Troubleshoot network problems

First Steps

• Most important: Have you configured the Firewall properly? Learn more...
• Ensure that the network adapters and drivers are installed properly and that the network cable is firmly connected (most network adapters indicate a physical connection via a LED light).
• Make sure to have the latest drivers for your network interface adapters installed (especially when using Windows Vista/7). It may be necessary to check for updates.
• When connecting via Ethernet, ensure that you are using a suitable cable (so called "cross-over" cable for a direct PC-to-PC connection or a "patch" cable if you connect the PC through a network hub/router/switch). It can be confusing because both cable types look absolutely identical. The cable might be labelled "patch cable" or "cross-over cable". When in doubt, consult your dealer.
• Make sure to have latest versions of your physical video card drivers. The physical video cards must support at least 16 bit color depth (>65,000 colors).
• Close all running programs on both computers except MaxiVista to eliminate the risk that another application can lock the network or filter out any network traffic. Especially, close all video card related applications and utilities, such as nView or display managers to isolate them being the cause of any issues.
• If using the full version and if you performed a MaxiVista update on the Primary PC, please ensure to update the Secondary PC as well by creating a new viewer program. This can be done at any time from the corresponding server program menu command on the primary PC. The data protocol may have changed and the new server program may not understand an old viewer program or vice versa.
• If using a USB-to-USB cable, please refer to the provided documentation to ensure that it supports the TCP protocol. Please ask your dealer or the cable manufacturer whether it supports TCP/IP.
• If you have disabled the automatic network settings in MaxiVista, click on Configuration Network options and check that you have entered the correct IP address of the Secondary PC. We repeat: The IP address of the Secondary PC:
  
  
• If you use the MaxiVista default network settings, you may try to use the manual IP address selection. Click on Configuration Network Manual. Then enter the IP address of the Secondary PC and restart the Server Program. Now, the server program does not need to send a UDP call to the network. If you do not know how to determine the IP address of your Secondary PC, please look at Step 3 below.

Verify the TCP/IP protocol installation

Ensure that all computers have the TCP/IP protocol installed (video tutorial):

• On both PCs, click Start Settings Control Panel Network and Internet Connections Network Connections
• Locate the icon of the network adapter which connects to the other PC.
• Right-click that icon and select Properties. Make sure that the TCP/IP protocol is installed and enabled as shown here:
  
  
  

Find out the IP addresses

To continue troubleshooting, you need to know the IP address of the computers. These are the unique IDs under which the PCs can call each other:

• Select the TCP/IP protocol in the above list and click Properties.
• If there is no value for IP address shown, then the networking is not working properly. Further assistance can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge base.
• IP addresses for local network usually begin with 169.254.x.y or 192.168.x.y (whereas x and y is a number between 0..255). If the IP address does not begin with either 169 or 192, the network adapter is most likely connected to the internet instead of a local network. MaxiVista however does not work over the internet.
• The value x represents the "subnet" and both computers must have the same subnet value to be able to communicate.
• The last value y is the individual ID of the PC. This value must be different for each network adapter on both PC.
• If everything looks OK, write down the IP address.

Verify local TCP/IP functionality

If the IP addresses are correct, check whether the TCP/IP protocol is properly configured (video tutorial).

• On both PCs click Start Run type cmd hit OK.
• In the following window, type ping localhost and then press Enter.
• If you receive "Request timed out", the computer's TCP/IP configuration is generally malfunctioning. Further help can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge base.

Check basic networking

Now, try to ping ("call") the opposing computer (video tutorial):

• Type ping x.x.x.x (where x.x.x.x is the IP address you have just written down for the opposing(!) PC) and then press Enter.
• If you receive "Request timed out", the calling PC cannot find the other PC on the network. Further help can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge base.

Check for port conflicts

In very rare occasions, it may be that the ports being used by MaxiVista are already occupied by another application. You can easily check that with the netstat command (video tutorial):

• On both PCs open a command box by clicking Start Run type cmd hit OK.
• Enter netstat -a

Check the output to verify if any other applications are using a MaxiVista related port. If so, the re-configuring of the other application for use with another port is required or you must close the other application before you can use MaxiVista. MaxiVista does not allow the changing of ports within MaxiVista.