Roku setup

[jtwhoib]

After using Windows Update to upgrade my laptop to Windows 10 2H22 Roku Media Player no longer will find my shared folder so I can stream my pictures and videos from my laptop

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @jtwhoib,

Greetings from the Roku Community!

We appreciate you letting us know about your streaming issues with Roku Media Player. We want to collaborate with you to determine what went wrong. Please tell us more details so that we can better understand the problem you are having.

• Are you getting any error messages or error codes while trying to play content?
• What troubleshooting steps have you taken so far?
• What software version is your Roku device currently running? (Check on Settings > Systems > About)
• Have you tried removing the app, restarting your system, and adding the app again?

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Thanks,
John

[jtwhoib]

I have tried all those option: I'm running software version: 13.1.4 build 1510-94. I'm not getting any error messages because my media server (my laptop) isn't showing up anymore under the media player list

[RokuJohnB]

Hi @jtwhoib,

Thanks for keeping us posted!

We will be more than delighted to assist you further with this issue you had with the Roku media player, which was unable to find your laptop. A Roku Media Player might not be able to find a laptop if they are not on the same Wi-Fi network if the laptop isn't sharing media properly (through DLNA or a compatible server software), if the network is having issues, or if the firewall settings on the laptop are blocking connections to the Roku.

We hope this helps.

Regards,
John

[jtwhoib]

 The laptop was showing up just fine until it was recently upgraded through Windows Update. Can someone please suggest what settings to check?

[atc98092]

Microsoft is terrible about changing settings with updates and not telling the user. Most likely there's a change in the Windows Firewall setting that is blocking uPNP access (DLNA is a form of universal Plug and play).  UDP port 1900 is one that needs to be open, but I'm not certain what other ports WMS might use.

That said, the Windows Media Server is a very poor example of a DLNA server. It offers very little ability to transcode unsupported media, doesn't offer metadata retrieval, and in my opinion is just junk. There are far better server options available, and most are free of charge. Plex of course is a good media server, and it has the benefit of a dedicated app/channel for Roku devices (as well as almost any other smart TV or player). Another is Emby. I am partial to Serviio, and I have assisted the creator by writing the profiles used for Roku devices (but I am not an employee of Serviio). Everything I've listed here will blow Windows Media Server out of the water, and all offer free versions that work perfectly on your home network. They also offer a paid version, but the majority of users are fine using the free version.

[jtwhoib]

I'm not using the actual Windows Media Server program. I just share the folder with the roku

[atc98092]

You have to be using Windows Media Server. Roku devices don't support playing from network shares. 

[jtwhoib]

Ok. Still doesn't solver the problem as why after upgrading my windows to the latest build of 10, that Roku Media Player won't find my laptop server

[atc98092]

It's more than likely the Windows update enabled a firewall setting that is now blocking access. As I said before, Microsoft has a history of doing something like that. Since I don't use WMS (Windows Media Server) I can't say exactly what setting in the firewall might be causing the problem. It's also certainly possible the Windows update shut the media server service off, again something MS has done in the past.

It's why I've never used WMS and have my firewall completely disabled. I'm not concerned with any device on my home network having access to my media server, so I have it completely off. There's just far too many better media server programs available, almost all for free and work far better than WMS.