Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

Hello Community

We are currently trying to set up a 8-player multiplayer for GameCube games using the Dolphin emulator. More specifically, we are trying to play Mario Kart Double Dash via LAN. However, we have difficulties in setting up the local multiplayer.

The setup:
- Everyone has a own instance of the Dolphin emulator running on his machine (Windows 10), so there is 1 player per PC
- We all use the same european ROM (PAL) for Mario Kart Double Dash (MD5: d9a2e9c73f4be1a0456734445402d35d)
- We have all set up the emulator and our controllers. The single player runs fine on all machines

So far we were unable to connect our emulators through the local network. When we run the LAN Mode on the main menu, the timer will just run out and no systems will be detected.
Here are the setups we tried so far:

- We selected the BBA (TAP) adabpter in the SP1 slot at the GameCube settings and tried to connect to each other. Won't work.

- We selected the BBA (TAP) adabpter in the SP1 slot at the GameCube settings and configured a bridged connection using OpenVPN according to this tutorial. Again that did not work out, the LAN mode times out without connecting to any system.
- We selected the BBA (XLink Kai) adabpter in the SP1 slot at the GameCube settings and hosted a XLink client on one of the machines according to this tutorial. Same result.

Troubleshooting
- At this point I am not 100% sure wether the bridged connection is needed if everyone plays on a own machine. Can somebody explain what this bridged network adabter is all about?
- When we use XLink Kai, we see eath other on the web interface. However, there is no "green bar" showing below each players same and it just says "no connection".
- We tried to run the XLink Kai on different computers. Same result.
- When we run the ROM on the machine at which the XLink client is running, it says that it has successfully connected to the BBA adabter. If we run the ROM on another computer and insert the local IP of the computer running the client, then it says that it could not connect to the BBA adabter.
- We turned off our firewalls and anti virus software. No change.
- The XLink troubleshooting site mentiones that automated port forwarding (UPNP) must be enabled. I checked it and there is indeed a checkbox on the web interface of my router, but it was already selected.
- Other local multiplayer games work flawlessly and we can ping each other clients. So the network seems to be ok.

Can anyone help me with the required setting to play GameCube games via LAN?

Thank you very much for any help.

Since no replies have been given so far, I try to provide more information to trace down the problem.

According to the documentation, playing Mario Kart Double Dash via LAN ist not only possible, but easy.

The setup:

• Two computers are connected to the same network switch via a wired connection. Both run on Windows 10.
  
• Both use the same version of Dolphin and both use the very same ISO file.
  
• Firewall and anti virus software is turned off on both computers - just in case.
  

Possible issue number 1 - The TAP adabter:
The tutorial states that a VPN connection is needed in order to establish the link, which is done using OpenVPN.
I tried two different versions of OpenVPN: 2.5.1 and 2.5.2
What I noticed is that when I bridge the connection, i.e. when I select my ethernet network adabter and the TAP adaber and klick on "bridge connections", I sometimes get an error saying that "'an unexpected error occurred while configuring the network bridge". Unfortunately, Windows does not provide more information on what was wrong. However, this doesn't happen all the times. If I reinstall OpenVPN then creting a bridge might succeeds without error.

Possible issue number 2 - Dolphin version:
I tried several versions of dolphin with the hope that one of it might works.

• Version 5.0 (stable): Here I have no sound and I cannot connect to the BBA adabter. If I select it in the options, then the BBA adabter is de-selected if I reenter the menu. If I start up MK, the LAN mode option is not showing up
  
• Version 4.0.2 (stable): This version opens with several errors and then crashes.
  
• Version 3.5 (stable): Here, sound and BBA seems ok, but I cannot use my GameCube controllers and the LAN link still won't work. (Timeout when trying to establish a link)
  
• Version 5.0-13178: Sound and controller are fully functional, LAN connection times out.
  
• Version 5.0-14344: Same as 5.0-13178
  

In conclustion, the following questions came up:

Is there a recommended Dolphin version for moderne computers running on Windows 10?

Does the ISO matter, i.e. EU version vs. other versions?

Is there an easy way to check wether the VPN connection, i.e. the TAP adabter is working correctly?

