- IPX Network problem w/ Warcraft II BNE -

[rwnewson]

Hi. I'm trying to play a simple game of Warcraft II (Battle.net Edition) with a person at my house over the IPX network. Both him and I have Windows 2000 Professional and we can access each other's computer over the normal Windows network. We can both load up Warcraft and go to "IPX Network Game", but when one person goes to "Create Game", the other person cannot join that game. The game is seen, but when the "Join Game" button is clicked, it just waits at "Waiting for Response". I'm thinking it could be a network problem rather than a program problem.

We are using a DI-604 D-Link router in our network. There is of course a firewall with the router, but its on default settings and I dont know much about that.

Anybody have any idea what the problem is?? I'd really appreciate some ideas!! THANKS!

 

[Nodsu]

First of all, IPX is not routeable by normal routers and most firewalls don't support it either.

If you are both connected to the local ports on the router then the router is not interfering with your game. You should turn off any software firewalls and install the IPX protocol in network settings maybe.

 

[rwnewson]

Okay, how do I check if we're "both connected to the local ports on the router"? I don't know how to do this. And the "IPX Transport Protocol" is installed on both comps already.

 

[Nodsu]

You router most likely has 3-4 ports labelled "local" and one port labelled "uplink" or "wan". The uplink port is connected to your modem. Firewall only functions between the uplink and local ports, it does not (normally) touch the traffic between local ports.

If in doubt, try connecting the machines directly with a crossover cable or through a hub. And disable all software firewalls.

Is IPX the only network option for Warcraft II?

 

[apr27]

I've got exactly the same problem as originally described--and like him I've already got IPX set up. I've even got a home network setup so I can run movies and such from one HD on another computer, so there's certainly no doubt that the connection can physically handle a simple game of warcraft. What's going on?

 

[Birdy]

Whenever I discover the answer to a problem I spent much time on, I post my results on the first forum when searching Google with the most trivial keywords describing the problem.

I've been struggeling with this problem too, but eventually after trial and error I got it work in Windows 2000/XP as well. In Windows 95/98/ME Warcraft II network games already work if the IPX protocol is installed. For Windows 2000/XP additional settings are required.

I assume you've already installed the IPX-protocol (otherwise you wouldn't be able to "see" the hosted game). When you choose "Properties" of the IPX-protocol you can specify several things, set them according:

Internal network number = 00000000
Frametype = Ethernet 802.3
Network number = 00000001

Flush these changes on all computers that will participate in Warcraft LAN games, and they will see and join each other!

Also older versions of Warcraft II (e.g. Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal) can participate in network games. In order to do so, a "Classic" multiplayer game must be created instead of an "Enhanced" one, where only Warcraft II Battle.Net Edition's can participate.

LinkedIn: Bert Regelink

 

[rwnewson]

Holy crap that's amazing! I don't have a chance to try it out now since my computer is in another city for the time being, but I will follow those steps as soon as I can. That's the first helpful thing I've heard! Thanks a lot! I love these internet threads... they're so helpful!

Thanks again!
Ryan.

 

[Birdy]

Another issue came up when I tried to play over an IPX Network using my laptop. Despite the required settings were set, my laptop was still not able to actually join games but just "see" them appear as they were created.

The difference with my laptop and the other computer is that there are more than one network interfaces (a fixed one and a wireless one). The unfortunate but obvious is true, Warcraft II does send the IPX packets to the wrong interface (confirmed by using Network Analysing software).

Fortunately this issue can be solved by explicitly disabling the IPX protocol for non participating network interfaces, so Warcraft simply isn't aware of other network interfaces and thus is forced to select the right one to send its IPX packets to.

For some obscure reasons I don't know, it seems to be that disabling the whole networkinterface doesn't contribute to the solution of the problem! Support for the IPX protocol has to be disabled explicitly by deselecting it's checkbox for each non-participating network interface!

LinkedIn: Bert Regelink

 

[Assimilator1]

Excellent work Birdy! ,finally got WC2 to work on XP
The part I didn't have right was the Network number ,by default it's 0

(And yes I know this is an old thread & an old game ,but its still great & this was the only answer to turn up in google! )