Windows Media Connect Problems

[Peench]

So in addition to the adjustments I had to make with my NAT settings, I found out last night that my new 360 will not access any media on my server thru Windows Media Connect (WMC).

I checked out my WMC info and it had my old 360 allowed and the new one denied. I changed the new one to allowed and deleted the old one. The new one is showing up as allowed on my PC, but for some reason my 360 is not finding any media from my PC.

I tested the media connection thru the 360 and it passes every test but still nothing shows up. I tried disconnecting and reconnecting the PC thru the 360, but that didn't work.

I reset the firewall settings (to ensure the ports were opened up), restarted the computer and restarted the 360 to no avail. For whatever reason the 360 refuses to see any media on my PC.

Last night I also tried reinstalling WMC on my server. Still no luck. It recognizes the PC, but simply shows "no media" when I try to access my photos/music.

I have also double checked and all of the proper folders are shared.

Right now my only question is WTH? This makes absolutely no sense. Can anyone shed some light on this one for me or offer up any other suggestions or things to try. If the 360 is allowed, the firewall has opened up the ports and WMC is running, why won't the 360 see any of the media? I'm at a loss on this one so I appreciate any help you all can offer.

[Crippler]

Get rid of Media Connect and download WMP11 beta 2.

[blars]

Yeah...it's been too long since I have screwed with WMC. I am on Vista right now, so haven't had to mess with it for awhile.

[Peench]

Originally Posted by Crippler

Get rid of Media Connect and download WMP11 beta 2.

I've seen more than a few people comment that when they switched they lost the ability to connect and/or had to make some modifications. I guess since I can't access anything now I have nothing to lose and it doesn't much matter.

So how is WMP11 different than the media connect thing? Is that the new recommendation for connecting between the PC and the 360?

[SpOoNmAn]

My 2nd and 3rd 360s wouldnt show media either but saw the pc. I got frustrated and stopped troubleshooting. Woke up the next day, and it all worked Its been fine since.

[MadBryan]

Originally Posted by Peench

So how is WMP11 different than the media connect thing? Is that the new recommendation for connecting between the PC and the 360?

I think its built into it. People were having trouble because they didn't uninstall Connect before installing the WMP11 beta. at least that was my problem and I'm pretty sure thats how I fixed it. I swear im getting short term memory loss the older I get (and more beer I drink)

[Crippler]

If you have WMP11 beta 1 installed. Uninstall it and roll back to 10 first. Then install WMP11 beta2 fresh. I installed over top of beta 1 and couldn't get the sharing to work. I uninstalled and then installed beta 2 and it has worked fine since. WMP11 is replacing media connect. Why use 2 programs right? Using WMP11 just makes sense.

[Peench]

I just tried to uninstall WMC and it told me that like 47 other programs (mostly security updates and a few other things) relied on it and probably wouldn't work if I uninstalled WMC. WTH? That's odd, but so far I haven't uninstalled it.

I checked it again tonight and no dice. Still doesn't see any media. Its all very strange.

Quick question - does WMP11 keep an index of your media or does it have to build/refresh the index every time you turn on the computer? I don't leave my server on all day (since I'm normally not here) and it takes it literally over an hour to fully start up media sharing after I turn it on (I have loads of photos and music). If it keeps an index and is faster at spooling up everything that might be reason enough to switch.

But right now I'm a little gunshy. I don't want to jack everything up trying to get this to work. I would love for it to work, but mostly use the Tivo program for listening to stuff downstairs and when I'm here I can use my computer to view photos and listen to music - its not cricital, it just bugs me that I can't figure it out. I've never been one to walk away from something!

Any of you see that crazy thing when trying to remove WMC?

[Crippler]

You won't have any issues when you uninstall WMC. Windows seems to always put those prompts up now. Just uninstall that puppy, roll back to WMP10 (if you had WMP11 installed), and then install WMP11 beta2. The same WMC functions will now be in WMP11. Another cool thing with WMP11 is you can share media across a network from PC to PC. I can see my boss's media and he can see mine. But it seems to only work correctly in Vista at this point.

[Peench]

Alright so I uninstalled WMC last night despite the warning. Then I downloaded the latest version (not sure if it was different than the one I ad already but figured I would get it again just in case). I installed it and then let it take about 1.5 hours to scan all my media and then I was in business. My 360 was able to see all my media. For now I'm gonna hold off on WMP11 beta. I'll eventually replace this VERY outdated server with a new vista machine so there's no point tweaking too much now.

[Peench]

Oh yeah - and you cannot be playing a game while the PC is trying to authorize the 360. I got an error the first time I tried it and had to stop playing and sit there and do nothing for 20 minutes while it authorized.