extender mvp stuck

[spacecadet]

I am having the same issue.

After sitting at "loading" for about 1-2 minutes, the MVP begins to cycle between "contacting DHCP server" and "Contacting MediaMVP bootserver". And SageTV never loads.

My setup should be good as I was using Matt's plug-in with 4.0 and have had no problems. I've tried rebooting the PC, restarting the SageTV service and power cycling the MVP with no luck.

I am using a cross over cable to connect the MVP directly to the PC, no router involved. I pretty sure that I am getting an IP at the MVP because the ethernet port shows as connected with an IP in the Network Connections control panel.

Here is my setup:
Windows Firewall disabled
Cross over cable connection from PC to MVP
Ethernet port on PC set to 10 Mbps half-duplex
"Media Extender Server" is enabled in Detailed Setup->Advanced

At one point, I applied the Hauppauge "TCP/IP Optimizaton" registry change ([HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:000f4240
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000001)

I also have "Offload TCP Segmentation" set to Disabled for the Network Connection - which was suggested for an Intel Network Cards on Hauppauge's web site.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[JUC]

I think the key is rebooting the PC. Until I did that, when I was able to connect I was getting major stuttering. Reboot fixed that. At first, I was not able to connect at all--tried all network speeds and auto. Finally (and don't know why) but it started to connect at 10mb--but stuttered. Tried again with auto and it connected at 100mb and rebooted = no stuttering and solid connection with no disconnects! Works great now.
JUC

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

I am having the same issue.

After sitting at "loading" for about 1-2 minutes, the MVP begins to cycle between "contacting DHCP server" and "Contacting MediaMVP bootserver". And SageTV never loads.

My setup should be good as I was using Matt's plug-in with 4.0 and have had no problems. I've tried rebooting the PC, restarting the SageTV service and power cycling the MVP with no luck.

I am using a cross over cable to connect the MVP directly to the PC, no router involved. I pretty sure that I am getting an IP at the MVP because the ethernet port shows as connected with an IP in the Network Connections control panel.

Here is my setup:
Windows Firewall disabled
Cross over cable connection from PC to MVP
Ethernet port on PC set to 10 Mbps half-duplex
"Media Extender Server" is enabled in Detailed Setup->Advanced

At one point, I applied the Hauppauge "TCP/IP Optimizaton" registry change ([HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]
"TcpWindowSize"=dword:000f4240
"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000001)

I also have "Offload TCP Segmentation" set to Disabled for the Network Connection - which was suggested for an Intel Network Cards on Hauppauge's web site.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Just because you have an IP connection doesn't mean you have an IP address. If you're using a crossover cable and don't have a DHCP server running then your MVP is NOT getting an IP address. That is most likely your issue.

Gerry

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Just because you have an IP connection doesn't mean you have an IP address. If you're using a crossover cable and don't have a DHCP server running then your MVP is NOT getting an IP address. That is most likely your issue.

Gerry

I was under the impression that Windows acts as the DHCP for a cross over connection and will assign the address, is that not the case? I can see on the server side that I have an IP address of 192.168.0.1 - how can I check if the MVP is getting an address? This all worked using Matt's plug-in - does the SageTV version establish the address in a different way?

[aoehlke]

for fun now I am going to set my link speed back up to 100MB and see if it all still works... like i suspect... rebooting seems to be important... or at very least, killing the sage service and restarting it... I think you can do that, without rebooting, by going to the start menu->sage->service helper

mine has been working great for 48 hours... can't wait til the wife gets back into town and sees it... we will end up with probably 4 more MVPs!

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by aoehlke

for fun now I am going to set my link speed back up to 100MB and see if it all still works... like i suspect... rebooting seems to be important... or at very least, killing the sage service and restarting it... I think you can do that, without rebooting, by going to the start menu->sage->service helper

mine has been working great for 48 hours... can't wait til the wife gets back into town and sees it... we will end up with probably 4 more MVPs!

I tried rebooting the server, starting and stopping the service and setting all of the networking properties back to the defaults (auto detect speed instead of forcing 10 Mbps) all with no luck. Perhaps the crossover connection is the issue.

[Narflex]

It won't work with a crossover connection yet. At this time you need a DHCP server to assign the MVP an IP address. (maybe there's a simple one you can install on Windows...but I'm not sure...I know there is on Linux) We will be adding support for using a crossover connection in the near future.

[spacecadet]

Thanks for the info. If I have any luck finding a simple DHCP server for Windows, I'll post my results.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

Thanks for the info. If I have any luck finding a simple DHCP server for Windows, I'll post my results.

Just use this:
A Simple DHCP server-tftpd32
But you're going to need more than that...I think.
Where is your PC getting it's 192.168.0.1 address from. Your Cable modem? DSL Modem? I don't think you're going to pick up an IP addess over a crossover cable. But you can try.

