I'm having a problem connecting the Rio Receiver with the Audio Receiver Manager software running on my Win2k box.

My PC is a P2 450MHz, running Win2k. My network setup starts with a Motorola cable modem connected to a Netgear RT311 router. The LAN side of the router connects to a Netgear FS108 10/100 BaseT auto sensing switch. Both the PC and Rio Receiver are connected to this switch. I'm also using the mercury_v103.exe Receiver Manager software on the PC.

Win 2k install was standard and the Receiver Manager software is mercury_V103.exe. No modifications have been made to the Win2k install or the Receiver Manager software except those mentioned below.

My problem is that after I install the Receiver Manager software, the receiver never connects to it. The icon in the system tray is always red. Also when the receiver starts up, it stays for about 30 seconds on the "Searching for server" screen then only displays the IP information it received from the DHCP service running on the router.

After reading quite a number of posts on this site, I went through the recommended troubleshooting checklist. I've ruled out network problems by installing the Audio Manager Software on both my roommates' machines (one is a Win 98 SE and the other is Win ME) which are both connected to the same switch as my Win 2k PC and the Receiver. I've tried setting the NIC on the Win2k machine to 10BT Half Duplex and I've also tried connecting the receiver directly to it using a crossover cable. I've even go so far as to install the Rio Connector card and connect through a phone line. No matter the setup, I've never been able to get the Win2k machine and the Receiver to connect. The icon is always red and the window is always empty.

When I installed the Receiver Manager software on both the Win98 SE box and the Win ME box, I made no changes to either machines and the receiver connected with no problems.

I must assume that this is a Win2k problem. However I've read posts on this site where people have successfully run the Receiver Manager software on a Win2k machine.

I've run out of ideas on how to resolve this problem. Running the software off of one of the other machines in my home is not an issue since they are both in my roommates' rooms.

Does anyone know what I need to do to my Win2k machine in order to get it to connect to the Receiver?

Thank you.

Were you logged in with the privilege level of "administrator" when you installed the Receiver Server software?

Yes I was.

Is it possible that it's a NTFS vs FAT32 problem? The WIn2k machine is NTFS while the WinME and Win 98SE machines are both FAT32. Just a thought.

I have successfully run the Receiver software on an NTFS partition, so I doubt that's it.

In fact, I don't think I've ever seen any software that had bugs related to running from NTFS volumes.

It's more likely related to a networking problem, something having to do with addresses, DHCP, or perhaps the 100-megabit switch.

I'm running 3 Rio Receivers in an almost identical situation. My PC is running Win2k. It's plugged in to the same Netgear FS108 switch as two of the Receivers. They both work.

I think that you can discount the router, unless it's involved in the DHCP configuration.

These are general trouble-shooting steps -- I know that you've probably tried most of them already, but someone else might find them useful, too.

The first trouble-shooting step is to find out if you're getting link at the Receiver when in this configuration:

1. Plug in the network cable.
2. Plug in the power cable.
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Hit the power switch. Watch the link/activity lights on the back.
5. The activity light should come on solid for about half a second, followed by the link light. They should remain solid for a while, as the Receiver loads its firmware over NFS.

If this is not working, then you've got a cabling problem, or the Receiver's network port is hosed. Now, you know it's not the Receiver -- it works with the other PCs.

The next step is to diagnose your DHCP problems. When the Receiver fails to boot, it will display the networking information.

This is formatted as:

info net:pna ip:169.254.238.208

n:255.255.0.0 g:255.255.255.255

If you've got link in the previous step, you should get "net:eth". If you're trying PNA, then you'd expect "net:pna". The "ip:", "n:" and "g:" sections tells you what IP information was assigned by your DHCP server. If the "ip:" section starts with 169.254, then the Receiver couldn't find a DHCP server and used UPnP to make up an IP address.

Now, some questions:

1. Is your router doing the DHCP assignment, or are you using the built-in DHCP server in the Receiver software?
2. Are the Win2k/98/ME machines configured to use DHCP or static?
3. Does the router do NAT -- i.e. is it assigning private IP addresses to your machines, or is it assigning them from a pool assigned by your cable modem provider?
4. In the Audio Receiver Manager, go to Tools|IP Configuration. Which network adapters are listed in there? Is "Enable Autoconfiguration" checked for the network adapter? If it is, what IP addresses are in the boxes? Are these what you'd expect for your network?
5. Is the "Make Music available" box checked?

More questions as I think of them.

