Step-By-Step Guide for Xbox 360

Kai Beginner Joined: 15 Nov 2009 Posts: 1

I wrote this because there seems to be a LOT of confusion as to what needs to be done in order to get Xlink up and running properly. I'd like to help as many people with this as possible as I believe we could have a decent sized little gaming community here seeing as 600,000 of us just lost access to Live!
I don't want to claim this as original thought. All of the information contained within was found via the internet or by scouring forums. That having been said, if you see something here similar to something you've written in the past, it probably helped me & I want to say thanks & that this is mearely an attempt to get all of that

various information into one place to answer as many questions as it can. So lets get started:

1.) System Link & the 30ms cap
System Link was designed to send a signal inside of an existing "home" network and as such has a latency cap of 30ms. I know some of you who are familiar with internet gaming are saying,
"Whoa! 30ms is hella low! WTF M$!"
Something to keep in mind is that System Link was never intended for long-range network gaming. As such you need to not worry so much about your ping as you do about other users. Once we have everything installed and running & you see other users in a game, take a look at thier ping. If they're above 35ms, YOU WILL NEVER CONNECT TO THEM! Now unless your on DSL or god forbid dial-up this has nothing to do with your internet connection and everything to do with your location. If you ask someone with a 85ms ping where they live, odds are it's 200+ miles away. Your goal out of this whole thing should be to locate local gamers & add them to your contacts list. If you see someone with a 35ms or less, add them. It's as simple as that. If they're over 40ms, it isn't going to happen & if they say they live in your town with a 40ms, either their network/internet or yours is the culprit. Also if your using a wireless connection between your either your pc or 360 with the router, shut it off and hook up a direct connection. THIS WILL NOT WORK ON WIFI!

2.) XLink Kai Configuration
After installing XLink Kai your going to need to configure it.
Open a web browser and go to the following URL - http://127.0.0.1:34522/
If it doesn't work, make sure you see the "XLink Kai Engine" icon down by your clock. If not, launch "Start Kai" from the Start menu, then try it again.
Assuming you're now staring at a black configuration screen. Under "Network Settings" you're going to want to select your Network Adapter from the drop-down menu & the port should be defaulted to 30000. If it isn't change it to 30000. You don't need to mess with any other Network Settings but just to the right you'll see

"Engine Settings". Enter the username and password you registered with on Xlinks website: http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/
I recommend checking "Auto Open Chat" as it'll auto put you into chat for any games you join & it's quite helpful if you're experiencing problems connecting.

3.) Port Forwarding
This tutorial isn't for Port Forwarding specifically but I'm going to do my best to help people who don't understand the concept. Essencially you're router filters information from the internet to whatever computer is connected to it and requesting the data. When information comes in without first being requested it gets to the router and stops because you haven't given your router instructions on what to do with that information. By opening a port we're essencially telling your router to not only expect information to be coming but giving it instructions on where to deliver it.
That having been said, there are litterally thousands of different routers with almost all of them supporting port forwarding in one form or another. By default, most are excessable through a web browser at: 192.168.1.1

If you can't connect with the default, try hitting Start & in the run window type CMD (Vista=Search) then hit enter. A command window should open, type in ipconfig then hit enter. Nine times out of ten your router is the Default Gateway. Type the IP you see there into your browser and you should be good to go.
You'll probably be prompted for a username/password & this is where it gets harder to help simply because I don't know what router you own. A quick google search containing the name of your router and default password - Example: Linksys Default Username Password
You should find what you're looking for relatively easy.
Now assuming you're logged in, you'll want to do another google search for: YourRouterName Port Forwarding
Unless of course it's painfully obvious where port forwarding is on your router. If it's not so easy, you may come across it somewhere on the interface if you browse around a bit. Once you've figured out where you need to be, you want to forward port 30000 (on incomming and outgoing if available) to the IP address of of the computer that Xlink Kai is installed on. You can get the IP of that computer using the same method we used above to locate the Default Gateway - Start>Run>CMD>IPCONFIG or Vista: Start>Search>CMD>IPCONFIG

4.) Xbox 360 MAC Address
There's a bit of speculation as to whether or not this is required and that's why I covered it last. Before I even get going on how or why to do it I'll just say that I DID need this. I'm not even certain exactly what

changing the 360 MAC address could possibly do to help, but after changing it I could see my system. So before you do all of the MAC hoopla, lets check if you can already see your 360 at this point. Fire up XLink Kai and click on the "search glass" icon located at the top of the menu to the left. Once clicked the line of icons directly below will change to just one folder, click it. If you see "No Consoles have been detected yet!", make sure your 360 is in the System Link portion of the game you're trying to play and that you're on the "Join Game" screen. Once there if the "No Consoles have been detected yet!" page doesn't auto update to show a picture of the original Xbox with a MAC address proceed with the instructions below:
-------------------------
On the 360 Dashboard navigate to - System Settings>Network Settings>Configure Network>Additional Settings Tab>Advanced Settings>Alternative MAC Address
Use: 00125A as the first 6 digits & randomly fill in the last 6 unique digits in any combination of 0-9 or A-E with the second digit in each number pair being an even number, A,C,or, E.
Example:
Paired: 00 12 5A 34 78 12
As Entered On 360: 00125A347812
It's not as complicated as it looks and once you see how easy it actually is you'll be kicking yourself.
Click Done. At this point some say you need to reboot the 360, I didn't have to. Now load up a game and navigate to System Link & attempt to join a game. In the Diagnostics View (the little folder icon we got too by clicking the search glass at the top of left-side menu) you should now see the Xbox.

Good luck and I'll try to check in here as much as I can to answer questions but I do work all day so please be patient.

xMALLIONx

Kai Spammer Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 1794

Thanks for taking of your time to write that throughout guide.
The 360 section needed a step by step now more than ever before since the rise of new members because of Microsoft's politic.

Stickied and reported in the Wiki as well. Very Happy