I cannot connect to whs console from my client pc ("The computer cannot connect to your home server"). Nor can I get to it with RDC. Both worked a couple days ago. The icon in my system tray is green, I can view shared files on whs from this client (from the shared files option on the tray icon or via net view \\server), backups are still working. I am not aware of any significant event happening on this client or on the server that would cause loss of ability to connect. I've tried rebooting client and server, powering down/up the router, etc.

When I run Discover.exe, it gets to the point where it wants my password. From there if I ask for the password hint it says "an error occurred while trying to connect". If I enter my password it comes back with "unable to connect to your home server".

I'm sure my problem is not the password. As you see, it cannot even connect to the server to get my hint. Plus ...

I have a laptop that can still connect fine to the whs console.

The pc that stopped connecting is running vista sp1 with the firewall enabled. Turning fw off does not help (although I did not reboot with fw off). I'm running AVG free 7.5 for av ... I don't think I can turn it off, at least I don't see how. Again, none of this has changed to my knowledge since I was last able to connect.

I don't see anything different when I run in debug mode ... C:\Program Files\Windows Home Server\WHSConsoleClient.exe /debug

Any ideas on what I should try to diagnose this?

Thanks much.

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Dan

When I had this problem it was firewall related. Software application rule (not Windows firewall). Had to allow connections to this computer and from this computer.

Okay, I've done a little more digging and have found something. Trouble is, it is very strange ... to me anyway. If I unplug my cable modem, I can connect to the whs console from my pc. Then if I plug it back in, I can no longer connect. Unplug again, connect fine ... plug in, can't connect. So it is something in the network? But what, and why all of a sudden?

Any ideas?

Thanks.

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Dan

Some on your ISP's network probably named their server the same thing you did, and your router is resolving it outside the network. A hosts file entry mapping your server's IP to its hostname should resolve it.

Brilliant yakuza. Makes perfect sense, and the fix worked. Thanks.

Any ideas on a fix that doesn't involve going to static IP on whs, and doesn't require hosts changes on each client.

For example, a change in my router (wrt600n in my case) ... I looked, but not real sure what to look for.

I assume I can change the name on the whs box from hp-whs to something more likely to be unique. What would I have to change on each of the clients? Would I have to reinstall the client or something?

Thanks again.

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Dan

Awesome, glad that worked for you.

I'd recommend against changing the name of the server, as WHS doesn't publish and interface to do so, and you'd likely have to re-run Discovery.exe on each client PC to rejoin with the server.

I don't know the best way around it in router config, it seems silly that the router tries to resolve outside the home network for known internal machines, though I've found this to be a common behavior.

My suggestion would be to configure a static DHCP (router always assigns the same DHCP address to your server based upon MAC address) address to the server, and add hosts file entries on the clients.

Thanks again.

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Dan

Thanks for the help!! I have 2 desktops, and 3 laptops connected to the HP Server. All under Vista. All wireless except for 1 desktop. Setup went fine, and all was working fine for about a month. Then 2 weeks ago, I could not longer connect to the HP Console from any of the systems. The backups continued to work, the tray icons continued to function properly, I could force a manual backup from any of the systems, I could connect to the console via remote, but not direct. Tried unplugging the cable modem, and sure enough, I connected to the console right away. Per this thread, I went in and changed the default router name that came with the router, rebooted the router, and all is now fine. I can now connect to the HP Console from all systems. Thanks Again!!

Try running the HP "Update" manually on your clients -- and on the MSS/WHS server. They may be at different levels.

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....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

Just took around at these threads and I think I may have one fix that I can contribute.

I have 3 WHS machines (HP MediaSmart EX470) in the extended family and others were noting they could no longer connect using the Windows Home Server Console (Connector) from the System Tray. When you would attempt to connect, it would say the same error message as noted in the threads.

Here's where the fix for me came in. - I noted I could RDP into the server using the IP Address and found that it was name translation that wasn't working. So - I went into the network settings for my NIC and saw under:

1. Local Area Connection
2. Internet Protocol (Click Properties)
3. Advanced
4. WINS


The NetBIOS settings were on default "Use NetBIOS settings from DHCP server...". Since my router was the DHCP server, it appears it wasn't doing good name to address translation. I changed the setting to "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" and connected again - PROBLEM SOLVED.

I don't know if this is the same for others - but I imagine one of the recent updates may have changed something.

Give it a go - and let me know if it worked for you.

I would not expect too much in the way of a response asthis problem was last discussed here back in April! But on behalf of others who may be looking for solutions in the future, THANKS!

PS: Welcome to the world of MSS/WHS and this board in particular! Good to have you aboard!

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....JBick

EX475, 2 GB, LE-1640
PC1: Vista-->W7 Ultimate/32, (D-Drive RAID-5 Array)
PC2: Lenovo Laptop, Win XP Home SP3
2xLinksys WRT54G v1.1 and 2xNetGear GS105 Gbit switch

I had this exact same problem and the above suggestion by Yazuka SOLVED it! Anyone who encounters this problem should try this solution before trying anything else more involved (which it appears others did).

Problem: All was more or less fine with my HP WHS (except installtion of Power Pack 1 knocked out my HP Server Tab and gave me the familiar input string error), and it was running fine. One random day I tried to log on to the connector and I received the error "The computer cannot connect to your home server". The WHS did all regular back ups and the shared directories and data were fine. I re-started the WHS from the connector and manually by pressing the button on the back. Nothing. Tried logging in from another computer. Nothing. After two weeks, I tried Yazuka's solution, chaning the Host file as he suggests, and voila! I now have access to my WHS via the connector.

FYI - On Win XP the Host file is located at C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc. Click on the file, you will get an Open With dialogue box, choose Notepad, and follow the instructions in the file.

I entered the IP address assigned to my WHS by DHCP (192.168.2.2) and the name of my server, tried starting connector again, and it worked!

I will now assign a static IP address to the WHS because inevitably the next time I re-start my router, DHCP will assign a different IP to my WHS, and I will be faced with the same problem. The static IP should eliminate the issue once and for all. Never assigned a static IP so will be interesting (but necessary).

Thanks Yazuka!

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Anthony J Mormino

Thanks for posting, Anthony, and glad this helped you!

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Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
Have you tried our Add-Ins?

I am having this exact same problem with only my Vista client (my XP and Windows 7 clients work great). I tried to perform the fix but as I am a newbie i did not know the following procedure:

"Here's where the fix for me came in. - I noted I could RDP into the server using the IP Address and found that it was name translation that wasn't working. So - I went into the network settings for my NIC and saw under:

1. Local Area Connection
2. Internet Protocol (Click Properties)
3. Advanced
4. WINS


The NetBIOS settings were on default "Use NetBIOS settings from DHCP server...". Since my router was the DHCP server, it appears it wasn't doing good name to address translation. I changed the setting to "Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP" and connected again - PROBLEM SOLVED."

Is this the procedure for XP (sounds like it) as I can not follow the procedure Network settings-Local Area Connection-Internet Protocol-Advanced-WINS? What is the exact procedure to get me to the right area. Sorry to be so stupid but any assistance would be great (I have suffered with this problem on my EX470 for 4 months). Thanks in advance for your help,
Pitter

Not sure if anyone will see this any time soon, but thought i would try.

I have the same issues as in this thread, on Vista. When I try to edit the host file, unlike on XP, it stops me cold...it will not let me write the file back out (and I am on as an administrator).

i am a vista newb...how do you edit the hosts file on Vista? i presume I am locked out because there is another way I am supposed to be doing this.

thanks for any help!@

pklocke