1. Is your router doing the DHCP assignment, or are you using the built-in DHCP server in the Receiver software?

My router is providing the DHCP assignment. I assume that you mean the section in quesiton 4 when you're speaking of the built-in DHCP server in the receiver software.

2. Are the Win2k/98/ME machines configured to use DHCP or static?

All are static.

3. Does the router do NAT -- i.e. is it assigning private IP addresses to your machines, or is it assigning them from a pool assigned by your cable modem provider?

The router is using NAT. Each macine has an internal address starting with 192.168.0.

4. In the Audio Receiver Manager, go to Tools|IP Configuration. Which network adapters are listed in there? Is "Enable Autoconfiguration" checked for the network adapter? If it is, what IP addresses are in the boxes? Are these what you'd expect for your network?

The network adapters listed are: 1. my NIC; 2. the Rio Audio Connector; 3. WAN NDIS miniport driver (Cisco VPN adapter). I've tried "Enable Autoconfiguration" both checked and unchecked. When it is checked, the IP addresses are valid for my network, although they are in the upper range of available IPs (192.168.0.129 - 192.168.0.254).

5. Is the "Make Music available" box checked?

Yes it is.

With respect to your description of the link and activity lights, I'm seeing a slightly different sequence then you've described. The link light comes on solid a second or two after the power has been turned on and remains solid. The activity light then begins to blink at a rate of one blink every second for about 10 seconds. This is followed by a series (maybe 10) of quick blinks in about 2 seconds. It then slows to one blink every 4 or 5 seconds until the IP address is finally displayed on the front display. I don't know how relevant this is.

I am running a packet sniffer on my LAN (ethereal on a RedHat 7.2 box) and when the receiver connects to either the Win 98SE box or the WinME box, I can see the two of them negotiate with the receiver. When I try to connect to the Win2k box, all that I see is the receiver broadcasting to the entire network searching out a server.

Is there anyting in Win2k that would be acting like a pseudo-firewall? Port blocking perhaps? I haven't found anyting myself, but I'm a bit new to Win2k.

Any other ideas?

OK, so it sounds like there's nothing wrong with the cabling/router. It's definitely a problem with the Win2k box. I know that you kinda proved this by using the other two machines, but it doesn't hurt to be thorough.

Now, you might as well leave the "Enable Autoconfiguration" box unchecked -- it won't do any harm, but we'll know that the router is doing the DHCP assignment.

The next question, I guess, is: What network card do you have in the Win2k box?

Something else we should check is that the server process is listening properly on the Win2k box.

At a command prompt, type "netstat -n -a -p UDP", and verify that the following port numbers are in the list, and bound to the correct IP address:

The first 4 should be bound to 0.0.0.0 (at least they are on my Win2k box):
- 18678
- 21075
- 21076
- 21077

This one should be bound to the correct IP address for the adapter:
- 21078

It sounds to me like the NFS server is not responding to initial requests for software, so we should chase this down a little more.

In case it's a registry problem, check the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Diamond Multimedia\Audio Receiver Manager\1.0

Under "Adapters", should be listed each of your network adapters, by MAC. There should be a string value under these called "Bindings". For the adapter that you're interested in, make sure that it says "http;nfs". This tells the different server modules whether to bind to this adapter.

Check that you've got an "HTTP" key.

Check that you've got an "NFS" key, and that the "Image File" key is pointing to a valid receiver.arf file.

Under the "Servers" key, check that the "(default)" value reads "HTTPD;NFSD", and that you've got "HTTPD" and "NFSD" values pointing to the correct DLL files.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Let us know how you get on.

I've just cobbled together a test application that replicates what the Receiver does when looking for the NFS server. It's at http://www.differentpla.net/~roger/empeg/receiver/files/

I'm using a Netgear FA311 NIC.

From the "netstat -n -a -p UDP" command I get the following:

C:\tmp>netstat -n -a -p UDP

Active Connections

Proto Local Address Foreign Address State
UDP 0.0.0.0:135 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:445 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:500 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:1029 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:18678 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:21076 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:21077 *:*
UDP 0.0.0.0:21078 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62515 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62517 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62519 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62521 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62523 *:*
UDP 127.0.0.1:62524 *:*
UDP 192.168.0.2:137 *:*
UDP 192.168.0.2:138 *:*
UDP 192.168.0.2:21075 *:*

C:\tmp>

As you can see it's close to what you've described as the expected result. The differences are that port 21078 is bound to 0.0.0.0 and port 21075 is bound to the IP of the NIC not vise versa as you've described.

