I did take plenty of notes & photos when observing the entire setup procedure at UKGTPV so that I was able to attempt to recreate a LAN setup out here. Once I'd tried it by linking 2 stations together, getting 5 or 6 on isn't too hard.
Points that've flummoxed us temporarily:
All stations must be plugged into a dataport (Usually 1 - 6 or 1 - 8) of the network switch, we once wasted almost an hour trying to figure out why the network wouldn't start until it was finally discovered that 1 station was plugged into the uplink port.
All mem-cards should contain the exact same save (clone if necessary) and go through the settings to ensure everyone has the same number of laps & tyre wear settings in 2-player battle and Arcade settings (it's not quite clear which set are used by LAN) All saves must have the same favourites list & tracks selected otherwise confusion reigns. (Which is why it's easier to clone 1 pre-prepped save than to create 6 new ones where everyone is trying to select cars & tracks and talk about other stuff at the same time!)
Once cards are cloned, get people to shut the 🤬 up for a moment or 2 and check the Network & LAN settings. Each station should have a different player ID (Player1, Player2, etc.) You need to select HOST - YES in order to be able to change the number of stations on the network, however, all bar 1 of the stations must revert to HOST - NO after selecting the correct number. (Having more than 1 station trying to host will cause LAN not to initialise correctly) It helps to have everyone do this at the same time, or sequentially so that it can be verified that there's only 1 of each player ID and only 1 station that's set to be the host. Use Network Traffic - Light.
After this go to Network, use Auto Connection - Yes and ensure each station has a unique ID (usually Player1 is 1, Player2 is 2, etc., to keep things simple.) Once this is done have everyone back out to the main menu and SAVE THE GAME!
Reset the consoles without GT4 disks in, go into the memory card browser and find any network settings that're already present (looks like a mem-card icon with a silver lightning bolt) and if so everyone must delete these settings so they can be recreated when the GT4 LAN is established.
Now start the systems again with GT4 disks present. Have anyone that needs to set up fancy screen options such as 480p or 1080i do so BEFORE starting the LAN as it can't be done afterwards (I'm not even sure if this is an option on the PAL game anyway!)
Once this is done, go to Arcade Mode, and have everyone wait...
Have the host machine click on Multi-LAN Race, and it will now create new network settings and go to the "Waiting for Connection" screen. At the bottom of the screen 1 dot will be seen.
Once the host has reached the "Waiting for Connection" screen, have the other systems go in 1 at a time, waiting for them to create new network settings and reaching the "Waiting for Connection" screen. Initially these "slave" stations will display 3 dots at the bottom briefly and then go to 2 dots. Once a station has 2 dots at the "Waiting for Connection" screen, then next station can be connected.
Once all stations are connected and have 2 dots, the LAN should start.
If any station fails to drop from 3 dots to 2 dots, it usually indicates an issue with the connection, network settings or game save on that station.
Try to avoid having everyone dive into the Multi-LAN Race icon at the same time. 👍
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