Is there another software than OpenVPN to set up the bridged connection?


Happy to hear any response, I would love to play some good old Mario Kart.

TAP on windows has some problems, and trying to get 8 connected like that sounds questionable. For at least 2 I vaguely remember having luck with bridging after launching the game?

So you should probably focus on xlink. Did you specifically follow the local part of xlink guides? https://www.teamxlink.co.uk/wiki/Dolphin...ns_locally

Alright, let us troubleshoot the issue on XLink Kai then.

The network and XLink setting:

• The XLink Kai Client is running on computer A with the local IP address 192.168.1.136
  
• The XLink Kai Client is configured to use port 30000.
  
• On my router, automated port forwarding is enabled and there is a manual port forwarding rule for port 30000 and computer A.
  
• On my second comupter, computer B with local address 192.168.1.129, no XLink client is running.
  
• Firewall is turned off on both computers - just in case.
  

At this point, I am not sure wether I need all that port forwarding stuff since I want to play locally only. I have done it anyway.
I can ping both computers from each others side.

The emulator settings:

• Both computer run Dolphin 5.0-14344.
  
• On computer A, the BBA (Xlink Kai) is selected at the SP1 slot, and the target address is set to 127.0.0.1. The emulator uses the MAC 00:09:bf:4c:f5:10
  
• On computer B, the BBA (Xlink Kai) is selected at the SP1 slot, and the target address is set to 192.168.1.136. The emulator uses the MAC 00:09:bf:aa:3c:da
  

How the connection is (not) established on computer A:

1. I start up Dolphin on computer A.
   
2. I get the message "XLink Kai BBA connected"
   
3. On the web UI of Xlink Kai, I get the notification "dolphin client "dolphin 00:09:bf:4c:f5:10" connected
   
4. In the metrics window, I see the dolphin application and under "found consoles", it shows me "Unknown B511E7F77EED Configured OK"
   
5. Once I enter the LAN mode of MK, under "found consoles", it shows me "Nintendo Console 0009BF4CF510 Configured OK"
   

How the connection is (not) established on computer B:

1. I start up Dolphin on computer B.
   
2. I do NOT get an message saying that XLink Kai BBA is connected.
   
3. On the web UI of Xlink Kai, I get no notifications at all, nor does it list me any new console.
   
4. Once I enter the LAN mode of MK, it shows me a "XLink Kai BBA not connected" overlay.
   

In the end, the LAN mode just times out without establishing any connection.

Any help?

(06-10-2021, 10:00 PM)snuffofmetal Wrote: [ -> ]Alright, let us troubleshoot the issue on XLink Kai then.

The network and XLink setting:

• The XLink Kai Client is running on computer A with the local IP address 192.168.1.136
  
• The XLink Kai Client is configured to use port 30000.
  
• On my router, automated port forwarding is enabled and there is a manual port forwarding rule for port 30000 and computer A.
  
• On my second comupter, computer B with local address 192.168.1.129, no XLink client is running.
  
• Firewall is turned off on both computers - just in case.
  

At this point, I am not sure wether I need all that port forwarding stuff since I want to play locally only. I have done it anyway.
I can ping both computers from each others side.

The emulator settings:

• Both computer run Dolphin 5.0-14344.
  
• On computer A, the BBA (Xlink Kai) is selected at the SP1 slot, and the target address is set to 127.0.0.1. The emulator uses the MAC 00:09:bf:4c:f5:10
  
• On computer B, the BBA (Xlink Kai) is selected at the SP1 slot, and the target address is set to 192.168.1.136. The emulator uses the MAC 00:09:bf:aa:3c:da
  

How the connection is (not) established on computer A:

1. I start up Dolphin on computer A.
   
2. I get the message "XLink Kai BBA connected"
   
3. On the web UI of Xlink Kai, I get the notification "dolphin client "dolphin 00:09:bf:4c:f5:10" connected
   
4. In the metrics window, I see the dolphin application and under "found consoles", it shows me "Unknown B511E7F77EED Configured OK"
   
5. Once I enter the LAN mode of MK, under "found consoles", it shows me "Nintendo Console 0009BF4CF510 Configured OK"
   

How the connection is (not) established on computer B:

1. I start up Dolphin on computer B.
   
2. I do NOT get an message saying that XLink Kai BBA is connected.
   
3. On the web UI of Xlink Kai, I get no notifications at all, nor does it list me any new console.
   
4. Once I enter the LAN mode of MK, it shows me a "XLink Kai BBA not connected" overlay.
   

In the end, the LAN mode just times out without establishing any connection.

