Minimserver in Windows Explorer - normal flip-flop or clue?

[Charles7]

Minimserver runs on Windows 10 desktop. Examining the machine in Windows Explorer, the icon for Minimserver disappears for a second then reappears for a few seconds, over and over. Is this normal for a UPnP Java program, or is it a symptom of a problem?

I'm in the course of grappling with getting Minimserver and BubbleUPnP on an Android tablet to work together. They worked fine together for months. Then trouble: BubbleUPnP hangs because it cannot find Minimserver. I've tried lots of recommended stuff: restart the tablet, reboot the Deco W7000 router, exit Minimserver and relaunch it. Occasionally the two programs work together after one or another of these measures, but none are reliable.

For now, I just wonder whether the Explorer flip-flop tells something specific.

   

[simoncn]

This isn't normal. Together with the other issues you have described, this points to a UPnP multicast discovery problem with your network. This is often caused by having IGMP snooping enabled in the router.

I found this thread on the Deco forum in which users report that IGMP snooping could only be disabled for a few hours after a router reboot and would then become active again.

I purchased a TP-Link router some years ago and I couldn't find any way to solve its IGMP snooping issues. Unfortunately I think you will need a different router to make UPnP multicast discovery work correctly.

[Charles7]

Thank you for the weekend reply. Yes, this certainly seems to be a UPnP multicast problem.

But not a problem with the Deco router. I've had it almost ten months, but this problem arose only a few days ago. The equipment and topology of the home network has not changed. Nor did the problem begin right after a router firmware update.

[simoncn]

I suggest you try powering off all your network-attached devices and powering them on in the order described in this section. This often fixes discovery problems that have no obvious cause.

[Charles7]

I went through the various power off-power on procedures. Randomly, BubbleUPnP will or will not find the Minimstreamer library. That is, no change.

With rising vexation over the problems around UPnP, I bought a Netgear Orbi RSR850 router and installed it in place of the TP-Link Deco AX3600 router and satellite. The Deco gives you no information nor control over UPnP. The Orbi has controls for on/off and advertisement time (which I reduced from default 30 minutes to 4 minutes). Its documentation does not mention IGMP; Web chatter says Orbi does not support IGMP snooping.

The result: nothing has changed.

[simoncn]

I'm sorry to hear that changing the router hasn't fixed the problem. Please post a description of your network setup and connections including any repeaters/extenders/satellites.

In a situation like this, it can be useful to create a minimal test network. If this works reliably, you can add back components one by one until the problem starts to occur.

[Charles7]

(22-01-2025 19:34)simoncn Wrote:  I'm sorry to hear that changing the router hasn't fixed the problem. Please post a description of your network setup and connections including any repeaters/extenders/satellites.

In a situation like this, it can be useful to create a minimal test network. If this works reliably, you can add back components one by one until the problem starts to occur.

I sent you an email with the requested information and test.

[Charles7]

(22-01-2025 19:34)simoncn Wrote:  I'm sorry to hear that changing the router hasn't fixed the problem. ...

Thanks to rapid, focused email replies from Simon, a series of tests proves that BubbleUPnP has a bug when running on a Samsung Tab S6Lite that prevents it from finding Minimserver. And maybe other tablets, but not all. I posted a bug report on the BubbleUPnP forum at
https://groups.google.com/g/bubbleupnp/c/NkqfX5FF0rk

And thanks also to Simon for suggesting mConnect, which works fine in exactly the same setup in which BubbleUPnP fails.

[Charles7]

I have found the problem. It was not a BubbleUPnP failure to find the Minimserver library. The problem was that, despite being a long-time user, I got confused about the user interface. For those who may be interested in the UI problem and how to find DLNA libraries in BubbleUPnP, see
https://groups.google.com/g/bubbleupnp/c/NkqfX5FF0rk

[simoncn]

Thanks for posting this. It doesn't explain why MinimServer was disappearing and appearing in Windows Explorer. Are you still seeing this?