RDC and Network Problems

[Scroobius]

Hi Peter.

I have not had a problem with RDC in unattended before although randomly and occasionally the below happened but was fixed by a re-boot. Now it is a constant problem. I have not knowingly changed anything in the setup menu.

When operating in unattended the network shuts down and I lose remote control ie unattended music play starts and there is a black screen (ok so far!) but alt x, u d etc controls do not work. Therefore I cannot use RDC at all until the music stops at which time the network comes back up, xx appears back on the screen and remote control is restored. Always before in unattended I was able to use the Alt commands without problem.

"Keep LAN Services" is on (red)
"Persist" is on (red)
"Use Remote Desktop" is on (red)

Cheers

Paul

[briefremarks]

Paul,

I had this problem show up a while ago, and I remember fixing it by allowing RDC connections without requiring a password.  Not sure now exactly what I needed to setup, but this is something you might want to try.

Ramesh

[Scroobius]

Hey thanks Ramesh that's fixed the problem.

Cheers

Paul

[PeterSt]

Guys,

May I assume that you have Windows 10 at the other side (Music Server PC) ?

Also, could you please tell us in what exact screen you denote that password not to be asked for ?
I'm asking because I seem to face a similar issue with a customer but it is not sure how this password thing would express itself because (obviously) at making the connection from the Audio PC to the Music Server PC nothing is asking for a password all the time (right ?).

Thanks a lot,
Peter

[Scroobius]

Hi Peter,

Yes I have Windows 10 on both PC's I use for remote access. But that is not where the problem is because I have the problem on both PC's and on my phone which I also use for remote access. The change has to be made on (in my case) MACHII so this is what needs to be done.

On the target PC (MachII running XXHigh) do the following in FullOS:

In run box type gpedit.msc to bring up group policy edit menu.

Under Windows Settings>Security Settings>Local Policies>Security Options  find "Accounts: Limit Local Use of blank passwords ......................"

Click on that and change it to "Disabled"

See attached image it shows the policy as "Enabled" change it to disabled.

That sorted the problem for me.

Hope that works.

As I mentioned in previous post I have had this problem a long time but it was random and fixed by a re-boot only to be a constant problem in the last couple of days.

Cheers

Paul

[PeterSt]

Paul, thank you so much.

But with this change (prior to it), did you have to enter a password somewhere ? I mean, I don't enter anyone at any time. So is this just an under the hood thing which makes you lose the RDC connection, or is it about (you) entering a password (like at bootup) which can't be entered because of how XXHighEnd deals with everything and then the connection is thus lost ?
Sorry for that impossible sentence ... I just don't know what this is about and I like to understand.

N.b.: Maybe way back at a very first time (years ago) I had to enter a password at making the connection from the Audio PC to the music server (data) PC. But ...

Peter

[manisandher]

Using RDC, I've always logged on with the username XXHE and password xx for both the Mach II and III. I've never had any issues.

I find it strange that Paul's issue seems to have come from nowhere - I mean, it was all working perfectly before, right?

Mani.

[PeterSt]

Hey Mani,

Thanks. Yes, odd. But I suppose that the Music Server PC with its always upgrading (ahum) W10 can act destructive on the Audio PC side ...
I don't use W10 on the Music Server PC, so it is a bit hard for me to sense what could be going on. But maybe it is no coincidence that Ramesh came up with a solution which readily works for Paul ?

Best regards,
Peter

[Scroobius]

But with this change (prior to it), did you have to enter a password somewhere ? I mean, I don't enter anyone at any time. So is this just an under the hood thing which makes you lose the RDC connection, or is it about (you) entering a password (like at bootup) which can't be entered because of how XXHighEnd deals with everything and then the connection is thus lost ?
Sorry for that impossible sentence ... I just don't know what this is about and I like to understand.

N.b.: Maybe way back at a very first time (years ago) I had to enter a password at making the connection from the Audio PC to the music server (data) PC. But ...

Like for everyone I had to enter the password for the target (MachII) for RDP to work and I ticked a box "remember password" IIRC and no problems it has always worked. And it still worked I could always connect via RDP. It only became a problem recently when XX went into unattended (and only after working successfully for a long time previously). So I am not really sure how this sorted the problem but it appears to have.

For a very long time I have had occasional random problems with the RDC connection in unattended. These problems manifested when in Unattended only where I would lose the ability to control via RDC. When I tried to reconnect via RDC a blue screen with a a spinning circle would show. Only a re-boot would fix it but there again I never really left if long enough to see if the connection came back up after the music finished and XX came out of unattended. I am hoping that is "fix" sorts that problem as well.

It does not make sense that the change to the security policy would fix the problem because it should only relate to RDC connections without a password. But as we connect with a password you would have to assume that something is happening in unattended that makes the target think the rdc connection does not have a password.

Cheers

Paul

[PeterSt]

Thank you very much, Paul.

So yeah, you are talking about the dreaded "circle" when playback commences and *then* you (abusively ?) cross away the RDC connection on the client side (the Music Server PC). Maybe it isn't super obvious, but that should just never be done and it can happen accidentally. But once done ... forget it. Now, if *that* could be solved by a password thing I - and everybody would be most happy to learn about the how. But I think this is not what this can be about. Or at least nothing that suddenly is an issue (it has been since W10).

Maybe Ramesh can contribute a bit here ?
Thanks a lot anyway !
Peter

[briefremarks]

Peter,

I'll gather my notes on this--I had this written down somewhere--and then summarize what I discovered.  As with Paul, the problem suddenly emerged, and as I remember it, it was when I moved from the Mach II to the Mach III.  I have W8 on the Music PC not W10. 

Ramesh

[Beauchamp Michel]

Thank you very much, Paul.

Although I've had the Mach III (the very first one) since May of 2018, I never managed to use XXHE in Unattended mode for various reasons. To make a long story short I've had a few issues with the Mach III: the LPS failed following a utility power outage, the impossibility to load the OS in RAM plus a few other things related to my own installation. During that period Peter has patiently assisted me to help solving the various issues. In the end I had to send him the PC to get rid of the loading in RAM bug.

During that period I attempted to use the unattended mode but it failed because the RDC was getting lost systematically shortly after the playback started. So I just put this on the back burner.

Fast forward to this week where I made another attempt with the same result: the loss of the RDC when I attempted to return to XXHE with the alt-x command. I then remembered having seen a recent thread (this thread) on that matter. The description that Paul (Scroobius) made of the RDC loss he was having was very similar to what I had. So I applied his recipe above (Security Options under the Local Computer Policy, etc.) and it worked. I've used the unattended mode several times since and the RDC never failed.

So this week for the very first time I could listen to music in unattended and ... I'm totally stunned by the increase in SQ. I expected an improvement but not of this magnitude. I can now relate to the comments I read on this forum when the playback is done in this mode. The thruthfulness of the music has never been so real in my living room. From now on as most of the users I presume, unattended will be my mode of listening. Now let's go back to my collection to rediscover the so far hidden music.

Thanks again.

Michael

[Scroobius]

Hi Michael,

Thanks should go to Ramesh for finding it I just found out how to do what he did (if that makes sense).

Anyway the most important thing is that since making this change I have not had any random blue or black screens with spinning wheel in RDC leading to a reboot. Of course if I kill the RDC connection "illegally" then a re-boot is my lot but that is fair enough I can live with that.

Cheers

Paul