Media Center and "cannot connect"

New TV and old TV both had this problem. Media Center (app that comes with the TV) is the front end on the TV. Some shows would stop in the middle (up to six times), some would even refuse to start. Serviio log just shows that the receiving device stopped playing.

New TV (XR75X90CL) played one problematic file (Working Girl as MKV ripped from DVD), then one episode of Frasier, and balked about five minutes into the second. I've got a feeling that it is just buffers at each end fighting each other, but...

Server side is PC, Windows 11 Pro, i5-12400, 16 Gb of RAM, updates suspended for long periods (seemed to happen more often when just updated). No other users, just this TV. Now the Media Center app opened up its own IP address (TV at .220, MC at .136), and I configured that port also as Sony Bravia (whether or not I should have).

I understand that this might be "Media Center", "Google TV", more than strictly a Sony problem. I've seen people say they use Kodi as the front end, and I guess I will try that next. What can I try and tweak in Serviio or Windows, that might make some sense?

I've got 64Gb of RAM coming, not that I expect this to be necessary / helpful. This did not start happening until Windows 11 and updates late 2023... early 2024.

[atc98092]

Unfortunately, it appears most TV manufacturers are letting the DLNA support slip away in increments. I've never had a Sony TV, but do still have one Sony Blu Ray player. However, I don't even use that anymore for streaming from my server. If there's a version of Kodi that works on your TV, that is probably your best bet. I use Kodi on both my Nvidia Shield players and an Onn 4K media player. The Onn won't bitstream lossless audio, but other than that it works just as well on that $20 player as it does on my Shield players, which cost $150-200 each.

My experience with Sony is they have slowly been reducing their DLNA functionality. The major issue was dropping DTS Master Audio bitstreaming. It would still bitstream Dolby TrueHD, but not the DTS counterpart. I can't say if it's still working that way, as I stopped using anything other than the Shield or Roku players. The built in TV apps are simply lousy compared to what external players can provide. If you can install Kodi it will provide a much better user experience than the native TV player. Setting up Kodi is a bit complicated, but once it's set up it works great.

So, after consulting with Sony, it appears I have found a fix / workaround.

"Media Streaming" must be enabled in Windows 11 (update/ bug-implementation along about mid-late 2023), Serviio no longer is able to get the services it requires with its default configuration / setup scheme.

Additionally, Google TV firmware does not handle the interruption well. Network diagnostics sees the Serviio server, but the contents 'Audio' and 'Video' are not visible... sometimes for "10 minutes", sometimes until Reset (Power cycle, Reset, or if lucky remote power off and back on). The "not handling things well" includes the software only being able to handle 1 remote key press every 15-20 seconds, and / or destroying the setup information for (for example) Kodi.

Now I just have to figure out how to eliminate the duplicate "media server" entry in Media Player, and still have Serviio run consistently.

[atc98092]

So, after consulting with Sony, it appears I have found a fix / workaround.

"Media Streaming" must be enabled in Windows 11 (update/ bug-implementation along about mid-late 2023), Serviio no longer is able to get the services it requires with its default configuration / setup scheme.

Additionally, Google TV firmware does not handle the interruption well. Network diagnostics sees the Serviio server, but the contents 'Audio' and 'Video' are not visible... sometimes for "10 minutes", sometimes until Reset (Power cycle, Reset, or if lucky remote power off and back on). The "not handling things well" includes the software only being able to handle 1 remote key press every 15-20 seconds, and / or destroying the setup information for (for example) Kodi.

Now I just have to figure out how to eliminate the duplicate "media server" entry in Media Player, and still have Serviio run consistently.

First I've heard of an issue specific to Windows 11, but both of my servers are on Windows 10 and neither platform supports an upgrade. Google TV is based on Android, and while I have nothing using the actual Google TV interface, I do have several devices running Android TV, and none of them have any issue with Serviio. I use Kodi as my player of choice, but I also have MrMC and VLC installed, and they too work fine.

Sony DLNA players have always retained a ghost link to media servers that no longer exist. For example, if you're not using a static IP address on your Serviio PC, it's possible that the address might change occasionally, and then your Sony player sees the new one but still has a link to the old one (which of course won't work). I haven't used one of my Sony players in a long time, so I can't remember exactly how you remove the ghost link. But it's done somehow by opening a side menu when you have that link highlighted. Can't remember if it's a long press or some other button on the remote. But you can remove them.

Serviio running on a static IP address. Always has been. I set the router up to assign DHCP-assigned addresses between .100 and .250. Serviio is at .34. Sony TV is at .80.

It ran all day yesterday without hiccup. Google TV tech support contacted me and asked me for screen shots, so I have to break it again. Go figure.

Even with Media Streaming turned on (to "media servers", or the TV, both, or neither), problem persists. Got kicked out of one movie no less than 25 times over two days, and it was only two hours long.

Sony customer service cooks down to problem with firmware. Case 09547787.

