Autodiscovery/router issue

Archives Configuration and Setup
1

I downloaded the app yesterday with a view to automate all my av kit.

I have a Panasonic 50GT50 plasma, a Panasonic BDT120 bluray player, a Virgin Tivo (I’m in the UK), a Dune Smart D1 media player and a soon to be replaced Denon 1909 av receiver.

When configuring Roomie for the first time the only device that it auto discovered was the Tivo box. I have managed to manually configure the TV, Bluray and Media player.

Kind of disappointed that they weren’t seen on my network though. Any reason for this?

Also, am I missing out on anything by manually setting up devices? Does an auto discover device have better control, more commands etc?

Potentially Roomie looks great. I hope it works out for me.

2

TiVo uses something called Bonjour to publish its presence on your network. The Panasonic products use a different system called UPnP that is sometimes disabled by routers. This FAQ covers that topic:

roomieremote.com/faq/#router

There is no downside to using Manual IP if you can’t fix your router with one exception: Sonos. There is some special information we get during discovery that is necessary for proper Sonos control. As long as your IP devices have fixed IPs, manual IP addition is the same as automatic:

roomieremote.com/faq/#dhcp

Thank you.

3

Thanks Roomie for your reply.

I have a Virgin Superhub, its a Netgear CG3101D and UPnP is enabled.

I have set all my devices with static ip addresses. I can use the Panasonic remote apps to control the TV and Bluray player.

Does this alone prove that the router is set up and working ok and that the tv and player are advertising themselves on my network.

All devices are hardwired to the router so I’m not using wireless.

Maybe I’m getting too hung up on the auto discover thing??

I’m looking to replace my Denon 1909 with either a Pioneer or Yamaha AVR and it would be good if either could be auto discovered, but I suspect it wouldn’t be.

4

Not really. The Panasonic app likely uses brute force on every IP on your network listening on their port and looks for just Panasonic devices. That’s a much simpler search though also much more invasive for your network. We don’t do that type of search. We’re assuming the local network is properly setup for multicast and UPnP. The downside is also nil as devices can be added via Manual IP in almost every case.

Thank you.

5

I do suspect it’s a router problem.

In the UK the Virgin Superhub is a Netgear CG3101D running custom Virgin firmware. Lots of complains in the Virgin support community about UPnP not working properly!

I’ll move on and get things set up manually.

Thanks for your prompt support.

6

Just a quick update.

I have put my Virgin router into modem mode, which makes it a modem only. I have connected an old Netgear wgr614 and reconfigured the network.

Back into Roomie Remote and the TV and Bluray player, along with the Tivo, have all popped up in auto discover!!

So it was definitely a Virgin Superhub problem.

Thought I’d report back as it may help other Virgin users in the UK.

7

Just downloaded the app and am trying to set things up and I’m experiencing some difficulty with the Virgin Box.

I’ve tried auto discover with no results and I’ve tried configuring IP manually with no luck either way.

My Virgin modem/router connects to my Apple Airport Router.

Can anyone perhaps give me any possible clues as to why this won’t connect up. I know it’s possible because ‘donhay’ has managed it.

Thanks in advance.

8

Do you use the Virgin Anywhere app?

If not I doubt your Tivo box is broadcasting itself on your network.

Here are instructions on how to set up your Tivo box.

  1. The first thing to do is to tell your TiVo box that your Virgin TV Anywhere app is allowed to control and access it. Here’s how you do that:
    Network Remote Control settings

    Use your TiVo remote to go to Home > Help & Settings > Settings > Network Remote Control
    Choose Allow network-based remote controls.
    Press the green thumb buttons on your TiVo remote three times and you’re ready for the next step

  2. Once you’ve allowed network-based remote controls open up your Virgin TV Anywhere app. It’ll search your home network for TiVo boxes and you’ll see the scanning screen.
    You’ll then see the Select a TiVo box screen with all the TiVo boxes that Virgin TV Anywhere can find on the home network.
    Any TiVo box that hasn’t been connected to your iPad before will show as ‘Not Complete’ under Setup. It will also show this if you are reconnecting them after deleting the Virgin TV Anywhere app, or have selected the Resetoption from the Settings Menu in the app.
    Once you connect your iPad to your TiVo box you’ll see ‘Ready’ next to the box number, this means you’re good to go with the app on that TiVo box.

  3. Tap the TiVo box you want to use. Next, you’ll need to enter the Media Access Key, a number that identifies your TiVo box and lets you connect your iPad to it. You’ll only need to enter your Media Access Key once, and then your Virgin TV Anywhere app will remember it:
    Finding your Media Access Key

    Using your TiVo remote to go to Home > Help & Settings > System Info > Media Access Key.
    You’ll then be asked for your TV PIN, enter this in the boxes as usual
    In the middle of the screen, you’ll see a ten digit code, this is the MAK

If you need help with your TV PIN, please see our article: Parental controls on my TiVo box. Don’t forget if you haven’t reset your TV PIN the default is 1234.
Entering the Media Access Key

Tap the <strong>Enter Media Access Key</strong> box in the middle of the screen to bring up the device keyboard
Enter the MAK for that TiVo box
Tap <strong>Finish</strong>
Your Virgin TV Anywhere app will then connect to your TiVo box

If you are already using that app then perhaps you need to enable bonjour networking on your network. I use an iMac and bonjour is enabled by default. Not sure about PCs though.

9

Thanks donhay. I will go through that tonight and give it another go.