XLink Kai

About

XLink Kai is a multi-platform online gaming service that leverages LAN support in games and connects players over the internet

It supports many platforms including Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Playstation Portable, PS Vita, GameCube, Wii, Wii U and Nintendo Switch

Installation

XLink support is available in the testing branch, once you are on this branch you can find the installer in the Experimental menu

After installation the XLink Kai application will be run as a systemd service executed as your RetroNAS user.

Usage

1. You will need to register your XTag
2. The XLink Kai application provides a web interface where you manage your sessions, available at http://retronas:34522/
3. Login with your XTag credentials.

You may change the web ui port from the default, if you do, substitute the port as required for subsequent access.

Finding games

XLink Kai ui is not a server browser, as such you will not see active games listed in ui like other server browsers you may be used too. You instead drop into a pool of players/consoles (almost like a vlan, its a stretch but run with it). Once in this pool your console will be able to see active games (or you will be able to host games)

1. In the webui
2. Select Game Arenas
3. Select the Console (e.g. XBOX) or Game you want play (e.g. Halo 2) on the left panel
4. Drill down through menu until you are in a channel with a pool of players for the game you want to play
5. Boot your console with the game and select System Link from the game menu (specific to the game)
6. Join a game.

Refer to the official documentation for Console/Game requirements

Hosting

If you have UPnP enabled, XLink will take advantage of this so hosting games should not be an issue.

If you do not have UPnP enabled: TBA

Emulation

XLink was originally built to support hardware based gaming, nowdays some emulators can now be configured and used with XLink as well. See the project pages in references to keep up to date with the current list. We have tested Xemu with Halo 2 on Debian with a bridged adapter under the Network setting successfully

Troubleshooting

Promiscuous Mode

You may need to allow promiscuous mode on your network for the xlink application to run successfully, this will be entirely dependent on your setup.

Config Setup

Ping

If you see a 'progress bar' (this is ping) under users names in the web ui you have a successful connection to XLink, red is high ping, green is low ping. Pick a low ping arena for the best experience.

Reachable

In the metrics dropdown check reachable is Yes, if so you have a successful connection to join games

NAT Type

In the metrics tab if NAT Type reports strict, you will need to forward ports to host games, this should not affect (in our testing) joining games

Consoles

1. Check the metrics dropdown from the webui, consoles on your network should show up (eventually) at the bottom of the screen.

2. If your console shows up but says the ip address is wrong. Pressing help will output a message in the channel with (we assume) generic IPs, first try finding a game, then revisit the ip setup if you think it is required. In our testing the ip reported it was incorrect, games were still able to be found/joined and then the message eventually came back the ip was OK.

dmesg

If you are still having trouble access the RetroNAS terminal as root and issue the below command, it will show you which interfaces are switching to promiscuous mode and any errors in doing so

dmesg | grep prom

Further Reading

From here refer to the main project wiki to setup specific games / ports

Security

XLink Kai functions by capturing and inspecting packets on your network, we suggest you isolate XLink from your main net when running. In RetroNAS you can start/stop the service as required.

A default installation of XLink Kai will start the service immediately post install and enable the service to run on boot.

Reference

• RetroNAS XLink Discussion
• TeamXLink
• Xemu Networking