This message is from a friend who cannot post here.
How to network NASCAR racing over an IPX home network.
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I have been reading posts for some time regarding networked NASCAR
but I could never get the full story all in one spot. After much
playing around (my networking skill is almost nil) for a while and
some help from folks from various newsgroups (rec.autos.simulators,
comp.ibm.hardware.networking and others) I pieced together the following
procedures and I thought I would explain it here all in one shot
for those who are also confused.
Here are my system specs:
dx4120 with 1.6gb HD, 20mb RAM, running Win95.
sx25 with 1.0gb HD, 12 mb RAM, running dual boot Win95/Win3.11 (too slow
for NASCAR
but hey, it works at least)
both have NE2000 compatible cards (the very cheapest I could find)
connected with RG45 Thinnet Cable, each with one side of the t-connector
terminated.
First I made sure there were identical copies of NASCAR on each machine.
I also installed the latest version of Hawaii from Papyrus. When you sign
on they usually make you download any updates.
http://www.racesimcentral.net/
or a number of places on the 'Net.
Then I installed the IPX/ODI drivers for the NE2000 compatible in a
\network
directory. You can get these files about anywhere but I will put them on
my
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~jeffreyh/files/net.zip
These files were sent to me by ACUZOD. They were a HUGE help.
I ran the card diagnostic and got the IRQ and address (referred to later
in
the net.cfg as Int, and Port) and wrote them down.
With the advent of Hawaii, networked NASCAR became a possibility for me.
There is a file called multi.exe that is run instead of the nascar.exe
and it works great with IPX networks and you DO NOT need any network ID.
This is unlike the old way I could never get to work by running
nascar.exe /N:<opponent ID>.
The next step was editing the net.cfg file and n.bat files from
the net.zip file so that the drivers will recognize your cards.
open n.bat in a text editor.
and edit it thusly: (assuming the directory you made called
\network in on d: like mine)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LH d:\network\LSL
LH d:\network\NE2000
LH d:\network\IPXODI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
then save the file in your \network directory.
Then open net.cfg and edit it by putting the correct
IRQ and Address in under these lines:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Link driver NE2000
INT 12 <put proper IRQ for the NE2000 card here
PORT 240 <put proper I/O address for the NE2000 card here
FRAME Ethernet_802.3
Netware DOS Requester
PREFERRED WORKGROUP = GAMER
FIRST NETWORK DRIVE = F
NETWARE PROTOCOL = PNW
SHOW DOTS = ON
USE DEFAULTS = ON
VLM = AUTO.VLM
VLM = NMR.VLM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
Then save the file in your \network directory.
Next I made two batch files to run the NASCAR network connection.
I tried to do it with one but multi.exe wouldn't run properly for
some reason I didn't want to waste time figuring out, so I made
two one-letter batches instead and it works fine.
In the NASCAR directory, make a file called n.bat (or whatever)
and put this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
d:\network\n.bat
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and save. (This assumes the drive and directory are D:\network,
of course)
then, also in the NASCAR directory, make a file called
m.bat (or whatever) and put this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
d:\nascar\multi.exe -n (plus other switches if you want [-h, -f])
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and save. (This assumes the drive and directory are D:\network,
of course)
Then exit Win95 on both computers, if you aren't out if it already,
and reboot.
Hit F8 right after your POST bootup to get the Win95 menu and choose
COMMAND PROMPT ONLY.
Change both computers to your NASCAR directory and type "n". If you
got your NE2000 card settings correct, everything will install fine.
Then type "m" and NASCAR's multi.exe will start with the IPX network
enabled.
You should have a screen that has only Preseason testing, Multiplayer
race
and Option stuff available. The race choices are greyed out.
On both computers, select Multiplayer race.
You should see an option called NetUser ID. Select it and hit enter. You
may
have something there now underneath a line stating IPX network (Cool!).
Delete the line with the computer name if one is there so you have just a
blank line and a blinking cursor and hit enter.
Do the same thing on the other computer.
On one of the computers, select Dial. On the other computer select
Answer.
You may have to try one combination first and, if it doesn't work, try
the
other way around.
I had to, and I don't know why but, hey, it works so Who Cares.
If everything goes as planned, the computers should now connect and YOU
ARE RACING!
One computer controls the action just like modem racing. The rest is the
same
pretty much. Kind of like Hawaii. Testing, qualifying, practice etc..
That is it, step-by-step, EXACTLY how I did it. If you have any questions
you can
try and ask but like I said, I don't know much about this stuff so I
don't
know
how big of a help I can be.
Hope this helps some of you who are frustrated in getting this thing to
work.
It has worked excellently for me so far, so good luck.
--
Jeffrey Hunsberger
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get the latest racing news at my news link site:
the A P E X: Jeff's Racing Links Site
http://www.racesimcentral.net/~jeffreyh/apex
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