I've played the game before, then I went about 1 year without playing and now I get the classic "Can't connect to the lobby". I tried everything I tried the first time I played, and then a little more, and nothing. Then, while casually using dxdiag I found out something's very wrong with my directplay. First some files appeared to be missing, then I ran a registry cleaner, and now there are registry problems related to directplay. Bottom line is, my directplay seems to be beyond repair. What I would like to know from the tech savyy in this forum is:
1 - Can the game work *without* directplay?
2 - How can I fix DirectX? I've tried reinstalling it with the latest dxsetup from microsoft, and it copies some files but fails to solve the registry problem. I've seen some sugestions about uninstalling DirectX and reinstalling it but I've also seen some warnings that it might make windows fail to boot due to some directx-dependant drivers, so I'm a little uncomfortable with uninstalling it first.
DirectPlay has problems
-
Grimmwolf_GB
- Posts: 3711
- Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2003 7:00 am
- Location: Germany
- Contact:
Use the template from the read me first post please.
Use the backup of the regcleaner programme to reinsert the deleted entries.
If you removed the backups (if there were any), try the system restore feature of WinXP (if you use XP).
If that fails, the most obvious way is to perform a repair install of your WinXP installation.
You cannot play Allegiance "without" Directplay. It is the underlying protocol that enables oyu to connect to the servers.
Use the backup of the regcleaner programme to reinsert the deleted entries.
If you removed the backups (if there were any), try the system restore feature of WinXP (if you use XP).
If that fails, the most obvious way is to perform a repair install of your WinXP installation.
You cannot play Allegiance "without" Directplay. It is the underlying protocol that enables oyu to connect to the servers.
Allegiance *REQUIRES* DirectPlay. You cannot play without it.
You'll have to fix your DirectX installation in order to get ingame.
--TE
You'll have to fix your DirectX installation in order to get ingame.
--TE
The Allegiance community currently hates their sysadmin because he is doing: [Too Much] [____________|] [Too Little]
Current reason: Removing the PayPal contribute page. Send Bitcoin instead: 1EccFi98tR5S9BYLuB61sFfxKqqgSKK8Yz. This scale updates regularly.
Windows Version (and Service Packs): WinXP Home Edition 2002 Version, SP 2
Processor Speed: 1.80Ghz
RAM: 512 Mb
Video Card (Make and Model#): Radeon 9600
Sound Card (Make and Model#): On-Board (ABIT NF7 Motherboard)
Connection Type (Dialup, Cable, DSL, other): Cable
Modem (Make and Model#): Askey OTV075
Router (Make and Model#): No Router
Internet Service Provider(company name): Netcabo
Location(State/Province/Locality, and Country): Portugal
Problem Encountered at Step #: 9
Which Program (ASGS/Allegiance): Allegiance
What Error Message: Failed to Connect to Lobby
Comments (What you tried, description, etc):
Windows Firewall doesn't have Allegiance as exception. However windows firewall is disabled, so common sense sugests that's not necessary. I use Sygate Personal Firewall which has both ASGS and Allegiance as "allow", which means everything originating from these programs goes through. I've tried putting the firewall on "let everything through from everywhere" just in case, but it still fails to connect to the lobby.
The steps to find my router address (look at the default gateway on ipconfig) result in an outside address, which the browser can't access. My Cable Modem Web Page doesn't display anything related to port blocking or forwarding, so I suppose the modem simply doesn't do that.
I use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to share the connection on the computer I intend to play on (this one) with other computers on my home. The computer I intend to play on is the one directly connected to the cable modem.
Traffic log on Firewall shows nwlnkipx.sys sending on port 2375 and Allegiance.exe receiving on the same port the next instant. Both connections are stated as "allowed". Could it be that this computer is ignoring this connection and simply forwarding it to the local network? The other computer on the network isn't even turned on right now.
I've tried the step suggested in http://www.freeallegiance.org/knowledgebase/entry/9/16/ regarding port forwarding to other machines when ICS is activated. However it didn't seem to work and I'm not even sure I was supposed to do it in my case, since I don't really need to forward the port anywhere, I just need this computer to pick it up and use it.
vlad13: The weird thing is, when I try testing dxplay in dxdiag, it appears to work, although I haven't tried with another client joining my session. But if the thing isn't supposed to be working, it shouldn't work at all, right?
Another very weird thing is that the FAZ beta test seems to be working too. I can join the lobby, join a game, and I haven't tried playing one only because no one was online at the time.
