Topic: $20 For Solution! C&C Generals LAN

[Phoenix]

Maybe its your lease time in your router.... If your leases end, your xp machine will get just the same or an other ip address available, but your ME machine will not...
use winipcfg.exe to release and renew your ipaddress or set your ip-lease time to forever..

Maybe you can try to delete all of your network protocols and reinstall them... first TCP-IP then netbeui/netbios and eventually IPX/SPX.

[TicTac]

When you type ipconfig /all what does it say at lease obtained and lease expired. What happens after you type ipconfig /renew ?

[gryphon]

try to host it from the WinME computer and see if the situation is different.

Do you need a 25 meters crossover cable ? . .25$ is way overprised .. I an not shure how far your computers are located from eatch other .. but UTP cabe costs less then a dollar per meter.

Can you borrow a non-Linksys switch from some one and try that one instead of your own router ?

Try it without the router .. set your IP address manually . . that would eleminate any problems related to DHCP leases. . nd we would be shure about the router. . . Linksys just as D-link has a different firmware version becuase by befault it can block game traffic. . . if you have 20$ for a solution .. . buying a small UTP crossover cable of just a few dollars shouldn't be that hard I suppose. . .

[Doc Nyar]

When you hook up to your friends network, try to keep an eye on what actually changes..

[Wearylamplighter]

Whoo...update time.  Yep, still having the problem.  Going to go connect to my friend's network again tomorrow to see if that will fix it again, and try to keep an eye on what, if anything, changes like you suggested Doc.

Went out and spent the $26 on a 6 ft (about 1.5 meters for you crazy metric Europeans :-) crossover cable today; yes, they are way overpriced at BestBuy, but my only other option was ordering online and waiting 1-2 weeks.  Doesn't matter, it didn't work anyway, so I'm taking it back tomorrow.  I hooked the two machines up with the UTP cable, and the exact same problem.  They could both join the game room, but the XP machine only showed itself loading.

Let's see...   I also checked on that lease time thing Phoenix, because my router only lets you set lease time for maximum of one day.  But I released and renewed the IP on both computers to refresh the lease, but no help.  Then I deleted all of my protocols and added them back one by one trying each time.  No help there.  Also, doesn't matter who hosts; always EXACT same problem; ME computer shows both loading; XP computer shows only itself.

So, aside from trying it on my friends network again tomorrow, I think I've tried everything anyone has suggested on this board.  Did I miss anything?  Any other suggestions?  I'll update again tomorrow when I get back with results from hooking up to friend's network.  Thanks again.

[spit]

I think i know what it is. XP has a built in firewall and its probably blocking incomming communications. This is true especially if you are tyring host on the xp machine. Its just a gues, but i reckon it worked when both machiens were xp because the firewalls understand each other. Either turn off the firewall, or open the following ports (these are for direct connect only)

8086 UDP - generals lobby
8088 UDP - generals in-game

Also make sure that all machines are on the same subnet mask and IP range. Generals is nutorious for having no IP transversal support.

IF you arent, use lan ips in teh range 192.168.0.x, most people i know use that and perhaps the game has made some assumptions about it, i dunno. I just know its always better to go with standard settings and hardware if you want stuff to work the first time.

[Wearylamplighter]

Sorry spit; already tried turning off the XP firewall.  It was actually off originally, and I tried it both on and off.  Also, doesn't matter who hosts, XP machine always only shows itself loading.  Also, both computers can enter the game lobby, talk, select options, etc.  Only when the game tries to actually begin does the problem start.

Next, both machines are in the same subnet mask (255.255.255.0 I think) and IP range.  I have to set my router IP to 10.10.10.1 for some reason, so my two computers are 10.10.10.100 and 10.10.10.101.  So I can't do the 192.168 thing?  Thanks anyway, and any more suggestions, plz post.  I'm going to be trying my friend's network later today, I'll update again tonight (which for me is US eastern time).  Until then....

[Phoenix]

your router ip could be your wan ip address, so you can set your lan-address pool to 192.168.X.X /24.

See of your ip addresses are both in the range which you have set in you router. if not renew them, or uses static ip-addresses...

By the way $26 for 1.5 meters is little expensive... i buy at least 10 meters for $26... and if I cut a cable my self, its for less than half a dollar each meter...

