WWP and Toy Racer (Only) Server Connection Fails

[lozz]

Hi all,

I'm hoping some of you very clever folks might be able to assist me with a connection problem. Unfortunately I haven't been able to resolve it using the standard troubleshooting advice (on DC Live and various topics on here).

My setup: I'm using a PAL Dreamcast, connected to the internet via a Pi (ethernet) which has the latest DreamPi image loaded on it. I've checked that my DC is using the .98 IP address with Quake III, which it is, and have DMZ-ed it on my router. I checked that the DMZ was working by connecting to Planet Ring and seeing if the common problems (full tables etc.) were present, which they were not. I have also checked that no other devices are using my DC's IP address, and so there are no IP conflict issues.

I'm able to connect to the server for many games without issue, including PSO v.2, Starlancer, Quake III, Monaco, and Planet Ring. I've played many hours of PSO this week.

The problem: I'm unable to connect to the servers for both WWP and Toy Racer. When I try to connect with Toy Racer, I get a "Cannot connect to the server!" message (photo attached). When I try to connect to WWP, I get a "Connected to the server" message, but it stalls on that and won't move off it (photo attached).

What is odd is that I was able to connect to the WWP server last night, to join the lobby where PC was streaming. I didn't have DMZ on at the time, and so ran into the common problem of it not letting me actually join a game. But nevertheless, it let me join the server, which is further than I am able to get now - I'm unable to get past the "Connected to the server" message, both with DMZ on AND with it turned off.

The only thing I haven't tried (as an alternative or in addition to DMZ) is port forwarding. The page on my router settings which seems to allow this is shown in the attached photo - however there are several places where I could enter the port numbers given by DC Live, and I'm unsure where things should/shouldn't be entered.

Sorry to burden the board with yet another troubleshooting post. Any assistance or pointers would be massively appreciated.

Cheers,

lozz

[Roareye]

Are they PAL editions of the games, or USA? Because the US games need a second configuration on the modem for PlanetWeb. XDP Browser is available on DreamcastLive and will let you set it up.

[lozz]

Thanks Roareye, I can confirm that all of my games are official PAL versions. The only one which is not is Quake III (I have a NTSU-U version as this was needed to connect back in the day).

In case it is of any relevance here are a couple of extra bits of info on my setup:

- I have configured my DC's internet settings using DreamKey 3.0 and applied the settings given in the Dreamcast Junkyard video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2rodinSYwE&t=179s). Namely: username dream and password dreamcast; phone no. 111-1111; preferred DNS sever 46.101.91.123; alternate DNS server 8.8.8.8.

- I have set my DreamPi to have a static IP address ending .97 as per the DC Live instructions (https://dreamcastlive.net/pi-static-ip-address/). I did this as the DreamPi initially had an IP address ending in .98 which clashed with the DC.

[lozz]

OK I seem to have made progress. My setup is still exactly the same as above. The only difference is that, after turning DMZ on, I reset the router. After doing this I am able to join the servers for both WWP and Toy Racer (and all the other games mentioned above).

Not sure why the router reset makes a difference, but it does! Although everything appears to be working fine, I'm yet to actually test gameplay, as no-one was around on WWP or Toy Racer.

The only outstanding issue I come across is that on Toy Racer is will only let me join 'Dreamcast Live 2'. The first server, 'Dreamcast Live 1' is showing up as '100%' (whatever that means) and won't let me join. I've attached a photo here to show what I mean.

[megavolt85]

most routers enable DMZ only after reboot

[lozz]

Thanks megavolt - that's really helpful to know.

Also I've just noticed PC posted this back in November about the Toy Racer servers:

"I shut down the Dreamcast Live server again to avoid confusion. Just Dreamcast Live 2 is up now."

Therefore, what I said in my last post isn't actually a problem. 'Dreamcast Live 1' is intentionally closed. Hopefully it will be smooth online play from here on out.