Unable to find extender

[sonnumbertwo]

Hello,

I have spent countless hrs attempting to fix this problem, only to hit dead end after dead end. I have a xbox that I have used (successfully, for about a year) as an extender for WMC 8. Im not sure what I did, but I am now unable to connect to my HTPC running win 8.1 pro. I have tried everything that even sniffs of a solution but I still get the error "unable to find extender". I can use the xbox to watch Hulu, Netflix but no WMC. My PC sees my xbox, however when I try to "test PC connection" thru the xbox System Settings/Network Settings/Test PC Connection I get, "network connected" - OK, then "PC Not Listed". I cant access my PC from the xbox "video player" either.
Ive tried all the popular fixes, turned off firewall, enabled extender services -- only to have them mysteriously disabled as soon as I attempt the extender setup process. Same mysterious disabling of the "Media Center Extenders" checked box in the "Allowed apps to communicate through Windows Firewall". Ive addressed all the sharing issues I can find, still nothing.

Is there some log that I can post so one of you (much smarter) troubleshooters can divine my problem?

Thanks,
Steve

[sbaeder]

some sort of anti virus or other malware tool??? Try disabling almost every thing that automatically starts at boot...

[Dkeyguy1]

Have you checked that the network settings on the PC haven't been altered, network discovery, or your settings in the router, is it now wireless and used to be wired?
ANY changes? Or did this occur after the 8.1 upgrade?

[mdavej]

This may be a long shot, but do you happen to be using a Live account rather than a local one? If so, try switching to local first. Then dig into the registry and clean out all the old MCX users so you can get a fresh start. Here are some other things to try:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 2c49dc6335

[sonnumbertwo]

Ive spent many hrs "trying" different solutions. By way of an analogy, its like trying to tell a mechanic what is wrong w your car by describing the symptoms over the phone. If you tell him, "theres a loud squeal when I brake" and he says, "you need brakes". This is more like, "when I try to turn my car on, it wont start". Well, Ive spent a great deal of time trying all the possibilties but my "car" still wont start. Is there was a way to fix my extender problem by analyzing my specific setup, ie, providing a log?

[EZEd]

Ive spent many hrs "trying" different solutions. By way of an analogy, its like trying to tell a mechanic what is wrong w your car by describing the symptoms over the phone. If you tell him, "theres a loud squeal when I brake" and he says, "you need brakes". This is more like, "when I try to turn my car on, it wont start". Well, Ive spent a great deal of time trying all the possibilties but my "car" still wont start. Is there was a way to fix my extender problem by analyzing my specific setup, ie, providing a log?

I've not had this exact problem before but I have had a Linkysis extender that had difficulty connecting to a WMC7 PC. My fix was to disconnect the extender from the main PC (logically) and pair it to another PC in the house that also had WMC7 on it. I then disconnected from the 2nd PC and re-paired back to the first PC and all was good. It was almost like the Linksys just needed a new relationship with another PC and then it was back to normal. I do believe the Linksys extenders also had a factory refresh button that would likely have done the same thing but I didn't think of or try that at the time. See if your XBox has a factory refresh button or try associating it with another PC. If you don't have two PCs with WMC just try joining it to a friend's PC and see if that clears it. Good luck.

[sonnumbertwo]

Is there a forum that would be a better place to find this answer. I am quite literally an inch away from selling this thing and going back to a set top box. I HATE WINDOWS 8!!!!

[STC]

Have you considered the xbox to be the problem?
Perhaps try connecting it as an extender to another Windows PC.

[gary94080]

I had a similar problem, but I have Windows 7. my system was working fine until I switched to a cablecard tuner. after that the WMC could not connect to the extenders.

it tuned out to be a problem with my cable modem-router-wireless combo unit. the problem went away when I went back to a separate cable modem unit.

[Skybolt]

Is there a forum that would be a better place to find this answer. I am quite literally an inch away from selling this thing and going back to a set top box. I HATE WINDOWS 8!!!!

Did you ever get this working?

if not:
Not to add to the confusion, but look at two things already mentioned, one get rid of the Home Group if you haven't already and define the network as a work environment. the next is to make sure discovery is turned on, it that is not you won't find the 360. Also make sure the user access control is set to none, at least until you fix this issue. And while your at it, turn the fire wall off and reboot until this is resolved as well. Sorry that's four things ... Anyway good luck getting your car started. I probably should have asked if it turns over first?

[locokip]

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/wind ... 2c49dc6335[/quote]

So, for some reason all of my extenders were all of a sudden disconnected from my WMC server. I tried this link above and basically re-created an ntuser.datfile in the .DEFAULT user folder and deleted some old folders created by WMC. As soon as I did that my WMC was able to "see" my extenders on the network again.

Very happy to have found this gents.

Thanks,

LocoKip