202 - Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues

[Pauven]

TL;DR:

If CMC won't connect to CCC, doublecheck:

• CCC PC Name entered into CMC's Settings for typos
• CCC is Running
• All PC's for MM + CCC +CMC are on same VLAN
• PC's firewall is permitting CCC and CMC local network access
• CCC listens on inbound port # 1031
• CCC calls My Movies on port # 51415

Troubleshooting Connectivity Issues
As with most things in life, there's only one way things can go right, and infinite ways things can go wrong. That adage certainly applies to networking applications.

While we've tried to make using CCC with CMC as simple and trouble-free as possible, there are some common issues that might give you some trouble. In this chapter, we will detail the most common errors and how to fix them.

If you are not experiencing connectivity errors, congrats! Feel free to jump ahead to the next chapter: 203 - Syncing with CCC


Connectivity Test Error Messages

A "Socket Error #11001 - Host not Found" error message indicates that the remote PC is offline, or perhaps you entered the PC's name/IP address incorrectly:

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A "Connect timed out." error message indicates that the PC is reachable but CCC is not running - check to make sure CCC is running:

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VLANS
If you have segregated your home network into two or more VLANs, then you will need to make sure that My Movies, CCC and CMC are all on the same VLAN, or have designated routes and credentials to bridge VLANs.

If you don't know what a VLAN is, good - don't worry about it. And if you have configured VLANs for your home network, then you are obviously a technical user of advanced networking skills, and you certainly don't need me to tell you about VLANs (even though I was a Cisco Certified Engineer in an earlier career...).



Firewalls
If the above guidance didn't resolve your connectivity challenges, then you might have a firewall permissions issue.

If you're not sure what a firewall is, basically a firewall is software that prevents network traffic in order to protect your PC from malicious software. By default, most firewalls will block traffic for new programs until you grant access. If you have not granted network access for both CMC and CCC, then chances are you have one or more firewalls blocking communications.

While hardware firewalls do exist, these are typically expensive solutions used by businesses that are rarely found in a home environment (and if you happen to have one, then you certainly don't need to be reading this "intro to firewalls"). You might have a firewall built into the router for your home internet connection - those are fairly common - but these typically protect your home network from outside attackers, and don't block traffic inside your home network.

So for the purposes of this discussion, I will be assuming that you have a software based firewall, a.k.a. some kind of program running on your PC.

Chances are you have at one point in your life seen a firewall diagram like the following one, which illustrates how a firewall protects your home network from the scary internet:

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Unfortunately, that is a very misleading image, as it suggests there is only a single firewall, and that it only affects internet traffic. Unless you have disabled the software firewalls running on your Windows PC's, that is simply not true. In addition to that firewall that protects you from the internet (this firewall probably lives on your internet router), each PC usually has a software firewall, and this firewall can block traffic from all PC's, even those in your home network. A corrected picture probably looks more like this:

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This means you will need to make sure that every CMC and CCC PC has the correct exceptions added to its firewall rules.

The challenge here is that there are literally hundreds of different firewall programs - there is no way I can cover them all. Instead, what I will do is provide some guidance on the most common firewall solutions - hopefully yours will be one of them, and if not, then the guidance provided below should still be applicable to your personal firewall software.

But before we get to that, let's talk about CMC and CCC's networking requirements.

* Note that if you only have a single PC with everything running on it (My Movies + CCC + CMC), then the following info is of little interest to you, as it details with external networking connections which you are not using.


CMC <-> CCC Network Communications
CCC runs a very basic TCP server (TCP stand for Transfer Control Protocol, a common networking technology). When CCC is running, the TCP server is always listening on port 1031 (I chose that port number, because CMC v1.0 was released on Halloween, 10/31, so it should be easy to remember).

This means that whichever PC is running CCC, it must have port 1031 open for incoming traffic, in order to allow other CMC PC's to connect remotely. Typically when you grant network access, you are generally opening all ports, which is fine. CCC only listens on port 1031, but having other ports open won't cause any ill effects. But if you are an advanced user attempting to lock down their PC's network access, at the bare minimum you must allow CCC to listen on port 1031.

