Problem connecting to Shoutcast server

[Belgarath]

Hi. I did a search of the forum, but I didn't find this particular problem. I hope you can help me.

I run a private Shoutcast server and everyone that I invite to listen have no problems connecting... that is, except for one person. She has followed all my instructions explicitly. She has done everything correctly, but she just can't connect to my server. Per my recommendation, she downloaded version 2.81 of Winamp and installed it. Everything works fine except not being able to connect to a shoutcast server.

Here's a few more particulars: She's running Windows '98 SE, no firewall and an ADSL connection.

I would really like to get this resolved since this is the site manager that's having problems. She's the heart of our little community and her missing out on the show is depressing. I really appreciate any help or suggestion that ANYONE can make.

Belgarath

[DJ Egg]

Make sure LAN connection is selected in: Winamp -> Prefs -> Setup,
not dial-up.

Apart from that, I'm not sure.
Could do with more precise info really, eg. describe "can't connect" in as much detail as possible.
What happens / doesn't happen?
Any error messages?
etc etc

Has she tried emptying the internet cache?
Is Winamp the default .PLS player?

btw, no firewall protection with an ADSL connection is asking for trouble . . .

[Belgarath]

Ok. I'll get a bit more information from her. and see what we can figure out. Thanks, DJEgg.

And yes, running a high-speed connection without a firewall is, indeed, asking for trouble. Normally, she does, but she only shut it down to see if it was causing the problem.

[Belgarath]

Ok. I went through her settings with her. Everything looks to be correct. Here's the dialog:

