hardware+guide



(Answer submitted by DeanH)
 * Rudder control problems**

QUESTION - The rudder control does not respond and the aircraft yaws to port (left) or starboard (right).

ANSWER - If you look in your EAW directory you should find a file called EAW.ini. Open it with notepad and in there, there's a section called [controls]. Under that heading is a line that reads ' Windows joystick=##'. It will be set to a value of either zero or one. Whichever it is, change it to the other and see how you go from there.

CH Products - control problems (update November 2009) now 2 USB controllers can be used see: http://eaw.wikispaces.com/Joystick+added+2nd+USB+controller

(Answer submitted by Spidy)

QUESTION - How to set up CH throttle, stick and rudder pedals?.

ANSWER - Save yourself a lot of trouble by going to Spidy's web site at:

http://home.fuse.net/mmz/index.htm

Download the EAW map from there. You will see that it's working perfectly with FS/PT/PP setup. Here is what you need to do. First delete eaw.ini from your EAW folder Then open up the map from control manager and download / activate it. Then go to Control Panels - controllers and make sure that CH Control Manger Device 1 is the only device showing. If you do it right, it should be the only one. If you are running XP, it will say use CH control manager device 1 for older games or something like that. Make sure there are no other controller devices other than that. Now start EAW and play the game.

Dual graphics cards - Radeon graphics card (Answer submitted by 'ArgonV')

QUESTION - How to configure PC for dual graphics cards or fitting a Radeon graphics card.

ANSWER - Download ArgonV's results (text file). http://www.sandbaggereaw.com/SG/ArgonV.zip

(submitted by Kay "Huntress" Hammil)
 * EAW and Error 7217**

This is just a quick summary of what we at the SimHQ-EAW forum have learned about the problem as well as possible solutions to it. Remember that due to the tremendous number of device manufacturers, you can consider that it is likely that no other computer system is exactly like yours and mileage does vary amongst the video card manufacturers to a small degree. In addition, aside from the obvious differences in operating systems which are trying to run EAW, do remember that no Windows install will be identical to any other under these circumstances, and this will cause differing results as well.

When the error message first began appearing years ago, Intel determined that it was due to a graphics rendering issue ( http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/CS-003934.htm ); the onboard Intel video chips were attempting to render EAW in a 16-bit palette, but EAW is hard-coded to render in 8-bit color. As a result, some with onboard Intel video chips will not be able to run EAW without disabling this device and installing a different video card. Some versions of Intel's graphics chips will render under EAW, so try it and see. If your system is one which will not, there is no software solution to the problem.

It has been discovered over time, however, that this error can develop even in systems which had been running EAW well. At times it can be due to video driver corruption or DirectX corruption. The solution in these cases is to scrub out the current driver installation using Driver Cleaner ( http://www.drivercleaner.net/ ) or one of the other applications which will remove all traces of your current video driver installation. **If you run Windows XP, do create a Restore Point prior to beginning this process. That will give you a good backup position in case of error.** Be sure that you run this application several times in series so that all traces are gone. Once this is done, you can install your video drivers again. Following this, install your chosen version of DirectX over itself. Most are able to run DX 9.0c with no trouble in terms of EAW, but some do report trouble. Do not attempt to install a DirectX version less than that with which your operating system shipped. In terms of which driver version to choose, most are able to run the most recent versions of NVIDIA's reference drivers with no trouble, the exception being those with GeForce 6xxx cards and beyond. Use whichever version of driver package works best for you and your needs.

More recently, the SimHQ-EAW forum has several threads regarding people receiving an Error 7217 error message when trying to launch EAW on computer systems having video cards utilizing series 6xxx chips and beyond from NVIDIA. EAW was released in late 1998 and was coded to process graphics using technology available at that time. More recent cards are built with some hardware and driver support for this methodology, but the industry is moving on and it can sometimes be difficult to get the system hardware and driver support one needs in order to render EAW graphics properly without this error appearing.In general, in terms of EAW, people are reporting that:

1) EAW can and does run with PCI-E cards in a single-card system; it would appear, however, that utilizing the SLI capability of the motherboards which support these cards is going to be a problem for which we do not have a solution at this time.

2) If one has a choice, and if EAW is important to you, do not choose to buy a card running the 6200 chip. This one seems to create rendering problems which are not able to be overcome at this time, so one cannot get by the Error 7217 message regardless of driver package version chosen.

3) Best results for getting EAW to run while running a video card in the 6xxx series or better is to install drivers in the 6x.xx series. The driver packages in the 7x.xx series in conjunction with these more recent cards seem to trigger rendering issues which result in the Error 7217 message when launching EAW. Some do manage to overcome this, though it isn't understood how they are doing it (see Cody6's Wiki entry); his results are not being duplicated by others, as indicated by several threads at the SimHQ-EAW forum, unfortunately. In addition, at this time, Cody6 is the only one known to be able to run EAW on a system having an NVIDIA 7800 GTX chip as the GPU. Again, if you have such a card, see his Wiki entry and try his method for setting the card up and for installing EAW.

It had been hoped that Zeckensack's Glide Wrapper might be useful for this error in terms of modern GPUs and recent drivers, but it isn't functioning to intervene and cause EAW to be able to render in 8-bit color. This SimHQ post ( http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=143;t=000425;p=1#000020 ) describes a test made with the Wrapper and a recent GPU with recent drivers.

Hopefully as we gain more insight into the ways the newer GPUs from NVIDIA function, we will have ways we can overcome the current problems with them in terms of EAW. It isn't always possible or desirable for people to run legacy equipment for the purpose of being able to run older software, so a solution to force backward compatibility would be good for those whose current hardware configuration is permanent and who also wish to run EAW.


 * EAW and Error 7217 (2)**
 * (**Submitted by RAF_Dumoulin)

From a DeanH post in Frugal forum....

Hello chaps, as one who has recently suffered the same issues, here's what I experienced. I had an fx5200 but it fried and died, it still ran, but showed ugly artifacts on screen in most games. I went out and bought a GF 6800 AGP card, and immediately got the 7217 error. After extensive searches through the internet and many knowledgeable friends (Dumo and VonBeer included) I came to the understanding that the 6800 was 'originally' made as an PCI'E' card (the new PCI Enhanced slot) - with an appropriate addition in the latest forceware drivers package.

