Re: Vista and Xbox 360

OK, so something like the request from the Xbox to the PC for the next media
item is going missing, and so the PC never responds and the xbox just decides
it hit a black hole or a firewall?

I just moved to a small town so I'm finding it hard to find another router
to try.

Couple of things that still stick in my throat a little about the situation:

1: Why doesn't the xbox manage to recover from this without a reboot. Seems
strange that once it gets into this state it never gets out again.
2: I swear it was working fine before the fall dashboard update.

Of course that wireless media center tuning in combination with my router
could be the problem. And certainly if you are not hearing screams from
across the country, then it probably is my router. Just a shame as I had just
bought it. Maybe I'll buy another one and dedicate it to the xbox.

One other question, if a and g are both 54Mbps why is an a connection
suggested to be faster? I understand a is on the less busy 5Ghz frequency, so
is it just that there is generally less interference?

Thanks again,

James

"Todd Bowra [MSFT]" wrote:

I don't have personal experience with that router, but we have seen some
routers that eat certain traffic going through them. In this particular
case, it looks like the AV stream initialization traffic is getting eaten,
but only starting with the nth stream, which is weird. I suggest trying a
different wireless router (preferably one with the Designed for Windows XP
Media Center Edition logo). If this resolves your issue, I suggest
contacting Buffalo for support.

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"u2jrmw" <u2jrmw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:EFE61093-D1A7-44B3-866F-3E295025202F@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A little additional info. It does not appear to be a time based issue. I
can
watch a 50 minute video without issue. So its something funky that happens
when changing media but only sometimes...

"u2jrmw" wrote:

Tell me about it. It is driving me nuts. I was so happy with the 360 as
an
extender. I have been a Media Center user for years and up until now I
have
been running 2004 which didnt have extender support, so it was great when
Vista installed and worked so well.

My router is a Buffalo WHR-G54S:
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/product-detail.php?productid=117&categoryid=30#

Firmware: 2006-08-29 1.40 (The latest available)

I'll see if I can find aother wireless AP to try somewhere.

As for the das changes, this is the prime suspect for me: "Improved
network
reliability between Windows Media Center Extender on Windows Vista and
Xbox
360 consoles using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter."

That would seem to be directly applicable.

Based on my tests so far it does not seem to be a problem with Vista:
wired
connection works just fine

Does not seem to be a problem with the wireless network in general: Media
connect to the Xbox and gaming work fine. Network monitor shows a healthy
yellow on the bar graph view.

Does not appear to be a wireless range issue: The same problem exists in
close proximity to the wireless router.

To me it is like something happens and the xbox momentarily decides to
cut
the connection, the fact that I can play 3 or 4 songs, and the fact that
it
only happens at the start of a new song suggests to me it is not a random
network dropout. It would appear the music is streaming fine, and then
then
the xbox asks for the next track and then something bad happens with the
connection and it stops getting packets.

I really appreciate your help and suggestions. I do admit that it is
strange
if nobody else is reporting the issue...


"Todd Bowra [MSFT]" wrote:

What make/model wireless router/access point do you have and what
firmware
version is it running? Also, do you have a friend you could borrow a
different make/model access point from to try out? Offhand I can't
think of
any changes in the dash update that would explain this behavior; in
fact,
this behavior doesn't make much sense regardless of what's causing it
:-)

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"u2jrmw" <u2jrmw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4E6AF421-3649-4536-A3C9-D270719F3ED5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Thanks for the information Todd.

I tried my experiment with wireless running in the same room as the
router,
and this time I did get the error.

It just seems like there is some wireless related issue between the
Xbox
and
my router. When I watch the network monitor I get a pretty solid
mid-yellow.
Is it possible that there is some glitch that is disconnecting the
xbox
shortly after connection? I don't get this problem when playing
online
games
or using windows media connect with the xbox, that added with the
fact
that
all was well before the fall dashboard update makes me that something
in
the
xbox media center code is causing this.

I understand Vista is beta software but it appears that this is more
to do
with xbox 360 than Vista. Also I find it a little strange that once
it
hits
this can't play state, it does not seem to recover from it.

If I had to guess (and it is just a guess) there was some change to
the
media center code on the xbox in the fall dash update that is
dropping my
network connection momentarily and it cannot recover from it.

I suppose I should look at somehow getting a physical ethernet
connection
to
the xbox, although it is a shame the wireless won't work.

Are there any other configuration options on the xbox or on my router
that
you can suggest?

