpose of this is, when my friend comes over, we can get cracking at those old games.

The connection works, theoretically, as I was able to set up file sharing between the two computers (that is, I can successfully access the Windows 7 machine's files on the XP machine as long as the Windows 7 machine has a password set up on my account. I don't know why but when no password is set up, it will not work with any settings.)

Still, even if it didn't work, I'd just use Dukto to transfer files over the network. That always works, so it's not a problem.

The problem is, when I try to host a game, the other computer can't see the host. This is the case with every game that I've tested. It doesn't matter whether I host it on the Win 7 machine or the XP machine. BUT, if I disconnect both computers from the router and simply directly wire them together, the host is visible, but still only the Windows 7 machine is able to join a game hosted on the XP machine, while it doesn't work the other way round. The connection times out.

While this workaround does mean that LAN play is possible, it's by no means a solution to the problem as bending over the desk every time and rewiring the network is rather uncomfortable in my room (the computers are close against the walls). Also, in that setting, I don't have access to the internet, because the router is omitted.

My home network has always been a source of problems for some reason, and I've always managed to find workarounds, but to be unable to make a simple wired LAN work for games is just ridiculous.

Btw. the games are not to blame. One of the games I've tested was Re-Volt, which I was able to play through LAN in the dorm just 2 months ago on my netbook, which is a different machine, but the point is, I used the exact same files and the exact same patch, so the game is not the problem.

I'd appreciate any ideas. I will provide additional info, if needed.

Reply 1 of 17, by Firtasik

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Firewalls checked?

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Reply 2 of 17, by Yasashii

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Firewall is disabled completely on the XP machine and on the Win 7 machine all the necessary exceptions have been added on first attempts of joining the game.

Reply 3 of 17, by DosFreak

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Verify that you can telnet to the port you have open from each machine.

If you can telnet to the port then it's not a network issue.

For Windows 7 make sure you do not disable the Windows firewall service but that you do turn off the firewall in the Windows FIrewall control panel.

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Reply 4 of 17, by Firtasik

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Check router's firewall too.

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Reply 5 of 17, by Yasashii

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Disabling the firewall didn't make a difference.

I tried to telnet the Windows 7 ip with a random port (80) from the XP machine and the connection failed. The reason why I chose the random port was that I put the Windows 7 machine into my router's DMZ, which should open every port. I can only add one computer to the DMZ. I input the ip address listed with ipconfig in the cmd. Did I do this right, btw?

Reply 6 of 17, by DosFreak

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80 will only be open if you have IIS or some other program using that port.

Run "netstat -anbo | more" to see your open ports. IIRC 445 should be available for both XP/7 so try that.

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Reply 7 of 17, by Yasashii

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Right... so I got a pretty long list after entering that command. To be honest I have no idea how to interpret the data. I don't have much experience dealing with any network-related stuff.

If I post the output in a .txt file here, will I be making myself vulnerable to an attack?... (this is a noobish thing to ask but uhh... I don't want to do anything stupid here)

Also, I tried to telnet the win 7 machine on port 445 and the cmd went completely clean aside from the cursor. I have no idea whether that means that it works or it glitched out. Never used telnet before. (Noob level intensifies...)

Reply 8 of 17, by DosFreak

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Not much to it.

Each column is titled and you are looking for the local address.

After the : in the local address is the port.

So 0.0.0.0:445 means that the local computer has port 445 open which means you should be able to telnet to that port from the other machine.

If you get a blank screen with a _ cursor when you telnet to a open port then you are good to go.

Can you verify the ip configuration of both machines? They should be on the same subnet.

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Reply 9 of 17, by Yasashii

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Confirmed. Subnet mask is identical on both machines.

Also, I don't know if this is helpful, but when try to host a game in Re-Volt, the game says that my ip is 192.168.88.249. That is not the ip I get when I do ipconfig in cmd. Could that have anything to do with the problem or is that normal?

Edit: I've managed to rule out the network adapter as the culprit. The one on the Windows 7 works fine as I am able to host a game or join one when connected with my netbook. I was almost sure the XP machine's one had to be the one to blame so I installed a D-Link PCI network adapter and there is no difference.

Reply 10 of 17, by ZellSF

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Just thinking out loud here, no real clue what your problem is, but...

Check for additional network adapters, physical or virtual. Disable all of them not needed.

Win7 has three network profiles you can assign to each network you connect to: Home, Work or Public. Make sure to try all three.

List which games you are trying.

Disconnect from the internet and make sure both your firewall and ANY security software is off (maybe there's some security software acting as a firewall without you knowing it). Also confirm that the firewall is entirely disabled (not just exceptions, not just allow everything, it must be off) for both computers.

Also if possible, try other network cables (shot in the dark).

Reply 11 of 17, by Yasashii

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There is a virtual adapter which was installed along with VirtualBox, but I disabled it, and the problem occurred before I even installed VirtualBox. Other than that, the only adapter is my physical adapter.

Tried the profiles, didn't work.

The games I tried are: Dethkarz, Re-Volt, Flatout, 3D Live Pool

There is no security software installed on the XP machine. I disabled the firewall and the anti-virus on my Windows 7 machine, no change.

Tried another network cable, also no change.

Reply 12 of 17, by Davros

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Yasashii wrote:

when try to host a game in Re-Volt, the game says that my ip is 192.168.88.249.

then thats the ip of that machine, host a game in revolt on the other machine and it will tell you the ip of that

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Reply 13 of 17, by Yasashii

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Yeah, well why do I get a different IP when I do ipconfig in cmd?

Reply 14 of 17, by mockingbird

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Disable the firewall in Win7 and see if that fixes it. I've also tried adding exceptions in the past without success, and only disabling it completely seemed to work for me.

Also, disable "Homegroups" completely on Win7. Look it up in a search engine to find out how to do it.

Reply 15 of 17, by Yasashii

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I already tried disabling the firewall.

Disabling homegroups didn't help.

Reply 16 of 17, by Davros

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did you try revolt

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Reply 17 of 17, by chinny22

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Can you set a IP address manually up in Revolt? Maybe its in a config file somewhere.
If you network the 2 PC's direct does Revolt still get the same IP address? Is it the same IP on Both PC's (that would sugest it is configured somewher inside the game)

How is the network setup? is your router the DHCP server or have you given each PC a Static IP address/DNS servers. Personally I would go with DHCP to start with that way you know both PC's are getting the same settings from a central server.