Android app on ChromeOS doesn't find DLNA servers (UPnP)
- VLC for Android app version: 3.5.3 2022-11-03
- Google ChromeOS version: 109.0.5414.94 (Official Build) (64-bit)
- Hardware: Asus C433T Notebook PC
I have two DLNA servers on my local network. Both are MiniDLNA, one on Debian, the other on Ubuntu. In the VLC app, when I open the Browse page, under Local Network I don't see the DLNA servers. I do see some SMB and SFTP servers I've got going on the local network, though.
I have the same app and ChromeOS versions on different hardware (HP Chromebook 13 G1) on the same network, and that VLC app can see the DLNA servers no problem.
On one of the servers, I enabled debug logging in MiniDLNA, and I see SSDP M-SEARCH
for urn:dial-multiscreen-org:service:dial:1
coming from both IP addresses when I open Browse in VLC on the Asus and the HP, so it doesn't appear to be some kind of network block. But then I see a request for urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:MediaServer:1
come from the HP (with a response logged), but no such UPNP request ever comes from the Asus.
In the Asus VLC's log (attached), it appears to me that the Android container which ChromeOS runs is presenting two different network interfaces to the app (eth0
and eth3
), but the app searches for UPNP servers on only one of the interfaces. The interface it chooses might be IPv6 (if_inet6
), but I think my DLNA servers are IPv4 only, at least on the local network.
I've looked for extra network connections on the Asus, and disabled bluetooth, but saw no change in behavior or log.
This suddenly stopped working yesterday. I don't know of anything that changed yesterday; it seems to have happened randomly.
I have tried power washing ChromeOS on the Asus, forgetting and reconnecting to the Wi-Fi, clearing app cache and data, reinstalling the app, installing the previous version of the app, rebooting my network devices and servers, all to no avail.
On the HP, the VLC log shows only one interface, named wlan0
. I'm wondering if this documentation might help, though I'm not at all familiar with Android development: https://developer.android.com/topic/arc#check_for_networking_requirements