Help With Connection

[washaw]

i've not worked with networks... i've searched for answers and cannot get this to work...

my dad and i have played outpost together using a crossover serial cable connecting 2 computers with win98

now my dad is trying to upgrade to using 2 winxp computers, but one doesn't have a serial port... we tried getting a usb-serial converter to work with no sucess...

i had the "brilliant" idea of using a crossover lan cable and trying to get these 2 computers to run outpost games together, but they can't seem to find each other

the older computers have about had it, we really need to be able to get outpost playing on the newer computers - hopefully with the crossover lan cable.

what we've tried: we turned off the firewalls on both computers, we found websites that showed how to set the computer's ip's and get them on a workgroup... everything we've tried, but to no success...

one computer is a desktop and one is a laptop - but that shouldn't make any difference, right? both are running winxp-pro and both are using the same latest outpost (with the change i made to make serial port option available, with your help)

... my dad has about lost hope, if anyone has any ideas, i'd be very greatful, thanks!! :)

[Hidiot]

If both machines connect through a router or some local connection to the internet, then you should be able to use TCP/IP with your local LAN IPs. Your connection will always remain local, since OP2 multi player is a p2p thing.

As for serials... I'm afraid I don't know how to make serials work.

[Hooman]

Can you at least ping each other using the crossover LAN cable?

What IP addresses did you set? Are either of these computers connected to the internet? If so, how? Are they hooked to a home router, or does one plug right into a cable modem or similar? Do either of them have more than one LAN card? What is the output of "ipconfig" if you run that from a terminal (Start->Run: "cmd" -> "ipconfig").
 

[BlackBox]

I'm assuming the two machines are connected directly using a crossover cable (and by crossover cable, meaning the pairs of wires are physically crossed on one end, not just any old generic patch cable going between the NICs of the two machines).

If you use settings such as the following it should work:

Machine A:
IP address: 192.168.1.1
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

Machine B:
IP address 192.168.1.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

(you shouldn't have to fill in the default gateway, but if you really want to, just set it to the IP address of the other machine).

Then within OP2, go to TCP/IP > host a game on one machine, on the other machine, TCP/IP > join and type in the IP of the machine that is hosting the game.

Hopefully this helps.

[washaw]

my apologies for rambling unclearly in my first post... we've sucessfully used a crossover serial cable between the older computers and selecting the serial option (a patch makes the serial option appear) between 2 computers directly connected without having to use the internet or router

now we are trying to use 2 new computers directly connected with a crossover lan cable without interenet or router


... blackbox, the lan cable is the special crossover kind with the wires on one end different than the other end ... we've been reading up on how to link 2 computers for file sharing with such an arrangement...

but, your ip address are abit different than the ones we've been trying - we've been setting the last 2 #'s as 0.10 and 0.20. hopefully the 1.1 and 1.2 will be successful...

i'll get a chance to try this in a couple of days, i'll let you know if we are sucessfull....  we were fiddling with some network settings trying to get it to work - is there anything we might have screwed up there, i wonder, that would make the crossover lan connection not work??


hooman, if the above attempt doesn't work, i'll look up again how to ping, and i'll also try  ipconfig and let you know the results...


i am very greatful for everyone's posts and wanting to help - although i've heard of these network terms and even watched someone set up their own network, i've never done it myself... will post back the results in a couple of days when i get a chance to go over to my dad's and try these out... thanks so much! :)

[washaw]

blackbox,

i tried what you posted, and the results were the same - the joining computer couldn't find the starting computer (and i tried creating a game with both computers)

i reckon i need to educate myself on this topic to get this to work - i feel lost, i would like to get this to work...

 

[Highlander]

This could of course be a stupid question, but did you two try to play through either Hamachi or the Netfix ? (It would of course require both computers to be connected to the internet..)

[washaw]

highlander,

as far as i know, no... and my dad doesn't have an internet connection at this time...

i've been trying to read up on this topic, but most websites offer too much information, geared more for setting up big networks.

in desparation, my dad got a switch and 2 regular cables, but to me that seems it would require more work than just using the crossover cable for just hooking up 2 computers...

i honestly know nothing about these things, but i'm not giving up - i'm still trying to read stuff on the web.......

i tried running ipconfig, but the box pops up and disappears almost instantly

it seems like this should be easy, but it's still not working... i'll keep reading up, i get another chance at it again this coming up monday, so hopefully between now and then i'll learn something that will help me get this to work...

 

[Hidiot]

Use the "Run..." to open command prompt (cmd) and then use ipconfig.

[washaw]

i greatly appreciate everyone's help and patience... as a total newbie to networking i was totally lost... your help guided my online research to fill in the gaps...

one thing i discovered is that "cmd" doesn't exist for win98, you must use "command", cmd works fine for winxp

my dad sent home his newer laptop with the crossover lan cable so i could figure this out on my computer at home... so here is what happened...


having figured out how to ping my own computer, i tried hooking up the two computers,  but pinging couldn't find each other

so, i followed the most comprehensive help site that i found...

being sure both firewalls were off
my-computer-properties: names were different, workgroup was the same

Network-connections, Local-area-connection, Internet-protocol-properties:
IP = 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.2 for the other computer)
subnetmask = 255.255.255.0
pref-dsn = 208.67.222.222
alt-dsn = 208.67.220.220

i then tested with ping, and they found each other

i then tested outpost, and they found each other!! :)

i tested various variables of computers turning on and off, cable plugged in one way or the other, and unplugging and plugging cable back in... no matter how i tried to foil their ability to find each other, each time the 2 outposts on the 2 computers joined and allowed joined play!! :)

... so now i have to take the laptop back to my dad's and set him up with his computer... theoretically, i think that if i repeat what i did, it should work... i'll be over sunday to do it, i'll let you know how it goes!!

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now,  he bought a swich box for the possibility of wiring more than 2 computers together for gameplay... i'm guessing this will require more than what i did with just the 2 computers and a crossover wire... i reckon i won't bother with that until i need to cross that bridge... i want to first make sure i can set my dad up with the 2 computers - which will bring him great relief!! :)

[Hooman]

I should just be a matter of giving them each a unique host name and IP like you've already done.

Just be aware that if a home router is present, it will probably take the IP address 192.168.1.1 (by default), so you might want to skip that one. (192.168.1.2, 192.168.1.3, ...)

Also, the DNS names depend on your internet connection. They will probably be different at someone else's house. You probably don't want to just blindly copy the values you've used at your house.


Good job on getting it working.