RE: Windows XP SP2

["Phil Brett" <phil@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yeah Kevin!

Thanks very much for all that. You have performed one of the most
important rolls in software development. The one where you walk up
behind the person with a problem, and magically that induces them to
solve it.

I'd been down all the routes you suggested but here's what it was:-

I knew that something was either blocking or eating all my broadcast
messages. It wasn't, however, stopping messages from 127.0.0.1, or
blocking them going out. On the 2 non-working machines I've got my
company Cisco VPN client software. Ah ha, Phil you idiot, that's just
the kind of thing to mess things up. But...

...it's installed on my notebook (XP SP2 as well) and that works fine.
So I discounted it. However, there's a subtle difference. I'd installed
the notebook VPN stuff over the 802.11G card. On install it runs
something called Deterministic Network Enhancer. But, here's the crucial
part, I made the xAP tests on a USB Ethernet adapter THAT I INSTALLED
AFTER THIS.

It looks like the 'Enhancer' doesn't enhance xAP or any other broadcast
system. It does something to the network adapters it sees. Quite what it
does with the packets I don't know but if a network sniffer can't see
them, it gets to them very early.

Firewall's back on and all's running fine again.

Many thanks

Phil

BTW all my xAP apps are in C# or VB in Visual Studio 2003. Hopefully
I'll get something useful (to more than just me) out the door soon.


-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Hawkins [mailto:lists@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 12 December 2004 19:06
To: xap_automation@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [xap_automation] Windows XP SP2


I'm just trying to get my head around actually what your situation is...

in your first post that you say

Phil Brett wrote:

>  It doesn't see any messages but it's own. Other machines still see
it's messages (heatbeats etc) fine.

So it appears that all apps on the problem machine can send xAP messages

OK but can't receive any - this sounds like a clasic 'hub problem' or a
badly written xAP application. The background is that only one
application can ever receive xAP messages on a given PC and this is the
first one that is launched and opens for it's exclusive use port 3639
(which is where all the xAP broadcasts are sent to, even ones from other

machines). In order for several applications to be able to listen you
need a xAP hub and this must be the first xAP application launched on
the machine and then other xAP applications hear xAP messages relayed
via the xAP hub. However in order to hear them they must first register
with the hub as a client. The hub then knows it has to forward messages
it receives onto each of its (several) clients. To register with a hub
you send a heartbeat telling the hub which port you are listening on.
The hub sees this heartbeat and knows thereafter to forward any messages

received on the official xAP port of 3639 on to you application on the
port that it has said it is listening on. This could be any free port it

acquired at launch.

So let's take this one step at a time - I think you are running the
service version of Stuarts hub - is that correct ? If so lets quit all
xAP applications. Stop the hub service (temporarily) and exit any other
xAP applications. Now download and run xAP Viewer from
www.xapframework.net - and run this... Does it see its own heartbeats
and in the title bar does it say " xAP Message Viewer (xFX Hub)
". If it

does then can it see xAP messages from other xAP applications on other
machines. If so we've got a step beyond what you are seeing
currently.... and we'll move on from there.

One other way of establishing the same is does your application work
when it is the ONLY xAP application running on that machine (no hub must

be running) ??

BTW - In what language is your own xAP application written and does it
use the xAP Active X control ? Could you post a copy of a heartbeat
message that your app is sending ?? Also can you check in Network
Connections that the only active network interface is the Ethernet card
and there are no secondary adaptors using TCP/IP eg Bluetooth, Wireless
or Firewire ( Right click my Network Places and select properties and
see which ones are active - not greyed out)

Kevin


>Hi Kevin.
>
>It's a Shuttle FN41 board with nForce2 on-broad Ethernet (it has only
>one). There's a firewire connection to a dvd-recorder and nothing else.
>
>Hub is version 1.2.7.1.
>
>It's an XP related thing as both my Windows 2003 servers are going
great
>guns. Strange.
>
>The biggest pain is I've written an X10 controller GUI that does lights
>/ heating etc and testing it is rather difficult now!
>
>I take it that xAP messages are 255.255.255.255 broadcasts to a UDP
port
>number? Not that it matters without the firewall.
>
>I'm racking my brains for any other software that the non-working
>machines have in common. Here's hoping that an MS update hasn't got me.
>
>Thanks
>
>Phil
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Kevin Hawkins [mailto:lists@xxxxxxx]
>Sent: 12 December 2004 15:47
>To: xap_automation@xxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: [xap_automation] Windows XP SP2
>
>
>Phil Brett wrote:
>
>
>
>>Well, it's a few weeks later, I've got less hair but still no xAP
>>messages. I've installed Sniffer and even it doesn't see any
broadcast
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>messages from xAP, so it's quite low down in the protocol stack.
I've
>>disabled the firewall service, and plugged a working (ie receiving)
>>laptop into the same port as the working machine. It was fine.
>>
>>And now a second machine (XP SP2) has started the same thing!
>>
>>I can't believe I'm the only one with this issue. Problem is, I'm
at a
>>
>>
>
>
>
>>loss where to look next!
>>
>>T
>>
>>
>>
>Hi Phil,
>
>All my machines are running XP SP2 without any issues - one some I have

>the firewall turned off - and on the others I have setup the firewall
to
>
>pass xAP. Very strange.. There must be something differemt about your
>setup . How many network interface cards are installed and operational
>in the machine and which xAP hub are you running ?
>
>Kevin
>
>
>