Having gotten the AGP version of this card, it appears that nVidia were not very interested in backdating the 6800 drivers to work in 'all' areas in an agp form. Basically, that means that a) Eaw and some other older games aren't accomodated by the latest nVidia drivers and b) there are no entries for the 'newer' 6800 AGP card in the 'older' forceware driverpacks (6800agp coming out 'after' the pciE version)

I started thinking about this and decided to go back to the store I bought it from, - with some 'smooth' talking on my part, and a quick grab of an additional 100 smackeroos I came home with a 6600GT - again I tried and got the 7217 error. I then went and got the 6693 version drivers pack (remember that number) I also went and got a small program, ummm 'nvidia driver remover' or something like that. It's free, google it. and I used that to completely remove all nVidia files. I then installed the 6693 (6.14.10.6693) and KAPOW! EAW ran as sweet as it ever had. BTW, I wouldn't bother 'refusing' to go backward unless it has no driver for your card, I have the 6600gt and there is NO lack of functionality in ANY of my software, and I run some pretty heavy graphics programs too (Photoshop CS2 - Lightwave 3D - 3DS max etc etc)

Anyway Hope that might help solve something?

DeanH

(answer submitted by Rob "GunsUp" Weatherspoon and Kay "Huntress" Hammil)
 * EAW and Error 7217--Updated (April 2006)**

This method really only uses the readme files and forum posts from others who developed these fixes to install and run EAW on a computer system having a PCI-E motherboard, a single nVidia GeForce 6800 PCI-E video card running v.77.87 drivers and having a Saitek Cyborg 3D Rumble joystick.


 * Warning: Sydbod's v.1.26E patch was developed for the U.S. English version of EAW**


 * Quick and Dirty Instructions:**

a) Clean-install EAW full version or copy a previous **clean** v.1.0 EAW install to your hard drive in a new directory you have created. You now have EAW 1.0 installed. If you have not already backed it up, consider doing so by burning it off or copying it elsewhere on your hard drive so you will have a copy for future use and can just copy it where you want it.

b) Immediately patch EAW to v.1.26E using Sydbod's patch. Do not try to run EAW yet. Consider backing your patched EAW directory up elsewhere for safekeeping so you can then just copy it to your hard drive for future use.

c) Download and extract Mr. Jelly's fixed E Folder for Sydbod's executable file. Rename the current executable file in your EAW directory to protect it. Copy all of the files contained in the extracted E: folder into your main EAW directory.

d) If your downloaded copy of Mr. Jelly's fixed executable files for Sydbod's patch does not include it (some have, some have not), then download a fixed copy of the text_eng.cdf file. Rename your current version of this file in EAW to protect it and copy the downloaded version into EAW's main directory.

e) Finally, now try to launch EAW and map just a few joystick settings in the configuration area--don't bother with all of them until you can see that it will work for you. Try to fly just a single mission to see if it will fly for you and if you can program and retain controller settings such as keyboard commands and joystick settings.

f) Since OAW and other managers are not related to this problem, it is better to get EAW up and running in a clean state before installing or copying in any modifications. It is easier to troubleshoot a totally clean install than one with modifications.


 * For those who like to read, this is the more involved set of instructions:**

The cleanest way (recommended for patching purposes) is to proceed in this way:

1) Download Sydbod's v.1.26E patch file available [|here]. Sydbod's file contains fixes and advancements for EAW. This file is compatible with the stock v.1.2 eaw.exe file, so should be acceptable in online flying instances.

2) Download Mr. Jelly's Error 7217-fixed version for Sydbod's v.1.26E executable file from [|here]. Be aware that the executable file included is a replacement for an executable file and that this is not the patch file itself. You will need to patch the sim prior to using the included files successfully. In addition, in some versions of Mr. Jelly's download, note that the zip file containing the modified Sydbod version of the executable file also includes a file called text_eng.cdf. This file relates to a situation faced by those with faster equipment which caused the .ini file to corrupt and then lose joystick preferences for certain buttons and keysets and will be discussed later. The text_eng.cdf file can be used without having patched EAW to v.1.26E.

3) Having downloaded the necessary patch file and having your original install CD, then, you are ready to start with your installation. Install EAW using the full install option. Consider backing this v.1.0 install up elsewhere by burning it off or copying it to a safe place on your hard drive. It will give you a clean copy of EAW 1.0 to use at any point in the future should you need it--useful for multiple installs. Once EAW 1.0 is installed, immediately run the patch file. The installer should be able to find your EAW install and will ask if this is the install to be patched. If it is, OK the install. If you have multiple installs, let the installer cycle through them until it locates the one you do want patched. OK the patch install when it finds the correct one.

Note that the advice to install the patch file without having started a single mission and escaped in order to generate an eaw.ini file (starting to fly a mission and escaping from it is the preferred method of prepping EAW for the patch process in the case of older systems which can still handle the graphics issue without producing Error 7217.) is required in the case of people suffering Error 7217 due to video card/driver package reasons--you won't be able to launch EAW to start the single mission until we have completely finished installing the sim and the patch, and then copying in the Mr. Jelly-modified executable file which will solve the error.

At this point, then, you have a full install of EAW and you have patched that install to v.1.26E. You will now want to open Windows Explorer and browse to your EAW directory. back the existing //eaw.exe// file up elsewhere or else rename it in order to preserve it. Note that Mr. Jelly's fixed executable file (Sydbod's v1.26E) has been packed with all other necessary files as an OAW E folder. If you intend to use OAW, consider installing OAW now and you can copy the chosen E folder into its correct location. If you do not intend to run OAW or if you want to stop and test your EAW install just to see if it will work before you go on, then you will want to copy the entire contents of the extracted E folder into your main EAW directory so that these files are the ones EAW uses when it runs. If you run Windows XP, do be sure to verify that the chosen executable file is called //eaw.exe// by right-clicking it and choosing to Rename it if necessary. You should find that it is already called that, but just in case something odd happened, be aware that it does need to be named this way for a Win XP system to run it.

