INTERACT FORUM
Windows => JRiver Media Center 33 for Windows => Topic started by: Mr Swordfish on November 19, 2024, 01:58:52 pm
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I've been trying to get Media Server to work for a while now, and am still unable to get it to work. It can connect while on the same LAN as the library instance, but won't connect from outside the LAN (tested using my phone as a wifi hotspot)
Previous thread is here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,139345.msg971480.html#msg971480
One possible problem is that when connecting it says it is accessing 192.168.xxx.xxx while my ip is 99.8.xxx.xxx according to both https://www.whatsmyip.org/ and ipconfig.
If use https://canyouseeme.org/ to check port 52199 is says that port is open.
So, it appears that the access code is telling the client to go to the wrong ip address.
Is there a way to fix this?
Thanks. (still using MC 32, will upgrade to MC33 if it solves this problem)
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Thinking maybe I need to update the Access Code, I reset it and generated a new one. But I don't remember where I go to enter it, and the wiki is of no help: "On the client PC or device, just enter it to gain access to your Library server."
Where do you enter it? It's not at all obvious.
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Access Key (not code).
The first time you try to connect to the server, you will be asked for it.
Your problem connecting from the Internet is probably either a firewall or incorrect port forwarding. See Network Access (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access) on the wiki.
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One possible problem is that when connecting it says it is accessing 192.168.xxx.xxx while my ip is 99.8.xxx.xxx
What does this page say? (add your access key to the end of the URL):
https://wr.jriver.com/libraryserver/lookup/<YourAccessKey>
The reply should contain both your private and public IP addresses. The remote MC should use the appropriate one, though I wonder what happens when the client PC/device happens to have the same private IP address range as the remote server...
You can also test the connection here:
https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html
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Access Key (not code).
The first time you try to connect to the server, you will be asked for it.
Your problem connecting from the Internet is probably either a firewall or incorrect port forwarding. See [url=http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access]Network Access (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access)[/url] on the wiki.
How do I "try to connect to the server"? I've looked at every single menu item and don't see anything that resembles a "connect to a different server" option.
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What does this page say? (add your access key to the end of the URL):
https://wr.jriver.com/libraryserver/lookup/<YourAccessKey>
The reply should contain both your private and public IP addresses. The remote MC should use the appropriate one, though I wonder what happens when the client PC/device happens to have the same private IP address range as the remote server...
You can also test the connection here:
https://jriver.com/webgizmo.html
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response Status="OK">
<keyid>SVOHmO</keyid>
<ip>99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net</ip>
<port>52199</port>
<localiplist>192.168.1.68</localiplist>
<macaddresslist>b8-ca-3a-95-21-8f,bc-85-56-7a-62-e4,bc-85-56-7a-62-e3,1e-85-56-7a-62-e3,2e-85-56-7a-62-e3</macaddresslist>
</Response>
Using the webgizmo, I see all the albums in the music library. This works when connected to the LAN. It does not work when using the wifi hotspot on my phone.
Again, https://canyouseeme.org/ says that the port is open. Perhaps somehow the traffic is not being routed to MC? The NAT/Gaming interface on the modem where I open up the port asks for a Service name, but this is just a text field. Do I need to specify what program to route the traffic to?
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It looks like MC is not able to determine or register your public IP address. A bit weird as the DNS hostname is there...
It's possible your firewall is blocking a connection. Try adding MC to the Allowed Outbound rules on the firewall, then restart MC for it to re-register and re-check the same URL to see if the public IP shows up on the "localiplist" line.
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That "the port is open" may only mean that your router allows it. You still need to do port forwarding for inbound access to get to the right machine.
In Media Network settings, you can do a test to see what MC thinks.
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Also try changing your DNS to 8.8.8.8 on the server PC.
@Jim, it won't work without the public IP on the AccessKey registration. It's just trying to connect to 192.168.xx.xx
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It won't try to connect to the outside address unless it knows it's good.
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How do I "try to connect to the server"? I've looked at every single menu item and don't see anything that resembles a "connect to a different server" option.
Asking again. Can't test anything until I can find the place in the UI to tell it the Access Key. This seems to be very well hidden.
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You need to add a new library/connection, it's not possible to change the IP/Key on an existing one. If it works, then remove the old one.
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You can also try adding a library with your current public IP address directly, instead of the access key.
The format is IP:port, eg: 99.8.xx.xx:52199
If this works then it's a problem with the AccessKey registration. If it doesn't work then it's your ISP, router or Windows firewall blocking it.
Have you opened this port on the Windows Firewall, or any other security software you have? Also make sure your network is not set as "public", which would cause the firewall to block all incoming connections.
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Read "Ways to Connect" here:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Network#Ways_to_Connect
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Thanks. It's File -> Library -> Library Manager - Add New Library
Chatting with AT&T rep now about how to open the firewall.
