how does placeshifter automatically discover a server on the lan?

[bbobbo]

i have two clients with placeshifter installed on them on the same lan. both clients have the same network settings (static ips, identical c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts files).

however, one client can automatically detect the sagetv server on the lan and automatically creates an entry labeled "local network". the other client for some reason can't detect the server automatically--i have to enter the server name and then it works.

i looked at the sagetvplaceshifter.properties file on each client, and saw that on the one that detected the serer automatically, it had the following entry:

servers/local/SERVERNAME/last_connect_time=1151633224722

on the one that didn't, it had the following entries (after i typed in the server name twice, for name and address):

server_names=SERVERNAME;
servers/SERVERNAME/type=2
servers/SERVERNAME/last_connect_time=0
servers/SERVERNAME/address=SERVERNAME

i tried replacing the servers properties in the non-detecting client's .properties file with the servers property in the detecting client's .properties file, but that doesn't seem to work (it just prompts me for the server name again).

it's not really a big deal since i can get it working on both clients. but i'm wondering what would keep one client from being able to detect the server automatically?

i'm using the 5.0.2 server and placeshifter clients, by the way.

[Opus4]

Are the firewall settings the same on both systems & they use the same subnet? The firewall port FAQ lists port 31100 as being used for server autodiscovery, so maybe that is blocked on one of the clients.

- Andy

[bbobbo]

ah, that was it exactly. on one computer, i have zonealarm installed, and when i first ran placeshifter, it asked me if i wanted to allow access.

on the other computer, i'm only using windows firewall. even though i have the "display a notification when windows firewall blocks a program" option checked, windows firewall never notified me when i ran placeshifter. thanks microsoft.

thanks a lot for the tip.