I think in the end you'll need a router with ports. Or wait until Sage gets it to work with a crossover. (But routers are cheap.)

Gerry

[spacecadet]

I'm using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) to share the internet connection from my wireless card to the ethernet card I have connected to the MVP. I was under the impression that ICS hard codes the sharing PC to use 192.168.0.1 and then starts a DHCP server locally to assign addresses in the 192.168.0.x range to clients that connect through that network interface.

So, the 192.168.0.1 on the Sage Server PC is hard coded due to ICS and I would assume that the MVP recieves an IP from the ICS DHCP server. If I connect a laptop to the same crossover cable, the laptop connects with no problem and in the network control panel, I see an IP address of 192.168.0.48 with along with a message saying "Assigned by DHCP"

I think you're right that setting up a DHCP server is probably more trouble than it's worth, though.... I'll either end up picking up a router or waiting for the product to support a crossover cable connection.

[gplasky]

You're right-ICS does have a DHCP server. ANd the 192 address your server is getting is hard coded from that.

Well then based on your connecting a laptop to the same crossover cable and getting an IP address it should work. But did you do a release/renew on the laptop to make sure it is grabbing a new address and not just holding on to the one it had leased?

And I'm confused. You're using ICS to share your wireless connection in your Sage Server PC? Then what are you connecting the crossover cable to? Do you have both a wireless NIC and a wired NIC in your Sage Server PC? If you do don't you have to bridge the two NICS?

Gerry

[SHS]

spacecadet do you have more then one ethernet card in that system with SageTV Server?.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by SHS

spacecadet do you have more then one ethernet card in that system with SageTV Server?.

Right. I have a wireless card in the SageTV Server that it uses to get the internet connection. And I have the wired card that I use to connect the crossover cable to the MVP. So, two cards total.

[SHS]

Fine out what going on is to enable logging by setting the property debug_logging=TRUE in your Sage.properties file.
It'll then produce a sagetv_0.txt file in the SageTV folder after starting the MVP in tell it fail to start then close SageTV and post the logging which may or may not be helpful.
But I have felling that it using the wrong NIC
If can post the both IP address for both NIC and which one is the one to sagetv

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by SHS

Fine out what going on is to enable logging by setting the property debug_logging=TRUE in your Sage.properties file.
It'll then produce a sagetv_0.txt file in the SageTV folder after starting the MVP in tell it fail to start then close SageTV and post the logging which may or may not be helpful.
But I have felling that it using the wrong NIC
If can post the both IP address for both NIC and which one is the one to sagetv

I tried this, but did not have any luck. I shut down the SageTV service, updated both the Sage.properties and SageClient.properties files with "debug_logging=true", but I do not get a sagetv_0.txt file on startup. I do get a tv.sage.mod.0.log file, but there was nothing of interest in there.

[jlabrue]

I tried the "debug_logging=TRUE" and "debug_logging=true" (case change) in mine and could not get it to generate a log file either. Did the property change from 4.0 to 4.1? I'm having issues as well and thought that might give me something to present to the experts here but no luck.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by SHS

Fine out what going on is to enable logging by setting the property debug_logging=TRUE in your Sage.properties file.
It'll then produce a sagetv_0.txt file in the SageTV folder after starting the MVP in tell it fail to start then close SageTV and post the logging which may or may not be helpful.
But I have felling that it using the wrong NIC
If can post the both IP address for both NIC and which one is the one to sagetv

SHS, I think you are on to the problem. I picked up a cheap router today and tried it, but still had no luck. I disabled ICS so that the ICS DHCP did not get in the way of the router's DHCP server and was able to confirm through the router that the router was assigning an IP of 192.168.0.2 to the MVP. So I know the MVP is getting its IP address. BUT, still no luck connecting, after "Loading Application" screen finishes, the MVP went back into the "Contacting DHCP Server/Contact Bootserver" cycle.

So, following up on your thought that the 2 NICs were confusing Sage, I went ahead and disabled the Wireless NIC, so that only the Wired NIC was present. Rebooted the MVP and, voila, SageTV came up on the MVP with no problem and it works great.

Unfortunately, this isn't going to work as I need the wired NIC enabled to get an internet connection to the Sage TV PC. Anyone have any thoughts on how to get Sage TV to recognize the right NIC for the MVP when both the wired and wireless cards are enabled?

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

Unfortunately, this isn't going to work as I need the wired NIC enabled to get an internet connection to the Sage TV PC. Anyone have any thoughts on how to get Sage TV to recognize the right NIC for the MVP when both the wired and wireless cards are enabled?

For what it's worth, I also had this working briefly without the router, using the crossover connection with the ICS DHCP server to assign the address to the MVP, so the crossover connection is not the problem (as long as a DHCP server is present - when I tried this with ICS turned off, the MVP just stays at the "Contacting MVP Bootserver" screen and never reaches "Loading Application").

