RPTools.net

Main system is a Win7 (32bit) machine with Java 6.30 and MT 1.3.b87 connected to network via LAN
Router is a Linksys E4200 (Version 1.0)
Clients attempting to connect are using same version of MT and connections are a combination of LAN and wireless through my router

Sample Clients:
Win 7 x64 Laptop via wireless and LAN
WinXP x86 Laptop via wireless and LAN
Other various laptops including linux machines

(We like to sit around the gaming table with laptops and even the odd desktop...possibly have remote players join us over skype and MT)

Problem: Client laptops can see the game on LAN tab and on rptools announcement server, but cannot actually log into the game server via LAN tab. After a long wait, there is an error message and no connection. Obviously, LAN and wireless clients can't use the announcement server to connect.....and direct connect fails in exactly the same way that the LAN tab connection does...

Troubleshooting: Went through the 12 steps in the FAQ in order and no dice (summary of FAQ & additional steps taken below).
A. Tried with and without port forwarding to the server, and confirmed port was open via canyouseeme.org
B. Tried connecting with the laptops as server and the laptops can connect to each other, as the main system above can connect to laptops as a client. (This is not ideal for several reasons I don't want to get into but involve large screen TV, RAM, CPU power, etc...)
C. Tried UPnP checkbox.
D. Got latest version of Java and router firmware.
E. All major windows updates installed.
F. Tried with windows firewall off on the server.
G. Tried with AVG antivirus turned off on the server.
H. Tried direct connections with all of the above.

The only configuration that DOESN'T seem to work is exactly the one we need to use! (Desktop rig as server on wired connection, laptops via wireless, and remote players logging in via internet). It all falls apart if I can't use the main rig, and I can't for the life of me figure out what's happening. In a week or two I will be putting the desktop onto a wireless connection (becoming set top box for TV), and I can only hope at this point that connecting the server to the router via wireless might help (doubtful), or that the new rig I am building for office use will play nicer with the network, unless, that is, one of you can offer an insight here.......

Thanks.

I assume the server is your machine? What IP address is it? Start->Run and type cmd[Enter]. Then type ipconfig and look for the entry for Ethernet to get your IP, subnet mask, and gateway. Do the same for at least one other computer.

And by this, I assume that the player entered your "internal" IP address and not the one exposed to the internet...

Not sure if I missed it, but did you have someone try to connect from outside your lan during testing?

re: UPnP vs Port Forward - One or the other, you pick but you can only use one or stuff breaks.

Another possibility is that your server's firewall is indeed NOT off. This is a common problem with Anti-Virus software as they think they are smarter than the normal user(well.. they usually are!) and make it REALLY hard to REALLY turn it off. I don't know specifically about AVG, but Norton is a big PITA...

Can the server connect to itself via a second instance of MT, both from the lan tab and direct connect using it's internal IP(if that does not work, also try 127.0.0.1)

Go back to the Networking FAQ and check the later sections there that talk about properties for the network interface. In many cases the problem is the Transmit Buffer size but this could also be a Checksum Offload or Jumbo Packet issue.

Sorry, should have included ip addresses.
Router set to dynamic IP address assignment

Internal IPv4 is 192.168.1.130 (as it should be) on the "server" machine
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1 (Router IP)

One of the laptops returned the same, except it's own IP was 192.168.1.133

It's not an internal IP address problem as far as I can see. Between other machines I was able to manually enter an IP address and establish a connection. (3 of the 5 in our group are IT/software QA/web QA types, respectively), so it shouldn't be anything that obvious (I wish it was)




Yes.



Not in our last iteration with this MT build, but we've been able to do it in the past. I expect it would work. Will try tonight if possible.



I've tried all 4 combinations of on/on, on/off, off/on, off/off (for the sake of completeness), and none seems to work. I've used port forwarding before for Teamspeak, running game servers, etc... so I'm fairly confident I'm doing that part right.



The only firewalls installed on most of these machines is the one that comes bundled as part of Windows XP or Win 7. I'm fairly certain I know how to turn those completely off. AVG Free is antivirus, but no firewall.




The server machine can host multiple instances of MT running at the same time, and yes, they can connect to each other.

I couldn't find that stuff in the FAQ, but I did run sysinfo and here's the dump:

==== Java Information ====
Java Vendor....: Sun Microsystems Inc.
Java Home......: C:\Program Files\Java\jre6
Java VM Vendor.: Sun Microsystems Inc.
Java VM Version: 20.5-b03
Java Version...: 1.6.0_30
...............: Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.6.0_30-b12)
...............: Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 20.5-b03, mixed mode, sharing)


==== OS Information ====
OS Name........: Windows 7
OS Version.....: 6.1
OS Architecture: x86
Processor......: x86 Family 15 Model 67 Stepping 3, AuthenticAMD
Number of Procs: 2

==== User Information ====
User Name: DAVE
User Home: C:\Users\DAVE
User Dir.: C:\Users\DAVE\Desktop

==== Network Interfaces ====
Display Name..: Software Loopback Interface 1
Interface Name: lo
Address...: 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1
Address...: 127.0.0.1

Display Name..: Atheros L1 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000Base-T Controller
Interface Name: eth3
Address...: fe80:0:0:0:3d03:7d4d:edac:690%11
Address...: 192.168.1.130

Display Name..: Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Interface Name: net5
Address...: 2001:0:4137:9e76:3862:293e:bbf8:9560
Address...: fe80:0:0:0:3862:293e:bbf8:9560%13

Host Address...: 192.168.1.130
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1

==== Locale Information ====
Country.: United States
Language: English
Locale..: English (United States)
Variant.:

==== Display Information ====
Number of Displays: 2
Display 1: 1680x1050(32)
Display 2: 1680x1050(32)

==== Internet Gateway Devices ====
No IGDs Found!

1.) Open the networking PDF.
2.) Hold down Ctrl and hit F.
3.) Type in "transmit buffer" and hit Enter.
4.) You are now in part 10 on page 13.
5.) Read that section and pay particular attention to the part about Atheros network interfaces.

That did it. I guess it pays to RTFM. It WAS a bit buried in there, though. Now we will have a 42" living room TV/server box over a wireless N connection for all of our clients to connect to. Outstanding help from community. Thanks again.

Glad you're up and running. Happy gaming.