VLC Media Player Mac - can’t see UPnP servers on home network

[christos31]

We have been using VLC Media Player as our media player of choice for a long time and generally are very happy with it. However we have one problem that has been challenging us for a while despite a few hours of searching the web for a possible solution.
We have a wired and wireless home network that includes 2 UPnP servers (a Panasonic BD recorder and a DXtreme PVR), 2 iMacs, a Macbook Pro, a Win 10 PC and 3 printers. The Win PC running VLC Media Player can see (and play recorded video material stored on) the 2 UPnP servers and the servers when acting as clients, can see each other and play each other’s recorded material. However none of the Macs running VLC 2.2.4 can see the UPnP servers. Can anyone tell me why this is so and hopefully how to fix this problem?

[MacVLC-User]

I have exactly the same issue here where my iPad, and Windows 7, 8 and 10 machines can see and use the UP'n'P Server but nothing appears on my Mac running OSX Sierra 10.12.4 and VLC 2.2.4 so I too would appreciate some help with this.

[MacVLC-User]

Can any other users or someone from VideoLAN confirm, or deny this issue please?

[monkeystriker]

I have the same issue. VLC on my macbook does not finde the upnp media.

On the same macbook Kodi does find the stream but I do not like their interface. Also my iPhone finds the strem with VLC.
Another Windows PC with VLC does not find it either, but other programs find the stream without problems.

I already upgraded my VLC on the macbook to Version 3.0 nightly builds. Any ideas?

[gonhidi]

Using a single machine, If I configure Kodi 17.3 to act as UPnP / DLNA server, VLC (both the 2.2.5.1 release and recent 3.0.0 nightlies) can browse and play its contents; testing this would seem an easy first test to check that your macOS VLC can talk with that particular UPnP / DLNA implementation. If you happen to have two macOS computers you can then extend the test and try to access the Kodi server from the second system to check if remote access is working (if it doesn't, confirm that other remote players or systems don't have a problem); if not, installing Kodi on another system might still be provide a useful diagnosis. Assuming that from the above you can verify that macOS VLC can (sometimes) properly interact remotely using UPnP / DLNA, sharing the specifics of the media server that is leading to the issue might be helpful (though since I am not working on the code I am not really one to tell).

[MacVLC-User]

After all this time I am still no further forward with getting this to work. I am running VLC 2.2.8 on OSX High Sierra v10.13.2 on a Late 2014 iMac but as said DLNA simply doesn’t work for me with this or my previous configuration. I have two DLNA servers one running on a Synology RS815+ and the other on a QNAP TS-269 Pro

With that said, the same 2.2.6 / 8 builds work on Windows and iPad as they can both see and play from either of the DLNA servers so I don’t really know how to proceed with this.

I can’t help but think it is specific to the iMac but I can’t think what, the Firewall is off by default and I can see and mount shares on the NAS devices so if anyone has any insights as to how I can get this to work I’d be very grateful.

[nightmare28]

Hello
I have the same issue. VLC on my macbook does not find the upnp media servers.... I had to activate with right mouse click this feature, but it does not activate.
On the same macbook Kodi does find the server. Also my iPhones/Ipad/ATV's finds the stream with VLC.
Another MAC Mini with latest VLC got it.

I have EYETV installed, but shared of lib deactivated. Maybe another software is responsible for this behavior.

[nightmare28]

Hello with the old 2.0.2 64bit vlc on the same system.... one upnp server is visible. but after some time vlc crashes. inside vmware fusion with 10.13 vlc find the upnp server. but on the macbook with 10.12 I had to activate local network -> upnp with a right click, but it did not work. firewall is off. how can I watch for the programm/tool/setting which prevent the correct behavior?

[dnessett]

Hello. I have the same problem with the uPNP server on HDHOMERUN. I am running 10.13.2 (High Sierra) and VLC 2.2.8 on a Mac Pro 5.1. When I open VLC and select the "Universal Plug'n'Play" link under Local Network, nothing shows up. I am running Sierra on my MacBook with VLC 2.0.4. When I start VLC on that machine and select "Universal Plug'n'Play", all of the channels appear. I installed VLC 2.0.4 (both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions) on my MacPro, but they also do not show the channels when I select "Universal Plug'n'Play". Is there a bug filed for this problem? I see the first entry in the forum discussion is dated 2 Apr 2017 (although that report specifies Sierra, not High Sierra).

