Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

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asitis
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:20 am

Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by asitis »

Hi there

I really hope someone can help me and help fix this issue and as I at a complete loss and pulling my hair out trying to figure out why both smart TVs are not picking up UMS.

I dont think my router is faulty or is blocking UMS.

I have enabled media sharing on my network and when loading UMS it detects both smart TVs as renders and both have DLNA support.

However when going to the network part on both TVs UMS is not showing or visible.

Really want to streams my media from the PC through UMS to both TVs but am really struggling to get it working.

Any suggestions on whats happening and if can be fixed?
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by Nadahar »

Try disabling your firewall on the computer running UMS.
asitis
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:20 am

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by asitis »

But wont that put my computer at risk by disabling the firewall that is what concerns me?

I think UMS was working on one of the TVs a year ago but not sure what happened all of a sudden.

Could there be issue with the software?
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by Nadahar »

I can't do a full explanation of firewalls and the bad practices being employed by the OS makers, but the fundamental problem is that people want to be protected but they don't want to spend time understanding how to do it. The result is a far-from-perfect solution.

Imagine that you went to a lock smith and said "I want a new keyless lock for my house that will only let in "good" people". I don't even want to have to configure what people to let in or not, the lock must figure it out. This is about how the situation is when it comes to computer security. Nobody would blame the locksmith if somebody stole your stuff when you hadn't locked your door, yet this also happens with computer security. It's all because people think they don't have to understand anything of what's happening.

The result is that the OS makers, by default, blocks more or less anything from coming in - while anybody can leave. They make sure that their own people (that is, the traffic they need for the OS to "work") can have access and blocks pretty much everybody else. The upside is that the users don't have to understand anything about how this is working, the downside is that they don't understand anything about how this is happening and that their "door" will often let in things they don't want and keep out things they do want. In addition it has become quite normal the software opens up "what it needs" in the firewall when it's installed. It's not that simple in reality though, because there are so many factors and network configurations out there, so most software open way too much just so the users won't complain that it isn't working, which leaves your "door" open to stuff you potentially wouldn't want.

Seen from UMS' side this is quite a hopeless mess. One thing is software that only work on a certain platform. There software often handle the OS' "default" firewall solution. If the user have installed a different firewall though, it probably won't work. UMS on the other hand works on many platforms and OS versions with different "default" firewall solutions. On top of that we don't know if the user has made changes to the configuration, or if the user has installed another firewall. The result is that it would be virtually impossible for us to "get this right", we'd have to deal with configuring tens or hundreds of different firewall solutions to make it work for most users.

As such it is up to the user to choose who/what can visit their computer. The Java installation for Windows opens up a lot in the Windows firewall that applies to all Java application (a practice I think is very bad). This means that UMS works by default for most Windows users, but it doesn't take much changes from the default to make this not work. On other platforms this is entirely up to the user to handle.

The reason firewalls run by default on most OS'es today is because of the above situation in itself. Most people have a router at home that blocks all incoming traffic from the internet by default. That means that there's no need to run a firewall on the computers that is "behind" the router, unless you want to "protect" your computer from attacks from other devices on your own local network (your second computer or your TV for example). That is hardly relevant, but because users blame the OS makers if they are being careless and for example connects to an open Wifi zone (that might NOT be protected by a router, or that might have other users on it that want to harm the user) the OS makes make the firewalls run for everybody by default.

You don't have to disable your firewall permanently, but you should try to disable it (especially if you're behind a router) and see if that helps. If it does, you know that your firewall is the problem. You then need to figure out what you want to allow and what you want to block and configure this manually if you want to keep running the firewall.

If you firewall is blocking signals from your TV's when they try to talk to UMS, there's nothing UMS can do to make it work.
asitis
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:20 am

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by asitis »

In all honesty I dont understand much of what you said as I am not tech savvy at all. I can barely understand basics.

The firewall on windows 8 is on by default. I have never touched it or change configuration. Also I havent installed another firewall.

I dont want to disable firewall especially when on the internet as that completely leaves me unprotected.

If firewall is blocking UMS how could I allow UMS in the firewall so not blocked?

How would I make the firewall to unblock signals to TV which tries to connect to UMS?

I will try to turn of firewall to see if anything happens but dont think it will.

Have no idea how it has stopped working as was working perfectly some time ago.

Gutted as I though UMS was best program for streaming media to TV over network.
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by Nadahar »

No media server (or other type of server for that matter) works if traffic isn't allowed to reach it. It has nothing to do with what program is the "best". I can't say for sure that the firewall is the problem in your case, especially since you haven't posted debug files as described in red above. I simply asked you to try that first to see if the firewall is the problem, as it is in > 90% of the cases where "box x can't see UMS".

I tried to describe it in a non technical manner (using house, door and locks instead). If that isn't good enough for you, there's nothing I can do.
asitis
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:20 am

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by asitis »

Firstly you didnt ask for debug files from me nor do I know how to get these ok.

Secondly your tone is very patronising and rude. All I came here for was help with the problem I having.

I will try to do something myself as clearly you will just be aggressive like you are.
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by Nadahar »

Do everyone a favor and scroll to the top of the page and read the text in red.
asitis
Posts: 34
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 4:20 am

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by asitis »

I have read and is it safe to upload the debug log files and wont it affect my security?

Also how will uploading the debug log help with UMS not being seen by my TVs?
Nadahar
Posts: 1990
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm

Re: Both Smart TVs cant see UMS?

Post by Nadahar »

It is safe to upload the files as long as you don't have any compromising information in the files. It's a simple ZIP file so you can open it and check. If there are some information there you don't want to share, do a find a replace in the log and replace it with something generic - just make sure to replace it with the same value everywhere. I typically simply replace my name with "user" when I do things like that.

The debug files might and might not help - it depends on what they reveal. A lot of information is logged that could potentially reveal what is going wrong. I'm hesitant to spend time on analysing the files unless you have first made an attempt at disabling the firewall and make sure that the problem is still there.

If you have an internet router at home (as opposed to being on some shared Wifi network) it is perfectly safe to disable your firewall for this test. Routers are configured to block all incoming traffic by default, and I doubt you've changed that.
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