Emperor over LAN

[Ice_Cube]

First of all I want to say some pointers to anyone who reads this who has a LAN:

1. All trust is misplaced

2. If your network is working then never disturb it >:(

Ok, I tried to set up an internet connection sharing between two computers using VPN. That went all wrong and I gave up on the idea. I then tried to play a network game of emperor as I have done before, it did not work. We could not see each others games or each other in the lobby. I then proceeded to reverse all tampereing on both computers but to no avail. I think that the problem is limited to one computer as I tested the network using an MS DOS promt and the command: ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is my IP add.) this failed on one of my computers. Is there some setting that I am over looking? Both computers use windos ME.

[Apollyon]

try deleting the "nics_***.ini" in your emperor directory for starters.

[gryphon]

Hehe, yep. . you are overlooking one verry small though trivial point. :)

When you set up one computer as a VPN server, the LAN adapter you choice as the dedicated dial in adapter is compleately useless for all other things. ;D

You can't ping it, contact it use it from the computer self to ping other hosts or even monitor the network. . . it's just totally gone.

Admit it, when you hear it .. it sound kind of funny if you didn't know it prior and tried everythinh to get your network running without the VPN function. ;)

But a possible solution, that's what you wanted to hear I guess.

I didn't know Win ME had a build in option to function as a VPN server. . but ok. De-install the remote access server that handles your VPN connection. Then the LAN adapter would come back as a normall one just as it was before. Or

2 ) Plug in another LAN adapter and don't assign it as to any of the functions of your remote access server. It should work fine as a regular LAN adapter as you are used to. And 3th and last, you could log into the computer using a VPN dial up line. That's what she is good in ;) . When you have dialed in, you should be able to ping her, contact here in the local neigbourhood and play games on it. Just make shure and be warned that the last option, is also the hardest. As a VPN server has a active routing table, sending incomming packadges via a pre set path to other computers dialed in to her. So It could verry well be that you can't access any other PC that the VPN server from the clients. Nor even that the right protocoll will be passed though, as a VPN server can be set to just handle specific protocols, ignoring all the others.

In short, setting up a VPN server is not as easy as the Microsoft setup wizard let's you believe it is. You should have some prior testing and playing with it before you adapt it in a working enviournment [ sound a lot like the MS help doesn't it ;) ]. And even then you should know what you are doing and why you should need a dedicated VPN server. [ mostly the last one I guess, hoop you're not going to tell me you took my advice from another topic where I mentioned it as a solution to play Emperor via a WAN and / or without Westwood servers :- ]

Solution in short. De-install the remote access VPN server. De-install the network card. Then install the NIC and make the settings like any other "normall" computer.

Still curious. . . is there really a VPN server in Windows ME or did you use 3th party software to get the VPN server up ? If it by any change is the Van Dyke software VPN server, trash the thing right away ....

[Ice_Cube]

I used a third party set-up (sorry if I misled you). I de-installed the network card like you said and then re-enstalled it again this time not trying anything that I could not handle. I also noticed that some things the network card needed were not starting up at start up(msconfig). It works now,thanx for the help :D