CMC runs a very basic TCP client. Each time CMC connects to CCC, it uses a different randomly assigned outgoing port #, which is by design so that CCC can distinguish subsequent connections from earlier connections coming the same PC. Since this port number is always changing, essentially you have to allow CMC full access on all possible outbound ports, at least with respect to accessing your CCC PC. Since it is extremely rare to specifically block outbound port #'s, this requirement probably has no impact on your firewall setup, but now you know just in case.

CMC should never have any incoming originating traffic on your network - CMC has no capability to listen for network traffic. This means that CMC always talks first, which establishes the network connection to CCC or other PC, so you can usually block inbound originating traffic to CMC and it won't break anything.

With regards to CMC, CCC will not have any outbound originating traffic - CCC always just sits quietly waiting for CMC to check in and ask for some data. But with regards to My Movies, CCC will have outbound originating traffic, as it always initiates the requests to the My Movies API service.


CCC <-> My Movies Network Communications
My Movies runs the API Service on port 51415. Typically, My Movies has already opened this port # when you installed it (plus a lot of other port numbers that it uses). But if CCC is failing to connect to My Movies, especially if you are running CCC on a different PC than where you installed My Movies, then make sure the My Movies PC's firewall is allowing inbound connections on port 51415.

CCC calls My Movies on port 51415 using a standard HTTP connection.

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[Pauven]

Microsoft's Windows Defender Firewall
The Windows Defender Firewall is one of the most common firewalls, especially on Windows 10. This is because Microsoft ships it with Windows by default, it is free, and - in a huge surprise for free Microsoft apps - it is actually pretty good. Unless you (or your PC system builder) has installed another firewall, there's a good chance you are using the Windows Defender Firewall, which is just one of several apps that makes up the overall Windows Defender antivirus software suite.

If you are using Windows Defender Firewall, then this is going to be really easy! The first time you run CMC or CCC, you will see a Windows Security Alert pop-up, similar to the following image:

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The alert indicates that Windows Defender Firewall is currently blocking network access, and unless you click Allow Access, it will not work correctly.

Most users will have their home network classified as a "private" network, and the option to allow communication on your private home network is checked by default.

Some users might have their home network classified as a "public" network - and if so this is probably a configuration mistake. Hopefully you know what type of network you have configured, and select the appropriate option here. If you are unsure, then on Windows 10 you can go to Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Properties (choose the network connection you are using) and you should see the configuration (and have the option to change it):

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Once you click Allow Access, you are done. The Windows Defender Firewall is now properly configured for CCC or CMC to communicate with each other and with My Movies.


Manually Configuring Windows Defender Firewall
So you got a little zealous and clicked cancel on that Windows Security Alert, eh? And now when you run CMC or CCC, you don't get a prompt to allow firewall access, and network traffic is being blocked. Not cool. You're gonna have to do this the hard way.

Click Start, then type Defender and select Windows Defender Firewall from the options shown. This will open the main control panel for Windows Defender Firewall:

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This control panel is an alternate method to check if your PC is configured for a private or public network - mine is configured for "Private networks", as that one shows as currently "Connected".

In the leftmost column are several links, select the one titled Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall.

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Before you can make any changes, you need to first click the Change settings UAC button that is at the top-right, above the list.

Since you've already run CCC or CMC and declined to give firewall access, then these will already be in the list shown. Scroll down to find CCC or CMC as needed. To grant access, you will need to place a checkmark in the left box, beside the app name, and also check the Private and/or Public checkboxes, whichever is appropriate for your network classification.

When you're done, click OK.

That's it!

[Pauven]

Norton 360 / Norton LifeLock
The Norton PC protection suite is among the most common on Windows PC's. It also has been one of the most troublesome for CMC over the years - most Norton users have to add an exclusion to the CMC directory to prevent Norton from randomly quarantining or straight-up deleting CMC.

Fortunately, one of our fellow users has put together a nice guide for configuring Norton's firewall for CCC - be sure to give a big thanks to user ScareDcrow if this info helps you!!!


