Network bridge troubles - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Reese · 07-18-2003, 07:49 AM

For a few days my friend and I have been playing diablo2 with a crossover cable. Every time the XP machine reboots the connection is lost and I'm not sure exactly how to get it working again. It's done this about 5 times and we do everything we know and then it suddenly works but we try change the same things the next time we reboot and it doesn't work so its a seemingly random thing that makes it start working...

Anyone know what the hell is going on? If you need more information just ask.

Pragma · 07-22-2003, 05:10 PM

Exactly what are you configuring, in terms of network interfaces?

The way I see this configured is as follows:

Your PC:
IP: 192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: Blank
DNS: Blank

His PC:
IP: 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: Blank
DNS: Blank

Then check to make sure that the network cards are both set to either 10BaseT Full-Duplex or 100BaseTX Full-Duplex, or Autosense.

You said one machine is XP, what's the other?

ChipX86 · 07-22-2003, 10:23 PM

I've seen XP mess up like this at client sites even when on a more "real" network (switches, routers, etc). A few things to try:

1) Go into your network connections and right-click the LAN setup there. See if you can connect it that way.

2) Unplug the cable, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in.

3) Try booting one machine before the other (experiment a bit there).

Yeah, things _should_ just work, but who knows... it happens sometimes.

Oh, another thing to check for.. Make sure the workgroup hasn't reset back to a default that isn't the same as the other computer (yeah, I've seen this happen once, but only once). You may also want to manually set their IPs instead of having them auto-check for a DHCP server or specify their own.

Pragma · 07-23-2003, 12:47 PM

If XP or 2000 is set to DHCP and you connect them via crossover (so they can't see a DHCP server) they'll automatically assign themselves addresses from the 169.254 netblock (MS's private "I can't find DHCP" block) and should be able to communicate. I'm not sure if prior versions (9x,ME) did that, or simply didn't bind to any addresses.

07-18-2003, 07:49 AM	#1 (permalink)
Reese Delicious	Network bridge troubles For a few days my friend and I have been playing diablo2 with a crossover cable. Every time the XP machine reboots the connection is lost and I'm not sure exactly how to get it working again. It's done this about 5 times and we do everything we know and then it suddenly works but we try change the same things the next time we reboot and it doesn't work so its a seemingly random thing that makes it start working... Anyone know what the hell is going on? If you need more information just ask. __________________ “It is better to be rich and healthy than poor and sick” - Dave Barry

07-22-2003, 05:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
Pragma I am Winter Born Location: Alexandria, VA	Exactly what are you configuring, in terms of network interfaces? The way I see this configured is as follows: Your PC: IP: 192.168.1.1 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: Blank DNS: Blank His PC: IP: 192.168.1.2 Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0 Gateway: Blank DNS: Blank Then check to make sure that the network cards are both set to either 10BaseT Full-Duplex or 100BaseTX Full-Duplex, or Autosense. You said one machine is XP, what's the other? __________________ Eat antimatter, Posleen-boy!

07-23-2003, 12:47 PM	#4 (permalink)
Pragma I am Winter Born Location: Alexandria, VA	If XP or 2000 is set to DHCP and you connect them via crossover (so they can't see a DHCP server) they'll automatically assign themselves addresses from the 169.254 netblock (MS's private "I can't find DHCP" block) and should be able to communicate. I'm not sure if prior versions (9x,ME) did that, or simply didn't bind to any addresses. __________________ Eat antimatter, Posleen-boy!

07-22-2003, 10:23 PM	#3 (permalink)
ChipX86 Tilted	I've seen XP mess up like this at client sites even when on a more "real" network (switches, routers, etc). A few things to try: 1) Go into your network connections and right-click the LAN setup there. See if you can connect it that way. 2) Unplug the cable, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in. 3) Try booting one machine before the other (experiment a bit there). Yeah, things _should_ just work, but who knows... it happens sometimes. Oh, another thing to check for.. Make sure the workgroup hasn't reset back to a default that isn't the same as the other computer (yeah, I've seen this happen once, but only once). You may also want to manually set their IPs instead of having them auto-check for a DHCP server or specify their own.