Google TV (firmware) keeps asking for screenshots and feedback, but this is not possible from a TV interface. Case 1-5893000036437

Windows 11 community is a dull thud so far. I see people losing connections since late last year, but nothing quite like mine.

Serviio log just shows the TV has disconnected. Over, and over, and over.

Do I have to register the media / files with Media Streaming, and figure out how to get Serviio to consume from the Media Streamer?

Gonna have to dust off Linux, I guess.

[atc98092]

Even with Media Streaming turned on (to "media servers", or the TV, both, or neither), problem persists. Got kicked out of one movie no less than 25 times over two days, and it was only two hours long.

Do I have to register the media / files with Media Streaming, and figure out how to get Serviio to consume from the Media Streamer?

Gonna have to dust off Linux, I guess.

I'm not certain now how you are configured. You say "media streaming turned on" but there's no such setting in Serviio. You can turn the DLNA server off in the console, but normally it's always running.

Then you say to "get Serviio to consume from the media Streamer". I don't know what you mean here. Serviio is the media streamer. Its media libraries should be pointed directly to the media files, either on the same computer or on a networked location. Note that under Windows Serviio runs as a local service, meaning it has little network access permissions so media on a networked location can have permission issues. So exactly where are your media files located? Are they on the Windows PC? If so, then Serviio does not "consume" from any other device.

Linux is of course one solution for any specific Windows 11 issues. I have played around with Linux (Mint distro) just to see how it worked, and I found I could never get the Serviio libraries to connect to a different computer share on the network. My only workaround was to mount the remote location to a local folder on the Linux machine, then the media appeared as a local file (even though it was on a remote PC). The problem I see with that situation is the media is crossing the network twice, once from the true location to the Linux box, through Serviio, and out again to the player. So you're using double your network bandwidth for each streamed video. If the media is all physically on the Linux machine's hard drives, then that isn't an issue.

"You say "media streaming turned on" but there's no such setting in Serviio." Windows 11 feature. Started (I think) with Windows 7. <https://www.howtogeek.com/215400/how-to-turn-your-computer-into-a-dlna-media-server/> ... just for the control panel Media Streaming screen.

"Then you say to "get Serviio to consume from the media Streamer". ... then Serviio does not "consume" from any other device." I know. But also Windows 11 pro is "hiccuping", the connection between Serviio and the Sony is briefly lost (I guess), and I'm trying to stop that. So "wrong direction, don't go there." Got it.

"... If the media is all physically on the Linux machine's hard drives, then that isn't an issue." Was thinking of running Serviio (or a native media server) on / in Linux, media on Linux drives in that same machine, serving the Sony TV.

Sony came back, I reactivated the case, and they said "Try VLC media player, the Android Media Player has issues." So I'm trying that until it hiccups again. Kodi player, when the hiccup occurred (even when Media Player was the one running), lost some / all its program settings. Every time I tried to run it was "first time", then it abended back to the main menu. Don't want to reinstall the app 10-15 times a day... Bad enough I've had top Restart the TV that often when the hiccup occurs.

[atc98092]

"Windows 11 feature" OK, that setting has nothing to do with Serviio, and while it shouldn't interfere one never knows.

I'm wondering if your "hiccup" might be because Windows is powering off your network adapter for power conservation reasons? Windows does have a setting within the adapter settings that can disable Windows from controlling the power to the NIC.

If you run Serviio on the Linux box, and the media files are on a connected drive, then the network issue I mentioned won't be a factor. Linux is a fine OS if you're comfortable working within it. Most people are not.

VLC is a great player with a terrible user interface. But if the problem is with the network card powering down on your Windows computer, the player you're using won't make any difference. Strange you're having issues with Kodi. I've been using it for years on my Shield without any problems, and I just installed it on my Fire TV Cube (had to side load it since Amazon doesn't officially support it).

NIC has had auto-power down disabled. Hard drives have been set not to power off for two hours. Hiccups happen after hours, or after minutes.

I always felt that my underwear was showing with Linux, and I may have no choice if Sony / Google TV doesn't push update to the firmware. Can't trust Micro$haft or their "Community", if I'm the only one seeing this... it requires Win 11 pro and the Sony to make it really annoying.

Fingers crossed on VLC, because Media Player was SO much better. Down arrow once on the remote and you'd have fast forward / rewind. Down arrow twice on the remote and you'd be able to select the next movie / episode. The remote does not have the usual controls, see...

[atc98092]

I tried VLC on my Fire TV Cube last night, and it actually was far worse than Kodi. The video had a stutter to it, while Kodi played it smoothly. But VLC does handle some of my OTA recordings with captions better than Kodi. Kodi does fine with SRT files, but the embedded text based captions from OTA recorded TV sometimes doesn't come out smoothly.

I don't know what it is about Windows 11 that is causing problems. But it's enough that I don't plan on upgrading either of my Serviio computers and will stick with Windows 10. I think Linux might be your best bet, since you're planning on the media being physically on the same hardware.