Bonjour Service only works one way

[jsmoller]

Hello All,

I've posted this on another site a week ago and received no responses. Perhaps I'll have better luck here.

I have a very strange problem which I am assuming is some wrong with the Apple Bonjour service. It appears that it only work one way. By this I mean, the Win7 64-bit Ultimate system can be seen by other computers and devices but IT cannot see other computers and devices. Here's the rundown of the network:

Desktop/gateway system

Win7 64-bit Ultimate SP-1 plus all additional patches
Netgear wifi card connected to the rest of my network in infrastructure mode
ICS running & connected to the Internet
File & Print sharing running in a Workgroup not Homegroup
Windows Firewall running
iTunes & Bonjour 64-bit installed
Linksys ADSL modem connected via ethernet port

Laptop computer

Windows XP Pro SP-3+ 32-bit
Internal wifi adapter active and connected to my network
On board LAN disabled
File & Print sharing running
No firewall running
iTunes and Bonjour 32-bit installed
.NET 4.0 installed

Second Desktop computer

Windows XP Pro SP-3+ 32-bit
Netgear wifi card active and connected to my network
File & print sharing running
No firewall running
iTunes and Bonjour 32-bit installed
.NET 4.0 installed

Wifi router only to serve DHCP addresses and provide wireless SSID and WPA-PSK2 encryption. Firmware is DD-WRT mega latest stable build. No firewalling or other services are being provided by the router.

iPod Touch 2G
iPhone 4GS

All machines see one another on the network for file and print sharing, Remote Desktop and Internet access.

Scenario 1:

iTunes 10.6 64-bit is installed on on the gateway machine and as you know Bonjour is an integral part of Apple's zero configuration. So Bonjour is running. It set the correct rules in the Windows 7 firewall.

iTunes 10.6 32-bit is installed on the two other systems. Apple Homesharing is turned on for all systems. In iTunes, the two XP machines see their media libraries as well as the Win7's media libraries and can connect to them. The problem is that the Win7 system does not see either of the 2 machines media library.

Scenario 2:

Running an application called Airfoil which allows you to stream music to it's client systems wirelessly. Software requires .NET 4.0 to be installed. It too requires Bonjour to locate other devices. If the Airfoil Server is running on one of the other two systems and the Airfoil client is running on the Win7 system the server sees the client . If the Airfoil server is running on the Win7 machine it never sees the clients on the other two systems nor the client app running on the two iDevices.

These two scenarios lead me to believe that there is an issue with Bonjour as it is the underpinning of both applications.

What I have done...

First off, I had the same problem with Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit before installing 64-bit. It makes NO difference whether I am connected to the Internet or not and it makes NO difference whether the Windows Firewall is on or off.

This problem has really got me against the wall. After 30 years of being an IT Comms Specialist, I have exhausted all my methods of troubleshooting.

Has ANYBODY experienced something similar? Surely I cannot be the only person who has this issue. I have combed the Internet ad nauseum and have not been successful in finding anything even similar. I would appreciate any and all assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Jan Smoller

 

[chev65]

Bonjour usually only causes problems with Windows systems. It's famous for causing the Unidentified Network problem and usually needs to be removed from Windows systems in order for them to work correctly. You don't need Bonjour in order to use iTunes on a Windows system.

You shouldn't need a third party program in order to stream Music between your Windows machines.

As for sharing files between Windows 7 and XP the link below might help.

Share Files and Printers between Windows 7 and XP - How-To Geek

 

[jsmoller]

Hello chev65,

Thanks for the reply. I've read quite a number of posts that discuss problems with Bonjour, however, I have none of those issues. Just with Bonjour itself.

Sure I can and do use standard SMB/CIFS file sharing between systems without issue.
The Airfoil application is really what I was interested in using as it allows streaming to PCs, Macs, Linux and iDevices simultaneously and using Bonjour as its discovery service and requires no setup other than indicating what media player your are going to use.
I just can't seem to get a grip on why Bonjour is only working one way.

Regards,

Jan