Processor Speed: 1.80Ghz
RAM: 512 Mb
Video Card (Make and Model#): Radeon 9600
Sound Card (Make and Model#): On-Board (ABIT NF7 Motherboard)
Connection Type (Dialup, Cable, DSL, other): Cable
Modem (Make and Model#): Askey OTV075
Router (Make and Model#): No Router
Internet Service Provider(company name): Netcabo
Location(State/Province/Locality, and Country): Portugal
Problem Encountered at Step #: 9
Which Program (ASGS/Allegiance): Allegiance
What Error Message: Failed to Connect to Lobby
Comments (What you tried, description, etc):
Windows Firewall doesn't have Allegiance as exception. However windows firewall is disabled, so common sense sugests that's not necessary. I use Sygate Personal Firewall which has both ASGS and Allegiance as "allow", which means everything originating from these programs goes through. I've tried putting the firewall on "let everything through from everywhere" just in case, but it still fails to connect to the lobby.
The steps to find my router address (look at the default gateway on ipconfig) result in an outside address, which the browser can't access. My Cable Modem Web Page doesn't display anything related to port blocking or forwarding, so I suppose the modem simply doesn't do that.
I use ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to share the connection on the computer I intend to play on (this one) with other computers on my home. The computer I intend to play on is the one directly connected to the cable modem.
Traffic log on Firewall shows nwlnkipx.sys sending on port 2375 and Allegiance.exe receiving on the same port the next instant. Both connections are stated as "allowed". Could it be that this computer is ignoring this connection and simply forwarding it to the local network? The other computer on the network isn't even turned on right now.
I've tried the step suggested in http://www.freeallegiance.org/knowledgebase/entry/9/16/ regarding port forwarding to other machines when ICS is activated. However it didn't seem to work and I'm not even sure I was supposed to do it in my case, since I don't really need to forward the port anywhere, I just need this computer to pick it up and use it.
vlad13: The weird thing is, when I try testing dxplay in dxdiag, it appears to work, although I haven't tried with another client joining my session. But if the thing isn't supposed to be working, it shouldn't work at all, right?
Another very weird thing is that the FAZ beta test seems to be working too. I can join the lobby, join a game, and I haven't tried playing one only because no one was online at the time.
Good info there, Arco! Nice job.
Since you can get on using the FAZ Beta, that's our hint that something is blocking the ports. I thought it might be Windows firewall (I've heard that sometimes it isn't really off even when you tell it to - did you reboot btw?) or perhaps even a motherboard-based firewall that's a little less obvious to track down. If it was a firewall issue, and not a NAT issue, I would expect that FAZ Beta would be blocked, too. Anyone care to check my logic and refute that assumption?
So if it isn't a firewall issue, then it has to be a NAT issue, no? I'm not familiar with ICS, but I'd tend to believe that you're right about the assertion that ICS shouldn't be the culprit because you're playing on the ICS host, and so it doesn't need to forward ports anywhere except to the host. But I've seen weird stuff from Microsoft before, so I wouldn't entirely rule it out. For all I know ICS may be acting as a defacto firewall because it's not set up to respond to those ports. Anyone else have an idea?
edit: did a little research... ICS is definitely a NAT setup. However, everything I've read leads me to believe that it should work just fine if Alleg is run on the ICS host. *scratches head*
Personally, I'd use a hardware router to share the internet - you aren't dependant upon the host computer to be available.
Since you can get on using the FAZ Beta, that's our hint that something is blocking the ports. I thought it might be Windows firewall (I've heard that sometimes it isn't really off even when you tell it to - did you reboot btw?) or perhaps even a motherboard-based firewall that's a little less obvious to track down. If it was a firewall issue, and not a NAT issue, I would expect that FAZ Beta would be blocked, too. Anyone care to check my logic and refute that assumption?
So if it isn't a firewall issue, then it has to be a NAT issue, no? I'm not familiar with ICS, but I'd tend to believe that you're right about the assertion that ICS shouldn't be the culprit because you're playing on the ICS host, and so it doesn't need to forward ports anywhere except to the host. But I've seen weird stuff from Microsoft before, so I wouldn't entirely rule it out. For all I know ICS may be acting as a defacto firewall because it's not set up to respond to those ports. Anyone else have an idea?
edit: did a little research... ICS is definitely a NAT setup. However, everything I've read leads me to believe that it should work just fine if Alleg is run on the ICS host. *scratches head*
Personally, I'd use a hardware router to share the internet - you aren't dependant upon the host computer to be available.
Last edited by FreeBeer on Fri Dec 01, 2006 12:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
All i can think of is to try to temporarily disable ICS and try it that way. Also have your firewall on allow all, I had a firewall that didnt work even if you allowed allegiance. Don't know about sygate, don't have it any more.
I assume that if you have dxplay problems allegiance will crash, it is very sensitive to anything.(it contains a bug amplifier apparently)
I assume that if you have dxplay problems allegiance will crash, it is very sensitive to anything.(it contains a bug amplifier apparently)