4) At this point, we can discuss the text_eng.cdf file which is sometimes included in Mr. Jelly's fix for Sydbod's version 1.26E package. It was discovered that changes in this file which is normally found in the main EAW directory would overcome the corruption occurring in the eaw.ini file for those with somewhat faster equipment than the equipment in existence when EAW was originally developed. If you did not download the Mr. Jelly-fixed version of Sydbod's v.1.26E patch or if you did but the file was not included in your downloaded zip file, then you can get a modified version of this file [|here]. A discussion of the file is located at the SimHQ EAW forum [|here]. You will first back your existing text_eng.cdf file up elsewhere, then copy this modified version into your main EAW directory. This should solve the corruption problem which causes certain lines of the .ini file to become mis-stated and results in the loss of programmed button assignments and keyboard assignments as well as repetition of these lines at the end of the eaw.ini file.

You are finally ready to test your EAW install to see if it will now run for you. If you want just a quick and dirty test that will tell you if Error 7217 is present, launch EAW and start a Single Mission. Escape as soon as you leave the hangar by using the default Esc key. Note the change in main screen and the configuration screens. This is due to the rendering issue. Mr. Jelly devised working screens to allow configuration of the sim: right-click the chosen option and set it as you want using the context menu. If needed for the smaller text of the joystick configuration screens, you can get an image package of how those screens look in a standard EAW install from [|here]. This file is organized by way of the layout of the configuration routine. It will allow you to "translate" the smaller fonts in the screens Mr. Jelly created since he also followed the layout of the original screens. This allows you to assign your chosen joystick settings and your chosen keyboard commands.

Some are reporting that, while EAW will at least launch for them now, they do not have recognition of their joystick, mouse, and keyboard. Assuming a clean full EAW install was used, Sydbod's patch was run, Mr. Jelly's fixed version of Sydbod's executable file (plus the other necessary files) are present and in their correct location depending upon whether or not you are running OAW and the repaired text_eng.cdf file was copied into the main EAW folder, then one thing to check is to go to Control Panel | Game Controllers and verify that your joystick is present. Hit the Advanced button and verify that your joystick is listed as the controller to be used for older games and applications. Make any changes necessary and OK out. In Windows Explorer, check the eaw.ini file by double-clicking it so it opens in Notepad and see that the line //Windows Joystick// has a value of 1 assigned.

As a last resort for this problem, you can try editing your eaw.ini file by keying in your chosen settings. First, back your existing file up elsewhere for safekeeping. In Windows Explorer, open your eaw.ini file by double-clicking it so it opens in Notepad. If you have an existing .ini file of your own to use as a mapping guide, so much the better since it would likely contain your chosen commands as you want them. If not, then Mr. Jelly kindly posted the contents of his eaw.ini file in a SimHQ EAW forum post [|here]. Be aware that all spelling, spacing and syntax must be honored for EAW to use your commands. Follow the layout used in Mr. Jelly's eaw.ini file and make your assignments as desired. When finished, hit File | Save to save your results. In addition, if you are satisfied with these commands, do back this version up as well so that you only have to do this once and can copy it into your install in the event of a corrupted file. Remember that if you use OAW, if you need to copy the file into both OAW and EAW, do that. If you need to map for a different stick, you may want to post at SimHQ and ask someone else who uses that stick to post any relevant portions of their eaw.ini file for you to use as a guide. For instance, someone without a force feedback stick wouldn't need the force feedback commands to look the way Mr. Jelly has set his.

Now launch EAW and test your stick and keyboard commands to see if they work now. As noted, this Wiki addition is the result of the development efforts of Sydbod, Mr. Jelly and Knegel as well as the time spent and error testing performed by GunsUp and Huntress. Hopefully it will help someone install EAW in an easy manner. It really isn't difficult if all the readme files are read and honored. If in doubt, it is better to install as little as possible until you solve the Error 7217 problem and the lack of control problem, so it may be better to not install OAW until you can just get EAW itself installed, patched and able to run correctly for you. Once you are able to do that, then you can create another clean install, patch it, install OAW or other file managers and add your chosen campaigns and modifications. Remember to install any Visual Basic runtime files or OAW runtime files necessary for your chosen version of OAW or ECA Panel prior to installing the chosen manager. If you choose to run OAW and if your chosen version can use E Folders, you can then use Mr. Jelly's E Folder in your OAW install and have EAW honor it.

(Submitted by Kay 'Huntress' Hammil)
 * Radeon video chips and EAW**

QUESTION - Problems with Radeon video chips and EAW.

ANSWER - See below:

Those who run Radeon cards will have some issues when running EAW. These problems are universal across all operating systems. There will be a map and briefing room corruption that is not able to be fixed at this point. Neither Atari nor ATI are looking into fixing it, and the community of users has not been able to develop a solution for these problems yet.

The other big issue Radeon users face is the lack of horizon fog so there is a view of tiles at the horizon. This problem has been successfully solved, thanks to Smirnoff (SimHQ Member #15273). Because of the wealth of information in this thread, I will not quote from it, but instead give you the URL to it:

http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=024359#000000

If this thread disappears for some unforeseen reason, I have saved it, as well as the thread at Frugal's, so that the knowledge will not be lost to the community. For now, legally, people should view the thread at the forums involved.

Many thanks to those who contributed to this thread, particularly (alphabetically) CatsEyes (SimHQ Member #6082), Crashin' Jack (SimHQ Member #17120), Smirnoff, Urban Furball (SimHQ Member #14185), and VonBeerhofen (SimHQ Member #12745).

The Glide wrapper file discussed is available here:

http://www.zeckensack.de/glide/

Glide Wrapper, as is its documentation. I have these files, as well, should someone need them and not be able to download them from the developer's site any longer. Again, legally, it is better to get them from him while he offers them. There is NO screen tearing of the menu screens The garbled map room is still there. THE FOG HAS RETURNED. The FPS look to be better also
 * ERRATUM:** **ATI/AMD 7.12 driver (WinXP)**

(Submitted by RAF_Dumoulin)

QUESTION:

Question by Hunter1 All menus and briefing screens game flickering !!! anyone have the solution ?

ANSWER:

Answer by Sydbod: That is real easy to fix. It is the latest Catalyst driver that is doing it. I noticed the same thing happened to me on 2 different machines when I updated the video driver to the latest one.

