Having problems after downloading free version.

I had downloaded the Pro version initially. The instructions said that after the evaluation period, it would revert to the free version. I assumed that this would be automatic. Well, after 10 days I guess the pro version expired, but instead of reverting to the free version, it simply stopped working. I noticed this when none of my Samsung TV's could "see" Serviio any longer. The only thing I could think to do was to download and install the free version. I did so, but after the installation completed, when I tried to open the console, I got the following message under the Serviio Console Wrapper:
Cannot connect to the server, it doesn't seem to be running

There was another forum item for this message but it was not for Windows plus it didn't have any helpful info, thus I'm opening this new topic.

This is very upsetting as I was impressed with Serviio; I had been using Smartshare. Well, now I'm stuck. I'd appreciate any help. I'm thinking that this must be something simple, since the Pro version was working just fine and I'm guessing that my system must be compatible with Serviio requirements.

Update: I have discovered that when I try to open the Serviio console, the Serviio Service, which had been running (it is setup to run automatically) stopped. I cannot find anything in the Windows logs that I can associate with Serviio. Does this help?

[atc98092]

To answer your last question first, Serviio does not use the Windows Logs to track operations. It maintains its own log under C:\Program Files\Serviio\Log. These are simple text files that can be read with any text editor (such as Windows Notepad or the excellent Notepad++ available for free download).

As I answered you in a separate post, Serviio reverts to the free version after 15 days of a Pro trial. I have installed a clean Serviio 2.5 package, and I'll confirm if it fails after 15 days.

Sometimes the Serviio console app messes up. To confirm Serviio is running, you can check for the Serviio service in the Task Manager on the Services tab. I never bother with the Serviio console app, instead using the web access. On the computer with Serviio, use http://localhost:23423/console. On any other computer on your network change localhost to the IP address or computer name of the computer running Serviio. If you're not running a static IP address on your Serviio computer, you should really consider doing so.

Dan, thanks very much for responding.
First, when I said that version 2.5 wasn't working, I meant that none of my TV's could see it. Your mention of the Serviio.log is helpful, had I known about it before I wold have taken a look at it to see if there was any clues as to what was going on. But when I downloaded the 1.1 version, that may have wiped out the existing log file, causing any error info to be lost.

Prior to your last post, I got a little adventurous and decided to completely uninstall Serviio and then rerun the 1.1 installation program. This resolved the error involving when I ran the Serviio console program and it is now working; the Samsung TV's can now "see" it again. I can only guess that installing 1.1 on top of 2.5 left some remnants of the old software that was causing a conflict. Edit: This might explain the issue where the Serviio service stopping when I tried to start the console.

I'll be interested in you test of installing a separate copy of the 2.5 Pro software to se what happens when the evaluation period expires.

Last but not least; unless there's a problem with the recent 2.5 software, I guess I should consider replacing the 1.1 software with version 2, based on your earlier remark about the free version of version 2 being superior to the 1.1 version. Should I simply install version 2 on top of version 1.1, or should I uninstall version 1.1 first? I'm asking because of my negative experience with installing 1.1 on top of 2.5. Or was that due to installing and old version (1.1) on top of a newer version? The main issue with uninstalling is that I have to start from scratch with all of the customization (adding my media libraries and adding the friendly names for my TV's and changing the profiles).

[atc98092]

There are huge differences with the 2.x versions compared to the earlier ones. I don't know for certain, but my guess is that installing 2.5 over something so old could very well be the cause of your issues. There's never been a problem installing the latest version over the previous version, or even going back another version of two. But there's probably been more than a dozen updates since 1.1, and that's probably too big of a jump for installing over. I would absolutely do a clean install of 2.5. Depending on the size of your media library, it might take a little time to get it all set again, but at least that's only a one-time step.

Dan, I seem to continue to be in a one step forward one step back loop. I followed your recommendation about upgrading to 2.5:
I uninstalled Serviio 1.1.
I then downloaded and installed 2.5
The installation appeared to succeed but when I tried to use the web access at http://localhost:23423/console, I got the message that it could not connect to the Serviio server; it does not seem to be running. I looked in Windows and the Serviio service was running!

I guess the good news is that the Serviio console appears to be working OK, and I was able to add a few media libraries to it. My Samsung TV's are able to access the media files. Any thoughts on why the web access part isn't working?

[atc98092]

My first thought is something in the firewall is blocking access. Although typically that doesn't block localhost access on the same computer. And I am assuming you tried that on the same computer. I have the Windows firewall completely disabled on my Serviio computers, as I'm not concerned with anything on my network connecting to it. I would be curious to see your Serviio log.

Dan, since I was grasping at straws, I turned off the Norton Firewall (I use it instead of the Windows Firewall) but that didn't help. This makes sense because as you suggested, this is on the same system. y next guess was to clear the cache/cookies in my browser for the url for the Serviio web access site. This appears to have fixed the issue. I'm guessing (I do that a lot) that there was some conflicting data from the previous version. If you're curious, I could attach the Serviio.log here. In fact I just tried to, but it was too big. I have no idea what I'd be looking for.

[atc98092]

Nah, if it's working there's nothing to look for in the log. Glad it's working now.