Can't get an IP Address??

[mlammens]

I have a wired Hauppauge MediaMVP with WinPro 350
TV card, and the system was working fine (well, pretty good, anyway) for several months, but after my storage drive crashed, the MediaMVP player can't find an ip address. I reformatted the drive with 64k blocks and I can record programs and watch them on my PC, but when I try to send a signal to the MVP extender, it can't find an ip address. When I replace the extender with my laptop, it has no problem and hooks right up to the network. (I use a linksys router.)

I've gone over all the settings, reinstalled the latest updates, but still no ip address. Not being a technical guy, I'm ready to get out the sledgehammer like someone else I read about here.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can approach problem solving this thing, short of getting a degree in electronic engineering? Are there some settings that are critical? I have to admit I don't really understand some of the questions, like do I output a signal with my tv card or not? Is there a list of what the settings should be for a MediaMVP extender with Winpro TV card working through a linksys router, etc, etc. Can't imagine my setup is all that exotic!! And it used to work!!

Thanks, appreciate the help, if you can!

[paulbeers]

Do you have the Hauppauge software installed on your Sage Machine? If you do, then you need to remove it as it can't be installed. However, if you don't, you can try to install it to see if your MediaMVP is even working with the Hauppauge software.

You say your storage drive went down, is this the same one that windows is on? Are you running windows XP? Could the firewall be causing a problem? Did you reinstall Sage? Did you remember to turn on the MediaMVP server option?

These are just some of the many problems....

[sam99]

My first suggestion would be to make sure the network is still working. Router ports, mvp network ports and networks line can all go bad. I had a an mvp whose network port stopped working with nothing I knew of that caused it. I luckily had a second mvp in the house and was able to switch them and found that one of them worked in both locations and the other no longer worked in either, so was easy to place the blame on the mvp and return for replacement. You do not have access to another mvp, maybe a friend has one or something, that you can put in place of your current one to see if it works?

How is your network path set up? Server direct to router through the wall to the mvp...or...server through the wall to router thru the wall to mvp...or...etc? First thing to do is plug in your mvp, and check the port light on the back to make sure it is lighting up. Then check router port lights to make sure both server and mvp input ports are lit up. If not, then try different ports on the router. This is a quick way to see if you have obvious network problems. Had a bad lightning storm a year ago that burned my xbox network port and the linksys router port it was connected to.

One other thought. What exactly happened to your storage drive? Could the cause of that crash have affected your network card or at least the settings? Can the server access the internet?

[mlammens]

Well, I seem to have gotten past the IP Address problem and now get a “no streaming server found” message. That’s an improvement, right? I’ve fiddled for the last couple of hours – okay, make that four hours – and reinstalled Windows XP along with the Hauppauge WinTV program and the MediaMVP programs.

However, if you don't, you can try to install it to see if your MediaMVP is even working with the Hauppauge software,

As recommended above and by MediaMVP tech support, removed SageTV just to see if it would work. It still says “Can’t find a streaming server. Please check your network setting and make sure the server is running”! According to the tech support, it has to be a firewall that keeps it from seeing the server. Windows firewall is not running, and I even downloaded a program called “cprocess” which tells you everything that is running. No firewalls to be found!

At this point, Hauppauge tech support says they can do nothing more, out of solutions.

Paulbeers: I put all my programs, including Windows XP on the c: drive, with the videos only on the F drive. I think answered most of your other questions above. If you can suggest any other way to see why it can't find a server, great!

I don't have another extender to see if it is the cause of the problem, unfortunately. I did address all the issues brought up by paulbeers.

Any other ideas. Sure appreciate your help, would hate to think that TIVO is the answer, especially after sinking all this money and time into this system!

Thanks again.

PS I did try the MVPMedia Start/Stop function to see what would happen. Nothing

[davephan]

Make sure that the ports needed for the MVP are not being blocked. If you have a software firewall, trying disabling the software firewall. If the MVP works, then you will need to configure the software firewall to allow the MVP to work when the firewall is running.

If the MVP still does not work, then make sure that the ports needed for the MVP are opened up in your router. If the ports are not opened, the MVP might not work at all or will be unreliable.

To setup the MVP setup, you could try disabling SageTV and use the crude Hauppauge software that comes with the MVP to help you isolate the problem.

After you get the system working, you should use disk imaging software, take periodic images, so you never have to rebuild the system from scratch again.


Dave

[mlammens]

Thanks, Dave. I'll try and figure out how to open up the ports in the router, since I've done the rest (i.e., removed Sage, loaded Hauppauge). I'll let you know if it works, and follow your advice on imaging.

Mike

[mlammens]

Hmm, so here's the situation. Still not streaming server, but when I load McAfee's Network manager and turn on the Extender, it shows up with an IP address of 192.168.101. My main computer is 192.168.100, the router is 192.168.1.1 and a second computer is 192.168.102.

I can ping it and it all is fine. The only other thing fishy is the Windows XP firewall which won't load because of an ICS issue. I think this firewall issue may be related because I had downloaded some MS Windows spyware defender or something (which I now deleted).

Any thoughts on where to go next? Is it still a router issue? Thanks for any and all help, as always!

[CollinR]

MVP and server must be on the same subnet, just pick one and make them all match. Or if you are intentionally isolating stuff get all the Sage + media stuff on the same subnet at least.

[gplasky]

In other words if your router is 192.168.1.1 then your machines should be 192.168.1.100, 192.168.1.101, 192.168.1.102, etc.

Gerry

[QueOnda]

Make sure no other media services is running. the MVP or WMP or Roxio or ORB. There may be others. That's the issue I had run into.

[mlammens]

Problem solved!! Thanks for all your help, I know nobody get's paid, and your time is valuable, so thanks for all your input.

How did it resolve? After many hours of dead-ends, I discovered Window XP's "Help and Support". Went to "tools to view your computer, etc", clicked Network Diagnostics and scanned the system. Kept coming back with a WMI error. Rebuilt the WMI file (found a fix by googling), and joila, it works! So simple if you know what to do!

Thanks again!

Mike