Delay after restart on network shares --FIXED--

Hi!

i have managed to get my box working with my windows 7 computer. the only thing is: after every restart of my WD TV Live i have to wait for about 10 mins before my network shares show up. i have a media server set up on my computer as well and that shows up like clockwork every time, but not the network shares. ive browsed around everywhere for a sulution.

i found one for windows XP… had to do with enabeling Network DDE under “administrative tools/tasks”. but there is no such thing in windows 7.

any help is greatly apreciated

found a fix in another thread i didnt notice before.

installed this: http://www.mylanviewer.com/ and all of a sudden my WD TV Live pops up instantly on the “network shares”. 

for everyone that cant get the network shares to woork at all i sugest you try this. it might just be that you havent had the patiens to wait tose 10-15min for it to pop up by itself.

Yes, i spend a lot of time to find this solution, see here http://community.wdc.com/t5/Networking/must-wait-15-minutes-to-see-my-pc/td-p/17642 – Now, if someone knows why …

The issue is caused by the way NetBIOS works in a Windows network.  The WD-TV-Live seems to pick up the role of Master Browser on the home network and as such it needs to wait for other servers to announce their presence before being able to find them and browse their shares.  By default Windows servers announce their presence to the Browse Master every 15 minutes.  This would explain why it takes up to 15 minutes for a Windows server with shares to be visible to the WD-TV-Live box. 

Ideally the server with the media share needs to become the Master Browser.  Ensure the Computer Browser service is set to Automatic and is started on the Windows server - without this service running the Windows server cannot ever become the MAster Browser.  You can also add the following registry entry on the server so that it becomes the preferred host of the Master Browser role;

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services \Browser\Parameters

IsDomainMaster
Value should be set to: True

(See the following Microsoft article for more details; http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc959923.aspx)

To check which host on the network currently holds the Browse Master role install the Windows XP SP2 Support Tools on one of your Windows machines (select ‘Complete’ install type during setup) and then reboot.  Type ‘browstat status’ from a command prompt to display the holder of the Master Browser role.  You can also type ‘net view’ from a command prompt to display the list of servers which the Master Browser is aware of (media shares on any of these servers whould be visible to the WD-TV-Live box).

Hope this provides a technical explanation of why Windows shares aren’t often visible to the WD-TV-Live box for up to 15 minutes, and how the troubleshoot/resolve the issue.

WOW.   GREAT INFORMATION!

jenkinso wrote:

The issue is caused by the way NetBIOS works in a Windows network.  The WD-TV-Live seems to pick up the role of Master Browser on the home network and as such it needs to wait for other servers to announce their presence before being able to find them and browse their shares.  By default Windows servers announce their presence to the Browse Master every 15 minutes.  This would explain why it takes up to 15 minutes for a Windows server with shares to be visible to the WD-TV-Live box. 

 

Ideally the server with the media share needs to become the Master Browser.  Ensure the Computer Browser service is set to Automatic and is started on the Windows server - without this service running the Windows server cannot ever become the MAster Browser.  You can also add the following registry entry on the server so that it becomes the preferred host of the Master Browser role;

 

\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services \Browser\Parameters

IsDomainMaster
Value should be set to: True

(See the following Microsoft article for more details; http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc959923.aspx)

 

To check which host on the network currently holds the Browse Master role install the Windows XP SP2 Support Tools on one of your Windows machines (select ‘Complete’ install type during setup) and then reboot.  Type ‘browstat status’ from a command prompt to display the holder of the Master Browser role.  You can also type ‘net view’ from a command prompt to display the list of servers which the Master Browser is aware of (media shares on any of these servers whould be visible to the WD-TV-Live box).

 

Hope this provides a technical explanation of why Windows shares aren’t often visible to the WD-TV-Live box for up to 15 minutes, and how the troubleshoot/resolve the issue.

There is an independant download for ‘browstat’ here

http://networking.nitecruzr.net/2005/05/browstat-utility-from-microsoft.html

(use the Dynawell download link - the other asks for logon)

I get the gist of the above but do understand how it resolves anything. My computers are running XP and the computer browser service is set to auto. However I find that which ever I start first assumes the Master Browser function. I also find that my NAS and the WDTV will also assume the Mater Browser function if they are started first. My point is that you may be able to set your computer up as the Master Browser but you can’t turn off that function in the WDTV. Therefore it’s first come first served. If you turn on the WDTV first it will be the Master Browser, if you then turn it off another device will take over. Try it and see. Something on the network is always the Master Browser.

According to this old post this method of broadcasting will always cause problems.

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=550936