VLCStreamerTroubleshooting

VLC Streamer Troubleshooting

There are a few common issues that people have reported with VLC Streamer

First Checks

Most problems that people have relate to a few common issues, so please check these first before more detailed troubleshooting

1. Check that you have installed the setup helper on your PC or Mac

1. Check that your phone and your computer are both connected to the same local network (sometimes the phones connect to other networks that are within reach. You can check this in wifi settings page)

VLC Streamer won't connect to my PC / Mac

See this page

The helper fails to install

See this page

VLC Can't process the movie

See this page

I can see the video, but no audio

See this page

My movie keeps buffering

See this page

I don't see a movie list. When I try to add a movie, I see an empty page, then I see 'conncection lost'

This is almost certainly a firewall issue. Bonjour is able to pass through your firewall which is why the iPhone app can see your computer, but it is not able to connect to the helper.

The solution is to make sure that all your firewalls allow VLC Streamer through them.

Things to check

1. The firewall on your computer
2. The firewall on your router (sometimes these are named confusingly. Google for 'disable firewall on <your type of router>' for help
3. Some routers don't let wireless devices talk to devices connected by wires (ethernet). If you can find a setting like this in the router, then disable it.

I can browse for movies, but my iPhone/iPad/iPod keeps losing the wifi connection. I might have to keep entering my password

Wifi reception is tricky. You can have your signal blocked by other wifi signals, walls, microwaves or any number of other things. PC Pro has an excellent article all about what might be killing your signal.

I transferred a movie through iTunes and it shows as 'unsupported'

See this page

I can't get subtitles to work

see this page

I want to use a different audio track

see this page

Running on Windows Home Server

We don't officially support this, and haven't tested it ourselves. However, users have reported that all works fine.

Another user has reported that VLC Streamer works fine on Windows Home Server 2012 after installing .net

I only get sound when streaming to my Apple TV

Video streaming is only enabled for the paid version of VLC Streamer. Assuming you are using the paid version, then please check these steps

1. You have enabled 'airplay streaming' in the settings of VLC Streamer (tap on the cog in the bottom right of the screen to get to settings)
2. You have updated to the latest iOS on your iPod/iPhone/iPad
3. You have updated to the latest iOS on your Apple TV

if that doesn't fix things, then please rebooting your Apple TV and iPhone. It is surprising how often this helps!

I get tiny freezes in my movie approximately every few seconds

See this page

Mac OS - I can't see my network drives

VLC Streamer can browse your network drives, but only after they have been 'mounted'.

To do this, you can either browse the drive manually, or set the system to automatically mount the drive when it starts up

Filetype .something is not supported

VLC Streamer keeps a list of filetypes that it thinks it can probably handle. However there are a gazillion filetypes, and I can't keep up.

So, for your new filetype, we need to figure out if VLC Streamer can handle it. If it can, then I'll add it to the list.

Testing the filetype is easy - just rename the file to something that VLC Streamer will try.

So take .something and rename it to movie.avi

VLC Streamer will now try to stream the movie. VLC will try and transcode it to the required format. If everything works - then email me and let me know that .newFormat works. I'll add it to the list of supported filetypes and from the next VLC Streamer update; VLC Streamer will recognise it automatically.

It used to work, but now it doesn't

This is the most common reason

Something else

drop me an email