Go back one or two generations and all will be ok again.

**ATI Video Cards and EAW (Flickering menus problem)**
Submitted by Crashin'Jack.

If you have an ATI video card and want to play EAW, you will have a few problems. Some can be fixed, while others can not. Neither the owners of EAW or ATI have any plans to fix these problems.

The first problem you will encounter is that the Main Menu and Aircraft Selection screens may be slightly garbled. There will be some hash lines running somewhat randomly across the screen. This is easily fixed. Right click the ATI icon in the little box down by the clock on your start bar. Select settings, then ATI Display Settings.

Now click the 3D tab when the ATI Catalyst program starts, and click on the "Cuctom" button in the settings box. You will see a slider that says "Wait For Vertical Sync." Slide this to the left until it says "Always Off." Click OK and you are done.

The next problem you will see is the Briefing Room and Screen, and the associated map. This situation at the moment can not be fixed; efforts are continuing to fix this...

The third problem is the in-game horizon fog - or rather the lack of it. This can also be fixed, with Zeckensack's Glide Wrapper. It's available here: http://www.zeckensack.de/glide/. Follow Zeckensack's instructions for installation and use of the wrapper. When you go into the game, make sure you go to the set up screen and change to Glide mode. Please note that a few people (myself incuded) have some problems with some transparencies showing up as black squares -- this is mostly limited to ground objects, but affects smoke and fire also. This seems limited to the older cards, so if you have a new card, it likely won't be an issue.

All other facets of the game seem to be unaffected. If anything else comes up, please add to this or post at SimHQ

Cheers!

Crashin' Jack There is NO screen tearing of the menu screens The garbled map room is still there. THE FOG HAS RETURNED. The FPS look to be better also
 * ERRATUM:** **ATI/AMD 7.12 driver (WinXP)**


 * The last best driver for use with the ATI graphic card.**

New: Update: Oct. 22, 2006 New ATI Driver seems to fix briefing screen [|ATi Driver Site] by RAF_Roy

Old: Submitted by Sydbod.

//**CATALYST Version 05.2**//

This is the last driver that I have been able to get to run EAW without having all the stationary screens from tearing.

Testing was WinXP with SP1.

If you want to purchase an ATI video card to run EAW on then please make sure it is supported by the 5.2 driver or earlier.

you will find drivers on this page....http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=66

See also this link..and the homepage of the site.. http://www.omegadrivers.net/archive.php

For more details...see also the discussions about ATI..... http://eaw.wikispaces.com/Ideas+and+discusses+about+EAW There is NO screen tearing of the menu screens The garbled map room is still there. THE FOG HAS RETURNED. The FPS look to be better also
 * ERRATUM:** **ATI/AMD 7.12 driver (WinXP)**

(Submitted by Kay 'Huntress' Hammil)
 * Graphics (video) issues with EAW and WIN 2000**

QUESTION - Problems with Graphics (video) for EAW and WIN 2000.

ANSWER - See below:

nVidia GeForce and better chips:

While the explanation and instructions Max188 and 105_Ogdens give for the registry edit to correct the map and briefing room corruption are correct for Win XP [|http://www.xmission.com/~mmagleby/eaw/readme/grforcexp.htm], the instructions differ somewhat for Win 2K. The necessary procedure in Win 2K is provided in a SimHQ post by Max188 (SimHQ Member #3411) (post URL: SimHQ):

Quote:

under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware\Devicemap\video

look for the \Device\Video0 key and check its data value.

write down the value \REGISTRY\Machine\System\Controlset001\Services\nv\Device0

now go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Controlset001\Services\nv\Device0

create the DWORD NoAdjustedPitch with a Hex value of 1

End Quote

This has been confirmed to work by Tiefflieger (SimHQ Member #19663) (post URL: http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=025168;p=1#000001 ) and ColJLanders (SimHQ Member #18171)(post URL: http://www.simhq.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=024099;p=1#000000 ).

Radeon chip:

Those who run Radeon cards will have other issues. This is true across all operating systems. There will be a map and briefing room corruption that is not able to be fixed at this point. Neither Atari nor ATI are looking into fixing it, and the community of users has not been able to develop a solution for that problem yet.

The other big issue Radeon users face is the lack of horizon fog so there is a view of tiles at the horizon. This problem has been successfully solved, thanks to Smirnoff (SimHQ Member #15273). Because of the wealth of information in this thread, I will not quote from it, but instead give you the URL to it:

http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=024359#000000

Many thanks to those who contributed to this thread, particularly (alphabetically) CatsEyes (SimHQ Member #6082), Crashin' Jack (SimHQ Member #17120), Smirnoff, Urban Furball (SimHQ Member #14185), and VonBeerhofen (SimHQ Member #12745).

The Glide wrapper file discussed is available here: Glide Wrapper, as is its documentation. http://home.t-online.de/home/zsack/glide_wrapper/index.html

**A working system with a 7800 gtx Nvidia graphic card (Cody 6)**
The 7800 gtx video card & EAW:

-this cards system requirements are pretty stiff for maximum benefit -P4 3.4 ghz or AMD 64 Athlon 3400+{Im using a AMD 64 4000+}Probably will run on slower systems,but you probably wont be able to take advantage of the cards myriad features.Also at present this card is expensive approx $400.00 USD. -You should have a min.350 watt psu(Im using a 500 watt psu. -As I stated in a previous post,make sure you remove all trace of previous cards & drivers,before installing. -Do a full defrag of your system -check your reg for errors before & after intall (I use Registry Mechanic)good utility but check what your fixing. -Make sure your case is well cooled(30-35c}I use four fans + Coolermaster Aquagate cooling system. -The only features that EAW requires at least on my system is-Anistropic filtering x2,Antialiasing x2,the rest of the cards features I would leave at their default settings. -if you try higher A&A settings you'll probably experience a flashing black square in the middle of your screen. -the best drivers Ive found for EAW are 77.77,I believe theirs a 77.78 beta available but what new features it has I dont know.Happy Landigs :)Cody

**N°1**
Here is what Sydbod had to say on this one a while ago :Hi All, Some of you have expressed interest in what set up to use in Firewall Port Forwarding. I have spent about a week chasing up info from the web and testing it out on my system which uses a linux distro called IPCOP 1.3 as an internet server/firewall. The following Port Forwarding information has been tested and works ok on my system so it should be ok on just about any router. At the moment no security breaches have been found according to my logs using this port setup. Only one annoying problem has surfaced in that since the following ports are now hard wired they will consistently show up if some dweebe does a port scan on your IP. That has encouraged one twit to try and cause a buffer overrun on my system by trying to overload the ports with requests, hoping to cause the firewall to fall over. This can be a problem if you have the fire and the games machine as the same machine, but with a separate router/firewall to your games machine the only inconvenience is that they might use up all your internet bandwidth if you use a phone modem.

