Zugg Software :: View topic

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

I have downloaded and installed the trial version of zMUD, and it will not recognize my Internet connection. The MUD address is correct, the MUD itself is up and running (I can connect from their website), everything else about the program seems to be working. I tried connecting to a few other MUDs in the list at random, all with the same result. Even checking for new versions bounces back. I am connected, my connection works fine (I made it here, after all). I am not behind any sort of proxy or firewall, apart from the one built into WinXP. Nothing in the documentation or FAQ seems to match this issue. This is the only program I use that is having this problem. Please help.

Magician Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 482

correct port? i.e. my mud uses 4000 not 23. Also is this dialup or broadband.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

The port for the MUD is default, 23, so that's correct, as well. This is a dialup connection.

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

The firewall built into Windows XP is horrible. Try disabling it then using zMud, also you can try having that firewall enabled and using the built in telnet by doing Start--Run...--telnet. You can get further commands within the telnet program by typing 'help' or '?', in any case the Windows firewall is the problem, if you really feel that you need a firewall get another one, turn off the Windows firewall and you will see the difference.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

Sorry, hating on Microsoft didn't solve the problem this time. The problem isn't with the connection itself, I think, as it works fine everywhere else; the problem is in getting zMUD to use it.

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

Sort of ignoring your reply for the moment. I don't hate on MS, I just know that the firewall shipped with XP is junk. I wouldn't use it on my grandmother's computer. Your post doesn't indicate that you did any testing what so ever. If you aren't willing to help in the process of testing, then none of us will ever be able to solve your problem. I use zMud very readily with an XP installation and have no problems.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

I am glad that you are able to use zMUD without issues. I am not. I want to use this application. I do not have to, I have several other options which work fine. I'm even connected to the MUD in question now through one of these. But, I want to try using zMUD. If I didn't want to resolve this issue, I would not be here.

Disabling the firewall had no effect.

SubAdmin Joined: 18 Nov 2001 Posts: 5182

Lets go step by step.
1. What error message did you recieve when launching zMud?
2. What is the address and port of the MUD your attempting to connect to?
3. What error message did you recieve when attempting this connection in zMud?
4. Where you able to connect with telnet instead of zMud?
4a. If you are able to connect through another client please provide all details... the client, the connection IP and port, and anything else you might think relevant to that client.
5. I won't be upset if another expert takes over here, since I am pretty close to going to sleep for the night. I am actually quite happy that we have Gurus all around the world. Hopefully we will have your problem solved in short order.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

1. None. zMUD launches without issue.
2. achaea.com, port 23
3. None. It goes through the motions of connecting (looking up IP address, etc.), then times out and attempts to reconnect ad infinitum. This has happened on every MUD I've attempted with this client.
4. Yes.
4a. Achaea is run by Iron Realms Entertainment, who provide a Javascript client called Nexus for connecting to their games. This is what I have been using, and am using right now, to connect to the MUD in the past. It does all of the connection and login steps automatically, so I can't comment on the IP it uses.
5. As do I.

Wanderer Joined: 29 Jan 2002 Posts: 99 Location: UK

As you can connect by other means this looks to be a Windows Firewall issue that is realtively easy to correct by doing the following (presuming you have Service Pack 2 installed):

1. Click on the Start button, then on Run.
2. In the box that pops up type firewall.cpl and hit enter, the Windows Firewall configuration screen should pop up.
3. Click on the Exceptions tab towards the top of the configuration window.
4. Click on the Add Program... button, in the list that pops up locate and double click on the zMUD.
5. Click OK to close the Firewall configuration window.

That should be it but just to be on the safe side I would reboot before attempting to connect to the Mud with zMUD. Try it without a reboot first though.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

Sorry, that didn't have any effect, either, before or after reboot.

Magician Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 482

Well what i think he was trying to tell you is obviously its not a zmud issue. All of us can sign onto it via dialup or broadband using zmud 7.21 with no trouble whatsoever. As we are not at your computer nor did you originally provide us with any information we are unable to ascertain if its another software issue.

Windows firewall can screw it up but more typically on dialup it can mean there is a problem with dialup networking protocols, corrupt installations or user error. Seeing as how you are unable to connect to any mud whatsoever this would imply that there is directly a problem with using the default mud ports. If you have tested the telnet version that comes with windows i.e. START-->RUN--> Telnet achaea.com and it works then its entirely possible you are using the most up to date version or you have a corrupted zmud installation since that removes the possibility of a connection problem. Then it becomes zmud related.

At which time we end up back with the same possibilities. Firewalls, DNS errors at your IP (solved by using the IP instead of achaea.com) , or corrupted installs.

You say you dont know the IP of the game however upon connection this is what i see.

Wanderer Joined: 11 Oct 2005 Posts: 58

What version of zmud are you using?
Make sure the firewall you have is not blocking zmud from accesing the internet.
Try pinging, right click character - properties.
Other things that might work, reinstalling zmud, and I know your host and port should be right
but if nothing else works see if those are correct. Host: achaea.com Port: 23

Hopefully I didn't tick you off, but it kind of looked like zmud wasn't being allowed to access the internet (even though you said you disabled the firewall, that's all i could tell). hope something works.

Newbie Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 7

I think I may finally get it. I have noticed that trying to access a website from within an application (such as 'Help -> Tutorials' in zMUD, or clicking a link in IRC) will open a new window of IE which does the exact same thing that zMUD is doing now: looks up and uses the IP address, times out the connection attempt, and will not connect to anything else. I've never tried to fix it before as it hasn't been much of a problem - I've always been able to open IE independently and copy/paste the address. Could the window that zMUD opens on connection be running into the same problem? I'm going to search the MS support site, as well, but if anyone here has heard of this before and knows how to fix it, that would be appreciated.

Magician Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 482

as i said it sounds like a corrupted file. However depending on the circumstances its hard to say. Could be the I.E. dll files that control things but that wouldnt be a problem in relationship to zmud.

Dialup networking and Internet options settings such as proxy etc could be interfering. It all depends

Usually the safest bet in xp is to run sfc /scannow from the start run option and repair files and reupgrade your windows updates. Many times this is caused by a dll corruption and it so hard to figure out of the 3000 files that exist within windows itself that repairs done by the system file checker are a lot easier although maybe a little more time consuming.

This is just my opinion of course but its also my career