Trying to set up multiplayer with roommate

[ultramarine4life]

I'm almost entirely new to this (probably the problem) but me and my roommate have been trying to set up a connection between the PPSSPPs on our computers. I've read the tutorials on Hamachi and followed them as closely as I can. It didn't work. So then we started trying as many things as we could think of (disabling firewalls, attempting to use our computer's IPs, trying to set up a local Ad Hoc on one PC) and it's still not working.

Now the game we've tried the most with has been Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Infinity, but this is mostly for the sake of proving our computers' PPSSPPs can connect so the game in particular doesn't matter to us right now. But as for what in particular is happening (in case it helps narrow down what we're doing wrong) whenever we select Multiplay we simply can't see each other. As in when one of us sets up the party and the other goes to join it the person joining doesn't find a party.

Our computers run Windows 10 and his uses some type of Linux (he's currently unconscious so asking is out of the question). Both computers are connected to the router by wires (this is not a wireless connection if that matters). Our usual attempt is as follows:

+We have the WLAN turned on in the PPSSPP's network settings.
+One of us has the built in Ad Hoc server turned on, the other doesn't.
+We use the IP of the computer hosting the server as the Ad Hoc Pro's IP.
++If we are using Hamachi, we use that IP instead.
+We have different MAC addresses.
+We turn off the firewalls.
+We have fast memory disabled.
+We have the PPSSPP's CPU clock set to 1000
+We have the I/0 Timing set to simulate UMD delays.
+The person hosting starts up the game first and goes into the party form screen.
+The second player starts up their game and goes to join.

And then nothing appears. So are we doing this completely wrong, is there something we're missing that's critical to making this work? Is W10 and Linux incompatible for some reason, is it because we're two computers hooked up locally? Or something else entirely? Or more likely do you need more information because I'm leaving some bit of critical knowledge out due to my own lack of expertise? Any help at all will be appreciated.

[Accel]

(02-16-2016 08:41 AM)ultramarine4life Wrote:  I'm almost entirely new to this (probably the problem) but me and my roommate have been trying to set up a connection between the PPSSPPs on our computers. I've read the tutorials on Hamachi and followed them as closely as I can. It didn't work. So then we started trying as many things as we could think of (disabling firewalls, attempting to use our computer's IPs, trying to set up a local Ad Hoc on one PC) and it's still not working.

Now the game we've tried the most with has been Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Infinity, but this is mostly for the sake of proving our computers' PPSSPPs can connect so the game in particular doesn't matter to us right now. But as for what in particular is happening (in case it helps narrow down what we're doing wrong) whenever we select Multiplay we simply can't see each other. As in when one of us sets up the party and the other goes to join it the person joining doesn't find a party.

Our computers run Windows 10 and his uses some type of Linux (he's currently unconscious so asking is out of the question). Both computers are connected to the router by wires (this is not a wireless connection if that matters). Our usual attempt is as follows:

+We have the WLAN turned on in the PPSSPP's network settings.
+One of us has the built in Ad Hoc server turned on, the other doesn't.
+We use the IP of the computer hosting the server as the Ad Hoc Pro's IP.
++If we are using Hamachi, we use that IP instead.
+We have different MAC addresses.
+We turn off the firewalls.
+We have fast memory disabled.
+We have the PPSSPP's CPU clock set to 1000
+We have the I/0 Timing set to simulate UMD delays.
+The person hosting starts up the game first and goes into the party form screen.
+The second player starts up their game and goes to join.

And then nothing appears. So are we doing this completely wrong, is there something we're missing that's critical to making this work? Is W10 and Linux incompatible for some reason, is it because we're two computers hooked up locally? Or something else entirely? Or more likely do you need more information because I'm leaving some bit of critical knowledge out due to my own lack of expertise? Any help at all will be appreciated.

When you said "We use the IP of the computer hosting the server as the Ad Hoc Pro's IP". You copied this one?
   

[ZeroX4]

had the same problem on windows 7 so maybe it will help you more or less

http://forums.ppsspp.org/showthread.php?tid=17870

[ultramarine4life]

(02-16-2016 09:53 AM)Accel Wrote:  When you said "We use the IP of the computer hosting the server as the Ad Hoc Pro's IP". You copied this one?

I should point out I am almost tech-illiterate/don't really understand a lot about computers (probably why this hasn't gone well). Just a preface before going any further, so if things are explained explain it like you're talking to a complete and utter newbie to this.

Anyway yeah I used that IP address. Tried it with both computers.