Thanks

"Todd Bowra [MSFT]" wrote:

The specific message you saw can also be triggered if your network
is so
unresponsive that traffic isn't getting through in a reasonable
amount of
time (which makes it look like a firewall is blocking that traffic).
In
order to resolve this, I'd start by running the Network Performance
Tuner
(from the Xbox 360, go to Tasks > Tune Network) in graph mode and
then
tweaking your antenna orientation, access point location, etc.
Also, if
your access point is on channel 6, I recommend moving it to channel
1 or
11
as they typically have lower interference (assuming you have
neighbors
who
also have wireless networks). If you're still not able to get a
satisfactory experience, it would also be worth checking for newer
firmware
for your wireless router/access point to see if that makes a
difference.

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rights.

"u2jrmw" <u2jrmw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:D8A48F48-1DA9-4748-BDE9-9254D5FA0DA3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
OK Todd,

Here are my findings:

Wired connection, everything works fine.
So I thought I try wireless in the same room as the wireless
router.
Well
that also worked fine. This made me start to think it was a
wireless
range
issue. I looked at the network connection monitor that is in media
center
and
the weird thing is that over wireless I was getting a lower
reading
(2-3
bars) than in my living room where I have the problem (normally
getting
up
into the yellow).

So this leaves me with a couple of problems/concerns.

It does seem to be a network range/bandwidth issue. But the
behaviour
that
once it drops and can't play it doesn't recover is bad.

Also I swear I didn't have this problem until the xbox dashboard
update. I
know they did some fiddling witht he media center stuff so maybe
it had
an
impact.

Finally do you think it is worth getting an 802.11a router, will
the
faster
a router compensate for the slowdown because of range?

Or an alternative like the ethernet over powerlines or something.

Any suggestions?

"u2jrmw" wrote:

Actually TV doesn't work after. Once the Xbox gets the error it
gets
the
error for everything except photos...

I can consistently drop out to dash and come back in and get 2 or
3
songs...

Haven't moved the xbox and TV around to try the hard line
connection
yet.

"u2jrmw" wrote:

Video has the same problem, recorded TV seems OK as do photos.

You mean plug the xbox onto the wired network? I will have to
shuffle a
few
things around to get the Xbox and a TV near the wired network.

If it makes any difference media connect via the Xbox media tab
works
just
fine.

"Todd Bowra [MSFT]" wrote:

Couple other questions:
- Does TV/video content play okay?
- If you temporarily connect your Xbox 360 directly to your
PC
using
an
Ethernet cable (wireless adapter unplugged), do you see this
message?

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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and
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rights.

"u2jrmw" <u2jrmw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:A3B27A11-94FC-453E-BF9A-61D1F4B866BD@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
No I don't, I even turned off the Windows firewall to see
if
that
would
help.
I am running over a wireless connection using a G network
and
the
MS Xbox
adaptor. I only had the Vista box running for a few days
before
the
dashboard
update, but it was running perfectly. I am crushed that
it's
stopped
working,
and I am killing myself trying to figure it out.

I did just discover that I do not even have to shut off the
Xbox,
just
exit
back to the 360 dashboard and then come back into media
center
and
it will
play. I just did that and it played 1 song. It never stops
in
the
middle
of a
song, always at the end/start. The exact error message that
I
get
is:
"Audio
Error
A firewall or network configuration issue is preventing
media
playback.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Vista and Xbox 360
    ... I just got my xbox 360 back from repair, ... my router settings. ... Of course that wireless media center tuning in combination with my router ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Vista and Xbox 360
    ... different wireless router (preferably one with the Designed for Windows XP ... I'll see if I can find aother wireless AP to try somewhere. ... 360 consoles using Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter." ... Does not seem to be a problem with the wireless network in general: ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Vista and Xbox 360
    ... I have been a Media Center user for years and up until now I have ... I'll see if I can find aother wireless AP to try somewhere. ... reliability between Windows Media Center Extender on Windows Vista and Xbox ... Does not seem to be a problem with the wireless network in general: ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Vista and Xbox 360
    ... I tried my experiment with wireless running in the same room as the router, ... When I watch the network monitor I get a pretty solid mid-yellow. ... Is it possible that there is some glitch that is disconnecting the xbox ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: Vista and Xbox 360
    ... I'll see if I can find aother wireless AP to try somewhere. ... reliability between Windows Media Center Extender on Windows Vista and Xbox ... Does not seem to be a problem with the wireless network in general: ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
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