Here are the Port configurations. These are so you can host as well as client. All ports are set to IN and OUT (bidirectional).

47624 TCP DirectX7 DirectPlay setup 6073 UDP DirectX8 DirectPlay setup 2300-2400 TCP DirectX7 DirectPlay ports 2300-2400 UDP DirectX7&8 DirectPlay ports

6667 TCP Only if you also want to play on MSN GAME ZONE for other games eg Total Anihilation etc 28800-29000 TCP Only if you also want to play on MSN GAME ZONE for other games eg Total Anihilation etc

3782 TCP Only if you use Roger Wilco 3782 UDP Only if you use Roger Wilco 3783 TCP Only if you run Roger Wilco base station 3783 UDP Only if you run Roger Wilco base station

DISCLAIMER* The TCP ports on Roger Wilco may or may not be necessary as I have not had the opportunity to test it out with other people but they wont hurt to have them open.

Hope this may be of some value. If you should try them and/or have any problems please let me know.

Regards sydbod

hope he doesnt mind me posting this from my little 'problems library' ....

cheers,

Pobs



Hi Folks,
I might be whistling through my hat with what i am about to suggest as i don't have the same equipment here to confirm the following.

Things to be aware of: 1)With a router(NAT) the data from a port (x) from the users machine will seldomly be retransmitted from the same port (n) from the router out to the internet, and unless a route path is initially set up through the router from within the internal network/trigger/port mapping, then there is no way for traffic to force its way backwards through the router from the internet to the internal network. 2)EAW is basically a DirectX 7 game in its port usage. 3)For EAW to work in multiplayer mode all the players are configured initially through their TCP 47624 port. 4)Once the negotiations on TCP 47624 are over (negotiations as to which TCP and UDP ports each player will send and receive on)the main traffic for the running game is on a random selection of negotiated UDP ports in the range of 2300-2400 and a small amount of controll traffic on similar TCP ports in the range of 2300-2400.

If you do not directly map the ports as Pobs has displayed in his post tbe following possibilities may be happening with your trigger configuration.

1)When you are a client (joiner) in the game you will initially send traffic to the host (server) directly through the TCP 47624 port of the router on the internal network side. This will trigger the trigger on the router and thus map all the appropriate ports on the router to the appropriate ports and IP address for your machine that triggered this occurrance. Therefore the game will work. 2)When you are the host (server), the other players (clients)will initiate the original traffic from their TCP 47624 port to the TCP 47624 port of the router on the internet side. The trigger normally does not look at this side of the router but if it was also looking on the internet side for TCP 47624 traffic then when it is triggered from that side it would not know what internal network IP number the ports should be mapped to as no internal machine triggered the trigger. Therefore no correct mapping of ports and therefore game won't work as host.

Solution1- Manually map the ports as in the list that Pobs provided. make sure you map the appropriate TCP and appropriate UDP ports all for both way communications. Solution2- Run the internal computer under WindowsXP and make sure you are using a UPnP compliant router. (The documents say it should work but i have no way to confirm this for you)

Hope this is of some help to you.

Regards sydbod



**N°3**
Mike,

the router may cause you some connectivity problems... here are some comments from previous discussions on this one :

'When I had my Linksys router, the only ports that needed forwarding were for directx:

2300-2400 TCP & UDP 47624 TCP

These are the only ports on whichever router setup I use that have ever need to be forwarded for EAW. If he still has problems it may be something else on his computer....

Chkya6'

'Just make it simple and put the computer in the DMZ. Just remember to take it out after you are finished online. Just access the router software go to advanced/DMZ and put the in the IP of the computer he is using. He can find the network IP for his computer by typing ipconfig at a dos prompt or by looking in the DHCP table in the router software.

105_Felix'

'Here's a suggestion to help potentially eliminate whether it's the router or not:

1) FIRST AND ABSOLUTELY FOREMOST!!! You MUST get the latest firmware updates, this is critical. You can find them here...

http://www.linksys.com/download/

2) TURN OFF/DISABLE all firewall blocking software like Zone Alarm, Norton Security, etc.

2) It seems like he's on Win98? If he's on XP, absolutely make sure to take off the default "Internet Connection Firewall" setting.

3) You can test and basically open up everything on the router. Please note that during this time the computer WILL NOT be protected (NAT protection will be disabled)! However, it will be able to help us determine whether it's a port blocking problem with the router, or something with the computer. Have him open an internet browser window and type in this IP address: 192.168.1.1 - he will then need to enter his administrator password. Click on the "Advanced" tab, then click on "DMZ Host." Where it says "DMZ IP HOST ADDRESS" ensure that he puts in the correct last 2 digits of the IP Address that the router is assigning him. You can find the router assigned IP address by clicking the Start button, selecting run and then typing in "WINIPCFG" (without the quotes) for Win98. For example, if the router is assigning 192.168.1.100 then he would put in "00". Click the "APPLY" button (DON'T FORGET!!) and then exit your browser. Restart the computer and try it out. To revert back to turn off DMZ (and get your protection back), change the last digit back to "0."

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Hopefully this will work! If not, I'll brainstorm it out some more, OK?

Steve ‘swambast’'

"Setup for Client Firewall Support Using the DirectPlay Dynamic Range To join a game through a firewall, the client must be using DirectX 6.0 or later and communicating with a host using DirectX 6.0 or later. To support applications using the DirectPlay dynamic range, a firewall administrator needs to allow an initial outbound TCP connection on port 47624, with subsequent connections of inbound TCP ports 2300-2400, outbound TCP ports 2300-2400, inbound UDP ports 2300-2400, and outbound UDP ports 2300-2400."