[03:33] Bill: Ok. Well, open winamp and we'll check the settings.
[03:34] Juanita (f): um ok hold on.. Im in the room let me tell them to hold on k
[03:34] Bill: Ok
[03:35] Juanita (f): ok so what do I do?
[03:35] Bill: In the upper-lefthand corner you should see some letters... O A I D V
[03:35] Bill: going vertically down.
[03:36] Juanita (f): ummm letter you mean.. no I dont see that
[03:37] Bill: ok. but there is an icon in the upper left-hand corner, right?
[03:37] Bill: When you put your mouse over it, it lights up.
[03:37] Juanita (f): a funny shape.. kind of like a sideways z
[03:37] Bill: Yes. Click that and go to options.
[03:37] Juanita (f): its the menu bar..lol
[03:37] Juanita (f): ok
[03:38] Bill: Then select Preferences
[03:38] Juanita (f): options you mean?
[03:38] Juanita (f): ok got perferences from options
[03:38] Bill: Go to options and click that and you should see preferences.
[03:38] Juanita (f): yes done
[03:39] Bill: Ok. On the left, click Setup
[03:39] Juanita (f): its already highlighted.. still click it?
[03:39] Bill: No.
[03:39] Bill: Do you see on the right side where it says Internet settings?
[03:39] Juanita (f): yes
[03:40] Bill: Is it set for LAN internet connection?
[03:40] Juanita (f): its at LAN internet connection right now
[03:40] Juanita (f): yes
[03:40] Bill: Ok. Now, click File types below setup on the left.
[03:41] Juanita (f): ok
[03:41] Juanita (f): done
[03:41] Bill: It should show you a list of file types. Scroll to the bottom of the list. You should see one called pls
[03:42] Juanita (f): yep right at the bottom
[03:42] Bill: Is it highligted?
[03:42] Juanita (f): they all are
[03:42] Bill: Ok
[03:43] Bill: Click the close button and then close winamp
[03:43] Juanita (f): ok
[03:43] Juanita (f): done
[03:43] Bill: Do you have an Internet Explorer window open?
[03:44] Juanita (f): ummm Im on msn and hotmail and at the rso chat room
[03:45] Bill: Ok. Click Tools on the menubar and go to internet options.
[03:45] Juanita (f): will that boot me from the room.... cause I should warn them if it does.... lol
[03:46] Bill: It shouldn't, no.
[03:46] Juanita (f): ok
[03:46] Juanita (f): ok done
[03:47] Bill: When that opens you're on the General tab. There is a button that says Delete Files... If you click that, it will empty your cache. Have you ever done that before?
[03:47] Juanita (f): ummmm...lol no I dont think so...
[03:48] Bill: Ok. It may take quite a while but I'd go ahead and do it. It needs to be done occasionally. I empty mine about once a month.
[03:48] Juanita (f): ok
[03:49] Juanita (f): it says .. um should I delete all offline content.. should I click that box?
[03:50] Bill: Only if you don't have web pages stored on your computer that you would like to keep.
[03:50] Juanita (f): I dont.. so just leave it as is?
[03:50] Bill: Yes
[03:51] Juanita (f): or click the box?
[03:51] Juanita (f): ok
[03:51] Bill: Actually, I'm emptying mine now, too.
[03:51] Juanita (f): lol ok
[03:52] Bill: It's been a few weeks since I've done it.
[03:52] Juanita (f): I think maybe I did this with my sister telling me what to do a couple of months ago...
[03:52] Bill: Ok
[03:53] Bill: Click the OK button when it gets done.
[03:53] Juanita (f): hey I hit delete files.. then that box came up. am I suposed to hit the ok box at the bottom of the orginal internet options box?
[03:54] Juanita (f): oh ok
[03:54] Juanita (f): how will I know when its done..
[03:54] Bill: The hourglass will go away.
[03:54] Juanita (f): ok so its done then
[03:54] Bill: Yes
[03:54] Bill: Click Ok
[03:54] Juanita (f): k hit the ok button now?
[03:54] Juanita (f): lol ok
[03:55] Bill: Ok. Open Winamp back up
[03:55] Juanita (f): ok
[03:55] Juanita (f): done
[03:55] Bill: Click this link: (Link: http://66.20.176.194:8000/listen.pls)http://66.20.176.194:8000/listen.pls
[03:57] Juanita (f): ok I did that.. a box came up.. then like a file was loading and then it flashed.. on winamp.. could not connect(1)] (Link: http://66.20.176.194:8000)http://66.20.176.194:8000
[03:58] Bill: Ok
[03:58] Bill: That's the only message it gives you?
[03:59] Juanita (f): yes.. twice.. one on top that is moving horizontally and one in the winamp playlist box
[03:59] Bill: Ok
[04:00] Bill: Well, let me post what we've done here tonight and maybe we can get an answer. Ok?
[04:00] Juanita (f): ok.. thanks again for all your help..
[04:01] Bill: I really want you to hear the show, hon. I'm going to get it working.... one way or another.
[04:01] Juanita (f): lol yah I know you do.. and so do I..
[04:01] Bill:
[04:03] Bill: Do you have any mp3 files?
[04:03] Juanita (f): nope.. not as far as i know
[04:04] Bill: Ok. let me send you one to test a make sure that winamp will play it. Ok?
[04:04] *** NOTE: Closing this window during an active file transfer will close the transfer.
[04:05] Juanita (f): um ok..
[04:05] Bill: This is a clip that I downloaded. It's pretty funny. I think you'll like it. lol
[04:05] Juanita (f): cool
[04:06] *** Juanita (f) has received C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\Stuff\proctologist.mp3.
[04:06] Bill: Ok. If you click the filename here in messenger, it should open winamp and start playing.
[04:07] Juanita (f): its playing
[04:07] Juanita (f): lmao the proctologist
[04:07] Bill: Yeah.
[04:08] Juanita (f): lmao..
[04:08] Juanita (f): funny
[04:08] Bill:
[04:08] Juanita (f): so it works
[04:08] Bill: Yep
[04:08] Bill: Ok. Well, I'll see what I can find out.
[04:08] Juanita (f): ok.. that is great

[DJ Egg]

Hmm . . . strange!
At the moment, even I can't tune in to that stream, so I assume you're not broadcasting 24/7 ?!?!

http://66.20.176.194:8000
http://66.20.176.194:8000/listen.pls

What happens if your friend pastes the url into Winamp's Open/Add Location box?

Playlist -> Add -> url
Then double click the new playlist entry.

I'm getting a timed-out message, which means you're not broadcasting at the moment.
But a "could not connect" error in Winamp suggests something else.