I've also checked the registry as you've suggested and everything is exactly as you've described.

I've also tried the app you wrote. (The terms "above and beyond the call of duty" don't even come close to describing how much I appreciate that one)

When I run it on the Win2k box, I get a response from the Receiver manager with the IP of the NIC. So I know that within the context of the OS itself, the Receiver Manager is running properly. However, if I run it from another machine on my network, or a machine hooked up via cross over cable to the Win2k box, I get:

Looking for Rio Receiver NFS Servers...
Sending request to 255.255.255.255.......

until it times out.

I also have Win2k installed on my laptop (HP N5440). I installed the receiver manager and your app. When I run the receiver manager on the laptop and your app on my desktop, it connects just fine. However, with the receiver running on the desktop and your app on the laptop I get the timeout scenario I described above. The Win2k install as well as additional software are almost identical on the laptop and the desktop. I am looking through both now to try to find any differences.

I ran the netstat command you suggested on the laptop and the output is identical.

I also connected the receiver directly to the laptop via cross over cable. It conneced just fine.

It appears that the signals from the receiver & your app are somehow being blocked by the NIC on my Win2k desktop. I just can't figure out why. I had previously disabled Norton Firewall on the desktop. I have now gone so far as to uninstall it. There was stil no connection.

I've read on this board that ther's some sort of logging software for the for the receiver. Where can I get that? Is there similar logging software for the manager?

What next?

OK, running that software confirms your suspicion that it's something to do with the NIC or the TCP/IP stack on the Win2k box. What NIC is it?

The logging on the Receiver is output over serial. Unless you:

a) want to open up your Receiver
b) want to build the relevant level-convertor board
c) want to put together the correct cable.

...you'd better forget about that one .

You can get some logging out of the server by running

armgr /log:armgr.log

At this point, I'm suspecting some kind of firewall, other than the Norton stuff you've removed. Do you have any port-blocks set up in Win2k itself? To find out:

Control Panel -> Network Connections -> Local Area Connection -> Properties/General -> TCP/IP -> Properties -> General -> Advanced -> Options -> TCP/IP filtering -> Properties.

What NIC is it?

Ah, missed the fact that it's an FA311.

I know that there's nothing wrong with the card itself -- we used 3 of these in the hotel in Ibiza, which has 64 Receivers fitted.

I doubt that it's a problem with NIC/switch interaction -- you'd expect Netgear cards to work properly with Netgear switches, so we can probably discount this as the problem.

It's looking more and more like some kind of port-filter or similar.

I ran the Receiver Manager with logging turned on, and everyting looks fine. I've attached the file just in case there's something that I'm missing in it.

I've also checked the TCP/IP filtering properties for the NIC and the "Enable TCP/IP Filtering" checkbox is not checked.

I've tried checking the checkbox with the "Permit All" radio button enabled, but it did not solve the problem.

A number of months ago, I remove my old NIC and installed the FA311 to solve another networking problem. I've noticed that whenever I try to enable the IP address for my PC to the FA311, Win2k complains that the IP is still assigned to the old NIC. It admits that the card is not physically in the machine, but still asks me to assign a different IP to the FA311. My guess is that the old NIC was not fully removed from the system and that is what is causing the problem.

I have two ideas based on this info. The more rational is to run ethereal on the Win2k box and see what is going on when the Manager is started. I don't have high hopes that this will give me any new information.

The second, more radical, idea is to reinstall the OS. I've just recently made a Ghost image of my hard drive so there's no risk of loss of data. However there's something about the idea of reinstalling the OS to solve a problem that I just can't stomach. It does however give me a virgin system to install the Receiver Manager software onto which would elimenate any hardware issues.

Your thoughts?

By the way, I've written a batch file that will start the Audio Manager with logging turned on. The log file has a time and date stamp in the filename so that every time you start the Manager, it will create a new log. In my experience having a fresh log as well as a history of logs is very helpful.

It's attached to this message.

Well, I've reinstalled the OS and I'm happy to say that it worked!

My only guess is that there was something wrong with my original NIC and having it as a zombie on the system was preventing the current NIC from binding properly.

Did you ever see anyting in the log that I posted which would have indicated the problem?

Whatever the reason, it works now. Thank you for all of your help. If I can find it, I'm going to post the exact name of the old NIC so that no one else has to go through this process again.

It always feels good to dust off and nuke the site from orbit.