Jelly 2004

hope that info may help a bit ...

see you in the launchpad ...

cheers,

Pobs



**N°4**
Hi All, Some of you have expressed interest in what set up to use in Firewall Port Forwarding. I have spent about a week chasing up info from the web and testing it out on my system which uses a linux distro called IPCOP 1.3 as an internet server/firewall. The following Port Forwarding information has been tested and works ok on my system so it should be ok on just about any router. At the moment no security breaches have been found according to my logs using this port setup. Only one annoying problem has surfaced in that since the following ports are now hard wired they will consistantly show up if some dweebe does a port scan on your IP. That has encouraged one twit to try and cause a buffer overun on my system by trying to overload the ports with requests, hoping to cause the firewall to fall over. This can be a problem if you have the fire and the games machine as the same machine, but with a seperate router/firewall to your games machine the only inconvenience is that they might use up all your internet bandwidth if you use a phone modem.

Here are the Port configurations. These are so you can host as well as client. All ports are set to IN and OUT (bidirectional).

47624 TCP DirectX7 DirectPlay setup 6073 UDP DirectX8 DirectPlay setup 2300-2400 TCP DirectX7 DirectPlay ports 2300-2400 UDP DirectX7&8 DirectPlay ports

6667 TCP Only if you also want to play on MSN GAME ZONE for other games eg Total Anihilation etc 28800-29000 TCP Only if you also want to play on MSN GAME ZONE for other games eg Total Anihilation etc

3782 TCP Only if you use Roger Wilco 3782 UDP Only if you use Roger Wilco 3783 TCP Only if you run Roger Wilco base station 3783 UDP Only if you run Roger Wilco base station

DISCLAIMER* The TCP ports on Roger Wilco may or may not be necessary as I have not had the oportunity to test it out with other people but they wont hurt to have them open.

Hope this may be of some value. If you should try them and/or have any problems please let me know.

Regards sydbod


 * USB joystick not recognised by EAW**

(by tonester)

I had trouble getting EAW to Recognize usb stick...but i figured it out...you click on the 'Advanced' tab in your joystick settings page under control panel and it asks you about older games and wich device they want...you tell it and it work a treat....up till finding this it wouldnt recognise the stick at all...now the afterburner burner works ,with software, no probs...

=Installation of two graphic cards (AGP and a Voodoo)= //Submitted by RAF_Dumoulin//

Dual Graphics Setup (2006-01-30_DualHwProfiles.pdf, 31K) Klaus' guide to setting up and using both an AGP and a PCI Voodoo graphics card in your system. http://www.wings-of-valor.net/files/documents/2003-10-17_views.pdf If your primary video card is AGP and your second video card is PCI you can run this setup. I used to run Windows 98SE, an ATI 9700 AGP and a Voodoo5500 PCI with this setup. I currently run Windows XP Pro, an ATI 9800 Pro AGP and a Voodoo5500 PCI and here's how I do it... First, I am going to tell you how to setup dual hardware profiles in Windows 98 or Windows XP. This setup is about a 7 for difficulty on a scale of 1-10 but once setup, switching video cards is a snap. Hopefully you are familiar with your BIOS settings...if not this may or may not be too much for you and you should decide whether or not you want to continue. ~Insert usual Not Responsible Disclaimer here~ If you think you want to set this up then let's get started. Use either ATI or GeForce naming as is your setup. Shut down your computer and install the Voodoo PCI, and boot up. Your computer will find the voodoo card and ask to install the drivers...click *Cancel*. Now go into Device Manager... You should see the ATI/GeForce and a Standard PCI Graphics Adapter under the Display Adapters category. The Standard PCI Graphics Adapter will have a yellow asterisk next to it...that's good. Under **Windows 98** in Device Manager click the “Hardware Profiles” tab. Under tab. You should see one profile named Original Configuration. Highlight it, then click the Rename button and rename it ATI or GeForce (your AGP card) and click OK. Now making sure ATI/GeForce is still highlighted, click the Copy button and name the new copy Voodoo and click OK. You should now have two hardware profiles. Your computer is still on the ATI/GeForce card so go back to the device manager tab, highlight the Standard PCI Graphics Adapter card and click the properties button...uncheck 'Exists in all hardware profiles' and check 'Disable in this hardware profile' and click OK. Ok now the ATI/GeForce AGP card profile is setup. Next we do the Voodoo PCI... Restart your computer and go into your BIOS. You are looking for settings for your Primary Graphic Adapter. All BIOS are a little different but it is there, believe me. I run Amibios and mine is under the PCI/Plug and Play Setup. All BIOS have keypad control functions listed on the screen and you can use these to navigate around your BIOS. If you think you have messed up something just ESC out without saving any changes. Once you have found 'Primary Graphics Adapter' look at your keypad functions and change it to boot to PCI, ESC out and this time save your