Can she tune into any other stations @ www.shoutcast.com ?

Which firewall software is she using?
I know you said she disabled it, but some firewalls (especially Norton) cause problems even when they're meant to be disabled . . .

Also, it's very rare that ADSL connections use any proxy settings/server, so I can't see that being an issue here.


Sorry, but I'm a bit stumped at the moment.
If I get a sudden brainwave, you'll be the first to know about it.

Maybe you could get her to post a StartUpList, just to see if there's any background nasties (trojans, spyware, parasites, etc) loading with Windows, particularly any which modify the Winsock layer.

If so, please attach the result TXT file to a new post.

[Belgarath]

Ok. We found the problem. ZoneAlarm is running on her system, but it didn't have an icon in the system tray. Weird. Anyway, we turned it off and she was able to connect to my server. However, she was no longer able to browse the web with IE. We checked the proxy settings in internet options and there's no proxy being used. So, she gets to choose to listen to music or browse the web. Not a viable option. Any suggestions?

Belgarath

[DJ Egg]

Well, I did ask for a StartUpList in my previous post . . . which was my suggestion, and still is.

Zone Alarm should always have an icon in the systray, so there's something strange going on there.
Zone Alarm -> Program Control -> Programs -> Add
Add "winamp.exe"
and make it so it's got access to the internet (left click -> allow)

[Belgarath]

LOL. I know. I'm sorry. We got distracted and I didn't get it from her. I had her run msconfig and go to the startup tab. When she scrolled down and saw ZoneAlarm. I told her to uncheck it and TrueVector and save it. She rebooted and was immediately able to connect. So, we knew for a fact that ZoneAlarm was causing the problem. I'll try to get the startup list from her tomorrow night (tonight) and post it here.

Thanks,

Bel

[Belgarath]

Here you are, DJEgg. I already know about the virus. I sent her to the Symantec site so she could get the removal tool. Um.... Find Fast... what can I say? I've already had her disable that. Do you see anything else that could cause the problem. It's probably the Yaha virus/worm that's screwing things up, though.
[list=1]
yahoo pager
msnmsgr
ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile
NPROTECT
NORTON AUTO-PROTECT
LoadQM
Quicktimetask <---
Norton eMail Protect
WinServices <--- Yaha worm/virus
WinampAgent
LoadPowerProfile
NPROTECT
CSINJECT
CleanSweep
SymTray-Norton SystemWorks
ScriptBlocking
WinServices
ZoneAlarm
Microsoft Find Fast <---
Office Startup
Norton Systen Doctor
Clean Sweep Smart Sweep-Internet Sweep[/list=1]

[DJ Egg]

Yup, that's the yaha worm alright, and it appears twice in the list.

It's not quite the StartUpList I was hoping for, the link to the StartUpList I provided will create a complete list showing the full picture.

But yes, remove and repair the damage done by the yaha virus and everything should work ok again . . .

And yes, disable FindFast and QuickTime Task.
Both of these are useless resource hoggers.
And you can add Microsoft Query Manager to the list (LoadQM)


After removing Yaha, get her to install and run
Spybot Search & Destroy
just to make sure.

Instructions for use:

Close all browser windows

Open Spybot S&D for the first time
Select Country & click out of the setup section (Next button)

Click "Online" button, click "check for updates"
(note: you need to be online for this)
Checkmark and download the latest Includes/Updates
(skins/languages aren't important)

Click "Settings" button, click "File Sets"
Uncheck "Usage Tracking" and "System Internals"

Go back to main "Spybot S&D" button
Click "Check for problems"

Let the scan run

When done, all spyware/adware/etc will be auto checked in the results,
so just click "Fix selected problems" and let Spybot S&D fix everything.

If you are prompted that some files are in use and can't be deleted,
Click "Yes" to allow Spybot S&D to run on reboot.

Reboot
Spybot S&D will load before the Windows GUI
Run the scan again and let Spybot S&D complete its task.
When you see "congratulations, no spybots found" in the main window,
that's when you know you're clean.

Close Spybot S&D and Windows GUI will load.