LAN Gaming with a WinXP Machine

[nfcatt]

Hi All,

Can anyone point me in the right direction or explain how to setup my MBP Laptop with a WinXP Laptop via a crossover cable so that we can play Call of Duty 2? Everything I've tried doesn't seem to work so a step by step guide would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance to the brain trust....

Nelson.
nfcatt@mac.com

 

[Kelmon]

Have you been able to connect the 2 computers together so that they recognise each other, i.e. they are networked together such that they can share files? I have no idea about how to play Call of Duty 2 on a LAN but I do know how to connect 2 computers together such that they can talk to each other.

 

[nfcatt]

Hi,

No. There was a short glimmer of hope, but I think it was the last shred of my patience evaporating!!!!

Thanks for any help you can offer...

 

[Pressure]

Do you have a router or hub you can connect through?

 

[Sesshi]

If you're using a crossover cable, since neither machine is able to act as a DHCP server without additional software you'll need to establish a fixed IP address on the same subnet for each machine.

e.g. 192.168.0.10 for first machine and 192.168.0.11 for second machine, both with a netmask of 255.255.255.0.

 

[Markleshark]

I remember this not being possible in Halo, not sure if the case is the same with COD2.

Couldn't even play on the same online servers as the Windows folks with Halo.

 

[nfcatt]

Yes, have a Belkin router, but would like to be able to travel away from the router and just use the crossover cable.

I understand the need for static IP addresses, but what exactly do I need to enter for the network details in each machine - ie workgroup name settings on the mac, etc.. from previous Win - Win network experience, without the same workgroup name, they wouldn't talk to each other..

Thanks all, I appreciate the advice!

 

[4np]

It is possible; however you should give both laptops an IP address in the same range manually (eg. 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.1.2) - hence not DHCP. That should make it work.

You can try in terminal to ping the other computer; for example from 192.168.1.1 you do the following:

duh@billabong ~ $ ping 192.168.1.2
PING 192.168.1.2 (192.168.1.2) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=3.21 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.454 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.436 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=0.454 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.1.2: icmp_seq=5 ttl=64 time=0.446 ms

--- 192.168.1.2 ping statistics ---
5 packets transmitted, 5 received, 0% packet loss, time 4002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.436/1.000/3.214/1.107 ms
duh@billabong ~ $

As you can see I am receiving pingreplies from 192.168.1.2 which means my connection is up and running. If not your connection is not working...

 

[4np]

Yes, have a Belkin router, but would like to be able to travel away from the router and just use the crossover cable.

I understand the need for static IP addresses, but what exactly do I need to enter for the network details in each machine - ie workgroup name settings on the mac, etc.. from previous Win - Win network experience, without the same workgroup name, they wouldn't talk to each other..

Thanks all, I appreciate the advice!

Workgroup name is not required as this is only used in SMB (eg. windows filesharing). You just need to configure your ethernet cards to use static ip adresses as I have written above to play games... Mac is hardware dependant and cannot be changed.

 

[nfcatt]

From what I've read COD2 is able to be played cross platform, but I have noticed that the servers visible on the net are different for each of us.. (both using different ISP's though - not sure if that has something to do with it..)

I am very new to this world of online gaming and am loving it - but would love to play against a friend sitting in the same room!! (since we can't seem to access the same servers online from our own houses!!)

Thanks,

Nelson.

 

[nfcatt]

Thanks, will try again... Might switch into WinXP on the mac to see if it's a software problem too..

 

[Kelmon]

OK, while the steps required have been mentioned by others in this thread, let me just outline the steps required on both machines.

This post assumes that the following IP addresses will be manually assigned:

Mac: 192.168.0.1
PC: 192.168.0.2

To the best of my knowledge the base IP address itself (192.168.0) does not matter but I'm just using a common convention here.

On the Mac, do the following:

1. Open System Preferences > Network
2. Select "Built-In Ethernet" from the list of network adapters and click "Configure"
3. Select "Manually" from the "Configure IPv4" menu on the TCP/IP tab
4. Set "IP Address" to 192.168.0.1
5. Set "Subnet Mask" to 255.255.255.0
6. Set "Router" to 192.168.0.2
7. Select "Apple Now" and you are finished on the Mac

On the PC, do the following:

1. Select Start > Settings > Network Connections
2. Right-click on your Ethernet connection and select "Properties" from the menu that appears
3. In the General tab of the Local Area Network Connection Properties window that appears, scroll down the list of connections until you find "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" - select it and click the "Properties" button
4. In the General tab of the window that appears, select "Use the following IP address" radio button
5. Set "IP Address" to 192.168.0.2
6. Set "Subnet Mask" to 255.255.255.0
7. Set "Default Gateway" to 192.168.0.1
8. Select "OK" to close the window, then "OK" again in the remaining open window, and then you are done on the PC

What you've basically done here is assigned an address manually to each computer and told it to route its outgoing traffic to the other computer by specifying the other computer's IP address in the Router/Default Gateway field. The computers should now be able to talk to each other directly and, in theory, you should be able play CoD2.

Hope that all makes sense and I hope it works out for you.