Issue hosting/connecting with FGU (FGC Works)

[Thail]

Hello community!

With everyone being shut in me and my group have been looking for a remote option to continue our normally in person gaming sessions. I opted to pick up an ultimate FGU license and I've been having a heck of a time trying to getting it to let anyone else connect. Overall I've invested 10+ hours and am going slightly mad at this point. I did download and try FGC, clicking the test button shows successful, I was even able to have one of my players connect demo to demo. Sorry in advance for the number of pictures, I felt they'd better demonstrate what the settings are. When launching FGU my game never shows up in the lobby and direct connections via IP address do not work.

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1 Your LAN IP Address
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2. The first two sets (octets) of your WAN IP as displayed by Fantasy Grounds and as displayed by your Router
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3. Whether you are using Wired or Wireless (and not both)

Wired - LAN Only

4. Confirmation that you have set your Adapter in Network and Sharing Center to Private
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5. Confirmation of what AV you are running and whether you have set any exceptions

Windows Defender / Firewall - No Exceptions (selected allow when prompted to allow internet connections)

6. Post the results of the tracert 8.8.8.8 command (if you have security concerns you can remove this bit once its been responded to)

1 <1 ms 1 ms <1 ms cellspot.router [192.168.29.1]
2 11 ms 10 ms 7 ms 96.120.101.53
3 14 ms 10 ms 10 ms 96.110.249.185
4 11 ms 13 ms 10 ms be-103-ar01.seattle.wa.seattle.comcast.net [69.139.164.77]
5 11 ms 14 ms 12 ms be-33650-cr01.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.93.165]
6 8 ms 11 ms 10 ms be-10847-pe02.seattle.wa.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.86.226]
7 11 ms 12 ms 10 ms 50.242.150.26
8 14 ms 18 ms 14 ms 108.170.233.131
9 14 ms 15 ms 10 ms 108.170.233.153
10 12 ms 12 ms 10 ms dns.google [8.8.8.8]

7. Confirmation as to what you have setup in your Router if changes have been made
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Thanks in advance,

I hope someone can help me figure out where I've gone oh so wrong!

[Thail]

From console.log in my user folder:

[4/7/2020 9:15:53 PM] Launcher scene starting.
[4/7/2020 9:15:59 PM] Starting free mode.
[4/7/2020 9:15:59 PM] Launcher scene exiting.
[4/7/2020 9:15:59 PM] Tabletop scene starting.

User attempting to join my game by name and direct IP connection:
[4/7/2020 9:22:13 PM] Launcher scene starting.
[4/7/2020 9:22:23 PM] Resolving named connection to server. [Thail]
[4/7/2020 9:22:23 PM] Cloud server with the requested name is not registered with the lobby server.
[4/7/2020 9:22:53 PM] Network setup cancelled by user.
[4/7/2020 9:23:04 PM] Attempting direct connection to server. [24.16.xx.xxx:1802]

Using the 5E sample campaign no added files. ( I can zip and attach if needed )

[pollux]

FGU uses UDP, not TCP. Your port forwarding rule shows only TCP. Port forwarding and ip-based connections aren't necessary at all if you're using a cloud game, you can just connect through the lobby. But if you're doing direct connections, you need to port-forward UDP.

[LordEntrails]

FGU uses UDP, FGC uses TCP protocols on port 1802. If you setup port forwarding, make sure you have allowed both protocols. Also be aware that only one can work at a time (if you are using LAN for FGU).

Also, see the comcast/xfinity/cox thread in case you have Advanced Security.

Other than those 2 suggestions, you'll have to wait for one of the network guru's to stop by and give better directions.

[Thail]

Thanks for the suggestions!

We would love to use the lobby but I never show up there. I tried changing it to LAN mode and having him use the IP address with the same results.

I went ahead and changed the forwarding to be both TCP and UDP (Wish I had seen that somewhere else!) and retested. Still not showing up, unable to connect by name, or by IP.

We also both patched and updated at the same time while on discord so should be on the same version. When we tested FGC we did that separately.

Both my and my testing player were able to see and connect to other folks in the lobby, but not when I'm hosting (we canceled when it started loading files which is further than we get on our own)

As for the Comcast thing, I did search for the advanced security settings and couldn't find them. The XFi link that was posted is a service that I am not subscribed to. I spent a good amount of time poking around my Comcast account and services page and couldn't find anything I could change on this front.

