Troubleshooting
This page contains information and guidance for solving various problems that come up frequently in forum posts. It will be expanded over time to cover additional topics.
Table of contents
My control point can't see MinimServer
MinimWatch can't find MinimServer
My control point can't see MinimServer
If your control point can't see MinimServer, there are a few things that could cause this.
The first step is to check whether MinimServer is running. A simple and reliable way to do this is to enter http://x.x.x.x:9790 into the address bar of a web browser, where x.x.x.x is the IP address of the machine running MinimServer. If the MinimServer status web page doesn't display, MinimServer isn't running.
If MinimServer is running on a Windows PC, check that your network type is set to Home, Work or Private. If it is set to Public, this is likely to cause the Windows firewall to block inbound connections.
There might be a firewall setting on the device running MinimServer that is blocking connections to MinimServer. As a test, try completely disabling the firewall to see whether this is the problem. If disabling the firewall makes MinimServer visible on the network, you need to change your firewall settings to allow inbound connections to MinimServer. If you are running MinimServer on Windows, you need to allow inbound connections to Java(TM) Platform SE binary.
If MinimServer is scanning your library, it won't be discoverable by UPnP control points until scanning has completed. You can check this by looking at the MinimServer log or by viewing the MinimServer status web page (see above) or by using MinimWatch.
It sometimes helps to power off all network devices and power them on again in this order:
1) The router (then wait 5 minutes)
2) Any other switches or wireless access points (if you have them)
3) The NAS or other device running MinimServer (then wait 5 minutes)
4) The renderer (then wait 3 minutes)
5) The control point (iPad, iPhone, etc.)
Make sure the control point and the machine running MinimServer are on the same subnet. For most local networks, this means the first three numbers in the IP addresses of the control point and the server are the same. For example, the IP addresses 192.168.0.5 and 192.168.0.25 are on the same subnet but 192.168.0.5 and 192.168.1.25 are not on the same subnet. The subnet is usually part of the router configuration.
If the suggestions above haven't solved the problem or if MinimServer takes a long time to appear in your control point or if MinimServer appears for a time and then disappears, this probably means your network has a problem with multicast discovery messages.
Multicast networking problems can be difficult to diagnose and solve. They don't affect normal network traffic and only show up when you try to do something that involves multicast discovery. In some cases, the discovery problem might not affect other UPnP servers, just MinimServer.
As a first step, try disabling IGMP snooping (not IGMP proxy) in the configuration settings for your router and any switches (if this option is available).
If you have a BT HomeHub, try completely disabling the 5 GHz wireless band and using the 2.4 GHz band instead. This router is known to have problems with multicast messaging on the 5 Ghz band.
If this doesn't solve the problem, create a new thread in the Support section of the MinimServer forum as described on this page. Please include as much information about your network setup as possible, including the make and model number of your router and any switches, how the router and switches are connected to each other and how your other devices (including the NAS or computer running MinimServer) are connected to the router and switches.
MinimWatch can't find MinimServer
If MinimWatch can't find MinimServer and you are seeing a grey minim icon with only the Options, Refresh and Exit menu choices available, the first step is to check whether MinimServer is running. You can do this by using a UPnP control point to find your MinimServer library or you can try to access the MinimServer status web page by entering http://x.x.x.x:9790 into the address bar of a web browser, where x.x.x.x is the IP address of the machine running MinimServer.
If MinimServer is running and you are running MinimWatch on a Windows PC, check that your network type is set to Home, Work or Private. If it is set to Public, this is likely to cause the Windows firewall to block inbound connections.
The next step is to check whether there is a firewall setting on the PC or Mac running MinimWatch that is blocking access to MinimServer. As a test, try completely disabling the firewall to see whether this is the problem. If this enables MinimWatch to discover MinimServer, you need to change your firewall settings to allow inbound connections to MinimWatch. If you are running MinimWatch on Windows, you need to allow inbound connections to Java(TM) Platform SE binary.
Another possibility is that there are multiple network adapters (real or virtual) on the
PC or Mac running MinimWatch. In this case, MinimWatch might be listening on the wrong adapter. You can check
this by selecting Options > Show log (watch) from the grey minim icon and looking for the
"Active subnet" line. If this isn't the correct subnet for the machine running MinimServer,
you need to selecting Options > Properties (watch) from the grey minim icon and set the
ohnet.subnet
property for MinimWatch as
described in this section.
After changing the ohnet.subnet
property, exit and relaunch MinimWatch.