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Spent all morning going around and around with the AT&T tech support.
Apparently, there is no firewall in the router/modem, and the tech verified that was the case. So, it's not the modem that's the issue, at least according to the tech. He says:
"We have tried all the available steps. still its not responding, please do contact the related media center vendor to check on the settings."
So, I'm back here.
I've gone into windows defender and allowed MC32 to have access, verified that the PC internet connection is set to Private, not sure what to try next.
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It looks like MC is not able to determine or register your public IP address. A bit weird as the DNS hostname is there...
It's possible your firewall is blocking a connection. Try adding MC to the Allowed Outbound rules on the firewall, then restart MC for it to re-register and re-check the same URL to see if the public IP shows up on the "localiplist" line.
I've done all that. Still can't connect outside the LAN.
Interesting that the library lookup now doesn't have the local ip, it has the public ip in both places:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<Response Status="OK">
<keyid>SVOHmO</keyid>
<ip>99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net</ip>
<port>52199</port>
<localiplist>99.8.87.177</localiplist>
<macaddresslist>b8-ca-3a-95-21-8f,bc-85-56-7a-62-e4,bc-85-56-7a-62-e3,1e-85-56-7a-62-e3,2e-85-56-7a-62-e3</macaddresslist>
</Response>
And now I can't connect while on the LAN either.
Seems like something is broken on your end. Not sure what.
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Did you try connecting with IP instead of access key as described above? If that works then it's a firewall/routing issue somewhere.
Having that public IP in the "localip" section is not good. Did your ISP technician happen to put your router in Bridge mode? That's dangerous and completely the wrong thing to do! It would explain that IP and why you can't connect anymore on your LAN.
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Did you try connecting with IP instead of access key as described above? If that works then it's a firewall/routing issue somewhere.
Having that public IP in the "localip" section is not good. Did your ISP technician happen to put your router in Bridge mode? That's dangerous and completely the wrong thing to do! It would explain that IP and why you can't connect anymore on your LAN.
Tried connection with ip, both local and public. Can't connect.
I'm not sure how to determine if the modem is set to bridge mode. I think it has something to do with Allocatiion mode and IP passthrough - these are the options:
Allocation Mode:
Off: The default server and IP Passthrough features are both disabled.
Default Server: Allows the device to forward all externally initiated IP traffic (TCP and UDP protocols only) to a default host on the LAN. You might need this if you cannot anticipate what port number or packet protocol an in-bound application might use. For example, some network games select arbitrary port numbers when a connection is opened. Or you might want all unsolicited traffic to go to a specific LAN host.
Passthrough: Allows the device's public IP address to be assigned to a single LAN client. There may be situations where Passthrough is not allowed.
It's set to passthrough. Is that bridge mode?
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Yes, that's bridge mode - it exposes the selected PC directly to the internet, and basically removes it from your LAN. Dangerous unless you know exactly what you're doing. Set that to Off.
The Port Forwarding feature is something else. You need to tell the router to forward just port 52199 to your MC machine, there must be a menu for that.
That's some seriously messed up tech support your ISP gave you...
Here's an How to for your router:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbb5T9VWFZ8
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Yes, that's bridge mode - it makes your main PC completely visible to the internet. Dangerous unless you know exactly what you're doing. Set that to Off.
The Port Forwarding feature is something else. You need to tell the router to forward just port 52199 to your MC machine, there must be a menu for that.
That's some seriously messed up tech support your ISP gave you...
Here's an How to for your router:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbb5T9VWFZ8
Thanks for the pointer to the video. I think I have configured it correctly:
NAT/Gaming Hosted Applications
Service Ports Device Delete
Media Center 32 TCP/UDP: 52199 studyPC2
studyPC is the name of the desktop that holds the library on MC.
So, that part appears to be correct.
Any other ideas why this fails to work?
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StudyPC or StudyPC2 ?
- After turning off that router setting, check that the PC now has a private IP address again (192.168.x.x)
- The LAN connection should work again
- Using a PC not connected to your LAN, try to connect to the MC library using the public IP address. This MUST work if there are no firewall issues.
You can also try to access MC Panel on a browser using these links - ALL of them should work:
- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.xx.xx:52199/Panel
Make sure the IP addresses above are still correct.
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StudyPC or StudyPC2 ?
- After turning off that router setting, check that the PC now has a private IP address again (192.168.x.x)
- The LAN connection should work again
- Using a PC not connected to your LAN, try to connect to the MC library using the public IP address. This MUST work if there are no firewall issues.
You can also try to access MC Panel on a browser using these links - ALL of them should work:
- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.87.177:52199/Panel
Make sure the IP addresses above are still correct.
Device name is studyPC2. I called the library StudyPC in MC. Sorry for any confusion.
I turned off the router setting, and the LAN connection works again. It does not work for the laptop that is not connected to the LAN.
- on the MC machine: http://localhost:52199/Panel - this works
- on another machine/phone on your LAN: http://192.168.1.68:52199/Panel or http://studyPC2:52199/Panel - this works
- from outside your LAN: http://99.8.87.177:52199/Panel - this does not "The connection was reset" error.
Using Windows 10, and Windows Defender as the firewall. Control Panel\System and Security\Windows Defender Firewall\Allowed apps lists the apps that can communicate through the firewall, and MC 32 is checked. Not sure what else to check...
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Well, it seems you (or the AT&T tech) managed to assign port 52199 to the router Administration page, and it's open to the internet!
https://99.8.xx.xx:52199
This works for me and opens your router Admin page, asking for login. Very dangerous. So, the connection to MC on port 52199 doesn't go through because the router itself is handling/intercepting it.
1 - Find the router page where the remote admin port is set, set it back to default (not sure what that is. Set it to 8443 if you must, anything other than 52199, 80 or 443)
2 - DISABLE the remote administration of the router, if there's an option for that. Some ISPs remove that option so that they can manage the router remotely. Administration should be allowed only via LAN/WIFI connection.
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I can't find anywhere in the UI to set the port for the remote admin access.
I've spent the last 90 minutes trying to explain to AT&T what the issue is. They claim to have changed the port number, but I'm skeptical and the remote access for MC is still not working.
Can you do your test again and see if you see the same issue? Thanks.
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Can you check if your current public IP address changed?
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It's still 99.8.87.177
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Well, it seems you (or the AT&T tech) managed to assign port 52199 to the router Administration page, and it's open to the internet!
https://99.8.87.177:52199
That just times out for me.
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It now times out for me as well, so the port is indeed changed.
So, back to the other causes... There's still something blocking access. Is the port forward still in place? Try rebooting the router too.
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If need be you can change the port MC uses from 52199 to another one (preferably one not generally used) then disable/re-enable Media Network.
If you're trying to access it outside of your local network you'll have to forward the port. But be warned some ISPs completely block port forwarding and your only option would be to use a VPN that supports port forwarding in order to access it. This is what I have to do as my new fiber ISP blocks port forwarding so I have to use ProtonVPN (one of the few VPN services that has a port forwarding feature) and bind the port allowed by the VPN in MC in order to access it outside my network.
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It now times out for me as well, so the port is indeed changed.
So, back to the other causes... There's still something blocking access. Is the port forward still in place? Try rebooting the router too.
Port forwarding is still in place and I've rebooted the modem. I'll try rebooting everything in the morning and trying again. Thanks for all your effort. Hopefully we can see this through.
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Also make sure you can resolve studyPC2 or that name is pointing to the correct address. Perhaps try putting in its IP Address instead.
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Port forwarding is still in place and I've rebooted the modem. I'll try rebooting everything in the morning and trying again. Thanks for all your effort. Hopefully we can see this through.
Restarted everything this morning and I'm still basically exactly where I was when I started. Media Center works fine when on the same LAN as the library, but can't connect from the outside.
Any ideas? Port forwarding is in place, MC 32 is granted access to communicate through the firewall, the ip address looks right. This was supposed to be "not that hard", but it seems to be quite difficult. Is anybody else able to make this work?
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I went through this a while ago. The problem was that Comcast has an Advanced Security feature which blocked the port forwarding. Once I turned that off, everything worked. Are there any security settings on your Gateway that you can turn off as a test? Grasping at straws.
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Most people can get this to work, yes. There are however many ways to have networking issues, this is not an MC problem per se. MC is working as you can reach it via the local LAN address.
Did you manually assign IP 192.168.1.68 to your PC, or is it automatic (DHCP) ? If it's manually set (static) your router may be forwarding to the wrong IP address. Check the router to see if it knows StudyPC2 maps to 192.168.1.68.
At this point, unless you have some other security software installed, the most likely cause is still the router.
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I do not manually set the ip.
Here's what the router reports:
MAC Address b8:ca:3a:95:21:8f
IPv4 Address / Name 192.168.1.68 / studyPC2
Last Activity Thu Nov 21 10:36:27 2024
Status on
Allocation dhcp
Connection Type
Ethernet LAN-4
Connection Speed 100Mbps fullduplex
Mesh Client No
IPv6 Address 2600:1700:37af:b010::48
Type dhcp
Valid Lifetime 2592000s
Preferred Lifetime 604800s
IPv6 Address 2600:1700:37af:b010:660:4d7a:8dc0:6bd8
Type slaac
Valid Lifetime 3600s
Preferred Lifetime 3600s
IPv6 Address 2600:1700:37af:b010:c10c:5d77:7753:9aca
Type slaac
Valid Lifetime 3600s
Preferred Lifetime 3600s
IPv6 Address fe80::e9cc:7bb3:f6c6:ff65
Type slaac
Valid Lifetime forever
Preferred Lifetime forever
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I went through this a while ago. The problem was that Comcast has an Advanced Security feature which blocked the port forwarding. Once I turned that off, everything worked. Are there any security settings on your Gateway that you can turn off as a test? Grasping at straws.
There's a section on the router UI for NAT/Gaming that turns on port forwarding, so one would expect that to turn on port forwarding. There's the firewall advanced tab which reports that all these are off:
Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to LAN
Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to Device LAN Address
Drop incoming ICMP Echo requests to Device WAN Address
Reflexive ACL
ESP ALG
SIP ALG
I don't think I need to enable any of these.
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At this point, unless you have some other security software installed, the most likely cause is still the router.
Is there some utility I can run that is independent of MC that will determine if port forwarding is working correctly? My understanding is that if the traffic makes it to the studyPC2 then MC will know what to do with it. Something as simple as ping?
AT&T claims that there is no firewall stopping network traffic, but who knows if their techs really understand what's going on.
I'm not aware of any additional security software that might be installed, but the anti-virus providers really like to install their stuff without you knowing so there may be something, but I'm not seeing anything suspicious in the process list, although there are a lot of things running that I don't know what they are.
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Uninstall any antivirus other than Windows Defender. Configure it.
Are you sure JRiver's Media Network is running? You could move it to another port. 52150, for example.
Firewalls are also a possible problem.
Read Network Access (http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Network_Access) on the wiki.
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Which antivirus do you have?
You can try Mongoose web server:
- download from here: https://mongoose.ws/binary/
- forward TCP port 8000 from your router to your PC
- run Mongoose
- try to access it: LAN = http://192.168.1.68:8000 , WAN = http://99.8.xx.xx:8000
Both links should show the contents of the Mongoose folder.
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Our Android app called Bingo SSDP will find Media Server instances running on the LAN and can connect to them.
Double check the IP address of the server.
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@Jim:
LAN works.
WAN does not.
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I saw that. Thanks.
It looks like forwarding on the router isn't successful. Is it set up correctly?
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Which antivirus do you have?
You can try Mongoose web server:
- download from here: https://mongoose.ws/binary/
- forward TCP port 8000 from your router to your PC
- run Mongoose
- try to access it: LAN = http://192.168.1.68:8000 , WAN = http://99.8.87.177:8000
Both links should show the contents of the Mongoose folder.
Did the test with mongoose.exe and it connects via the LAN but not the WAN. That implies to me that it's not an MC issue but either a router/port forwarding issue or a firewall issue on the PC.
I suppose the next step would be to try to get the AT&T techs to figure out why port forwarding isn't working.
Unless you have another takeaway.
I've checked the PC for other firewalls or anti-virus software and have not found anything other than Windows Defender.
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Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?
Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.xx.xx address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.
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Did the test with mongoose.exe and it connects via the LAN but not the WAN. That implies to me that it's not an MC issue but either a router/port forwarding issue or a firewall issue on the PC.
That helps and you're correct.
I suppose the next step would be to try to get the AT&T techs to figure out why port forwarding isn't working.
Or try another machine while you wait. If it also didn't work, then the problem is with network configuration. If it did work, then the problem is probably the firewall.
You could try removing MC32 from the firewall exceptions and then see if the firewall warns you.
I've checked the PC for other firewalls or anti-virus software and have not found anything other than Windows Defender.
Windows Defender could block access.
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Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?
Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.87.177 address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.
Screenshot attached.
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Can you attach screenshots of your port-forward config on the router?
Also... do you see your WAN address on the router status page? It should display the 99.8.87.177 address there. The reason I ask is that perhaps your ISP is only providing you with a IPv6 address, and the IPv4 is actually added on their side. This IPv4-over-IPv6 tunneling is common, I had to ask my previous ISP to allocate me an IPv4 address to be able to remotely access my network.
I don't see the WAN address on the status page. Screenshot attached:
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And the Custom Service definition for MC32?
For the WAN IP, check perhaps the "broadband" or "system info" tab. Or that "More Info" button.
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And the Custom Service definition for MC32?
For the WAN IP, check perhaps the "broadband" or "system info" tab. Or that "More Info" button.
There's no more info about the Custom Service definition.
The WAN IP is under broadband:
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IPv4 is OK.
In the NAT/Gaming page, click the "custom services" button. The settings for "Media Center 32" must be there.
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Update - I can now access your MC Panel, this works:
http://your-public-ip:52199
You have it open as guest, without user/password. Next step is to add a user/pass in MC settings so that strangers from the internet are not seeing and consuming your collection. This is urgent as these links now work for everyone in this forum.
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Update - I can now access your MC Panel, this works:
http://your-public-ip:52199
You have it open as guest, without user/password. Next step is to add a user/pass in MC settings so that strangers from the internet are not seeing and consuming your collection. This is urgent as these links now work for everyone in this forum.
Thanks. I've put a password on the guest access - don't remember if I might have opened that up at some point to try to get it to work, or what the default behavior is.
I can now connect using the wifi hotspot / WAN and am prompted for the name and password prior to it loading.
Any idea what changed to make it work suddenly? I don't recall anything I did earlier today made a difference.
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I can still access without user/pass. You need to set both the Authentication and Read-Only Authentication in MC settings to protect it.
Maybe your ISP changed something on their side.
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I think I have them both set now. Can you give it another try?
So, it just started working without us understanding why it wasn't earlier. Hate it when that happens because you never know when it will stop working for the same reason it wasn't working before. But I don't know that there's anything we can do to figure out what was the problem at this point.
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I see MC's login page for Library Server.
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Now it asks for user/pass.
(https://i.makeagif.com/media/6-29-2023/oXKOWW.gif)
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Thanks for all the help. Sorry it was such a slog, but it's working now. I listened via WAN for several hours and have it going now.
I'll give it another test when I travel for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday, and will upgrade to MC 33 when I get back.
PRO TIP for anyone trying to use this method to test (i.e. wifi hotspot on their phone) - Purchase a temporary upgrade to unlimited data - my cel plan only includes 5G per month which is almost always enough, but I left the hotspot active overnight and something gobbled up all the remaining data - probably a Windows update for the laptop - but having unlimited data is one less thing to worry about when trying to get this to work.
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It worked for about a week and then broke.
On the client PC, I can connect to the JRiver Panel at http://my-ip:52199/Panel/
it prompts me for a name and password, and if I enter it correctly I get in and can browse the files etc.
But, when I try to use MC to connect, it fails.
I tried uninstalling and reinstalling MC, and after entering the access code it prompts me for a name and password.
If I deliberately put in the wrong password, it comes back with the name/password screen so I can put in the correct one. But after putting in the correct name and password, the connection fails, and nothing I can do will make it connect. It never prompts for a new name/password.
Since I can connect to the JRiver Panel on the server, all the networking stuff seems to be correct, as is the name and password.
I've tried two different laptops, so it doesn't appear to be hardware related.
So, what is going on here? Seems like a bug. Please take a look.
Logfile is attached.
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It's not a bug. This is pretty heavily used and generally works.
Uninstalling/reinstalling won't help.
If Panel works on 52199, you should be able to use 52199 for connecting from MC.
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It's not a bug. This is pretty heavily used and generally works.
Uninstalling/reinstalling won't help.
If Panel works on 52199, you should be able to use 52199 for connecting from MC.
I tried using the ip address and port 52199. It is still non functional, and even if it worked, without a static ip that's a recipe for failure before long.
Call it what you want, a bug or whatever, but the software isn't working.
zybex was quite helpful. Is he still around?
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please confirm
- when you cannot connect - it is from outside your network (i.e. from WAN)?
- has your public IP address changed?
- is the IP address for the media server a fixed address or DHCP? (and if DHCP is it reserved?)
FYI - I have not accessed Media Server from outside my LAN for a long time. I used to have issues if the media server's IP address was no longer in the router's ARP table.
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Outside the network using the Access Key is the way to go usually unless you have a static IP address. Within the network either manually setting an IP address for device functioning as the MC server or using the DHCP address reservation feature on your router to make sure the local IP address never changes is highly recommended (same for anything like a NAS too). On the device running MC make sure a MAC address randomization feature of the OS isn't enabled (and if possible it's set to use the hardware's MAC address). Having MAC address randomization enabled can be problematic, especially if you're trying to use DHCP address reservation on the router and it's set to a specific MAC address that'd randomly change.
If you're using a remote (e.g. JRemote, Gizmo, MO 4Media, etc.) try using the Access Key instead of the local IP address.
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please confirm
- when you cannot connect - it is from outside your network (i.e. from WAN)?
- has your public IP address changed?
- is the IP address for the media server a fixed address or DHCP? (and if DHCP is it reserved?)
FYI - I have not accessed Media Server from outside my LAN for a long time. I used to have issues if the media server's IP address was no longer in the router's ARP table.
Outside the LAN.
Ip address is unchanged since I can assess the JRiver panel.
Not a fixed ip.
thanks.
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Is your public IP still xx.xx.87.177 ? If so, then your firewall or router is again blocking port 52199. It's not accessible from the world.
Accessing Panel using your local IP address is not the same as accessing it from outside. A firewall knows where the connection is coming from and needs to be configured appropriately. The Router also blocks incoming outside connections unless you tell it to forward that port to your MC machine.
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Yeah, once you go outside of your local network things can get pretty wonky as you'd be at the mercy of your ISP. My ISP blocks port forwarding completely, so I can't access my MC library outside of my network. To workaround it I would have to use a VPN that allows port forwarding (ProtonVPN is what I use) and then I bind the VPN on MC only then set MC's Media Network to use the forwarded port the VPN provides, then I can access my MC library outside of my network using the Access Key method.
You shouldn't use the IP address method unless you have a static IP from your ISP and the IP address never changes, otherwise each time it changes you have to change the IP address in whatever app/method you use for MC. Using the Access Key method allows it to connect if you have a dynamic IP address and the IP address changes, so that would be my recommendation for things like JRemote, Panel, Gizmo, MO 4Media, etc. If you're using DLNA or UPnP outside of the network (using an app like BubbleUPnP, USB Audio Player Pro, etc.) you'd have to change it to whatever your IP changes to manually (hence why static IPs are desirable in such setups).
Local IP addresses (e.g. ones that start with 192.168.xx.xx) won't work outside of your local network and are different to the IP address your ISP has assigned you (e.g. the xx.xx.87.177 mentioned). Try using your ISP-assigned IP address instead of the local IP address in Panel and it likely won't work either.
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Some fundamentals
From within MC the Media Network setup has an option to check access to your server via the access key. Try that. : Tools - Options - Media Network - Access Key.
From outside your lan, use the access code to connect using Panel
https://jriver.com/panel.html
Those two things will confirm whether you have access to your server from outside your lan. If not, the most obvious places to look are your port forwarding setup and your firewall. And, of course, make sure you are using the latest access key.
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Some fundamentals
From within MC the Media Network setup has an option to check access to your server via the access key. Try that. : Tools - Options - Media Network - Access Key.
From outside your lan, use the access code to connect using Panel
https://jriver.com/panel.html
Those two things will confirm whether you have access to your server from outside your lan. If not, the most obvious places to look are your port forwarding setup and your firewall. And, of course, make sure you are using the latest access key.
Unfortunately, the server instance of MC is a four hour drive away. But everything was working and nothing has changed on the server instance.
As explained above, I can use use the access code to connect using Panel. I cannot use the access code to connect using MC. I have tried this on two different laptops with the same results. Since I can connect using Panel, the port forwarding and firewall settings would seem to be correct. Seems to be something internal to MC.
I uploaded the log file earlier - has anyone taken a look at it to see where the problem might be? The error message is not very informative.
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I'm not familiar with the internals of the logfile, but it appears that this is the part where the connection to the MC server fails:
0110956: 26896: Reader: CWinINetReader::Open: Opening http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/Get
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::Thread: Start
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::Thread: url: http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/Get
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::Connect: Start
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::Connect: Finish (0 ms)
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::DownloadFromHTTPURL: Start
0110957: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::DownloadFromHTTPURL: HttpOpenRequest successful
0111082: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::DownloadFromHTTPURL: HttpSendRequest successful
0111082: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::DownloadFromHTTPURL: Failed (header status code: 404)
0111082: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::DownloadFromHTTPURL: Finish (125 ms)
0111082: 17136: Reader: CWinINetReader::Thread: Finish (125 ms)
0111082: 26896: Reader: CWinINetReader::Open: ConnectToURL failed, m_bConnectError=true, URL=http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/Get
0111083: 26896: Reader: CWinINetReader::Close: Start
The client seems to be using an HTTP request to the server and getting a 404 not found response. Yet Panel access is working. I'd need to look at the MC and Panel code to see why one is working and not the other.
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Port 52199 is used for HTTP connections, so that's to be expected as that's the default MC uses. If you want to use SSL you need to enable SSL on the MC server in MC's Options > Media Network and generate a self-signed certificate then use port 52200 to connect via SSL and accept the certificate when it asks.
Part of the reason why I think this happens on iOS devices is the use of Private Relay and/or Safari enforcing HTTPS connections, which by default won't work with MC unless you enable and use SSL, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.
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Is your public IP still xx.xx.87.177 ? If so, then your firewall or router is again blocking port 52199. It's not accessible from the world.
Accessing Panel using your local IP address is not the same as accessing it from outside. A firewall knows where the connection is coming from and needs to be configured appropriately. The Router also blocks incoming outside connections unless you tell it to forward that port to your MC machine.
Yes, that is still the address.
If I use a web browser to go to
http://99.8.87.177:52199/Panel/#/browse
I see a name and password screen. If I put in the correct name and password I can browse the files. I've tried this on two different laptops and several different web browsers.
So, it does not appear that anything is blocking traffic to port 52199. It's just that MC itself won't connect. Not sure why it gets a 404 response (see logfile excerpt above), but that implies to me that whatever web server it is connecting to is receiving the request and returning a 404 not found response. I would expect a different result if the connection to the webserver was being blocked.
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Port 52199 is used for HTTP connections, so that's to be expected as that's the default MC uses. If you want to use SSL you need to enable SSL on the MC server in MC's Options > Media Network and generate a self-signed certificate then use port 52200 to connect via SSL and accept the certificate when it asks.
Part of the reason why I think this happens on iOS devices is the use of Private Relay and/or Safari enforcing HTTPS connections, which by default won't work with MC unless you enable and use SSL, as I mentioned earlier in this thread.
There's a checkbox that says "Use secure HTTPS connection, if available", but checking or unchecking it makes no difference. The entries in the logfile indicate that the MC client is using http not https to connect to the MC server, so I don't think it's an SSL certificate issue.
There are no iOS devices in play here.
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Just checked with the link you posted, it's accessible here too (though you might want to remove the link) so it's indeed accessible outside the network.
At the client side, other than the Panel link what are you using to try to access the MC server? Media Center itself (aka Tremote), JRemote, Gizmo, MO 4Media or something else? I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work with any of those since it's accessible via Panel, other than you're trying to use an app like BubbleUPnP/USB Audio Player Pro/etc. as a DLNA/UPnP connection sort of deal, which likely won't work.
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Just checked with the link you posted, it's accessible here too (though you might want to remove the link) so it's indeed accessible outside the network.
At the client side, other than the Panel link what are you using to try to access the MC server? Media Center itself (aka Tremote), JRemote, Gizmo, MO 4Media or something else? I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work with any of those since it's accessible via Panel, other than you're trying to use an app like BubbleUPnP/USB Audio Player Pro/etc. as a DLNA/UPnP connection sort of deal, which likely won't work.
Connecting via MC itself. I open up Media Center v22, go to Playing Now -> Playing from Main Library -> Add New Library
The dialog box asks me for an access key or url, I put in either my access code or the ip followed by the port, it prompts me for a name and password, and I get the message that the connection has failed.
Note that if I put in an incorrect name/password I am re-prompted to put in the correct name/password.
That says to me that the connection is getting as far as the authentications process, successfully authenticating, and then failing somewhere afterwards. i.e. it's not a port forwarding, firewall, or other network configuration issue. And the fact that connections via the Panel work says that whatever is going wrong is internal to MC.
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Indeed the connection to Panel now works, and it didn't a few hours ago when I tested. Weird.
The 404 is also strange... you say you're connecting with MC 22 or is that a typo? What's the server version? Not sure if MC22 Client can talk to MC33 Server, a 404 would mean that MC22 is trying to use an API that no longer exists in 33.
EDIT: Well, /MCWS/v1/Library/Get definitely exists in v33 and all previous versions, so it's something else... :-/
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Your server v32 is definitely responding:
http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Alive
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="RuntimeGUID">{42A6B5D9-0F99-4181-A79A-517056972EA2}</Item>
<Item Name="LibraryVersion">24</Item>
<Item Name="ProgramName">JRiver Media Center</Item>
<Item Name="ProgramVersion">32.0.58</Item>
<Item Name="FriendlyName">Studypc2</Item>
<Item Name="AccessKey">SVOHmO</Item>
<Item Name="ProductVersion">32 Windows</Item>
<Item Name="Platform">Windows</Item>
</Response>
Do you get a response to this one after authenticating?
http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/List
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I also see that.
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Your server v32 is definitely responding:
Do you get a response to this one after authenticating?
http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/List
Yeah, it's version 32, not 22. Waiting to upgrade until this problem is stable.
When I go to that url, it prompts for a name and password, and if I enter the correct credentials I get
<Response Status="OK">
<Item Name="NumberOfLibraries">1</Item>
<Item Name="DefaultLibrary">0</Item>
<Item Name="Library0">
'Main Library' is a local library located at C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 32\Library\
</Item>
<Item Name="Library0Name">Main Library</Item>
<Item Name="Library0Loaded">1</Item>
</Response>
So, it seems that I can connect to the server as long as I don't try to use MC to do it.
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Any possibility this is a 32 bit versus 64 bit issue?
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Any possibility this is a 32 bit versus 64 bit issue?
Doubtful. Windows 11 client, Windows 10 server, both 64 bit OS. I'm fairly sure I have the 64bit version of MC installed, v32 for both. Definitely 64 for the client instance; don't know an easy way to check the server, but I can't imagine I would have deliberately installed the 32 bit version.
This all worked for about a week or so, then stopped.
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What do you get when you click on this link and enter your password? You should get a ZIP file download:
http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/Get
The server seems to be working, so... did anything change on your client side? Did you move to a different hotel? Any extra software installed? What's your antivirus/antimalware/security software? (perhaps it's blocking .zip downloads from non-static domains as that is what some viruses also do). Make sure you exclude the MC installation folder in your antivirus settings.
