Program gives conflicting TCP/IP address

[Tris]

I tried to start my first internet session with a buddy this evening but the program gave me the following address TCP/IP:

169.254.24.169

The problem is when I run WINIPCFG I'm told my address is 216.192.33.38. I am confident the latter is the correct address. I've played many TCP/IP sessions of Age of Sail with various people and never had a hitch.

Any idea what the deal is?

Also, if this is spelled out in the patch README I failed to catch it: how doe sone continue an existing PBEM game over the Net?

Thanks.

[Guest Madmatt]

Actually both issues are explained in the docs.

Your system must either have another IP adaptor (another Modem, network card, AOL Drivers etc..) and as such CM is only reporting the First IP address it sees. Winipcfg lets you list ALL the IP's assigned to your system (thats what the little down arrow to the right of the white text field does).

As to the continuation of a PBEM, you will need to SAVE it in the older version of CM (ALt-s) then load it into Public Beta and when prompted select TCP/IP as the connection method. Thats all there is to it.

Madmatt

[Tris]

Your system must either have another IP adaptor (another Modem, network card, AOL Drivers etc..) and as such CM is only reporting the First IP address it sees. Winipcfg lets you list ALL the IP's assigned to your system (thats what the little down arrow to the right of the white text field does).

I do have an ethernet card waiting for my DSL to arrive, and sure enough, according to WINIPCFG that is the address reported by your program. (That's a phantom address, by the way. The card is not hooked up to anything except one of my PCI slots.)

Three questions: 1) Why wouldn't the program also report more than one address if more than one address is present? 2) Do you mean to say that I would need to uninstall my ethernet PCI card in order to play CMBO over the net, or at the least in order that I might establish a session myself? 3) Would it be possible to have your program search for all addresses the way WINIPCFG apparently does, then allow the user to choose?

As to the continuation of a PBEM, you will need to SAVE it in the older version of CM (ALt-s) then load it into Public Beta and when prompted select TCP/IP as the connection method. Thats all there is to it.

We did that right away. No problem, Matt. But when I click on that file (assuming it's the right file--the only one I'm offered says AUTOSAVE with the scenario name after it) I'm told by your program that it's unable to establish an address. (I forget the exact error message now, but it's generated by your program.)

What's up with that?

[Guest Madmatt]

Directplay (which is what we use to establish the TCP connection) does not easily have a way to list all IP's available in the system, however, we are looking at adding this functionality in the future.

The game doesn't care WHAT IP you use, it only reports the first one and waits for someone to connect. This doesn't cause any problem and you can still leave you NIC card in. Just know that the IP listed in the game will not neccesarily be the correct one for your opponent to connect to.

The autosave is not the correct file. When you saved it inside of the older version of CM you should have given it a new name. What did you call it? That's the filename you need to load in v1.1. The there is a problem connecting then I will need the Exact error message and please follow the reporting process as detailed in the docs. In this case I will also need the scenario save game, passwords for both sides, errolog.txt (found in the root directory of CM) and Bug Report Form filled out.

There are many things that can cause the unable to connect error. If your opponent is hosting make sure you add leading zeros to all single or double digit IP addressses he gives you. 123.90 would be entered as 123.090.

Madmatt

[Tris]

Okay, that's clear enough.

Why the leading 0 to the address? Is that a special requirement of Directplay, too?

[Guest Madmatt]

Actually thats the way IP addresses are read. The Zero IS a number, some programs and DNS servers will let you ignore it though. Not sure if it's DirectPlay or someone's ISP or what. I actually don't need to put in the leading zeros to connect, other people have though. So better safe than sorry.

Madmatt

[Tris]

Sounds like I won't need it, either, as all worked before without. My new DSL service just might, though, so it's good know.

Thanks for the feedback. (Though I'll be back to whine on Sunday after my next scheduled session if it still doesn't work. )

[Guest Madmatt]

I have been recently corrected by Charles that it is in fact the cross compatable OPENPLAY that CM uses and not DirectPlay...Okay, fair enough, to non-code geeks like me its all the same.

I supported corporate networks for years, not the underlying code.

Madmatt

[This message has been edited by Madmatt (edited 12-02-2000).]

[Tris]

Well, I doubt if the secretaries could have cared less, and no doubt you make a mean cup of coffee.

[Tris]

Okay, Alan's wife gave him 15 minutes with me this afternoon (we actually took 22 ) and everything seems to work allright. The program runs fast and so far it's been stable.

Chat's fine, too. That character below the tilde (whatever it's called) is in a convenient position, at least for the North American keyboard/character set. And the walkie-talkie "squawk" is a nice touch.

Good show!