So, just to see if I could reproduce everything, I rebooted the Sage TV PC and the MVP did not work. I disabled the Wireless NIC, then reenabled the Wireless NIC and still no luck. So, I'm fairly convinced that 2 NICs are the problem, I just don't know what to do about it.

[gplasky]

Like I mentioned iin a previous post I think you have to bridge the 2 networks. Here's how you would go about it but I can't guarantee it will fix your issue.

CAUSE
To create a network bridge by using the private ICS connection and another network connection (other than the public ICS connection), you must create the bridge before enabling ICS. If you do not, the network bridge cannot properly bind to the private ICS connection, and the bridge is not created.
Back to the top

RESOLUTION
There are two methods for correctly configuring the bridge. You can use the Network Setup Wizard to create the network bridge and to enable ICS, or you can manually configure these options. The remainder of this article describes how to manually configure the network bridge and enable ICS.

NOTE: Use the following procedure at any time that you want to configure a bridge, or any time you intend to add or remove an interface on a Windows XP-based computer that hosts ICS.
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To Manually Create the Network Bridge and Enable ICS
1. Disable ICS and Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) on the public interface. After you do this, ICS and ICF should not be enabled on any network connection on the computer. To disable ICS and ICF:a. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Network and Internet Connections, and then click Network Connections.
b. Right-click the Internet connection, and then click Properties.
c. Click the Advanced tab.
d. Clear the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box if it is selected.
e. Clear the Allow other network users to connect check box if it is selected.
f. Click OK in each dialog box until you return to the Network Connections folder.

2. In the Network Connections folder, select the two adapters that you want to use to create the bridge. Make sure that neither of the adapters is the connection to the Internet. To select two network adapters, first click one network connection. Then, hold down the CTRL key while you click the second network connection.
3. Right-click either connection, and then click Bridge Connection. Windows XP creates a network bridge by using the two network connections you specified. After this process is finished, continue with the next step.
4. In the Network Connections folder, right-click the Internet connection, and then click Properties. Remember that the Internet connection cannot be one of the connections that you used to create the bridge if your intent is to run ICS or ICF on the Internet connection.
5. On the Advanced tab, select the Allow other network users to connect check box to enable ICS. Remember that because you have bridged two network connections together, both network adapters that are used in the bridge are on the internal side of ICS, and clients from either network can access the Internet.

NOTE: If you have more than two potential internal networks, ICS requires that you specify which network should be the private network that is used by ICS. For example, you may have one network connection to the Internet, two additional network connections that are part of a bridge, and a fourth network connection (for example, a wireless connection). In this example, either the wireless connection or the bridged connection could be configured as the private ICS network. If your intent is to have both the current bridged connections and the wireless connection be configured as the private ICS network, you must add the wireless connection to the bridge. If you do not, you must choose which network is the private ICS network, and which network is allowed to access the Internet through the Windows XP-based ICS host.

To add an additional adapter to the network bridge:a. Right-click the network bridge in the Network Connections folder, and then click Properties.
b. On the General tab, make sure that each adapter that should be configured as part of the bridge has a check mark next to it in the Adapters list.
c. Click OK to have the bridge bind any new adapters.
It is a good idea to completely configure the bridge before you enable ICS or ICF on the Internet connection.


6. Select the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check box if your intent is to protect this computer and other computers on the private network from the Internet.
7. Click OK in each dialog box until you return to the Network Connections folder. Close the Network Connections folder.
8. Enable ICS again if it has been disabled. Note that you cannot create a bridge by using the shared (public) ICS connection and the private ICS connection because of the design of ICS and network address translation (NAT) in general. Attempting to do so results in the following error message:
To create a Network Bridge, you must select at least two network connections that are not being used by Internet Connection Sharing or the Internet Connection Firewall.

Gerry

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Like I mentioned iin a previous post I think you have to bridge the 2 networks. Here's how you would go about it but I can't guarantee it will fix your issue.

Well, I haven't had any luck getting the bridge to work. I can't even get my laptop to connect via the bridge, so I know something is fundamentally wrong with the setup. In the bridge environment, I would expect to get an IP address from the DHCP server on the wireless router, right? Anyway, the laptop gets no IP assigned. I get an IP of 0.0.0.0 and a message indicating an IP address conflict exists on the network. Perhaps I need to use a hub or switch between the PC and MVP to get this to work instead of just the crossover connection?

But I really only need to bridge the two networks if I want the MVP to see the wireless network, right? I would expect the MVP to be able to exist on its own subnet connected via the wired port on the PC with no trouble. Shouldn't Sage TV be able to recognize that there are two subnets and then figure out which one the MVP is connecting from? This had always worked fine with Matt's plug-in, so I am not sure why it should change now.