[christos31]

G'day everyone,
Back on 2 April 2017 I posted the original article in this thread:

"We have a wired and wireless home network that includes 2 UPnP servers (a Panasonic BD recorder DMR-BWT955 and a DXtreme PVR), 2 iMacs, a Macbook Pro, a Win 10 PC and 3 printers. The Win PC running VLC Media Player can see (and play recorded video material stored on) the 2 UPnP servers and the servers when acting as clients, can see each other and play each other’s recorded material. However none of the Macs running VLC 2.2.4 can see the UPnP servers."

Since this posting, I have upgraded our home network so that the wired elements are all gigabit speed and the wireless (and wired) network is Google WiFi based (a significant improvement in WiFi performance - particularly coverage, in a large house). I have also upgraded VLC on one of the iMacs to 2.2.8. However both the iMacs still can't see the UPnP servers even though the Win10 PC running VLC media player can !!!!
I see that quite a few of you are having the same problem as me so obviously it doesn't just relate to me.

Back on 7 May 2017, MacVLC-User asked if someone from VideoLan could help us solve this problem. I can only repeat this plea ...
CAN SOMEONE FROM VIDEOLAN HELP US SOLVE THIS PROBLEM .....PLEASE!

[nightmare28]

Hello
I've found a solution for my system (MBP HighSierra).
I started vlc 3.0 / vlc 4.0 from commandline with the -vv (logging option). Every time I got there following message during activating UPNP service discovery ("Initialization failed: UPNP_E_SOCKET_ERROR"). Then I looked around on Linux systems this message is familiar, it had something to do with ipv6 on that systems!
Then i have checked my system. IPV6 was not set to auto inside settings -> network -> wifi/ethernet -> enhanced options -> TCPIP it was disabled there. after setting it to "automatic" even VLC 3.0 (official release) was then able to discover my UPNP devices and playback running very well.

[christos31]

G'day everyone,
As the original post on this topic on 2 April 2017 and another post on 17 Feb 2018, I'm pleased to report that when I installed the latest upgrade to VLC- Version 3.0.3 - the problem has now gone away and I am able to access both my UPnP servers from my iMac (Late 2012 running 10.11.6 OSX El Capitan) in an identical manner to my Win 10 PC - FANTASTIC!
Not sure if the people at Videolan heard our pleas for help but if so, THANKS A MILLION !!!

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

G'day everyone,
As the original post on this topic on 2 April 2017 and another post on 17 Feb 2018, I'm pleased to report that when I installed the latest upgrade to VLC- Version 3.0.3 - the problem has now gone away and I am able to access both my UPnP servers from my iMac (Late 2012 running 10.11.6 OSX El Capitan) in an identical manner to my Win 10 PC - FANTASTIC!
Not sure if the people at Videolan heard our pleas for help but if so, THANKS A MILLION !!!

We did.

[Mnply]

I had the same problem with different VLC versions

In my case i fixed this, desactivating Eyeconnect upnp

[robin0]

I have the same problem reported here but I do not have a Touch Bar. My setup is MacBook Air 2018, macOS 10.14.4, Synology NAS. VLC for Mobile on my Apple TV does see my UPnP server, I had to configure a user name and password. Do I have to configure a user name and password in VLC for Mac? I can't find anywhere to do this.

I get these errors in the messages window:

main debug: looking for services_discovery module matching "upnp": 8 candidates
upnp info: Initializing libupnp on 'default' interface
upnp error: Initialization failed: UPNP_E_SOCKET_ERROR
main debug: no services_discovery modules matched
main error: no suitable services discovery module
macosx error: Could not find playlist entry with name Universal Plug'n'Play

[legepe]

Hello,

Mac oS X Mojave 10.14.2, VLC 3.0.6 no Bonjour nor UPnP available.
My videos are on a Synology NAS.

