Tcp channel protocol violation on client

[whyukon]

I am getting the following error on my NPVR client, when trying to play a recording:
Unhandled exception
System.Runtime.Remoting.RemotingException: Tcp channel protocol violation: expecting preamble

The client is running Win 7 32-bit, but I also get the same error with a Vista 32-bit client. The server is Vista Ultimate 32-bit. The .ts files are stored on a FreeNAS server.

I have NPVR version 2.5.9 on both server and client, and have applied the R1 patches.

Note that on the client computer, I can connect to and successfully play the .ts files using Windows Media Player. The .ts files also play normally from NPVR on the server computer. The problem only occurs when trying to play them using NPVR on a client.

Before anyone spends too much time trying to solve this, please be advised that I have sent a support request to D-Link. The problem started after replacing my D-Link dir-625 wireless router with a new dir-835. When I change back to the dir-625, the problem disappears.

I am posting this, in case someone else has encountered a similar problem with a specific router, and has found an easy solution, other than getting rid of the new router. Maybe there is some configuration option in the router that I'm missing. As far as I can tell, I have configured both routers the same way, other than the fact that the newer router has some capabilities that the older one did not.

I will report back if I get any solution from D-Link on this, although I'm not overly optimistic.
I have attached a zip containing my client's NPVR.log file and the error trace text from the client.

Thanks for any ideas anyone may have on this.
Glen

[mvallevand]

In examining why my client was slow, I get the same socket error when my client loses a connection to the server. One of my problems seems to be that NextPVR never tries to reestablish the connection.

Another new error for me in your log

2012-12-06 11:34:29.236 [ERROR][1] Unable to query server recording directories

Which doesn't sound promising.

Martin

[whyukon]

I have solved, or more accurately, found a work-around to my problem.
In my NPVR Client settings, under Devices, I entered my server IP address instead of my server name. I did not have to change the "Database Share" setting, because I was not having any trouble accessing the database from the client. Because I am using a fixed IP for my server, specifying an IP address under server name is not a problem for me.

Note: I also found out later that adding an entry for the server name and IP into my hosts file, fixed the problem. This isn't really a surprise. The strange part remains that I didn't need to do this with the DIR-625, but do need to do this with the DIR-835.

I cannot offer any explanation as to why I had to do this for my new router. I went through all my router's network and firewall settings, tried changing some, but I could not get the NPVR client to work unless I entered the server IP address in the "server name" setting. What is the difference between the DIR-625 and DIR-835 routers that would cause this change in behaviour?

I have had a response from D-Link, but so far, they have only been requesting me to do the usual tests for network connectivity, etc.
Glen