Windows 10 DNLA not seen by Network Devices

[PlasmaNewbie]

Hi,

I appreciate that this is NOT a PC support forum, but I'm asking the question here incase anyone else has had this issue. I will look elsewhere for answers and if unsuccessful, reinstall the PC from scratch.

I've been using windows media streaming for many years and on different PC's without a single issue. I've got about 20 flac albums that I've bought from bandcamp and a couple I've ripped. So this is not a major issue, its annoying me.

I've just got a new PC, which came with windows 10 preinstalled. I would normally do a re-installed, but there was a minor hardware issue (GPU), and by the time I'd got that resolved I'd passed the point where a re-install made sense.

The issue is, that I've set up media streaming (100% I've done everything required), and in the network setup I can see the remote DNLA client devices listed and they are allowed access. In media player the albums are listed and I've ticked the other devices box.

But my box is invisible to my devices. ie its not showing with no content, its just not showing at all. Media player is finding my Marantz ND8006 and listing that as a DLNA server, so I know the network is good and the devices are talking.... I still have the old PC, and I can't see any difference in setup...

I think the issue is not actually the media server itself, but a network issue maybe. I've tried turning off the firewall etc.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? As I've said I don't need help on how to set it up, I've followed that and its not working for some other reason! If anyone is interested the process is simple and is available here as well as many other places.

Any suggestions welcome

 

[RBZ5416]

I would never rely on Windows to serve content & always install proper DLNA/UPnP software. I still use Logitech Sqeezebox so use their LMS, but an alternative often recommended is MinimServer.

MinimServer Downloads

minimserver.com

Appreciate this doesn't directly answer your question but it sould be a quick, free, painless solution.

 

[rednotdead]

Long time since I've dealt with windows clients but do they still do that thing where they ask you the type of network you're joining then restrict what can be seen/shared etc?

Are the devices cabled up or WIFI?

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

I would never rely on Windows to serve content & always install proper DLNA/UPnP software. I still use Logitech Sqeezebox so use their LMS, but an alternative often recommended is MinimServer.

MinimServer Downloads

minimserver.com

Appreciate this doesn't directly answer your question but it sould be a quick, free, painless solution.

Before I used the DNLA server, I was using squeezeserver (LMS) ! But I sort of reverted back to vinyl, and ditched my itunes library (which was ripped CD's).

I think there may be an underlying issue , which could affect other services in the future.. So a reinstall is the best approach.

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

Long time since I've dealt with windows clients but do they still do that thing where they ask you the type of network you're joining then restrict what can be seen/shared etc?

Are the devices cabled up or WIFI?

Its wifi, but the old PC is on the same network and works fine. In theory its identical other than IP and name...

 

[the groundsman]

I had an issue with a new Windows 10 install where it kept reverting my home network to public rather than private which made connections challenging.

 

[rednotdead]

^^^ this is what I think is going on, back in the day when I used to tinker with Windows it was usually this causing the issues.

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

I had an issue with a new Windows 10 install where it kept reverting my home network to public rather than private which made connections challenging.

I thought I had checked that, but I will double check later. Its obvious I've missed something Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Cebolla]

Yes, make sure the network you are using is set up as a private network on the Windows computer otherwise any UPnP/DLNA device applications running on the computer, including the Windows DLNA server, will be prevented by default from being discovered on the network.

Also, I'm with @RBZ5416 here & recommend installing one of the decent music file dedicated UPnP/DLNA media server's mentioned (another is Asset UPnP), rather than enabling the built-in Windows DLNA server if you want a semblance of control of how the music files are being streamed. The Windows DLNA server has been known to unexpectedly transcode lossless files to lossy MP3.

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

Yes, make sure the network you are using is set up as a private network on the Windows computer otherwise any UPnP/DLNA device applications running on the computer, including the Windows DLNA server, will be prevented by default from being discovered on the network.

Also, I'm with @RBZ5416 here & recommend installing one of the decent music file dedicated UPnP/DLNA media server's mentioned (another is Asset UPnP), rather than enabling the built-in Windows DLNA server if you want a semblance of control of how the music files are being streamed. The Windows DLNA server has been known to unexpectedly transcode lossless files to lossy MP3.

Thanks for the suggestions. It's 100% on a private network, and I can achieve 50% of what I wanted to do via network shares (Bluesound) rather than DLNA. I only have a handful of files, and I'm intrigued as to why its not working.

I have a theory, if correct my original suggestion of a re-install will sort it.

I've been thinking about using a small NAS box + plex (??) , but all my stuff is wifi not wired. And I can't physically plus a NAS box into my router, as its in a small cubboard under the stairs where BT comes in and there is literally no room.

Thanks to everyone for all of the feedback, I will try a few thinks and either give up or re-install

 

[DaveS00]

I was caught out by this type of issue a couple of years back are you hubs/switch/router DLNA capable? I was using an old hub, regular network file/copy etc all worked fine but DLNA didn't - i used my laptop connected at different points in my network to narrow the issue down and found it was an elderly hub.

