Takes 5 Minutes+ to Launch MCE on Xbox 360 and Wired Network

Milla · **15th August 2006, 02:17 AM**

I Hope someone can help - I have trawled through the Internet and the Australian Media Center Community to see if any one has experienced this issue

Currently I have a media Center PC connected to a wired Ethernet network. (router is a DLink Fast Ethernet Switch - Model DGS-1008D). Cable distance between the XBox 360 and Media Center PC is about 25-30 meters.

I have given all devices, including the Xbox 360 a static IP address rather than the router using DHCP.

When I boot my Xbox 360 the following occurs in oder:

Power up the Xbox 360 with the MCE remote
Xbox 360 Dashboard loads
Push the green button on MCE remote
Receive the following:
"No Network - The Xbox 360 cannot connect to the network. Make sure the network cable is plugged into the Xbox 360 and the connector light is on. If the Xbox does not connect, check all connections between the Xbox 360 and the Media Center PC"
I push the reconnect button
"No network" dialog comes up again
I push the reconnect button then
"Session Terminate - Another user or the Media Center-based PC has disconnected this device"
I then push the reconnect button again
Then "Session Terminate"
The I push reconnect
and the bang there she launches (the process took around 5 minutes)

I have done the obvious like swapped Ethernet cables around and also reinstalled the Media-Connect program and PIN code. As part of this process the Media-Connect checks the network between the Xbox 360 and the Media Center-based PC. This passed fine. I am stumped??

Super_Sean · **15th August 2006, 05:34 AM**

Sounds very much like an unstable network connection.

Some things to consider.
1) Have you re checked the IP addresses that you have assigned and made sure that they are all different but in the same subnet? IE: 192.168.0.XXX and and they all have the same subnet mask and Gateway IP?
- If youhave diviced that have the same IP address assigned, they will cause an IP conflict while they fight over the IP

2) Is the DHCP server on your modem/router truned off?
- if not, either turn it off or make sure that the Static IP addresses that you are using in not in the DCHP pool

3) Are there other devices on the network without static IP addresses?
- If your going to use static IPs rather than let the DCHP server assign them, its a good idea to make sure that you use it exclusively, you can run into problems if you don't.

4) Can you access Xbox Live from your Xbox?
- At least it narrows the problem down to the Xbox-MCE link if you can.

5) Are you using Cross-Over or Straigh-Through ethernet cables?
- The Xbox and most routers have auto switching ports that detect what type of cable you use and there have been reports about them getting confused when using x-over cables.

6) Have you tried to plug the Xbox into another port on your switch?
- Might sound obvious, but it could be a problem with a dud port.

Let us know how you go.

Edit:
One more thing, how stable is the connection after you finally get it to work?

mrt02 · **20th August 2006, 06:20 PM**

I had a similar issue with inconsistent connections when I first got my 360 - what resolved it (as I knew the network was reliable) was actually connecting to XBOX Live - the 360 downloaded updates to its software and all was good after that.

Do you use XBOX Live at all / have an account?

Milla · **21st August 2006, 04:21 PM**

Super_Sean and MR2...thank you for your assistance. My apologies for not replying sooner as I have only tired all of the below on the weekend.

1) Have you re checked the IP addresses that you have assigned and made sure that they are all different but in the same subnet? IE: 192.168.0.XXX and they all have the same subnet mask and Gateway IP?

Answer: Yes

2) Is the DHCP server on your modem/router turned off?
- if not, either turn it off or make sure that the Static IP addresses that you are using in not in the DCHP pool

Answer: No turned DHCP off on the router.

3) Are there other devices on the network without static IP addresses?
- If your going to use static IPs rather than let the DCHP server assign them, its a good idea to make sure that you use it exclusively, you can run into problems if you don't.

Answer: No all have static IPs.

4) Can you access Xbox Live from your Xbox?
- At least it narrows the problem down to the Xbox-MCE link if you can.

Answer: Yes and it downloaded new updates (thanks Mr2)

5) Are you using Cross-Over or Straight-Through Ethernet cables?
- The Xbox and most routers have auto switching ports that detect what type of cable you use and there have been reports about them getting confused when using x-over cables.

Answer: Straight through but newer routers do not mind the difference.

6) Have you tried to plug the Xbox into another port on your switch?
- Might sound obvious, but it could be a problem with a dud port.

Answer: Yes, all ports are fine.

It works fine now

However, was it the DHCP or the Microsoft update who knows?

Connection does drop now and again, however this may be due to having the oven, dryer and heaps of other power hungry devises going at the same and a power drop momentarily knocks out the router.

Thanks again!