Additionally when we tested FGC we did that separately on its own!

[damned]

Hi Thail

Try creating a separate rule for each TCP and UDP. It shouldnt matter but sometime it seems to...
Also reboot your router when you get a chance.
I also found that I could host FGU when FGC was running... I dont know why - it should not have mattered.

[tsornson]

Hey all, I'm in the same boat as Thail above - have a party I play with regularly and wanting to try fantasy grounds for the first time. Got an FGU Ultimate license today but unable to connect to a hosted game from either a wireless laptop on the same LAN or from another FGU instance on the same machine as the host. Attempting to host a public campaign also doesn't have my server show up in the public lobby list either. I also tried downloading the FGC demo and running the connection test and it passed. Router is set to port forward for 1802, but I wouldn't expect my router settings to impact connection to "localhost" on the same machine. This is being hosted on a windows machine if that matters at all.

Are there any log files I can attempt to look through, especially from the host instance to confirm it's coming up as expected?

Coming from a mostly Linux background for troubleshooting, I'm not familiar with what windows has as far as attempting and verifying a local connection even works. If anyone has suggestions of powershell commands or whatnot, happy to try them.

[tsornson]

A bit of progress thanks to the power of google. Using powershell:


PS C:\Users\Troy> Get-Process -Id (Get-NetTCPConnection).OwningProcess

Handles NPM(K) PM(K) WS(K) CPU(s) Id SI ProcessName
------- ------ ----- ----- ------ -- -- -----------
<removed lines>
756 66 773164 642044 58.42 5176 1 FantasyGrounds

Shows FGU (after starting the campaign) as having PID 5176. Using this next command to see what ports it's connected to


PS C:\Users\Troy> Get-NetTCPConnection -OwningProcess 5176

LocalAddress LocalPort RemoteAddress RemotePort State AppliedSetting OwningProcess
------------ --------- ------------- ---------- ----- -------------- -------------
0.0.0.0 60149 0.0.0.0 0 Bound 5176
0.0.0.0 60146 0.0.0.0 0 Bound 5176
0.0.0.0 60144 0.0.0.0 0 Bound 5176
192.168.1.49 60149 104.22.64.98 443 Established Internet 5176
127.0.0.1 60146 127.0.0.1 60145 Established Internet 5176
127.0.0.1 60145 127.0.0.1 60146 Established Internet 5176
192.168.1.49 60144 104.22.18.188 80 Established Internet 5176

Seems to indicate that FGU isn't listening on the expected port 1802. Unfortunately, have my localhost client attempt to connect to those ports instead also didn't work :(

I did try running Get-NetUDPEndpoint -OwningProcess 5176, but it returned an error that there were no UDP connections used by that PID. Using that command without the -OwningProcess command didn't show 1802 as a port either.

I confirmed these results using the windows CMD.EXE and commands `netstat -ano -p tcp` and `netstat -ano -p udp`, respectively, because I don't understand windows and wanted a second opinion.

[damned]

netstat -b -a -p udp
with FGU up and running in a hosted game - eg load the campaign
you shoudl see fantasygrounds.exe on udp 1802

[tsornson]

Thanks for the command Damned, but no dice :(
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I'm really hoping I'm not forgetting a really obvious step after clicking on my campaign and hitting the start button, like some "Enable Connections" button once it's loaded...

[damned]

Are you starting in LAN/LOCAL or Lobby mode?

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
UDP 0.0.0.0:123 *:*
W32Time
[svchost.exe]
UDP 0.0.0.0:500 *:*
IKEEXT
[svchost.exe]
UDP 0.0.0.0:1802 *:*
[FantasyGrounds.exe]

vs

UDP 0.0.0.0:49567 *:*
[FantasyGrounds.exe]
UDP 172.31.1.11:60602 *:*
[FantasyGrounds.exe]
UDP 172.31.1.11:60989 *:*
[zerotier-one_x64.exe]
UDP 172.31.1.11:60990 *:*
[zerotier-one_x64.exe]
UDP 172.31.1.11:62115 *:*
[FantasyGrounds.exe]
UDP 172.31.1.11:62119 *:*
[FantasyGrounds.exe]

these are random at least from our side

[tsornson]

My first one had been Lobby (Cloud/Public) mode, running the same command after loading using Server Type == LAN had same results (nothing listening on port 1802).