changes. Now while it is booting up manually switch your monitor cable over to the Voodoo card. You will see a screen that says 'Windows cannot determine which Hardware Configuration your computer is in' and a list of the Configurations by number. Type the number of the Voodoo configuration and press ENTER and it will continue to boot. It will find the voodoo card again and ask to install the drivers...click *Cancel* again. After you are at your desktop (you are most likely at a resolution of 640x480 and in 16Bit color)...not to worry. Right click My Computer and choose Properties then the Device Manager tab. You should see the ATI/GeForce and a Standard PCI Graphics Adapter under the Display Adapters category. The Standard PCI Graphics Adapter will still have a yellow asterisk next to it ...that's still good. This time highlight the ATI/GeForce and click the properties button...uncheck 'Exists in all hardware profiles' and check 'Disable in this hardware profile' and click OK. Reboot again normally choosing the Voodoo Hardware Configuration again at the startup prompt. It will find the voodoo card again and ask to install the drivers...click If you haven't already downloaded voodoo drivers then do so now. See the next few paragraphs about drivers. For the Voodoo 4 or 5 card under **Windows 98** download http://www.traumatic.de/pphlogger/dlcount.php?id=FalconFly&url=http://www.falconfly -central.de/downloads/NuDriver5.zip and install these drivers. They are the 1.07 betas but I used them for years when I was running Windows 98SE and they are the best in my opinion....they do not have any tools but that's good because I recommend V. Control which gives you more control than the standard voodoo tools and eliminates the possibility of video tools conflicting with one another (more below on V. Control). For the Voodoo 4 or 5 card under **Windows XP** download http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=508 and install these drivers. They are the 3dhq 1.09 Beta 5 Voodoo 4/5 Windows 2000/XP drivers.// Notes from the author: //These are the best possible drivers for the Voodoo 3/4/5 on Windows XP. I did a lot of tweaks in the inf file and mixed some files of other drivers in order to get the best of each one. A must have for Unreal Tournament and CS lovers. It took me a long time tweaking and testing these drivers to provide the best possible performance and compatibility on Windows XP. I hope you like it as much as I do. These drivers do not come with the original 3dfx tools, but they come with the 3dfx Underground tools. Personally I did not install the 3dfx Underground tools packaged with the drivers and instead am using V.Control with Windows XP as well. There are many more sets of drivers available at [|http://falconfly.de] for different operating systems but for these setups and me the drivers above are the best. Again, I highly recommend using V. Control as your toolset in place of any 3dfx tools so whatever drivers you get, get ones without tools. After installing the drivers you should reboot...do it. You will once again boot to the Voodoo card and be able to setup your desktop to the resolution and color scheme of your choice. Download V. Control at http://www.3dfxzone.it/koolsmoky/vctrl.html and install it. Make sure you don't fire up V. Control when on the ATI/GeForce card configuration. It will not like it. The cool thing about this set of voodoo tools is once you use it one time for your voodoo and save the config as RB3D MMP or something and apply it you can then unload it from memory and your voodoo card is set...every time you boot to the pci card the tools will already be setup the way you left them last. This Data Transfer Switch will do the job of manually switching your monitor cable to and from video cards for you. There is a very slight text shadow on type in regular windows such as Notepad, Word etc. using the switch versus manually moving the monitor cable every time but I have noticed no such thing in games and they play perfectly. This slight text shadow (not fuzzy or hard to read at all) is well worth the tradeoff of switching the monitor cable manually and possibly breaking or loosening a video pin. Here is what you will need... X884828 - 2 way - $9.00 http://www.cablesnmor.com/video-switch-box.html V22146 6' Extra Shielded M-M VGA Cable for Switch Box - $10.00 (you need 2 of these) http://www.cablesnmor.com/vga.html Once you are all done in order to switch video setups here's what you do. 1. Reboot your computer, go into the BIOS and choose to boot to either the AGP or PCI Primary Graphics Adapter, ESC out and save the changes. 2. Choose the numbered ATI/GeForce or Voodoo Hardware Configuration at the prompt and press ENTER. 3. Set your Data Transfer Switch to either A or B depending on the profile you have chosen. That's all there is to it! Mike Roemer
 * A threat to read (at SimhQ)**
 * http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=024688#000000**
 * From Wings Of Valor forum http://www.wings-of-valor.net/files/files_docs.htm**
 * //The document reproduced in Rich txt//**
 * Dual Graphics Setup in Windows 98 and Windows XP**
 * Windows XP** “Hardware Profiles” is a button under the Control Panel\System\Hardware
 * Cancel* again.
 * Drivers**
 * V. Control**
 * Data Transfer Switch**
 * Summary**

