Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jeffspl311]

I have an XP server and two Vista clients, all running MC16, current build.

Almost everything works perfectly as expected. For example, on the server, I see both clients' library servers in the tree under Playing Now > Playing from ___. Likewise, I can see and play the server's library from both clients.

Here's the problem: I can see and control the zones of client 1 from the server (in the tree under Playing Now), but I do not see the zones of client 2 there!

I also see the zones of client 1 in the Playing Now tree of client 2, but the zones of client 2 don't show up on client 1 either. It's as if client 2 is in some kind of stealth mode even though it can consume files from the server's library.

Ideas?

Thanks so much,
Jeff

P.S. All 3 machines are set with all three DLNA options enabled (share, allow control, control others) and with Client options enabled for play local files and show playback zones from server. I've rebooted them all and the problem is persistent. The problem also persists whether the clients (laptops) are wired or wi-fi.

[mbagge]

It sounds as an firewall issue. The dlna broadcasts on the network does not pop up in 'server' and 'client 1'.
Have a look at firewall settings on those two. Are all 3 PCs on the same subnet ? Do they allow incomming traffic on the dlna port (default is 52199) ?

[jeffspl311]

Thanks for the idea. Yes, everything is on the same subnet. I always suspect firewall issues too, and when I do I turn them all off for a little while to test everything. Doing so changed nothing, so I conclude it's not a firewall problem.

Oh, I did try one thing that helped a little... I removed the Client 2 Library from the Client 1 list of libraries and then re-added it. I also removed the Client 1 Library from the Client 2 list of libraries and then re-added it. The net effect was that now (YAY) the Client 2 zones appear as Playing Now targets on the Client 1 machine.

Of course when I found that this worked I did the same thing between the Server and Client 2, but the Client 2 zones stubbornly refused to show up as targets on the Server's Playing Now list of zones.

Still puzzled and bummed by this one...

[MrC]

Just a thought, and I don't know if it is relevant.  I find that MC can take as much as 5 minutes to obtain remote DLNA clients (at least with Whitebear / SBS).

[jeffspl311]

Thanks MrC, I'm really patient and have left it for hours and Client 2 zones never appear as targets for the Server to play too. 

Some other fun facts about this problem. The server zones never appear on either of the client's Playing Now zone lists (even though it is set to be controllable, just like the others). This is odd but not a problem for me.

I'll note again that the server (my desktop) is XP, and Client 1 (the good laptop) is Vista Ultimate and client 2 (the problem laptop) is Vista Home Premium. All are up to date wrt Windows Update.

Thanks for help with this brain teaser,
Jeff

[MrC]

I'm able to replicate at least some of your symptoms.

On your XP server, open Control Panel > Windows Firewall.  Select Exceptions.  You should see a Media Center 17 entry there.

I find that when I de-select that entry, the zones from the XP's MC system will not be discovered on client MCs upon their restart.  They will remain if the exception is de-selected while the MC client is running.

When the Media Center 17 entry is enabled under Exceptions, the XP system's zones appear on the client system (Win 7 here) soon thereafter.

[jeffspl311]

Thanks for the ideas MrC. I'm running the ZoneAlarm (free) firewall, not Windows Firewall... but like I said I've turned all my firewalls off anyway while I'm trying to debug this so they shouldn't be part of the equation.

Thanks for the ideas,
Jeff

[Toytronic]

Hi there,

I have the exact same problem than you jeff, and after hours and hours trying to unfold the mysteries of MC17 network, i came to the following results and conclusions :

- I've never been able to make my client's local zone visible from my server computer under the proprietary JRiver Media Network protocol. Curiously, seeing the server's local zone(s) from any client connected to it's library using the access key is working pretty well if this option is enable under "Media Network->Clients Option". And even more strange : the library servers of the clients (witch of course are empty, cause they're just client after all) does appear in the server "Playing from" tree selection. But not the client's zone(s)...

The remaining question is : what's the point? For me, the whole purpose of the "zones" feature, from a network point of vue (i'm not talking about "physical" or hardware zones by using multiple or multichannel sound cards here) should be to allow a centralized management of all the connected audio clients from a single point of the house. The very definition of the multiroom concept in fact. And what's more appropriate to play this central role than the server itself, the machine that hold the files and the library database, do all the indexing job, and allow the automated ripping and tagging of optical medias? Also the only one that actually have to be connected to the internet to do his hard work and share it's resources with the outside.
So curiously, the perfect candidate for this "master" job seem's also to be the only one not allowed to play it... or i'm i missing something?

By the way, and i'm talking to the audiophile people here : living the management to the server, and the server only, provide another great benefit : every cpu / hard drive / network activities needed to browse your music collection from any control point, being an iPad running "My River" or "JRemote", or a notebook connected via WebGizmo, WebRemote, Tremote and so on, actually takes place on the server, not the client itself, even if the client will be the final destination of the chosen audio stream. IMHO, this spare of resources on the client side is far more valuable than any "play file from memory" option, which doesn't work with network resources in the case of MC anyway. Just try to play a song from your network library on your MC client (DLNA or proprietary) with this option activated, and then shutdown your server during playback...   
 
On a side note : The DLNA mode work just fine by setting the server computer as both an DLNA Server and Controller, and the clients computers as a renderers. In this configuration, i'm able to see all my MC DLNA clients on the server and send them an audio stream. But i'm loosing the gapless playback and all the good things provided by the more sophisticated MC proprietary Media Network.

Frustrating (and the wiki dating from MC15 doesn't help)