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Thread: One computer decides to become invisible.

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    LSemmens
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    Default One computer decides to become invisible.

    My home network consists of approx 13 devices, mostly connected wirelessly. There are only three devices connected by wire, My printer, My MediaServer and Wife's TV (PC connected to it). Printer is always visible. The Media server is visible to all devices most of the time. It occasionally disappears and a re-start usually fixes that. Wife's TV however resists all attempts to allow others to see it on the network. (I did have it visible for a short time a couple of weeks back, but it has disappeared again.) She has been watching a Series that is stored on the MediaServer and suddenly the Server has disappeared from her network places. It can still see other computers and the printer on the network but not the media server, what's even weirder, she cannot even see herself in Network places.

    As far as I can tell all shares and permissions are set up identically, and we should be all part of the same domain. All computers are identically configured as far as security, firewalls, and sharing is concerned. All machines are running variants of W10 64bit. As I said, the media server sometimes drops out of sight, but that usually rectifies itself, and Wife's TV only rarely is visible. At no time does any of this affect internet connectivity of any of the machines.

    Why would it only be the wired computers that are displaying this issue? Any suggestions, polite or otherwise would be appreciated. (I tried turning off all security on Wife's device to no effect. (If I perform a full re-load, I can almost guarantee it will resolve, but I need to find the cause, or I could be back with this issue again).
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...



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    I stopped networking all my stuff for reasons like this. I just got sick of fixing (basically starting again) it far too regularly.

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    Very difficult to troubleshoot issues like this, but we will give it a try. Hopefully others can also contribute.

    Firstly, let me check if I understand the situation correctly, referring only to devices likely to be relevant.

    1. Your wife's PC (connected to the TV) runs Windows 10.
    2. Your media server runs Windows 10.
    3. These two machines at least are fully updated.
    4. The problem is that your wife's machine is unable to see the media server, but was previously able to?

    Firstly, what software are you using to serve the media on the media server? Secondly, what software is (or was) your wife using on her machine to list and view the media? Thirdly, can other devices on the network see the media server? Can they see the machine hosting the media server? And finally, when did her machine stop being able to see the media server, and were any changes made around that time to either her machine or the media server?
    Last edited by DB44; 11-11-17 at 06:43 PM.

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    I've got the same issue which has never resolved itself,

    ........, my Laptop has changed the network path to my main PC & routed it thru Homegroup. Problem is Homegroup is not setup on either PC as I prefer not to use it.


    I can access some folders & files on the W10PC (main PC) that are in Quick access on the Laptop, however it doesn't show in Network & when I went back thru the directories in the path it ends up in Homegroup & says it's unavailable right now, tried removing it from Homegroup & that just fails.
    So without going thru the quick access shortcuts there is no way to get into the Main PC via the network.


    The W10PC shows the laptop in network & full access is available from that direction.


    Have checked all network settings & everything is the same on both computers.


    I've managed a temporary shortcut solution by making a shortcut address on my Laptop that takes me to Network\W10PC, AKA \\W10PC, which works exactly the same as if I'd selected the PC thru the network Directory.
    Cheers, Tiny
    "You can lead a person to knowledge, but you can't make them think? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
    The information is out there; you just have to let it in."

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    LSemmens
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    All computers are set up in a peer to peer network. The "MediaServer" is just another 'puter connected, also, to a TV. No software has been installed or updated that I am aware of. The only machine that sees regular changes (at my hands) is my laptop which has not missed a beat.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    All computers are set up in a peer to peer network. The "MediaServer" is just another 'puter connected, also, to a TV. No software has been installed or updated that I am aware of. The only machine that sees regular changes (at my hands) is my laptop which has not missed a beat.
    Sorry mate. Not enough information to help. Tiny's suggestion may be a good workaround depending on what is in fact going wrong.

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    LSemmens
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    Firstly, what software are you using to serve the media on the media server? As it's a computer on a Peer to peer network no special software required - just the standard Windoze shares.

    Secondly, what software is (or was) your wife using on her machine to list and view the media? Windoze Explorer - just like every other computer on the network

    Thirdly, can other devices on the network see the media server? YES - I already said that

    Can they see the machine hosting the media server? The machine IS the media server - It is just the NAME I have assigned to that computer.

    And finally, when did her machine stop being able to see the media server, - Overnight

    and were any changes made around that time to either her machine or the media server? No - I've already spelt that out too.

    What other information do you require?
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    have u tried windows homegroup?
    https://www.facebook.com/philquad68

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    Quote Originally Posted by lsemmens View Post
    Firstly, what software are you using to serve the media on the media server? As it's a computer on a Peer to peer network no special software required - just the standard Windoze shares.

    Secondly, what software is (or was) your wife using on her machine to list and view the media? Windoze Explorer - just like every other computer on the network

    Thirdly, can other devices on the network see the media server? YES - I already said that

    Can they see the machine hosting the media server? The machine IS the media server - It is just the NAME I have assigned to that computer.

    And finally, when did her machine stop being able to see the media server, - Overnight

    and were any changes made around that time to either her machine or the media server? No - I've already spelt that out too.

    What other information do you require?
    I don't use Windows as my main operating system, so am not as familiar with it as I used to be. I'm presuming that if the media centre shows as a media centre in Windows Explorer (as distinct from a computer) on any machine it will be because it is running a dlna or similar service. Does your wife's machine still show the media server as a computer? If so, the following may be of help:


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    LSemmens
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    No, it is just another computer on the network.

    I am avoiding using Homegroup because I do fix other 'puters from time to time and the MediaServer needs to be visible to them, too, because that is where all my recovery images reside and I don't want to cause issues if those computers have a homegroup set. Usually the entire network is visible to anything I connect with no fuss, it's just this one 'puter that does not want to play nicely.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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    this may sound too obvious but have you tried, run " \\10.0.0.95 eg. ip addy of device
    often the only way i can find my media player, its always dropping out even on fixed ip
    https://www.facebook.com/philquad68

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