Dual graphics cards - Radeon graphics card// (Answer submitted by 'ArgonV')
 * From the Sandbagger pages http://www.sandbaggereaw.com/SGhardware.html**

//QUESTION - How to configure PC for dual graphics cards or fitting a Radeon graphics card. ANSWER ArgonV WINXP and USB stick Set up - Hiya guys! I got my system up and running with a Voodoo 5 5500 PCI card and a ATI 9800 Pro AGP card under WinXP Pro! (Read THIS) I recently installed EAW under the Voodoo 5 5500 Hardware Profile and with a suggestion made by Pickled on THIS RB3d forum (About going to the Advanced button in Game Controllers and selecting a joystick) got EAW working great with Glide and my USB joystick under WinXP Pro with out using the Compatability Mode option or any other hacks! Just thought you all might like to know.//

Hey no problem! Here's what I did (To the best of my memory) Here was my system before the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI: -AMD Athlon 2400 XP -ASUS A7N8x mobo (With latest drivers from ASUS) -ATI 9800 Pro 128mb (With latest drivers from ATI) -Creative Audigy 2 ZS (With latest drivers from Creative) -1,280mb PC2100 SDRAM -Maxtor 120GB ATA133 hard drive -Western Digital 60GB ATA100 hard drive -16x DVD-ROM drive -52x24x52 CD-RW -Samsung 955DF 19in. flat screen monitor -Windows XP Pro (With latest updates and DX 9.0b) 1. First I went into Control Panel and then System and went to the Hardware tab and clicked on the Hardware Profiles button and copied my existing profile. I then renamed the current profile to '9800 Pro AGP' and the other profile to 'Voodoo 5 PCI' 2. I shut down the system and installed the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI card in the slot below the AGP slot. I booted up the system and selected the '9800 Pro AGP' profile and let Windows XP install the default driver automatically. I then disabled it in the current Hardware Profile by double clicking the Voodoo 5 and selecing 'Do not use this device in the current hardware profile' I then rebooted the system, went into the BIOS and changed the boot card to PCI, switched the monitor cable over to the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI card and selected the 'Voodoo 5 PCI' hardware profile upon bootup and disabled the 9800 Pro in the current profile using the same method above. 3. I went to [|www.voodoofiles.com] and downloaded the 3dhq driver set (Latest) and ran that EXE and installed the tools aswell and rebooted and selected the 'Voodoo 5 PCI' hardware profile again to be sure everything was working OK (And it was!) 4. Now for the switch (This gets tricky)... I bought a Belkin USB KVM switch with audio cords (Simply cause that's all it came in! I couldnt find a USB KVM switch without audio cords) My mobo has 4 USB ports on the back. The switch will use two of these. (You need two as the way the switch works is that it draws power from the USB port that's active depending on what you have the switch set to: PC 1 or PC 2) I plugged the monitor cable of the first set of cords on the KVM switch into my Voodoo 5. I then plugged the monitor cable of the second set of cords on the KVM switch into my 9800 Pro. I then plugged my monitor into the KVM switch. I then plugged the USB cable of the first set of cords on the KVM switch into the USB port closest to the top (They sit ontop of each other) Then I plugged the USB cable of the second set of cords on the KVM switch into the USB port into the USB port closest to the mother board (bottom) I did this to distinguish them as to what USB cord goes to what set of cords on the KVM switch (First or second) which then distiguishes them by what graphics card that set of cords is for! (You can of course label them to distinguish what USB cord powers what set of cords) NOTE: KVM switches only draw power from only the active set of cords, it cannot from both! Thus why I had to plug in both USB cords into my PC, so the KVM switch can get power when I choose one or the other set. 5. I then booted my PC up and selected the 'Voodoo 5 PCI' hardware profile (As PCI VGA boot was still selected in the BIOS) At this point it detected the KVM switch but there is going to be an error... Now the screen may go blank at this time. If it does simply remove your monitors VGA cable from the switch and plug it back into the card you are using (In my case the Voodoo 5 at this point) I then went to the Control Panel - System - Hardware (Device Manager) and noted down that it detected the KVM switch under Human Interface Devices as 'USB Human Interface Device' and under 'Universal Serial Bus controllers' as 'Generic USB Hub' and 'Unknown Device' (There will be double entries of these) I then pulled the plug of the USB cord that I was going to use for this switch selector (The Voodoo 5 card, or the first selection on the KVM switch) and one set of the above entries went away. I then disabled the remaining from the selected hardware profile (I did this so they would not conflict, and that only one USB cable would be in use at the time, the one powering the desired selected graphics card! It is also a good idea to unplug any other USB devices you are not using as to not confuse what is what in the Device Manager) I then shut down the system and plugged back in the USB cable I unplugged above. 6. I booted up the PC, went into the BIOS and selected AGP as the boot graphics card, and then unplugged the VGA cable to my monitor from the Voodoo 5 card and plugged it in the 9800 Pro AGP card. I then selected the '9800 Pro AGP' hardware profile and went into Windows. Just like in step 5 above it detected the KVM switch but gave an error. I then removed the USB cord that I was going to use for this selected graphics card and thus it left the remaing entries (Like above, only in this case the remaining USB devices would be for the 'Voodoo 5 PCI' hardware profile, the ones I want to disable for this '9800 Pro AGP' hardware profile!) I then disabled them for that selected hardware profile (Like above) 7. I then shut down the system, unplugged the VGA monitor cord from the 9800 pro and plugged it into the KVM switch. I then plugged the VGA cord of the first set of cables on the KVM switch back into the Voodoo 5 and the other VGA cord of the second set of cables on the KVM switch into the 9800 Pro. I then also plugged back in the USB cable of the KVM switch I removed in the above step 6. Then I booted up, selected the '9800 Pro AGP' hardware profile and all was well! I then restarted, selected the 'Voodoo 5 PCI' hardware profile, flipped the KVM switch when the screen went black and all was well! (As Windows XP disabled the 9800 Pro in the Voodoo 5 hardware profile the screen went black. It did because the 9800 Pro, the boot VGA card, was the card I was using) No BIOS changing is needed!!! The BIOS setting only changes what video card you want to start up the PC with. Going back and fourth from PCI VGA boot and AGP VGA boot makes no sense unless you want to watch the Voodoo cards BIOS boot up and flash on screen in the very begining... Another thing I should note about this Belkin KVM switch... It seems to 'default' to the second set of cables. Well I want the default to be my 9800 Pro so this is why I plugged it all in as described above (2nd VGA cable of the KVM switch to my main graphics card) So whatever you want to be your main card of use, be sure use the second set of cables for it! This is the way it works for this Belkin, I do not know about the other KVM switches out there. Please also note that since I have 2 graphics cards and only one monitor (NOT the way KVM is supposed to work!!!) I had to cheat it above. KVMs work in two PC, one monitor/keyboard/mouse setups. Because of my setup, I do NOT use the USB ports and the sound ports and cords on the KVM switch itself. I simply tied the sound cords up... Dont forget to set the proper refresh rates for your monitor!!!! I use ReForce. You may also have to reinstall your monitor under the "Voodoo" hardware profile. (I did) Anyway, it took me 3 days to figure all of this out... I tried with a PS2 KVM switch at first but alas the switch got power by the keyboard PS2 port on my PC and I dont have 2 of them to supply power to either set of cables on the KVM switch! So I had to return that. Why not just buy a VGA switch you say? Well some arent powered (This gives you loss in picture quality) and they dont sell them at Best Buy (The place I work and get a discount from) I didnt want to pay $100.00 for a VGA switch someplace else... The only tools I used for the above was a phillips screw driver (To install the Voodoo 5 5500 PCI card) and a knife to open up the semi-hard plastic packaging of the KVM switch. I also had to use my head and think things thru... Keep in mind I'm a computer tech by hobby and occupation so work-arounds come naturally to me! I hope the above was clear enough... So far EAW works great as does RB3d and Tribes 1. I want to get Joint Strike Fighters, Nations: Fighter Command and a few other older Glide games working. I found that the 3dhq drivers work better on my system than the AmigaMerlin 3.0 Full set... The solution is indeed cheaper than most... The Belkin USB KVM switch only costs around $60.00 U.S. That's a lot cheaper than building a whole other PC for a Voodoo setup, or buying an expensive powered VGA switch! I must say EAW looks best on a Voodoo 5 5500!! A other explaination (from rodders at SimhQ EAW forum)

I built my current 'puter as a dual-boot 98SE/XP system with AGP 4200Ti and PCI Voodoo 5 (it's now tri-boot 98SE/XP/XP).

The whole business of driver installation and setting up hardware profiles was much easier under XP - in fact it's a breeze.

One thing I'd mention, though, is that when I renamed the hardware profiles at the same time as I created them, XP subsequently didn't know which profile it had loaded. That is to say, it worked// ok, but it didn't show the right profile in the hardware tab of 'My Computer' properties. To get it to work, I had to accept the default names for the profiles at the time of creation, then rename them afterwards.

The best solution for the signal is to use a monitor with dual inputs if poss. My Iiyama has D-sub and RGB inputs and automatically detects which card is providing the signal.