Trouble with external connections

[craggy 2]

I will be grateful for any tips for getting my external connection up and running and as far as possible trying to make sure I don't have to keep coming back to reset or fix it. I'm returning to Emby from Plex having left a couple of years ago because of repeated connection issues. 

My server is on a late 2012 iMac mostly running from an attached external drive. Everything is working within my local network. It's the external connections that seem to be the issue. I've tried to follow the Connection Setup advice and think(!) I have Emby itself set up correctly. The internet service is based in the UK provided by Virgin Media. It arrives on a cable modem and is then passed to my Asus ZenWiFi XT9 mesh. I've set up port forwarding on the Virgin router using the IP address of the ASUS router that is connected to it. I have also created forwarding in the ASUS router to the IP address of the iMac itself. I'm not 100% sure that I've done this right and suspect that my problems may lie here. 

Grateful for any assistance 

 

 

[Luke 42077]

Hi there, what exactly is your issue? What happens when you try to connect? Have you taken a look at our remote setup guide?

Connecting from Client Apps

[craggy 2]

 

Thanks Luke

Its the usual response .. Cannot connect to the server

Yes - though I see I called it something else in my post "I've tried to follow the Connection Setup advice and think(!) I have Emby itself set up correctly." It works internally but not externally

Maybe you could tell me the important things to make sure I have checked within Emby and check the changes I've made in my specific cable modem and wireless router. I must be missing some step somewhere.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[Luke 42077]

Can you show us how you setup port forwarding in your router?

[craggy 2]

Attached is the 1st router setup. I have assumed that the IP address I need to enter is the IP address of the attached ZenWiFi router. Is that correct?

 

 

[seanbuff 1313]

3 hours ago, craggy said:

I have assumed that the IP address I need to enter is the IP address of the attached ZenWiFi router. Is that correct?

You could have a Double NAT situation with your two routers. Please review the "Multiple Routers" section carefully: https://emby.media/support/articles/Connectivity.html#multiple-routers

Also, we've seen issues in the past when forwarding both TCP and UDP protocols. Try to select TCP only.

[craggy 2]

Thanks for all the tips.

I have remote access now. I think the key thing was turning the firewall off (now back on with rule for Emby hopefully correctly set).

I also set up a static IP from my ISP. Am I right in thinking that this will make things a bit more stable? That was the reason for doing it so hopefully this will help. I'm also going to assign IP'sto the key devices on my LAN . Fingers crossed that the past of multiple Emby drop outs is behind me.

Thanks again

[Luke 42077]

Let us know how things go. Thanks.

[craggy 2]

Thanks. It's been a while since I have been to my beach house, and yet again, I am struggling to connect back to my home server. 
I'm using Android TV operating system built into a projector. When I click on the Emby app, I can see three icons: one of which is my server, the other is 'enter manually' (enter what manually??), and the third is Sign out of Connect. I had previously signed in.

When I click on my server, I see 'Enter user manually' and 'Log in with Connect,' even though I had already logged in on the previous page (?). If I log in with Connect, I get the PIN process which I follow. The PIN is confirmed and then it simply reverts back to the first screen and so I go in circles. 

If I choose "Enter user manually" and enter the user details that I am reading from my phone connected to the server, I'm told that this is incorrect, user or password. ( It's possible I changed the password at some point, but I thought I always used the same one for Emby). 

If I try to enter the server IP address using the remote version  I get told that this is incorrect.  At the same time I am doing all this, I am watching a movie on my phone which connects remotely without a problem. And this is where I get the server IP address, which I'm told is incorrect from. 

What am I doing wrong that I cannot access my server easily? Why is it that when I go through the PIN process and I see "PIN confirm," that I'm not immediately connected to my server? Like, for example, when you go through the same process with BBC. Is it just me or is the whole process just very awkward? 

[craggy 2]

Thanks. It's been a while since I have been to my beach house, and yet again, I am struggling to connect back to my home server. 

I'm using Android TV operating system built into a projector. When I click on the Emby app, I can see three icons: one of which is 'my server name' the other is 'enter manually' (enter what manually??), and the third is 'Sign out of Connect'. I had previously signed in.

When I click on my server, I see 'Enter user manually' and 'Log in with Connect,'  If I log in with Connect, I get the PIN process which I follow. The PIN is confirmed and then it simply reverts back to the first screen and so I go in circles. 

If I choose "Enter user manually" and enter the user details that I am reading from my phone (which btw is successfully connected to the server remotely confirming that remote connect works) I'm told that this is an incorrect user or password. ( I will try to troubleshoot this further). 

If I try to enter the server IP address using the remote ip  I am told that this is incorrect, even though I am copying this from my connected phone. 

What am I doing wrong that I cannot access my working server?

It would be a nice feature if, after going through the PIN process and "PIN confirm,"  is seen that it would immediately load the server home screen, like, for example, when you go through the same process with BBC iPlayer. 

[Luke 42077]

Quote

When I click on my server, I see 'Enter user manually' and 'Log in with Connect,'  If I log in with Connect, I get the PIN process which I follow. The PIN is confirmed and then it simply reverts back to the first screen and so I go in circles. 

Hi @craggythis would suggest that you haven't linked your server with Emby Connect: 

Emby Connect

[Luke 42077]

Quote

If I choose "Enter user manually" and enter the user details that I am reading from my phone (which btw is successfully connected to the server remotely confirming that remote connect works) I'm told that this is an incorrect user or password. ( I will try to troubleshoot this further). 

@craggyare you possibly confusing the difference between Emby Connect vs the local users on your server? When you're getting incorrect user/password, maybe it is because you're entering Emby Connect credentials there? When you connect directly to your server you should use your local server credentials.

[craggy 2]

Thanks for the response. Having spent several hours with the assistance of AI, I now hope that I have solved it. 

I'm no expert, but the following may help others with similar problems. 

Emby server did not have an Apple developer ID, so it was being launched in a random read-only sandbox. 

I also had the additional compounding factor that my single user setup had become corrupt, I know not for what reason or to what extent, but I was getting no warnings about it, and it wasn't until I decided to delete this and created a new one in conjunction with solving the sandbox issue that everything worked. 

It was nothing to do with my port forwarding or other connectivity components, which were all fine. 

[Luke 42077]

Hi, Emby Server is signed with our macOS developer certificate.

Anyway, I'm glad you've resolved your issue. Thanks for following up.

[craggy 2]

Ok interesting. I wonder why I kept getting the untrusted developer notification and having to go through security preferences to confirm it was okay everytime I opened it. Even a fresh download in the last few days required security verification. Probably it's because my server is old and won't tolerate any operating system updates. Even when I confirmed that it was OK to load and run, it was apparently loading into a 'sandbox', so it never retained any updates when I tried to check or change my passwords to see if I could get it to work more reliably. There was also no notification from Emby about this or about my 'user' not working so I was in the dark as to why it was so unstable.

As you say, I hope now this is the end of it. I came so close numerous times to just converting to Plex, which seems to be much simpler connectivity.  If this current setup stays stable, I'll be happy. I post this only in case others find themselves in the same situation. 

[Luke 42077]

What version of macOS are you on?

[craggy 2]

10.15.7

[Luke 42077]

Is that as high as you can update that system to?

[craggy 2]

I'm afraid so.