gaming with linux server

[TheBrewMeister]

I have mandrake8.0 serving my cable to two windows machines. Since I set up the linux server, the windows have trouble connecting to some types of multiplayer games. They also won't update.(says no servers are available for upgrade). Is there some manual file tweaking I need for my firewall settings? Any help would be appreciated.

[Gecko68]

What games are you playing? with many, you have to authenticate on certain ports. Half-life client usually connects to the server on 27015, 26016, etc.. one suggestion, i don't know how good it is, is to set your firewall wide open, with logging. then connect to the game, then examine the logs to find out which ports to open, then re-close the firewall and add the ports you need.

Hope it helps!

[TheBrewMeister]

Current games I am trying to use are Tribes 2, Half-life, and Diablo2. I did try to disable the firewall and it did not help (don't think I did it right). The firewall is called TinyFirewall. I went into the setup and answered yes to all questions. web-server, ftp server, etc. etc. Both half-life and Tribes have an update program that says that my version is out of date and there is no patch available. With Diablo2, I can join battlenet, but can't join private tcp/ip games.

[Gaccm]

1) there is a new version of HL :)

Are you using ipchains or iptables (type iptables at the prompt as root, see if anything comes up)
Also, 2.2 kernels can only use ipchains.
With ipchains you need to include extra MASQ stuff in your kernel. Such as ip_masq_quake, and ip_masq_raudio. I didn't know what they all were so i included all of them and everythuing works fine (ph33r mY hl on linU>< ).

If your using 2.4.... make sure you enabled port forwarding, (thats all i can think of).

Did your firewall ever say anything about Masquerading? if not, get a new firewall. I suggest pmfirewall for ipchains and gShield for iptables.

[TheBrewMeister]

I am using internet connection sharing from the distro so I have no idea if it uses ipchains or iptables. I read about pmfirewall after installing it and it sounds good. Should I disable the internet connection sharing and start from scratch?