Configuring Norton Firewall to allow CCC to receive connections from CMC

1) Open Norton 360:

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2) Enter "Settings" (top-right, below the blue title-bar):

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3) Select "Firewall":

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4) Select the "Traffic Rules" tab:

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5) Click the "Add" button (bottom-left):

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6) Select the "Allow" option, then click "Next >":

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7) Select the connection type to allow option to "Connections from other computers", then click "Next >":

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8) Depending upon your needs, you'll have to make a choice here on "What computers to allow access". For most users, the second option, "Any computer in the local subnet", is the right choice. A subnet is usually the first 3 octets of your IP Address range, i.e. 192.168.1.xxx. If you have multiple subnets and want to allow access from other subnets, be sure to select "Any computer".

After you've made your selection, click "Next >":

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9a) In the protocol drop-down box, select to allow TCP.

Now you have another choice to make regarding which ports to allow. You can select "All types of communication (all ports, local and remote)", which is equivalent to the Windows Defender Firewall settings detailed above.

Or you can be more restrictive and select "The rule will apply only if it matches all of the ports listed below:". If you choose this 2nd option, you will then have to click the "Add" button to specify CCC's port #:

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9b) From the "Filter by" options, select "Individually specified ports". For the "Locality" option, select "Local" (which means inbound). Finally, in the port number(s) text box, type 1031 then click the "OK" button:

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9c) This will bring you back to the previous "Add Rule" panel, and you will see your new allowed port listed as "local port 1031". Click "Next >":

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10) On the next page, the default values are fine. Click "Next >":

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11) Now you can give the new rule a name - whatever you prefer. GaryReeve chose a good name: "Chameleon CentralController Rule". Another good option might be "CCC Inbound Port 1031". After you've come up with the perfect name, click "Next >":

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12) The new rule configuration summary should look similar to the above screenshot, perhaps slightly different according to the choices you made. If it looks good, then click "Finish".

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13) Even though you clicked "Finish", you're not actually finished just yet (Argh... Norton!!!). Click "Apply" to put the new rule into effect, then you can click "Close".

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14) Which brings you back to the Norton dashboard, which you can close.

Now CCC is configured to accept inbound traffic on port 1031, which will be your CMC HTPC's checking in to get movie DB updates.


Configuring Norton Firewall to allow CMC to make outbound calls
Typically outbound connections are not blocked, If you need to permit CMC Norton Firewall access, the steps are almost identical.

The main difference is that in Step 7 you need to allow "Connects to other computers", and then in Step 9a you should choose "All types of communication (all ports, local and remote)".

This will allow CMC to communicate with a) The TurboActivate license servers, b) This ChamConSoft.com/cmc website to check for new CMC versions, and c) Your CCC PC to grab Movie DB updates.

[dsteinschneider]

Hi Paul,

This thread is a great resource for troubleshooting connectivity.

I thought I would add the following. I was troubleshooting a situation where CME wasn't working that was solved simply by restarting the MyMovies General Service on the Windows 7 PC we use as a NAS (DrivePool) that also runs MM.

BTW, WD Red 4TB NAS drives are going for $65. I just bought one to replace my Mom's 10 year Tivo Premiere 4 (320GB) drive that was starting to go.

Happy Holidays!

Doug

[Pauven]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for sharing that tip. For CCC, checking the My Movies General Service is covered here: 105 - Running a Full Export of My Movies Data

Unfortunately, the General Service is prone to crashing, not sure why. Rebooting the PC is often the simplest way most users fix it, but you are spot on that you can simply restart the service directly.

BTW, WD Red 4TB NAS drives are going for $65. I just bought one to replace my Mom's 10 year Tivo Premiere 4 (320GB) drive that was starting to go.

Wow! Seems like only yesterday I was buying 3 TB drives anytime they dropped below $130. Hopefully someone else here is in need of a good deal on those 4 TB Red NAS drives. Too bad I've moved on to 8 TB drives. My current benchmark is around $180-200 for 8 TB 7200 RPM NAS drives. I haven't bought any in a while, but it's getting close to time. Sure would be awesome to find them closer to $130.