Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: IPX woes

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26

    IPX woes

    I have just setup my first network, spanning 2 PCs (wow)
    i mainly use it to play games, and it works well.
    however, although TCP/IP definitely works, i cannot get IPX to work. IPX is lame I know, but I need it to play starcraft, Red Alert 2, etc.

    The only TCP/IP game that will work on my ancient p2 233 is Halflife and its mods. Halflife is the best game i have, but a little variety would be nice.

    My setup is:

    P2 233mhz, 128mb ram
    WIN98SE
    NETGEAR FA311 10/100mbps PCI network adapter

    and

    P3 1Ghz, 512mb ram
    WIN ME
    NETGEAR FA311 10/100mbps PCI network adapter

    these two PCs are linked directly with 15m UTP5 crossover cable.
    Now, the strange thing is, although i can add IPX protocol, etc., only the new PC recognises it (RA2 on the old PC says 'no IPX card available). As I am running exactly the same network card and driver revision, it seems strange that this should not work.

    Finally, i don't know if this is of any relevance, but if i switch the frame type to Ethernet II, my old PC loses sound until i change it to something else, eg Ethernet 802.3.

    thx in advance for any help or advice

  2. #2
    Member knucklebusted's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2000
    Location
    Bowling Green, KY, USA
    Posts
    270
    That sounds strange. I run IPX as my preferred local network protocol on all my Win98 boxes and the sometimes Win2k dual booter and work laptop. It doesn't require DNS or preconfiguration and the internet goons can't hack into since I only have my shares bound to IPX. I have no problems with it. I have in the past had some strangeness.

    1. Don't run the Novell client unless you actually connect to a Novell server

    2. Make sure you have the latest network card drivers for each of your OS's

    3. If that doesn't work I have had to literally, burn down networking on the box, remove all protocols, all clients and then remove the card before rebuilding networking

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26
    ive tried rebuilding it, and the old PC crashed and i had to format it, which did not solve the problem. Anybody got any other suggestions?

    edit: not very well phrased. i meant:
    -i have tried reinstalling network protocols
    -Even a format of the HD did not work
    Last edited by moonshine; 09-16-2001 at 01:34 PM.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Nick CPU's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Norfolk, Virginia
    Posts
    504
    hmmmm....

  5. #5
    Member cadetstimpy's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Oceanside CA
    Posts
    450
    Are you trying to get a DOS based game to connect via IPX. Is so you will need to run a DOS based IPX client and set the same socket number for both.

    Also, Protocol bindings in Windows might be set to prefer TCP/IP over IPX.

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member DVNT1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Posts
    1,386
    For starters, you don't have to have the Netware client or MS Network client for the games to work. Both computers do have to be on the same frame type, 802.2 is the newest (not 802.3).

    For the specific "no IPX card available", that seems to be a problem with IPX binding to the NIC (or game detectnig the protocol). As someone else suggested, remove the protocols and NIC, reboot, then reinstall the NIC and relating protocols.
    After that, try another IPX related game if RA2 still doesn't show the protocol.

    I run RA2 on PCs that have both IP & IPX with IPX as default...RA2 still networks works fine.

  7. #7
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26
    ok i physically removed and reinstalled my NIC, but still no joy.
    however, if i try to run halflife with IPX it says:

    WARNING: IPX_Socket: port 27015: bind: WSAENOBUFS
    WARNING: IPX_Socket: port 27005: bind: WSAENOBUFS
    WARNING: IPX_Socket: port -1: bind: WSAENOBUFS
    Could not get IPX socket name, IPX disabled.
    Reason: WSAENOTSOCK

    WSAENOTSOCK? does this have something to do with winsock and 'socksifying' stuff?

    TCP/IP still works fine though.

    please help!

  8. #8
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26
    btw, i have tried other IPX games, and every single one will not work. this is strange, as i have an identical network card on the newer PC on which all IPX games detect IPX protocol. The only networking-significant difference is the newer PC runs WIN ME.

  9. #9
    Ultimate Member DVNT1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Posts
    1,386
    With that particular error I doubt anything IPX will work.


    WSAENOTSOCK (10038)

    Socket operation on non-socket.

    An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket. Either the socket handle parameter did not reference a valid socket, or for select, a member of an fd_set was not valid.


    This is more of a guess than anything, but its something else to try (replace the winsock file)...

    1) Quit all running programs.
    2) Click Start , and then click Run .
    3) Type sfc , and then press ENTER.
    4) In System File Checker, click Extract one file from installation disk .
    5) In the Specify the system file you would like to restore box, type Wsock32.dll , and then click Start .
    6) In the Extract File dialog box, type drive :\Win98 in the Restore from box, where drive is the drive letter of the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive that contains your Windows 98 CD-ROM, and then click OK .
    7) In the Backup File dialog box, click OK . If a The backup folder does not exist. Do you want to create it message appears, click Yes .
    8) When you receive an "Extract File" message, click Yes to restart the computer.

  10. #10
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26

    still doesnt work
    anyone else got any suggestions?

  11. #11
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26
    ^bump^

  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Beautiful British Columbia
    Posts
    127
    Narrow down some variables...Can you network your 2 computers with only ipx bound to both nics? This way, if Microsoft services are running correctly, you know the problem is not with protocol binding but with RA2's detection of network settings.

    My final thought: it's a win98 machine right? I've had two occurences where I've done something (don't know what the trigger was) and my tcp/ip binding gets screwed up no matter what I do or uninstall/reinstall/reconfigure. It has led me to believe that win98's network settings applet is just a crappy application. My solution to my tcp/ip binding problems was to reinstall win98. Not attractive, I know, but there were no other possibilities.

  13. #13
    Senior Member TOAD6147's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2000
    Location
    Lake Helen, FL, USA
    Posts
    997
    So, basically the only major differences between the two computers other than the CPU performance, is the OS? Depending on the Windows OS it may add different things when you're setting up the network properties. Have you checked your network properties to ensure that you have no un-needed protocols, adapters, etc.? Network adapters should be Dial-up and your NIC. You should have Client for Microsoft Networks as the only client, and TCP/IP and IPX/SPX as the only protocols both of which should be bound to your NIC. IPX/SPX should be bound to your NIC but not to the Dial-up Adapterand the Dial-up Adapter should be bound to TCP/IP. Other than File and Printer Sharing, that's all that should be in your network properties. I know for a fact that when you add a protocol it binds it's self to a lot of other things that must be deleted or removed. Check your inventory to be certain. Oh, and while you're at it, since you have IPX/SPX implemented, un-bind FIle and Printer Sharing from TCP/IP for security reasons. Now your LAN will use the IPX/SPX protocol for File and Printer Sharing further sheilding you from internet prying. All you need now is that $50 (AR) SMC Barricade router and you'll be COOKIN'!
    Last edited by TOAD6147; 09-18-2001 at 10:44 AM.

  14. #14
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2001
    Posts
    26


    IPX definitely doesn't work, halflife and RA2 both cannot use it.

    I might try a reformat of my old PC tonight (It only has backups of the new PC on it anyway).

  15. #15
    Senior Member TOAD6147's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2000
    Location
    Lake Helen, FL, USA
    Posts
    997
    One other possibility is if you're using ZA. If you haven't enabled the computers to talk to eachother over the LAN then it may appear that IPX/SPX is not working. Another obvious thing to try that we've all overlookeed is to exchange the NIC's from one computer to the other and see what happens. There shouldn't be any probelm from a hardware configuration standpoint as they are identical. This should rule out hardware failure. If you get the same result, then it would have to be specific to the OS or your other hardware.
    Last edited by TOAD6147; 09-19-2001 at 09:17 AM.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •