[JeepGeek]

I mentioned in another thread that DVArchive won't automatically see my ReplayTV and my ReplayTV doesn't see DVArchive. I suspected something in my setup was blocking broadcasts and spent a long time looking for that before realizing that it seems to be DVA itself that's causing the blockage.


Here's more detail. Before starting DVarchive I can ping my ReplayTV, and if I ping the broadcast address, the ReplayTV answers. When I start DVArchive the event log says it is starting the server but it takes a few minutes lomger for the little red server indicator to turn green. During this period I can still ping the ReplayTV.


Then three things happen. The server indicator turns green, a message in the event log says connection to 192.168.168.199:80 timed out (that is my pc's address), and I can no longer ping anywhere from my pc.


I CAN manually connect to my ReplayTV though. And, I can telnet to 192.168.168.199:80 as well and see the connection in DVA's event log. Also, if I login to my ISDN router and ping my pc and replaytv from there, they answer. And once I exit DVarchive, I can ping stuff again.


Any ideas what could cause this?


I'm using Windows XP. Tried java 1.4.0_01 and 1.4.1_05. I originally had the UPnP service disabled, but re-enabling it has not helped. All IP addresses are static (192.168.168.0/24 network). PC and ReplayTV are connected to a 4-port hub and the only other thing on the network is my ISDN router (I have also tested with it disconnected from the network).

 

[plyons10]

Did you reboot after re-enabling UPnP???

 

[JeepGeek]

Yes, I tried once after just manually starting the UPnP service, then rebooted with it set to automatic.

 

[moyekj]

Once DVA server has started turn it off manually (i.e. leave DVA running but disable server) and see if you can then ping the RTV again. This would confirm that it is the RTV server blocking the ping and therefore most likely that port 80 is being used by ping. Note that ping does not normally use port 80, but it may be possible to configure your PC as such, or the ping client you are using is configured as such.

 

[JeepGeek]

Hm, I don't think that ping is using port 80. While it could explain the symptom of the ping not going through, I think the problem is larger than just ping -- ping is just a first step in troubleshooting.


Another interesting observation. I loaded up DVA on a different pc (win2k, not on the same network as my ReplayTV). I can see it sending out a multicast packet -- udp to 239.255.255.250 port 1900. I have a multicast route on this pc (224.0.0.0) but I don't recall ever seeing that on my XP system. Hmmm.


I'm a unix guy, so this windows ip configuration stuff is tough for me

 

[gduprey]

Quote:

Originally posted by JeepGeek I mentioned in another thread that DVArchive won't automatically see my ReplayTV and my ReplayTV doesn't see DVArchive. I suspected something in my setup was blocking broadcasts and spent a long time looking for that before realizing that it seems to be DVA itself that's causing the blockage.

I'm sorry, but I would have a difficult time being convinced of this. DVA works on TCP port 80 (when the server is running) and on other TCP ports above 1024 (as allocated by the host O/S, not DVA). DVA also communicates on UDP port 1900 in a multicast config which is the standard UPnP port. Pings use the ICMP protocol which DVA has no direct connection or access to.


I could beleive that there is something else that is being tripped when DVA is running (some protection software) or that you have a dialup or VPN network that is normally offline, but the O/S is reporting it as the primary for the system and DVA is attempting to bind to it (check the FAQ for how to check which NIC DVA binds to and change it if the O/S incorrectly reports the wrong one as primary).

 

[JeepGeek]

The IP address it's listening on is correct. I even changed my computer's IP address and experimented with forcing the IP address used by DVA, and setting the UPnP address stuff.


I don't mean to imply that only ping is blocked. Obviously udp multicasts are also being blocked, and who knows what else (I don't have the tools to answer this fully). Oddly, tcp does not seem to be blocked.


I am still leaning toward the UPnP configuration or multicast route. I disabled UPnP long ago on the advice of Steve Gibson ( www.grc.com ) and upon checking his information I probably did not completely re-enable it. That may fix all of this. It doesn't explain the situation fully in my mind though.

 

[rherbert]

Quote:

Originally posted by moyekj Once DVA server has started turn it off manually (i.e. leave DVA running but disable server) and see if you can then ping the RTV again. This would confirm that it is the RTV server blocking the ping and therefore most likely that port 80 is being used by ping. Note that ping does not normally use port 80, but it may be possible to configure your PC as such, or the ping client you are using is configured as such.

Ping does not and cannot use port 80. Ping uses the ICMP protocol, which runs directly over IP. IP has no concept of ports - you need TCP for ports. (UDP has a similar concept, but I don't think that they're technically ports.)


I've found that I can't ping my ReplayTV if it's in standby mode, but I can still telnet to port 80.

 

[burger23]

Another suggestion- use the Task manager in Windows to make absolutely sure that only one javaw.exe is running.

 

[JeepGeek]

Just to follow up on this... I fought with my pc for over a month. Uninstalled everything that I could think of that might possibly have had an effect, and many things that I couldn't imagine having any effect. Uninstalled service packs to the point where the system wouldn't boot (oops) and did thus did a repair installation of xp. Nothing made DVA behave any differently. Something in my tcp/ip configuration was just hosed, even to the extent of causing internet connection problems.


So, I finally got time to pop in my spare drive and loaded xp anew on it. First thing I installed was DVA, and naturally it worked perfectly. So, now I have to figure out how I can reinstall all my necessary software but be able to revert if I break tcp/ip again (restore points are useless). But I'll be able to use DVA (and the internet too)!

 

[PapaDave]

Quote:

Originally posted by JeepGeek So, now I have to figure out how I can reinstall all my necessary software but be able to revert if I break tcp/ip again (restore points are useless). But I'll be able to use DVA (and the internet too)!

There is a great shareware utility that can be used to image your drive(s) between installs which makes it very easy to restore a previous working image. See http://terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html Linux is supported too.


Highly recommended - I'm not affiliated with them, just a very satisfied user.


Regards,

David

 

[JeepGeek]

Thanks for the pointer to Bootit NG. I already have a Norton Ghost boot floppy I can use to duplicate the drive. This is a useful thing to do, but the poblem is that that's a lengthy process, making it inconvenient to do, and it takes a lot of space that I'd rather use for data -- especially bad if you want to be able to save more than one backup.


What would be nice is a true snapshot (virtual point-in-time copy) facility with reversion ability. As long as I keep sw and OS on one partition and data on another, that would be ideal. Quick to do (both snap and revert), takes less space than a full copy, and ensures everything is really in sync.


Lacking that, if BootIt NG can do an 'incremental' sync (just copying changed blocks) it would be a lot more useful (quicker), but still would have the space issue.

 

[PapaDave]

Quote:

Originally posted by JeepGeek Thanks for the pointer to Bootit NG. I already have a Norton Ghost boot floppy I can use to duplicate the drive. This is a useful thing to do, but the poblem is that that's a lengthy process, making it inconvenient to do, and it takes a lot of space that I'd rather use for data -- especially bad if you want to be able to save more than one backup.

There's not really a space problem with Bootit NG.


1. It's faster.

2. It writes to CD/DVD.

3. Free space is eliminated from the image. Possibly some compression too. With programs and data on other partitions, my half-full 10GB drive C fits on a single DVD/RW.

4. On large partitions, it will split the image into CD or DVD sized chunks. I image large partitions to another partition (faster than DVD), then burn the chunks under Windows when I can be doing other things, thus freeing up the space. The number of backups you can keep is limited only by the number of DVD/RWs you want to keep.


Note: Current versions of Ghost may do some or all of the above. I think my version is 2000.


Regards,

David