Streaming content between PC and 360

[Jaspaller]

I don't really have any idea how to get this to work. I'm not really all techy and all but I've got my computer connected to my router.

Computer is connected to the router through a Ethernet cord. My 360 uses a wireless adapter... they both get on the net fine but Windows Media player 11 doesn't detect my 360, and my 360 doesn't detect my PC... sooo how do I fix this? Also, I've got Zone alarm running as my firewall if it makes any difference.

[Sinue_v2]

If you're wondering weither or not your firewall is an issue, try shutting it down and retrying. You don't really NEED it if you're behind a router anyhow. Also, if you're computer is running Internet Connection Sharing to another device, that will keep you from connecting to your Xbox. Although without more information, right now I would be willing to bet that the problem is your firewall.

Oh, and by the way. The reason why we couldn't talk the other night is because we are both behind wireless routers. If you go to the System Blade and do a network test in your X360 dash, the last block checks what your NAT rating is, it will read either Open, Moderate, or Strict. I've done everything in my concievable power to try to get my NAT to stay open - but it keeps fluctuating between Open and Moderate. Moderate and Strict settings can cause voice communication to be blocked, and prevent you from joining games with other people.

I have no idea how to fix it on my end, aside from plugging the 360 into the router directly, which isn't an option. If your NAT reads as moderate or strict, you might want to go into your router's settings and open up all the ports which Xbox Live uses. UDP 88, UDP 3074, and TCP 3074.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sinue_v2 on 2007-07-11 01:33 ]</font>

[Jaspaller]

On 2007-07-11 01:22, Sinue_v2 wrote:
If you're wondering weither or not your firewall is an issue, try shutting it down and retrying. You don't really NEED it if you're behind a router anyhow. Also, if you're computer is running Internet Connection Sharing to another device, that will keep you from connecting to your Xbox. Although without more information, right now I would be willing to bet that the problem is your firewall.

Oh, and by the way. The reason why we couldn't talk the other night is because we are both behind wireless routers. If you go to the System Blade and do a network test in your X360 dash, the last block checks what your NAT rating is, it will read either Open, Moderate, or Strict. I've done everything in my concievable power to try to get my NAT to stay open - but it keeps fluctuating between Open and Moderate. Moderate and Strict settings can cause voice communication to be blocked, and prevent you from joining games with other people.

I have no idea how to fix it on my end, aside from plugging the 360 into the router directly, which isn't an option. If your NAT reads as moderate or strict, you might want to go into your router's settings and open up all the ports which Xbox Live uses. UDP 88, UDP 3074, and TCP 3074.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sinue_v2 on 2007-07-11 01:33 ]</font>


Nothing bad about extra protection, right? http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_confused.gif lol

I did give that a try though before, but I didn't restart WMP when I shut off my firewall (don't think that should make a difference anyways). It didn't work though. Zune software doesn't see it either.

I guess it's an issue with my router then (or a combo of both). I'll mess around with it some more when I get home I guess.

[Sinue_v2]

Well, actually when you shut down your firewall the Windows Firewall should activate. You might have to shut that one down as well, but that might not be the case since when you select file sharing for WMP or Zune it should automatically configure your windows firewall to allow file sharing.

I wasn't suggesting that you should turn your firewalls off permenantly - just that you should turn them off in the meantime to see if they were the problem. If it works without the firewalls activated - then you know you have to tweak your firewall.

If nothing else, one thing you might want to try is to downgrade to WMP 10 and install Windows Media Connect 2.0. This is the workaround people have come up with for getting media sharing to work on machines running ICS. Unfortunately Microsoft no longer has WMC 2.0 available for download from their website, so you'd have to find another way of obtaining it.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Sinue_v2 on 2007-07-11 13:16 ]</font>

[Jaspaller]

Well after a bit of messing around I tried something different. Connected to xbox live first and then ran WMP11 (and afterwards Zune). Looks like my PC is detecting the 360, but when I try to connect my 360 to the PC it doesn't find it http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif. Well, looks like it's a step closer but I'm still stuck...

[amtalx]

Unless you have Windows XP Media Center Edition installed on your PC, you'll need to download the Media Center Extender to stream content to your 360. Keep in mind that you will only be able to stream music. You need a Media Center Edition of Windows XP to stream video.

[Jaspaller]

From what I've heard, Windows Media Player WILL let you stream video even if you don't have a media center version of XP, as long as you're using Windows Media Player 11 (and some third party programs as well). I'm still stuck though, the main issue I'm still having is that my 360 won't detect my PC. As long as I can at least get it connected to my PC, then that's good enough for me for now...

[amtalx]

Media Center Extender may still be the easiest way to do it. Its basically just a conduit to connect the 360 and PC. Any version of Windows XP will support it. That's what I did and it worked like a charm.

[Jaspaller]

I'll give it a whirl when I get home, but it looks like if this fails I'm gonna be stuck getting in contact with 360 tech support... blah...

[amtalx]

ERROR!!!

Sorry Jaspaller. I meant Windows Media Connect, not Windows Media Extender. They are both used for streaming media but are very different things. Sorry for the confusion. I actually just set it up again on my comp at home (I just moved) and setup only takes a few minutes, and that just because it takes a while to scan all your music.

[Jaspaller]

On 2007-07-19 14:15, amtalx wrote:
ERROR!!!

Sorry Jaspaller. I meant Windows Media Connect, not Windows Media Extender. They are both used for streaming media but are very different things. Sorry for the confusion. I actually just set it up again on my comp at home (I just moved) and setup only takes a few minutes, and that just because it takes a while to scan all your music.



lol, still not home, so I still can't try. No big deal.

But, according to Microsoft's website, Windows Media Connect is built into WMP11 so it looks like I'll probably have to remove WMP11 first if I get the time.

[amtalx]

You are right Windows Media Connect is built into WMP11. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot of people like you that can't get it to work. From what I hear, the best solution is to bypass WMP11 and just get the bare Windows Media Connect. I don't think MS still hosts it on their site, at least they don't make it easy to get to. If you google it, you can find some places that have archived the installation file. That's where I got mine.