Here is how you run Dune 2000 on a LAN with Windows XP
Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 2:50 pm
Many of you have scoured the internet in hopes of finding a solution to getting Dune 2000, or any other Win9x era IPX based Westwood game, to work on a LAN with XP. I know, like me, a lot of you tried GIT, but found it to not be the solution.
Today, frustrated with the fact that no one on the internet seemed to have a solution to the problem, among the THOUSANDS of people who were having trouble, I am here to give you a solution. Hopefully google will index it, and you have found your way here because you were having this very problem.
I had IPX installed on the machines that were to play head-to-head in Dune 2000, only to find we couldn't see each other in the chat environment. Since this only appeared to happen to computers running Windows 2000/XP, I figured it was a compatibility issue.
I fired up WireShark, and looked at the IPX traffic transmitted by Windows 98. Then I did the same for Windows XP. What I found, rather quickly, was that Windows 2000/XP transmits IPX with a frame type of "Ethernet II". Windows 95/98/ME uses 802.3 frame type.
So all you have to do to get it to work is to force IPX to the 802.3 frame type. To do this, open Control Panel->Network connections. Right click on the connection which is associated with your LAN connection, then click 'Properties'. Select 'NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS compatible protocol', and click the 'Properties' button (If you don't see this in the list, you need to install it. That is another issue completely). Change 'Frame type' from 'Auto' to 'Ethernet 802.3'. Leave 'Internal Network Number' and 'Network Number' their defaults (should be all 0's).
That's it. Now IPX will talk in the way that Dune 2000 and related games expects it to. You should be able to see all your LAN buddies as per it should be. Enjoy.
Today, frustrated with the fact that no one on the internet seemed to have a solution to the problem, among the THOUSANDS of people who were having trouble, I am here to give you a solution. Hopefully google will index it, and you have found your way here because you were having this very problem.
I had IPX installed on the machines that were to play head-to-head in Dune 2000, only to find we couldn't see each other in the chat environment. Since this only appeared to happen to computers running Windows 2000/XP, I figured it was a compatibility issue.
I fired up WireShark, and looked at the IPX traffic transmitted by Windows 98. Then I did the same for Windows XP. What I found, rather quickly, was that Windows 2000/XP transmits IPX with a frame type of "Ethernet II". Windows 95/98/ME uses 802.3 frame type.
So all you have to do to get it to work is to force IPX to the 802.3 frame type. To do this, open Control Panel->Network connections. Right click on the connection which is associated with your LAN connection, then click 'Properties'. Select 'NWLink IPX/SPX/NetBIOS compatible protocol', and click the 'Properties' button (If you don't see this in the list, you need to install it. That is another issue completely). Change 'Frame type' from 'Auto' to 'Ethernet 802.3'. Leave 'Internal Network Number' and 'Network Number' their defaults (should be all 0's).
That's it. Now IPX will talk in the way that Dune 2000 and related games expects it to. You should be able to see all your LAN buddies as per it should be. Enjoy.