[Wearylamplighter]

This is EA's idea of joke right? (keep reading)

So hooking my XP machine up to my friend's network let me play with them fine.  But when I got back home I still had my same old problems; no temporary fix this time.  SO I bit the bullet, and since my network-admin friend said he thought it was something to do with WinME, I did a complete upgrade to XP so that both machines were totally XP.  Reinstalled video drivers and crossed my fingers and tried the game.  SUCCESS!  Both computers connected and the game began and ran smooth!  BUT WAIT!  Then all of a sudden, everything explodes on the old ME computer (which is now XP, as I mentioned).  Can someone please tell me WHY or more importantly, how to stop this madness?  I'm not running illegal software; I don't have any mods or hacks or cracks or flapjacks, or whatever!  I have two completely legal, completely new, completely different copies of Generals patched to 1.7 installed on the machines.

Damn...it seems like when I finally solve one problem, EA just hands me a brand new one.  I'm hoping someone here can help though....thanks, as always.  -Chris

[Wearylamplighter]

Oh, by the way, just in case this whole mess wasn't complex enough for anyone; I can't uninstall the game now, either through "uninstall" or add/remove programs.  Also, since I can't "uninstall" I can't "reinstall" because even if I delete the files when I put the CD in all I can do is remove or repair, both of which give the error "1605- you can only do this to installed apps" or some crap.  Fun, fun, fun....

[Doc Nyar]

Are all Generals folders deleted ? If not, try doing so (do not forget the folder in My Documents). Once done, try running a reg cleaner, which should solve your problem.

[Wearylamplighter]

Doc,

I deleted C:\program files\EA\  and the my documents Generals folders manually.  Then went into the registry myself and got rid of ever EA entry (couldn't find anything else to do with generals, though they might have hidden some in there).  I'm gonna call EA when they open; might try to find a free reg cleaner later....

[Doc Nyar]

Here's one I've used.

[Wearylamplighter]

<sigh>  Ok, solved again! For now at least...  I'm gonna go ahead and put the "solved" thing on here; we'll see how long it lasts.  So, what did we learn?

If you are trying to play Generals on a LAN with a XP and ME computer and are having trouble you can't fix, upgrade the ME to XP.

Also, be sure to uninstall Generals FIRST before the upgrade, or be prepared to manually uninstall everything later, including about 58 registry entries.  Thanks again to everyone who offered their advice and suggestions...hopefully this thread can die a peaceful death now....

[Doc Nyar]

I hope you can finally play the game continiously without any problems

[gryphon]

So I tried XP, got it installed and everything.  Still same problem, and I can't use some programs I needed for work (gotta either put ME back on there or find some other way to use them).  So, I'm giving up.

Do you know why it didn't work before when you tried WinXP on that computer ?

[Wearylamplighter]

gryphon,

not entirely sure, but I didn't do a complete XP install the first time.  I had my more computer-savvy friend come over and do a WinXP upgrade along with some custom stuff he did so that I could revert to ME without so much trouble.  Well, for whatever the reason, that didn't work; maybe because it didn't replace the right settings/etc.  This time, I did what I really didn't want to do from the start and did a complete install of XP (not an upgrade), and it fixed the problem, although now I definately can't use my work programs on that computer anymore without a format, etc.  This really was the last thing I wanted to do; maybe if I had more patience I could have come up or someone could have found the real solution--whatever setting in ME was causing the trouble.  Oh well.

The funniest part is; I don't even like Generals that much :-)  I play BF1942 Desert Combat mostly since that's my favorite, but my best friend, his wife, and my fiance all play only Generals, so what cha' gonna do?  Thanks again to everyone; hopefully this is solved for good this time.

[gryphon]

The weird thing is .. you can upgrade Windows or a core component .. although you can't downgrade it. . .

never the less. . good that you have got it working now. enjoy the game.

[Ei]

i am not surprised at all! ME **** and as mentioned before you could have dealt with this problem much earlier (damn my english grammer stinks) by installing XP the proper way. An upgrade really s*cks! Just install XP from the scratch ( so i mean format c: and then install)

Ps. pm me for my account nr. so i can take care of that 20 $ so it get's to Rottevis..  he is leaving near to me i really don't put it in my own pocket

edit : just took out some bad language...