[Accel]

Huh, weird. It work for my friends
Maybe its Linux and Windows problem

[AdamN]

Try setting Port Offset to higher than 1024, since 0-1024 (or was it 1023 ?) are restricted/priviledged ports area on linux/ios

[ultramarine4life]

I'll try that, thanks. This will probably sound extremely newbish, but is altering ports in any way (port offset, port forwarding, opening, whatever) required if the firewall is disabled/allows the programs through? I'm asking because my roommate is more tech literate than myself, and every time I've brought up ports in trying to fix this he's been adamant that disabling the firewall does everything port tweaking would do (or if turning it off altogether doesn't work, then messing with the ports wouldn't fix anything).

Now I'm not saying he can't be wrong (and I'm at least 30% certain he is) but he's sorta bullheaded, mainly on the idea that since I know nothing about computers I can't possibly be right. And I'm probably not. But he's more of a hobbyist, and not an expert on emulators. If he was, we wouldn't be having this problem to begin with. But I'm willing to bet the people on this forum collectively are, so if messing with the ports is REQUIRED even if the firewall is disabled/allows exceptions please say that in black and white terms just so I have a leg to stand on when explaining this to him. After all he's probably the only one of the two of us who can do stuff related to that.

EDIT:
Also we are using version 1.1.1, in case that helps. Forgot to mention that in the original post.

EDIT
Aand I'm stupid just realized port offset is a feature in the PPSSPP ver 1.2 We'll try that, sorry for idiocy there.

[AdamN]

(02-17-2016 02:48 AM)ultramarine4life Wrote:  I'll try that, thanks. This will probably sound extremely newbish, but is altering ports in any way (port offset, port forwarding, opening, whatever) required if the firewall is disabled/allows the programs through? I'm asking because my roommate is more tech literate than myself, and every time I've brought up ports in trying to fix this he's been adamant that disabling the firewall does everything port tweaking would do (or if turning it off altogether doesn't work, then messing with the ports wouldn't fix anything).

Now I'm not saying he can't be wrong (and I'm at least 30% certain he is) but he's sorta bullheaded, mainly on the idea that since I know nothing about computers I can't possibly be right. And I'm probably not. But he's more of a hobbyist, and not an expert on emulators. If he was, we wouldn't be having this problem to begin with. But I'm willing to bet the people on this forum collectively are, so if messing with the ports is REQUIRED even if the firewall is disabled/allows exceptions please say that in black and white terms just so I have a leg to stand on when explaining this to him. After all he's probably the only one of the two of us who can do stuff related to that.

EDIT:
Also we are using version 1.1.1, in case that helps. Forgot to mention that in the original post.

EDIT
Aand I'm stupid just realized port offset is a feature in the PPSSPP ver 1.2 We'll try that, sorry for idiocy there.

Privileged ports can only be used if the program have administrative rights, which is different than firewalled ports where you need to open/forward it Privileged ports can also be blocked by firewall though

Btw, make sure all players have the same port offset value

[ultramarine4life]

Ok we set the offset to 6000 (picked a random thousand, if that matters) and still doesn't work.

[onelight]

(02-17-2016 05:48 AM)ultramarine4life Wrote:  Ok we set the offset to 6000 (picked a random thousand, if that matters) and still doesn't work.

as my test, Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Infinity multiplayer only working on Windows

[ultramarine4life]

Yeah Linux seems to be killing it altogether. I got my other computer, (also W10), installed PPSSPP 1.2, ripped the iso, and then got to trying it again. It's showing some promise now. I can see the party and join it. It's when I choose to begin party play that things go south.

One of a few things will happen at this point. In all the situations the host screen will go to the characters walking (I assume that's the host's loading screen). The screen of the one joining will either begin walking towards the screen as well, or the screen will change to the loading one and shortly afterwards go black. In the former case, the host will eventually get a network error, while the one joining goes on forever. In the latter case the host also gets the network error eventually, but the one joining gets a loading screen (as in the one that says loading) followed by it going black and getting the network error at basically the same time as the host.

I've tested this with both Hamachi and Evolve and get the same results. I make sure to change the Ad Hoc IP to the IPv4 of the appropriate VPN when I try them. I've tested the ping of both computers. They both get a fairly consistent 50-60 ms for time when pinging google, and usually under 10 for pinging each other. When I used speedtest.org one computer got about 9mbs for download, the other about 14mbs. The first also got about 177 ms for the ping, the second got 155 ms. I've not noticed any significant spikes (as in more than double the normal ping) on either (I've had them open the entire time I've been writing this), and no connection dropped either. I've also tried changing the system settings numerous times on both (too many combinations to list) and still nothing.

I have absolutely no idea if any of this helps narrow down what's going wrong, but it's all I've got.

EDIT:

SUCCESS! Ok to anyone looking to get this running do NOT use 1.2. Get 1.0.1 and use that. Repeat, 1.2 does not seem capable of running PSP2 multiplayer, but 1.0.1 can. May be old news, but hey at least it's something.