[damned]

If you load FGC do you see it?
Same command but tcp at the end

That does seem strange to me.
Now if you launched FGU and started a local game, launched a second instance of FGU in local hosting mode it could not bind to 1802 because its already in use, even if you subsequently closed the first instance the second wont attempt a rebind.

Maybe a reboot?
Maybe try changing to another port and retesting?
try 18002 instead?
you would then need t port forward that port and have your players also nominate that port.

[Moon Wizard]

The Cloud system uses a cloud-based network facilitation service (which opens several connections to the facilitation service). With this service, it will attempt to broker a connection automatically, and fall back to a relay if it is unable to broker a direct connection. You shouldn't need to change anything for this to work. Players must connect using the Join by GM Name option or Lobby entry only.

By choosing LAN, you are telling FGU you want to manage all the network connection management yourself (including port forwarding). We do not recommend this option unless you really want to figure out all the connection mechanics between you and anyone connecting from Internet. Players must connect using the Join by IP/Port field, and the GM needs to provide the IP/Port to the users.

Both options use UDP as the underlying transport mechanism; which should only be important if you're using LAN mode and trying to configure everything yourself.

Have you tried setting up a Cloud game, and having players connect by your GM name?

Regards,
JPG

[tsornson]

Thanks for the suggestions Damned, here are my results:
1. Starting demo campaign from FGC demo version - I'm able to see FantasyGrounds.exe bind to TCP port 1802 (and connection test passes)
2. Reboot - will be trying that after making this post :)
3. Try different ports - I've attempted 1804, 9001, and 18002 and so far no changes from FGU
4. Running multiple FGU instances on the same host for the same campaign - I receive an error message in the second game, but the error message makes it sound like it detected the first game via a database save point, not port conflicts. Here are the logs from that:


[4/9/2020 9:51:56 AM] Launcher scene starting.
[4/9/2020 9:52:02 AM] [<color="red">ERROR</color>] Database restore point found. Saved as new backup file (C:/Users/Troy/AppData/Roaming/SmiteWorks/Fantasy Grounds/channels/Dev/campaigns/My First Campaign/db.backup.637220227225486227.xml)
[4/9/2020 9:52:02 AM] Starting free mode.
[4/9/2020 9:52:02 AM] Launcher scene exiting.
[4/9/2020 9:52:02 AM] Tabletop scene starting.

Thanks for chiming in Moon Wizard! So far no server types I've tried have resulted in any successful connections from other clients. I did try Cloud first (wanting to use the easiest option) but my game never showed up in the public lobby (when using public option) and searching by my GM name (public or private) of 'tsornson' or whatever I typed for my GM name when starting yields the error message "Cloud server with the requested name is not registered with the lobby server."

From everything I'm seeing, FGU seems to be hosting and starting up without binding to any port. Will try updating FGU and rebooting my computer and see if that works. If it doesn't, I may just try FGC instead.

Also, my FGU version is showing as v4.0.0 FREE (2020-04-04)

[LordEntrails]

Have you verified that your license is being accepted/recognized? Check the top right field on the FG launch screen. If it says "V 4.0.0. <anything> Free" then you license hasn't been started and FGU won't enable your network connection.

EDIT: got distracted before I could post.
Re-enter your license key :)

[tsornson]

Gosh DANG it, that was it! Thanks for pointing that out!

I recall having entered in the license and login info, but instead of hitting the save / login buttons, I hit the Update button which did its thing and then launched FGU. I later had to actually log in again, but didn't enter in my license info the second time, and thus I got into my state.

User Error, thank you so much for your time and help Damned, Moon Wizard, and Lord Entrails :) Hope this will help you figure out your problems Thail, sorry for hijacking your thread.

[pollux]

Sounds like a more debuggable behavior might be if the free version DID bind to the port but issued error messages in the GM chat log and popups to any clients attempting to connect that the license is insufficient to host the game. It's good that we got to the bottom of this, but many (most? something that rounds to all?) users would be flummoxed trying to debug this problems.

[damned]

to be fair. its new to all of us. none of us are very familiar with the product yet. and in future the demo version will allow connections.