"the Service Is Not Connected" Xlink, This is what I ALWAYS see in XBMC :( Options

[xflbret]

OK, I need help. I am so frustrated here. As the title says, no matter what I do, I ALWAYS see "The service is not connected" error message in xlink kai in XBMC. I have never not seen that error when trying to connect to xlink, but I'd sure like to.

First, I'll tell you about the items on my network.

First, my PC. Running WinXP pro, with no firewall but the XP firewall. It is configured to make exceptions for the kai. I have Kai Evolution VII installed. THe configuration tool is set to the "engine only" profile for dashboard, only launch engine is checked, and I do have kai port 30000 entered (because 0 didn't get me anywhere). Once the engine is running, I pull up the GUI, and enter diagnostics mode. My IP does show up, the public port 30000 is there, and it says that my network is indeed reachable. I put in the port 30000 as a troubleshooting measure when my network wasn't reachable, so I did make a little progress on my own.

My PC is configured for DHCP, but the router always assignes it 192.168.1.2, so I don't see that as a problem. But, yes, I have confirmed it many, many times.

Anyway, next I do have a cable modem on the other side of a netgear router. My router does have port 30000 forwarded to my PC.

Now, my softmodded xbox. I do run XBMC as my default dashboard, the 7813 build (was an earlier build. I tried upgrading as a troubleshooting measure, but nothing). My network settings in XBMC are configured to take their settings from the dashboard. Now, my dashboard is a bit quirky. It does what it wants to do, not what I tell it to do. I try to set the IP statically, but it always kicks back to automatic configuration, except for once in a great while, where it decides it wants a static IP of 192.168.0.2. Anyway, I don't think that's relevant, as others have posted success in DHCP, and I can ftp back and forth between my PC and my xbox just fine. Additionally, RSS feeds and weather also work just fine.

Now, I read the official kai and XBMC guide or whatever it is that's highly recommended. No disrespect to anyone, but it was largely useless. It advocated getting xlink connected then running XBMC. OK, so I tried that. I went under programs to run avalaunch. After a little configuring, Avalaunch indeed does connect up to xlink. AVA doesn't seem to have too much of an interface for xlink though. So, anyway, now that I'm connected, I again run XBMC, hoping that now I'm connected my dreaded error message will go away, but nope...it's still there..."The service is not connected" as if I haven't done anything at all.

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to let you know almost everything I tried and pre-emptively answer the standard set of questions that usually follow in these situations.

I would REALLY like to get this to work, and would appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.

i forgot to mention, in my XBMC program configuration, everything is set correctly...enable xlinkkai is ticked, enable xlinkkai notifications is ticked, my tag and password are correctly set, as is the engine IP address...192.168.1.2, just like my PC's IP. that's what its supposed to be, right? or is that addy supposed to be the IP my cable modem uses to get out? Yeah, I know that doesn't sound right, but nothing about the problem makes sense at all, so I guess anything is possible.

ok, another quick thing I forgot to mention...

I did read through xlink's troubleshooter, and it didn't help me. It got the network reachable, but I still have my original problem. Also, in the diagnostics mode, my network card says no traffic, and not locked. Should I be concerned about this? i remember in the config screen I was asked to choose and lock my default card.

One more thing, in the diagnostics, when I click on the folder, I see "microsoft Xbox, configured retail-only". should I be concerned about the "retail-only" part?

[c-2]

can you play online using the PC UI ? .. make sure you can before using XBMC .. also try getting a new version of XBMC ..

the engine ip is the ip of your computer .. it can't be 192.168.1.2 if you say that XBMC picks up 192.168.0.2 .. their in different ranges .. you may want to get the static ip in XBMC sorted so as to make sure your network is functioning correctly ..

This post has been edited by c-2: Feb 12 2007, 02:28 PM

[xflbret]

I wanted to give it a shot from the pc ui, but couldnt quite figure out about how to go about that.

and about the xxx.xxx.0.2 addy, it only does that once every few days, a quirk the msdash has. usually it behaves itself, but it does insist on being on automatic. xxx.xxx.1.2 though is my PC, and that seems to be a constant. I've never, ever seen it pick up a different IP addy.

there are quite a few folks who seem to have trouble with this. is the technology maybe...I dunno how to say this...is there still some work left to do on the engine? I know from my search I am far from alone having troubles with this.

[dpbmt]

its your network between pc and xbox that needs setting up correct, set up static ip's on both sides

[xflbret]

OK, tried it, no effect. again, as if i did absolutely nothing

[dpbmt]

how my networks setup just to give yopu an idea

btw, have you enabled ICS (internet connection sharing?)+ have you forwarded port 30000?
check portforward.com for how to do that

[c-2]

load the PC version .. click the globe at the top left , navigate to a game arena, click on it .. than load whatever game on your xbox and go to system link and play .. simple as that ..