[AdamN]

(02-17-2016 06:58 PM)ultramarine4life Wrote:  Yeah Linux seems to be killing it altogether. I got my other computer, (also W10), installed PPSSPP 1.2, ripped the iso, and then got to trying it again. It's showing some promise now. I can see the party and join it. It's when I choose to begin party play that things go south.

One of a few things will happen at this point. In all the situations the host screen will go to the characters walking (I assume that's the host's loading screen). The screen of the one joining will either begin walking towards the screen as well, or the screen will change to the loading one and shortly afterwards go black. In the former case, the host will eventually get a network error, while the one joining goes on forever. In the latter case the host also gets the network error eventually, but the one joining gets a loading screen (as in the one that says loading) followed by it going black and getting the network error at basically the same time as the host.

I've tested this with both Hamachi and Evolve and get the same results. I make sure to change the Ad Hoc IP to the IPv4 of the appropriate VPN when I try them. I've tested the ping of both computers. They both get a fairly consistent 50-60 ms for time when pinging google, and usually under 10 for pinging each other. When I used speedtest.org one computer got about 9mbs for download, the other about 14mbs. The first also got about 177 ms for the ping, the second got 155 ms. I've not noticed any significant spikes (as in more than double the normal ping) on either (I've had them open the entire time I've been writing this), and no connection dropped either. I've also tried changing the system settings numerous times on both (too many combinations to list) and still nothing.

I have absolutely no idea if any of this helps narrow down what's going wrong, but it's all I've got.

EDIT:

SUCCESS! Ok to anyone looking to get this running do NOT use 1.2. Get 1.0.1 and use that. Repeat, 1.2 does not seem capable of running PSP2 multiplayer, but 1.0.1 can. May be old news, but hey at least it's something.

is this v1.0.1 also from the official download website? or is it a custom build posted in forum?

[ultramarine4life]

I got it from the downloads section on ppsspp.org, as far as I know it's not a custom build.

[fitzavig]

Room mate here. I don't disregard some of your suggestions because you lack "expertise". In fact, remember how I was quite happy when you brought up a blind spot on my radar about port offsets? How I immediately ran off to test this theory of yours with gusto? I may disregard other ideas because the suggestion lacks merit. Once again (for example), Hamachi on a LAN is basically a redundancy that complicates things potentially. Not using it would prevent redundancy and potential for complications. From a diagnostic standpoint, this is why I shot the idea down, but even so, we still keep using it don't we? I'm trying such suggestions (that don't fix it) for your learning experience here since you clearly doubt what knowledge I do have on the subject.

Now that that's cleared up, allow me to get to why I'm actually here:

As my room mate has pointed out, we have attempted likely dozens of times to get this to work on a LAN between a windows (Win10?) and linux (Arch Linux) machine. The game in question is Phantasy Star Portable 2.

Given his claims that two windows machines running 1.0.1 can connect and play together, it would seem the onus switches from both to the linux machine. Following that thread, it strikes me as odd that linux itself would be the issue as I use many networking applications any given moment. PPSSPP would be the outlier there, but then what could be causing it? I assume PPSSPP uses the SDL2 networking features to do its thing. This is odd since I would also assume that SDL2, being cross-platform, would provide feature parity between platforms (that's kind of its thing). This could be construed as PPSSPP's code is somehow mishandling SDL2's networking features, but then why the difference between platforms? This train of thought appears to be a dead end to my eyes unless SDL2 for linux itself is the problem.

Looking at it as a network problem, I find even less to analyze. We've seemingly solved the port problem and the client gets a "Network Initialized" message. This suggests that the connection is sound. Why then does PPSSPP connect, but PSP2 doesn't show any parties in the adhoc multiplayer? Yet another dead end?

Lastly, perhaps this is something specific to how PSP2 handles networking? If it's nonstandard in some way (as games occassionally do) then perhaps this is throwing PPSSPP off? Still doesn't explain the success of the 1.0.1 machines though..

End of the day, however, I'm spitballing about what could be the cause. These are the main schools of thought I'm following and coming up with nothing. An extra set of eyes would be excellent since if there is a simple solution, we've clearly overlooked it multiple times.

Also, thanks for the help so far! While it isn't solved, I feel a "yet" is very much going to be the case here with the prompt responses so far. You guys are great!

[AdamN]

Does combining 1.2 (on windows) and 1.0.1 (on linux) works? I wonder from which version it started to "break" on linux

As i remember ppsspp doesn't use sdl2 networking feature, it uses the standard/posix socket API (so it's slightly different than windows implementation of posix api), but i never tested it on linux machine (since it use the same code for android)