Trouble shooting
Trouble shooting
Common problems
Stream to device fails
Stream to device seems to work best with Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). With older versions of Android, connections to Winamp/AjaxAMP that use authentication (username & password) do not seem to work. I'm trying to find a solution, but for now you may need to disable authentication if you want to stream to a device with an older Android OS.
International characters
International characters are fully supported by Ampwifi, however, older versions of the AjaxAMP Remote Control Plugin had a bug where international characters would show up funny. The solution is to make sure that you are using the latest version of AjaxAMP. You can download the latest version from www.AjaxAMP.com.
Search always returns nothing
If you find that Search always returns a blank result set even when you're certain it should find something, there's three things you should check:
AjaxAMP Media Library is enabled
At least one folder added to AjaxAMP's Media Library (under "Shared Directories")
AjaxAMP's Media Library has been reindexed
For instructions on how to check these, tap on this: Configure AjaxAMP.
NOTE: Ampwifi does NOT search or browse Winamp®'s media library. This is why it's important to configure the AjaxAMP plugin.
Networking and common errors
Networking apps can be some of the trickiest and most frustrating apps to get working. That is because there are so many different configurations that it's almost impossible to take them all into account. What's worse is when something doesn't work there many not be any meaningful clues as to why. I'll try to cover some of the most common problem areas here.
Bad host name
This is typically triggered when the host name from the active server profile does not resolve to an actual IP address. This could be for a number of reasons. If the server profile's host name is the target machine's name (aka NetBIOS name), this may be the cause of the error. Android can't resolve NetBIOS names directly but Ampwifi will do it's best to resolve it yet there's a chance it will fail. Either way, if the host name is a NetBIOS of the target machine you should 1) verify that the NetBIOS name is correct or 2) use the IP address instead. If you're instead using a DNS style hostname, the same recomendation applies. If your server profile's host name is the actual IP address of the target machine, you may still receive this error code. For the IP address to be valid it must have four groups of numbers, each group separated by a period, each group should be a decimal value between 0 and 255 and there should be no spaces. A valid IP address looks something like: 192.168.0.50. Incorrectly entered IP addresses can cause this error. For example, missing one period could cause this error: 192.168.050. An invalid IP address simply can't be resolved so double check to make sure all the numbers are right.
Failed to connect
When you see this error message it usually means that the server profile's host name is valid and can be resolve to an actual IP address, however, your device can't connect to the target machine. OR, it can connect to the target machine but Winamp® is not running. OR, it can reach the target machine, Winamp® is running but the AjaxAMP plugin is either not installed, not running or not properly configured. So you should check the software running on your target machine and if you can, check AjaxAMP by using a web browser. So what do you do if you get this error and Winamp® and AjaxAMP are all configured and running properly? Well we gotta start with what we know, and that's not much: We can't connect to the target machine. One reason could be that your target machine has a firewall enabled which is blocking incoming traffic intended for Winamp®/AjaxAMP. If that's the case you'll need to figure out how to open up the required port. What's the required port? That's the port you set while configuring the AjaxAMP plugin (5151 by default). Alternatively, you could allow Winamp® full network access (that's probably easier and better anyway). Unfortunately I can not provide detailed instructions on how to do this as each firewall is different, including the default Windows firewall across versions of Windows. If you suspect it's a firewall issue you'll need to research how to open up your firewall for an application to act as a server. Google will help you here.
If you get this error and the Scan for servers feature always comes back empty, it may be a router setting issue. Some WiFi routers have an option to partition the Wireless Local Area Netowork (WLAN) from the wired Local Area Network (LAN). This basically means that devices connected to the router via WiFi can not communicate directly with devices connected to the router via cables. This is usually an feature of the wireless router such as WLAN Partition on some DLink routers. Changing this requires the admin password for the router. Like with firewalls, each router is different so you'll need to research how to make the change with your own router.
You may also see something similar if you're connected to the wireless router as a guest. Some wireless routers may support two wireless networks at once, one of which is designated for guests with it's own SSID and password. Guest WLANs tend to be partitioned from the "main" WLAN or from the wired LAN. If that's the case you may need to either connect to the "main" WLAN or to make changes to the wireless router's settings.
You may also get this error if your server profile's host name is a local area IP address AND you're not connected via WiFi. If you're instead connected via mobile/cellular network, any WLAN/LAN IP address will simply be unreachable. A WLAN/LAN IP address typically starts with 192.168 or 10. For example, 192.168.0.50 could only be a WiFi address, where as 74.125.225.115 is an internet IP address.
You may be connected to the wrong WLAN. This can happen if you have more then one router that you connect to. Those who set up multiple server profiles will likely see this error all the time as they move from one WLAN to another.
One unlikely cause for this may be due to subnet masks. Most people at home have no reason to play around with subnet masks, and those who do know how to figure this out, so there's no need to say anything more on that.
Failed Authentication
Ok, this is easy - the host name was resolved to an IP address, a connection to Winamp®/AjaxAMP was made, however the username and password set in Ampwifi's server profile does not match the username and password in AjaxAMP's Security tab. Only two options here: 1) use the correct username and password, or 2) disable authentication on AjaxAMP. Obviously option #1 is preferred.
No network
You're not connected to any network, not even a mobile/cellular network. Check that your Android device's WiFi is turned on and that it's connected.
No local network
You're not connected to a WiFi network but you are connected to a mobile/cellular network AND the Allow mobile data setting is disabled. In most cases you should treat this error message the same way you would the No network error message: connect your device to a WiFi router and try again. Although Ampwifi allows for mobile/cellular data networks, it's considered an advanced feature. If you know how to route IP traffic through specific ports on your router to a target machine, you should already know how to use this feature. Unfortunately it's impossible to provide instructions on how to do this because each router is different so you're best bet is once again Google. This error is also why you should keep the Allow mobile data setting disabled unless you need it - enabling it won't trigger this error when you're connected to a mobile/cellular network.