It's always a good idea to set up some remote access to the server so you can manage it remotely - Teamviewer, VNC, Remote Desktop...
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What do you get when you click on this link and enter your password? You should get a ZIP file download:
http://99-8-87-177.lightspeed.livnmi.sbcglobal.net:52199/MCWS/v1/Library/Get
The server seems to be working, so... did anything change on your client side? Did you move to a different hotel? Any extra software installed? What's your antivirus/antimalware/security software? (perhaps it's blocking .zip downloads from non-static domains as that is what some viruses also do). Make sure you exclude the MC installation folder in your antivirus settings.
It's always a good idea to set up some remote access to the server so you can manage it remotely - Teamviewer, VNC, Remote Desktop...
When I click on that link, it prompts me for a name/password. If I enter the correct credentials, I get nothing - that is, I get a blank page and if I view the source there is no content, just a blank page.
Nothing has changed on the client side, other than trying to get it to work on a second laptop. The clientlaptop is in the same location with the same internet connection as when it worked. No additional software or virus protection has been added or enabled.
Security software is Windows Defender. I've added C:\Program Files\JRiver to the list of exclusions for Windows Defender. It is still not working - I don't get a zip file from the url above and MC won't connect to the server.
I will enable Remote Desktop this weekend when I am back at the server.
Any other ideas on how to get this to work?
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BTW, I just noticed that one of the client laptops is running v33 instead of v32. I don't think this is the issue since the other laptop is running v32 as is the server.
Probably not necessary, but is it worth running v32 on the second laptop? I don't see a way to download v32, but I probably still have the install file on the laptop with v32.
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There would likely be no differences there that would cause issues between a v32 server and a v33 client. I don't think anything related to MCWS and Media Network has changed between v32 and v33 that could potentially cause an issue like that. I mean, I could be wrong, but I doubt that'd be an issue.
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Just to try a different ISP, can you check what happens when you click the same /Library/Get link on your phone with the WIFi off ? Or when you're connected to some other Wifi than your usual one.
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If I use my celphone to access that link I get a 404 not found error.
If I turn on the wifi hotspot and use that for the laptop's ISP the behavior is unchanged when I access the link that way - no 404 error, but no zipfile either.
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From what I can see, the call triggers MC Server to create a "Library Backup.zip" in this folder, which is then served to the HTTP caller:
%AppData%\J River\Media Center 33\Temp
So perhaps that is failing... could the C: drive be full?
@Matt: any other possible cause of a 404 on this call?
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886 gig free on one laptop, 86 gig free on the other. There's basically nothing on either of these two laptops so there's plenty of room on the c drive on both machines.
On the server, I recently deleted the local sync folder for the handheld with it's ~320 gig of music data, so that c drive should have plenty of space. I'll double-check that.
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Yes, I meant on the server.
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I just had my partner check on the server and, yes, something had filled up the C drive.
After freeing up some space, things seem to be working.
Now, I have to figure out what is filling up the C drive. There was several hundred gigs of space when I left ten days ago, and nothing that should have eaten up the space.
I'll have to look further when I'm back home. Thanks for all the help. Hopefully, whatever is filling up the space is unrelated to opening up the port to MC.
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Great :)
WizTree: https://diskanalyzer.com/
Scanner: http://www.steffengerlach.de/freeware/ (slower, simpler visualization)
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It could be a drive other than C:, depending on how you have set up MC. Look at your settings for File Locations.
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I just had my partner check on the server and, yes, something had filled up the C drive.
After freeing up some space, things seem to be working.
Now, I have to figure out what is filling up the C drive. There was several hundred gigs of space when I left ten days ago, and nothing that should have eaten up the space.
I'll have to look further when I'm back home. Thanks for all the help. Hopefully, whatever is filling up the space is unrelated to opening up the port to MC.
It would be worth checking MC logging on your server.
If it has been enabled and left on "Do not reset" this file can grow to be huge.
Help>Logging
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Thanks. It was set to do not reset, but only ate up about a gig of space, so it's not the problem, although it would have been if I let it go for too long. Thanks for the tip.
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And the culprit was Dell Support Assist, which ate up 187 gigs of space in C\AppData\Dell\DTP\DB
Dell is aware of this problem, and is supposed to push out a fix on Dec 24th.
See https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/supportassist-for-pcs/any-way-to-reduce-the-size-of-the-dtpdbdb-file/670e40ec5e3929656cb71309?msockid=07931f1fbaf1696225970a11bb75687f
Anyone with a Dell should probably look into this...
There was also an Apple log folder that ate up 50 gigs, which I deleted since I don't use Apple products anymore, but I don't think it was growing.