Sony BDP BX37 - Serviio goes missing?

Warning: Computer programmer... DLNA Noob.

I've got a Sony BDP-BX37 Blu Ray player (US). Allegedly same as the 370. I have been trying various DLNA servers on Windows 7 to play .mkv and .avi files on it, with very limited success...

• PlayOn (already installed on another computer, for use by the Wii) appears in the list of Video sources. But PlayOn stutters horribly when playing a video file. PlayOn support is dismal.
• FUPPES doesn't show up at all on it.
• iSedora showed up, but doesn't play .mkv.
• TVersity doesn't show up at all.
• TVMobili appeared once, but didn't play .mkv files (er, I tried a LOT of these, might have been something else).
• Windows Media Player Streaming doesn't show up at all.
• Mexxo... bah, it was late, don't remember what didn't work.
• Serviio 0.5.2 was best... when it works.

Serviio didn't appear in the Video source list at all, at first. BD Power-Cycle/Win Reboot/Serviio Open/Close... Repeatedly... eventually it appeared.

BTW, Sometimes the Console App quits at startup saying it can't connect to the service (even though the Windows Serviio service is running). Other times it opens. Anyway...

About 10% of the time, Serviio appears on the Blu Ray player. And Oh. My. God... it is awesome. No stuttering, I can watch HD mkv files, FF, REW, Pause... Wife was happy... Heaven. I would pay for this.

Next day, Serviio is listed on the Blu Ray player, but offline. Even though it's running. So I went through all the reboot/power cycle stuff again. Now it's listed twice. Both offline. This took over half an hour. Wife Acceptance Factor declining rapidly.

I've assigned fixed IP's to the Blu Ray player, the Serviio computer, etc... No luck. Serviio lists the BD player with an orange icon next to it.

Is there a known trick for making Serviio consistently appear online?
Bonus: Is there a trick for getting rid of the other DLNA sources listed on the Blu Ray player (each of the other softwares I tried is listed now, and I can hide them, but I'd rather delete them)

I can post logs (later, not from work) if necessary... all feedback appreciated.

Thanks.

Followup...

Naturally, after posting I found viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2812

My router is a Netgear WNR2000. Other than assigning addresses for devices, I have not made any port changes... So since Serviio showed up once but not again, I doubt port settings are involved... but can tweak it if necessary.

[Cerberus]

Followup...

Naturally, after posting I found viewtopic.php?f=11&t=2812

My router is a Netgear WNR2000. Other than assigning addresses for devices, I have not made any port changes... So since Serviio showed up once but not again, I doubt port settings are involved... but can tweak it if necessary.

you do NOT need to assign manual address for device when using a netgear router, as that will cause more issues than it solve as it screw teh dhcp on the router.

Update. er, Adventure:

When we left our intrepid couch potato, he was struggling to get Serviio to appear on his Sony BDP BX37 player consistently... It had appeared before, and worked, but did not remain online after the BD player powered down/on, or after a Windows reboot...

So today:

• I disabled address assignments on the router. No effect.
• I now notice that WIndows Media Sharing is enabled and appearing. When I tried it 2 days ago, it didn't work... now it does. Stupid Windows.
• Windows Media sharing's transcoding looks like crap. Disabled the Windows Media Sharing service.
• I went through Windows Firewall settings and unblocked anything to do with Java or Serviio. No effect.
• I disabled Windows Firewall (local and public): Temporary Success - Serviio appeared online.
• I went into the BD Player settings to hide past instances that were still appearing online. When I exited that config screen, Serviio was listed offline again.
• At this point I have 5 Serviio listings appearing on my BD player. That's stupid, it's not as though the MAC address for the Serviio server was changing, or it's name, or even its content. Frustrating BD player.
• Went into Serviio's /config/profiles.xml and changed the FriendlyName so I can tell which is current if/when it appears online again.
• Restarted Serviio (from inside the console app) - No effect.
• Restarted the Serviio Service (windows services) - Success (and with a new name).
• Went into the BD config, hid all the old instances. Serviio is still online after this. So that leaves Serviio "working", but Windows Firewall disabled, and I'm the paranoid type, so I want that turned back on.
• Re-enabled Windows Firewall for Public networks, Serviio still shows up on the BD player.
• Re-enabled Windows Firewall for Private Networks, Serviio still on the BD player.
• Decided to press my luck and did a Power-off/on on the BD player (I'm glutton for punishment)
• After it powers back on, Serviio appears offline.
• Click on it anyway - it shows a "Server Startup" screen on the BD player.
• After a moment, BD player says "Cannot start server". Now, I haven't changed *anything* from what was working before, but now Serviio isn't appearing, just after a power-cycle on the BD player. Somewhere, a Sony engineer is gleeful that the BD player I bought online for just $31 is failing me.
  Last thing I did on the server was re-enable firewall on private network...
• Disable Windows Firewall on private networks.
• Serviio still appears offline. Click on it anyway... Server connects!
• Power off/on again for giggles.
• Serviio appears online, no problems.
• Next test: power off bd player, reboot windows... see if the world still turns afterward
• Sweet, sweet success. Woooo!

What does this mean? Windows firewall is screwing with my happiness.

[Cerberus]

Update. er, Adventure:

When we left our intrepid couch potato, he was struggling to get Serviio to appear on his Sony BDP BX37 player consistently... It had appeared before, and worked, but did not remain online after the BD player powered down/on, or after a Windows reboot...

So today:

• I disabled address assignments on the router. No effect.
• I now notice that WIndows Media Sharing is enabled and appearing. When I tried it 2 days ago, it didn't work... now it does. Stupid Windows.
• Windows Media sharing's transcoding looks like crap. Disabled the Windows Media Sharing service.
• I went through Windows Firewall settings and unblocked anything to do with Java or Serviio. No effect.
• I disabled Windows Firewall (local and public): Temporary Success - Serviio appeared online.
• I went into the BD Player settings to hide past instances that were still appearing online. When I exited that config screen, Serviio was listed offline again.
• At this point I have 5 Serviio listings appearing on my BD player. That's stupid, it's not as though the MAC address for the Serviio server was changing, or it's name, or even its content. Frustrating BD player.
• Went into Serviio's /config/profiles.xml and changed the FriendlyName so I can tell which is current if/when it appears online again.
• Restarted Serviio (from inside the console app) - No effect.
• Restarted the Serviio Service (windows services) - Success (and with a new name).
• Went into the BD config, hid all the old instances. Serviio is still online after this. So that leaves Serviio "working", but Windows Firewall disabled, and I'm the paranoid type, so I want that turned back on.
• Re-enabled Windows Firewall for Public networks, Serviio still shows up on the BD player.
• Re-enabled Windows Firewall for Private Networks, Serviio still on the BD player.
• Decided to press my luck and did a Power-off/on on the BD player (I'm glutton for punishment)
• After it powers back on, Serviio appears offline.
• Click on it anyway - it shows a "Server Startup" screen on the BD player.
• After a moment, BD player says "Cannot start server". Now, I haven't changed *anything* from what was working before, but now Serviio isn't appearing, just after a power-cycle on the BD player. Somewhere, a Sony engineer is gleeful that the BD player I bought online for just $31 is failing me.
  Last thing I did on the server was re-enable firewall on private network...
• Disable Windows Firewall on private networks.
• Serviio still appears offline. Click on it anyway... Server connects!
• Power off/on again for giggles.
• Serviio appears online, no problems.
• Next test: power off bd player, reboot windows... see if the world still turns afterward
• Sweet, sweet success. Woooo!

What does this mean? Windows firewall is screwing with my happiness.

yep,

FYI: make sure you run serviio console and service as administrator