 

[Cebolla]

Were you really using an (to all intents & purposes, not being used in standard ethernet networks for at least a decade) obsolete ethernet hub and not a modern switch or router but may be an older model with perhaps 'hub' in its name, such as the BT Home Hub series of routers?

If anything, a true ethernet hub (assuming its electronics aren't faulty), being a passive network device, dumbly lets everything through by design, so should include anything to do with UPnP/DLNA device discovery - as long as all the hub's connected devices' ethernet network adapters are set up for TCP/IP & have been assigned with a correct IP address (either statically or by a DHCP server running on one of the network devices).

 

[DaveS00]

Were you really using an (to all intents & purposes, not being used in a standard networks for at least a decade) obsolete ethernet hub and not a not modern switch or router but may be an older model with 'hub' in its name, such as the BT Home Hub series of routers?

If anything, a true ethernet hub (assuming its electronics aren't faulty), being a passive network device, dumbly lets everything through by design, including anything to do with UPnP/DLNA decice discovery - as long as all the hub's connected devices' ethernet network adapters are set up for TCP/IP & have been assigned with a correct IP address (either statically or by a DHCP server running on one of the network devices).

It wasn't a router - it literally was a simple switch, non-programmable. A decent brand but old, and no it didn't passively pass thru DLNA. It was an eye-opener for me as I thought they let everything through, but that wasn't the case.

 

[Cebolla]

Ah, so it was a switch, which isn't a passive device like the defunct hub and can only let everything through if its been programmed that way. 'Simple' & non-programmable (by you), perhaps, but definitely pre-programmed & very much active. Unfortunately it was programmed, either by accident or by design, in such a way as to block the UDP multicast packets used by UPnP device discovery (SSDP).

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

I was caught out by this type of issue a couple of years back are you hubs/switch/router DLNA capable? I was using an old hub, regular network file/copy etc all worked fine but DLNA didn't - i used my laptop connected at different points in my network to narrow the issue down and found it was an elderly hub.

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it. I have the old PC plugged into the same switch and that works fine. I upgraded to Windows 11, and that didn't fix it. To be honest I'm more interested in finding why its not working, than actually getting it working. I have plenty to vinyl to keep me happy. I just have some stuff that I only have downloaded.

 

[PlasmaNewbie]

Just thought I'd update this...

Despite uninstalling the media server from features and reinstalling, deleting the windows media library files etc etc. I could not get the DNLA server to be seen on the network...

I spent another hour on it last night, before throwing in the towel and giving up.

I decided to download the Plex server and enabled the DNLA service on that. The whole thing took me about two minutes.... And its easy too.

 

[Cebolla]

Plex is probably a bit of video biased sledgehammer to crack a nut (compared to the music file dedicated UPnP/DLNA media servers that were mentioned earlier), but good to know that at least one of the alternatives to the Windows DLNA server is working normally with no installation issues.

Makes you wonder what's wrong with Windows' own UPnP/DLNA supporting applications & associated software in your particular Windows installation.

 

[Khazul]

Hi,

I appreciate that this is NOT a PC support forum, but I'm asking the question here incase anyone else has had this issue. I will look elsewhere for answers and if unsuccessful, reinstall the PC from scratch.

I've been using windows media streaming for many years and on different PC's without a single issue. I've got about 20 flac albums that I've bought from bandcamp and a couple I've ripped. So this is not a major issue, its annoying me.

I've just got a new PC, which came with windows 10 preinstalled. I would normally do a re-installed, but there was a minor hardware issue (GPU), and by the time I'd got that resolved I'd passed the point where a re-install made sense.

The issue is, that I've set up media streaming (100% I've done everything required), and in the network setup I can see the remote DNLA client devices listed and they are allowed access. In media player the albums are listed and I've ticked the other devices box.

But my box is invisible to my devices. ie its not showing with no content, its just not showing at all. Media player is finding my Marantz ND8006 and listing that as a DLNA server, so I know the network is good and the devices are talking.... I still have the old PC, and I can't see any difference in setup...

I think the issue is not actually the media server itself, but a network issue maybe. I've tried turning off the firewall etc.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? As I've said I don't need help on how to set it up, I've followed that and its not working for some other reason! If anyone is interested the process is simple and is available here as well as many other places.

Any suggestions welcome

Check settings:


Probably easiest to find this by typing 'media' into the search box.

 

[Cebolla]

We appear to have gone full circle - should be worth carefully re-reading the OP (hint penultimate paragraph & link).

 

[Khazul]

OK, my bad, didnt read enough and evidently missed clicking on a link labelled 'here'. No need to be condescending / sarcastic or whatever you were aiming for.

 

[Cebolla]

Nothing was being aimed for I assure you (other than empathy for someone new to a conversation & bringing up something that was already dealt with) . Might be worth you mentioning what part(s) caused such offence - I'm at a loss (should I have just left it to the OP to say something, if anything/the bit in brackets/the smiley?).