Mezzmo dissappearing off network

**Gus** · 11-05-2024, 10:22 PM

Hi,
i've been running Mezzmo for many many years, and for the last few years, running inside Windows 2019 server. All working fine for a long time.

In the last couple of months, all devices show no server when browsing for Mezzmo over DLNA. the list is empty on all devices and all apps. Some devices are firestick with Kodi, other devices are VLC on Windows, and even VLC on iOS. All show an empty list when browsing the LAN for uPnP server. Whereas before all would show Mezzmo quickly.

The fix is to stop and start the Mezzmo service then it appears. But tomorrow for example again no server found.

Nothing has changed on the network and all routers, switches etc are all the same.
It's not a LAN or firewall problem as the issue is fixed after a service start/stop.

I have amended the Server Advertisement Interval many times, and is currently at 60 seconds.

As a test, i have installed Jellyfin on the same server on a different port, and it shows up all the time. So it looks not like the server or the network infrastructure, or the clients.

Has this been seen before?

is there anything i can try?

would a complete remove and reinstall work?

thanks

Gus

**martyd** · 11-06-2024, 08:42 AM

Yes, I've experienced the same problem. See http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...m-servers-list

After trying various things the problem went away, so I stopped chasing it. Unfortunately the issue has recently reappeared so I'm going to have to work on it again.

The last thing Peter suggested was getting a set of logs, so that will have to be my next step.

**jbinkley60** · 11-06-2024, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by Gus

Hi,
i've been running Mezzmo for many many years, and for the last few years, running inside Windows 2019 server. All working fine for a long time.

In the last couple of months, all devices show no server when browsing for Mezzmo over DLNA. the list is empty on all devices and all apps. Some devices are firestick with Kodi, other devices are VLC on Windows, and even VLC on iOS. All show an empty list when browsing the LAN for uPnP server. Whereas before all would show Mezzmo quickly.

The fix is to stop and start the Mezzmo service then it appears. But tomorrow for example again no server found.

...

With Kodi are you running the Mezzmo Kodi addon or straight Kodi ? With the Mezzmo Kodi addon, once a Mezzmo server is discovered it remembers it and so even if a Mezzmo server announcement is missed Kodi will still connect to the server.

Thanks,

Jeff

**jbinkley60** · 11-06-2024, 09:43 AM

Originally Posted by martyd

Yes, I've experienced the same problem. See http://forum.conceiva.com/showthread...m-servers-list

After trying various things the problem went away, so I stopped chasing it. Unfortunately the issue has recently reappeared so I'm going to have to work on it again.

The last thing Peter suggested was getting a set of logs, so that will have to be my next step.

The Mezzmo notify messages and Mezzmo responses to a client request are all based upon network Layer 2 broadcasts. Out of curiosity what is the IP address space and subnet mask for your wireless and wired networks ?

Thanks,

Jeff

**martyd** · 11-06-2024, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by jbinkley60

The Mezzmo notify messages and Mezzmo responses to a client request are all based upon network Layer 2 broadcasts. Out of curiosity what is the IP address space and subnet mask for your wireless and wired networks ?

Jeff,

Wireless and wired networks share the same space 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 so I don't see a problem there.

There are suggestions in the Mezzmo Wiki (IGMP, Jumbo Packets) that I couldn't find in the router/modem they are using. I'm not sure if one of those could be the cause.

**jbinkley60** · 11-06-2024, 06:35 PM

Originally Posted by martyd

Jeff,

Wireless and wired networks share the same space 192.168.0.0 mask 255.255.255.0 so I don't see a problem there.

There are suggestions in the Mezzmo Wiki (IGMP, Jumbo Packets) that I couldn't find in the router/modem they are using. I'm not sure if one of those could be the cause.

Is the issue only when you cross between wired and wireless (i.e. Mezzmo on wired and client on wireless) or related to wired or wireless only ? I don't see it being an issue with Jumbo packets because Mezzmo is unlikely to use them, especially if they are disabled on the Mezzmo server (typically by default in Windows) and broadcasts / DLNA SSDP discovery don't use jumbo packets. IGMP could be an issue but is more related to multicast traffic vs. broadcast traffic. What WiFi router are you using ?