Any help?

OK, after testing it myself I think I figured out why it wasn't working. Allow Remote DDS Connections defaults to off, so that's why connection fails. Look for that in the host xlink configuration.

Hello Craftyawesome

Thank you very much for your hint.

indeed, after allowing DDS connection on the XLink Kai Client, the other PCs are abel to connect with it. At least I get a BBA connected message during start up.

However, I run into another, strange problem:
No matter how often I try, I was never abel to connect more than two computers with each other. I installed Dolphin on 4 computers and configured it to connect to one PC where the XLink client is running. If I enter the LAN mode, PC A will find and connect with PC B, and PC C will find and connect with PC D. (The clien runns on PC A, any other PC connects to computer A)
So in total I get two connections with 2 computers each. But I never managed to connect all four PCs with eath other in one multiplayer game. I repeated this several times but I keep ending up in two separate connections with 2 computers each.

Anyone has an idea why?



Anyway, while playing around with some settings, I was thinking why not give every computer its own XLink client and pretend like they are not in the same local network.
So I downloaded and configured the XLink client on each PC and assigned a different port to each one which was manually set in the settings of my router.
When entering the game area of Mario Kart, I can see all four PCs. But running the multiplayer also was not successful due to several reasons.

• The Xlink Kai client tends to randomly closes itself and loses the connection when doing so.
  
• When starting up the LAN mode in Mario Kart, the Dolphin emulator often randomly closes itself without any error.
  
• Rarely, two PCs are able to connect to each other. But as above, I was never abel to connect more than two computers at once.
  
• It most cases, the timer when searching for games times out without establishing any connection.
  

(06-12-2021, 06:30 AM)snuffofmetal Wrote: [ -> ]Hello Craftyawesome

Thank you very much for your hint.

indeed, after allowing DDS connection on the XLink Kai Client, the other PCs are abel to connect with it. At least I get a BBA connected message during start up.

However, I run into another, strange problem:
No matter how often I try, I was never abel to connect more than two computers with each other. I installed Dolphin on 4 computers and configured it to connect to one PC where the XLink client is running. If I enter the LAN mode, PC A will find and connect with PC B, and PC C will find and connect with PC D. (The clien runns on PC A, any other PC connects to computer A)
So in total I get two connections with 2 computers each. But I never managed to connect all four PCs with eath other in one multiplayer game. I repeated this several times but I keep ending up in two separate connections with 2 computers each.

Anyone has an idea why?



Anyway, while playing around with some settings, I was thinking why not give every computer its own XLink client and pretend like they are not in the same local network.
So I downloaded and configured the XLink client on each PC and assigned a different port to each one which was manually set in the settings of my router.
When entering the game area of Mario Kart, I can see all four PCs. But running the multiplayer also was not successful due to several reasons.

• The Xlink Kai client tends to randomly closes itself and loses the connection when doing so.
  
• When starting up the LAN mode in Mario Kart, the Dolphin emulator often randomly closes itself without any error.
  
• Rarely, two PCs are able to connect to each other. But as above, I was never abel to connect more than two computers at once.
  
• It most cases, the timer when searching for games times out without establishing any connection.
  

That's really strange. I just tried 3 and it worked. FWIW, I barely used the xlink UI at all, I only signed it and launched dolphin.

Can you connect any combination of 2 computers? Is it always the first two computers to start lan that connect? If you try 3 computers, does one just not connect to anything? If you can't get certain computers to connect, are you sure the MAC addresses are different? Any router side firewalls to try disabling? Maybe a different router/hotspot if available? Maybe run the host on a different PC?

As for online... I don't really know. Neither the client or dolphin should crash.

And maybe post to xlink forums if we can't figure this out.