Everythings fine with my AppleTV.

Strange.

[legepe]

G'day everyone,
As the original post on this topic on 2 April 2017 and another post on 17 Feb 2018, I'm pleased to report that when I installed the latest upgrade to VLC- Version 3.0.3 - the problem has now gone away and I am able to access both my UPnP servers from my iMac (Late 2012 running 10.11.6 OSX El Capitan) in an identical manner to my Win 10 PC - FANTASTIC!
Not sure if the people at Videolan heard our pleas for help but if so, THANKS A MILLION !!!

We did.

Are you sure ?

[robin0]

I’m sure, I get the errors I put in my post yesterday when I try to enable UPnP.

[fkuehne]

This will be fixed in 3.0.7. We finally found a fix for this embarrassing issue.

[airdrummer]

fixed for some but not all: https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=150089&p=494888#p494888

[janeklb]

Running 3.0.8 - seeing the same (or very similar issue) on Mojave 10.14.6

Code: Select all

$ /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC --verbose 2 ... ... ... 007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery debug: looking for services_discovery module matching "upnp": 8 candidates [00007fa89d41b0b0] upnp services discovery: Initializing libupnp on 'gpd0' interface [00007fa89d41b0b0] upnp services discovery error: Initialization failed: UPNP_E_SOCKET_ERROR [00007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery debug: no services_discovery modules matched [00007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery error: no suitable services discovery module [00007fa89d427c50] macosx interface error: Could not find playlist entry with name Universal Plug'n'Play

[janeklb]

I should add that while VLC on my MBP is not showing the UPnP server, VLC on my iPhone is able to see it and use it etc. just fine

Running 3.0.8 - seeing the same (or very similar issue) on Mojave 10.14.6

Code: Select all

$ /Applications/VLC.app/Contents/MacOS/VLC --verbose 2 ... ... ... 007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery debug: looking for services_discovery module matching "upnp": 8 candidates [00007fa89d41b0b0] upnp services discovery: Initializing libupnp on 'gpd0' interface [00007fa89d41b0b0] upnp services discovery error: Initialization failed: UPNP_E_SOCKET_ERROR [00007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery debug: no services_discovery modules matched [00007fa89d41b0b0] main services discovery error: no suitable services discovery module [00007fa89d427c50] macosx interface error: Could not find playlist entry with name Universal Plug'n'Play

[destroyedlolo]

Hi,

I'm facing the same issue on 3.0.8 / Linux (Ubuntu and Gentoo) but only on wireless machine.
I got another one (Gentoo again) which is wired and it can detect my Gerbera server.

Ps: I don't think it's a routing issue as my laptop can see all avahi targets

[skris88]

Hi

I am a recent Linux OS user.

I am on Ubuntu 19.04 disco and VLC 3.0.8 Vetinari.

My PC hardware has two separate boot drives, the second drive has on it Windows 10.

So it should not be an hardware issue.

If I connect up the 2nd drive and boot up into Win 10, VLC there sees and plays from my LAN UPNP devices (of which I have several).

When I switch drives (I don't use Dual Boot) and boot into Ubuntu with VLC I can go into Local Network/Windows networks section I see and can play media off shared folders SMB devices on my LAN.

However in the Local Network/UPNP section there is nothing displayed. I have even left VLC on for up to an hour hoping it would somehow need to populate DLNA data, but that did not help.

But Kodi v17.6 on this Ubuntu OS sees the UPNP servers.

I also have VirtualBox running Win7 on Ubuntu. VLC on it does not see the UPNP DLNA devices.

How can I go about resolving this so I can use VLC to access UPNP DLNA servers on Ubuntu?

Thanks!

Cheers,
skris88

[janeklb]

This post https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=146518#p492509 suggested to change the "Service Order" in your network preferences. It didn't work for me initially (changing the order, clicking "Apply", re-launching VLC), but after restarting the computer, it's now working.
To confirm this was the culprit, I tried to change the order back and restart, but VLC _still worked_. Maybe it cached which network interface to use? Either way, this seems to have done it.