Thanks,

Jeff

**martyd** · 11-07-2024, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by jbinkley60

Is the issue only when you cross between wired and wireless (i.e. Mezzmo on wired and client on wireless) or related to wired or wireless only ? I don't see it being an issue with Jumbo packets because Mezzmo is unlikely to use them, especially if they are disabled on the Mezzmo server (typically by default in Windows) and broadcasts / DLNA SSDP discovery don't use jumbo packets. IGMP could be an issue but is more related to multicast traffic vs. broadcast traffic. What WiFi router are you using ?

Jeff,

Have a look at my previous thread (link in my first response above). The problem is with my non-tech friend's setup. I did try a wired connection to the client, but it didn't help. When I reverted the client back to Wireless the problem disappeared but has recently come back. The router is an ISP-provided Technicolor 789.

**jbinkley60** · 11-07-2024, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by martyd

Jeff,

Have a look at my previous thread (link in my first response above). The problem is with my non-tech friend's setup. I did try a wired connection to the client, but it didn't help. When I reverted the client back to Wireless the problem disappeared but has recently come back. The router is an ISP-provided Technicolor 789.

OK. I went back and reread the original post. I had missed the PC was on Ethernet. So interesting that it works between the Mezzmo PC being on wired and the clients being on wireless. If you look at the ethernet adapter settings on the PC, what are the speed and duplex settings for the adapter ? Also, what about flow control ? These will be in the adapter properties. If speed / duplex are set to auto try them at 100M full duplex or 1 gig full duplex, depending upon what the adapter supports. Flow control is preferred to be RX & TX enabled. What model of ethernet NIC is in he PC ?

Broadcast packets are UDP not TCP so they have no retramsit or error connection capabilities which is why I am looking in this area. You could be having packet loss between the PC and the router which may not be seen when playing your media over HTTP, which is TCP. Another test is to see if you can put your Mezzmo PC on wireless (even a USB Wifi adapter will do) to see if the problem goes away.

Thanks,

Jeff.

**martyd** · 11-08-2024, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by jbinkley60

OK. I went back and reread the original post. I had missed the PC was on Ethernet. So interesting that it works between the Mezzmo PC being on wired and the clients being on wireless. If you look at the ethernet adapter settings on the PC, what are the speed and duplex settings for the adapter ? Also, what about flow control ? These will be in the adapter properties. If speed / duplex are set to auto try them at 100M full duplex or 1 gig full duplex, depending upon what the adapter supports. Flow control is preferred to be RX & TX enabled. What model of ethernet NIC is in he PC ?

Broadcast packets are UDP not TCP so they have no retramsit or error connection capabilities which is why I am looking in this area. You could be having packet loss between the PC and the router which may not be seen when playing your media over HTTP, which is TCP. Another test is to see if you can put your Mezzmo PC on wireless (even a USB Wifi adapter will do) to see if the problem goes away.

Jeff,

Thanks for this - all good suggestions. The NIC is an embedded Realtek PCIe GbE. Flow control is RX & TX Enabled, Negotiation was set to Auto so I set it to 1Gb Full Duplex. I also noticed that IPV6 was enabled and I remember that causing a different problem before, so I disabled it. I'll see how it goes for a few days and then I might try the wireless adaptor on the Mezzmo PC. I have the PC with me at the moment (doing some tidying up), but I'll drop it back to Mike's place this afternoon and watch how it goes over the next few days.

Thanks for your advice and I hope this is helping the OP Gus.

**jbinkley60** · 11-08-2024, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by martyd

Jeff,

Thanks for this - all good suggestions. The NIC is an embedded Realtek PCIe GbE. Flow control is RX & TX Enabled, Negotiation was set to Auto so I set it to 1Gb Full Duplex. I also noticed that IPV6 was enabled and I remember that causing a different problem before, so I disabled it. I'll see how it goes for a few days and then I might try the wireless adaptor on the Mezzmo PC. I have the PC with me at the moment (doing some tidying up), but I'll drop it back to Mike's place this afternoon and watch how it goes over the next few days.

Thanks for your advice and I hope this is helping the OP Gus.

Disabling IPv6 is a good thing. That becomes another layer 3 network sitting on top of your layer 2 broadcast domain. With this PC being as old as it is, it definitely has the potential to cause issues.

Thanks,

Jeff