Issues with WDTV on the network

I have D-Link DIR-655 gigabit router. Among other network devices I have a media PC, work PC and WDTV Live Plus. My media PC is 6 years old and all the drives are up to date. My work PC is year old and all drivers are up to date. Router is 3 years old and firmware is up to date.

Here is my problem. My media PC is on all the time. My work PC is on only rarely as I usually just use laptop. When my media PC is on and work PC is off I can stream anything to WDTV from any computer on the network. When I turn my work PC on I can still stream from any computer (including work PC) but the media PC. I can see it on the WDTV menu but it is not accessible. When I turn the work PC off I have to restart my media PC for it to become accessible by WDTV again.

Media PC and Work are only connected over the network. I can not figure out what this is happening. I was thinking about getting a new network card for media PC.

Thoughts?

IP conflicts?

Suggestion:
It might be the Computer Browser Service. (see this description)

With multiple systems on the same LAN, every time a system is booted and it attaches to the LAN subnet,
there is A Browser Election that occurs (you can see it via the Event Viewer: start->run eventvwr.msc )
as "Event ID 8033 Source: Browser"

There's a tool mentioned here (Browstat.exe) but I've been content to use nbtstat -n to see this

Code:

C:\Users\Jeff>nbtstat -n
 
Local Area Connection:
Node IpAddress: [192.168.0.5] Scope Id: []
 
				NetBIOS Local Name Table
 
	  Name			  Type		Status
	---------------------------------------------
	JEFFPC7		<00>  UNIQUE	  Registered
	97THOFFICE	<00>  GROUP	  Registered
	JEFFPC7		<20>  UNIQUE	  Registered
	97THOFFICE	<1E>  GROUP	  Registered
	97THOFFICE	<1D>  UNIQUE	  Registered
	..__MSBROWSE__.<01>  GROUP	  Registered
 
Bluetooth Network Connection:
Node IpAddress: [0.0.0.0] Scope Id: []
 
	No names in cache

The last line says that this laptop (JeffPC7) has the Master Browser active and has won the last election.

this entry

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Browser\Parameters
   IsDomainMaster REG_SZ = True

says this system will compete to become the Master Browser

This key { OsLevel REG_BINARY = ???? } is the priority for winning the election.

Mine shows OsLevel = 0033

Known Values for OsLevel are { 255, 33, 8}
255 -> Always Win
33 -> default
8 -> non-preferred but acceptble

For your case, I might suggest that you set OsLevel = 255 on the media PC

Also just remembered, all systems need NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled
and if the work PC doesn't, then it could win the Browser Election and not be able to
support requests for things like \\systemName\shareName

Thanks for the info. I have changed the NetBIOS over Tcpip on both PCs from default to enable. I was not able to find the parameters directory on the mediaPC, but I have one on the work PC (in registry). Since they are identical versions of OS would it be save for copy that directory over? Meanwhile I have changed the workPC to always wind and we will see what happens.

DIR-655 backup the configuration
Do a power recycle
Do a 30-30-30 seconds reset and power off, then on while holding down the rest button, this cures a lot of issues with WiFi Routers to prep them for firmware upgrades.

Upload the latest firmware to it?

hmm; if you are referring to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Browser\Parameters

that's referring to a registry key see in REGEDIT
the keys under Parameters\ are

• (Default)
• IsDomainMaster
• MaintainServerList
• OsLevel
• ServiceDll
• ServiceDllUnloadOnStop

Oh, I had a dyslexic moment. I went tot the bowser directory not browser. Yes, I do have Parameters directory in the registry as described above. However under that directory I only have:

• (Default)
• MainServerList
• ServiceDll
• ServiceDllUnloadOnStop

No IsDomainMaster or OsLevel listed. Would I be able to define new OsLevel value? If so what are the pieces of info I would need to enter. Would you mind letting me cheat off of your registry? Can you copy and past the info I will need?

Thanks

See post #3 above

Well, I did managed to get this done. I have restarted both network devices several times at different intervals and media PC did come on top as master browser, but it did not work. I did however noticed new symptom.

When both computers are freshly rebooted with no one doing any work on them I can stream media to WDTV from both devices. I played with WDTV for 30 minutes with all networked devices (media PC, work PC, and others), no problems. Them I went to my work PC and started to transfer a file from media PC. Once the transfer was done I went back to WDTV to play around some more just to discover that I can not access the media PC again.

So, I restarted both, did no work on either, and they both streamed. I accessed media PC with work PC and media PC could not be accessed by WDTV again. It is like work PC has a "magic" network hold on media PC. So then I accessed my laptop via work PC, transferred some files just to see if laptop would become inaccessible by WDTV, and it did not. However when I went to check on the media PC it was once again accessible.

Rest of the computers on the network can access each other at any point in time with no issue, that includes media PC and work PC. It is as if the work PC lock out my media PC on the WDTV when it is accessing it (or when it was accessed last) and unlocks it when it accesses different network computer. But that other network computer does not become locked out. Just the media PC becomes locked out when accessed my work PC.

Confused? Me too! Thoughts?

What OS are you using on both the Media and Work PC?

Windows 7 Pro x64 on both

Vary strange indeed. I have Win/7 Pro 64bit, an iMac & a Linux server + the WDTV and have not experienced what you are reporting - - sigh - - so I can't imagine where to go from here.

Okay OS now we're getting there?
What Firewall software are you using? Windows 7 Firewall on both devices? Work PC and Media PC?

Btw: did you look for firmware updates for the WDTV? I've taken 2 or 3 now, but my device is directly attached to the router so it finds them easily.

The PC you use most frequently should have the Computer Browser setting OsLevel = 255.

From the cited article, there's an election for Computer Browser every 12 minutes - - not just because a system goes or comes on/off line. If the system currently acting a Computer Browser(CB) is the one that just powered off (or was disconnected), on average, it will take 6 minutes for another CB election. Meanwhile, resolutions for things like \\system\Movies will fail until the CB is running again.

Of my three systems, the laptop is the dominant - most used, so I've made it the CB of choice.

If these devices are not seeing the shared media then you have to make sure the right services are running. Is your network running both Workgroups and Homegroups? Most of these media streaming issues are from network services are disabled. Like a cleaner program you ran could have turned off these extra features to save on resources. It happens!

Personally, I use only Workgroups and never Win/7 Homegroups