Messenger SP2 Voice Chat

[Guest]

Both myself and my friend upgraded our machines the same day to XP Pro SP2
release. We both had been running Messenger v4.7 and having voice
conversations without any problems. We BOTH use the same router - a Linksys
withPort Forward Range open from 1024 to 65535 for UDP protocol. This always
worked fine for voice and file transfers. However, since the upgrade - major
problems were encountered. If accepting or initiating a conversation - the
Messenger crashed with a Memory Reference Error.. cannot Write.. We both
uninstalled MSN Messenger and reinstalled v4.6 and then upgraded back to 4.7.
This corrected the crashing problem. BUT - voice conversation still does not
work. I have read on this board of trying v5.0 of messenger. We have both
upgraded to this version with no resolvement of the problem. We have also
both shut off the SP2 firewall completely. This did not work. We also tried
to leave the software firewall on and set the router to DMZ on both machine
(to totally open it up) - and this did not work. I am confident that the
router is NOT the problem, since it never was until the SP2 upgrade took
place. Please any help would be appreciated - MIKE.

 

[Stephen Harris]

Both myself and my friend upgraded our machines the same day to XP Pro SP2
release. We both had been running Messenger v4.7 and having voice
conversations without any problems. We BOTH use the same router - a
Linksys
withPort Forward Range open from 1024 to 65535 for UDP protocol. This
always
worked fine for voice and file transfers. However, since the upgrade -
major
problems were encountered. If accepting or initiating a conversation -
the
Messenger crashed with a Memory Reference Error.. cannot Write.. We both
uninstalled MSN Messenger and reinstalled v4.6 and then upgraded back to
4.7.
This corrected the crashing problem. BUT - voice conversation still does
not
work. I have read on this board of trying v5.0 of messenger. We have both
upgraded to this version with no resolvement of the problem. We have also
both shut off the SP2 firewall completely. This did not work. We also
tried
to leave the software firewall on and set the router to DMZ on both
machine
(to totally open it up) - and this did not work. I am confident that the
router is NOT the problem, since it never was until the SP2 upgrade took
place. Please any help would be appreciated - MIKE.

They changed the version of WM in SP2. I think you should switch to
MSN Messenger 6.2, at least that works for me.

I use groups.google.com to do searches on keywords like audio and UPnP,
and the newsgroup is microsoft.public.msn.messenger

Make sure UPnP is enabled in the router. MSN Messenger will be
automatically included as an acceptable program in the Windows Firewall.
Run the audio video tuning wizard. Uninstall Qos. Turn off other firewalls
or uninstall them, at least temporarily.

 

[Fraz]

They changed the version of WM in SP2. I think you

should switch to MSN Messenger 6.2, at least that works for me.

I use groups.google.com to do searches on keywords like audio and UPnP,
and the newsgroup is microsoft.public.msn.messenger

Make sure UPnP is enabled in the router. MSN Messenger
will be automatically included as an acceptable program in the Windows
Firewall. Run the audio video tuning
wizard. Uninstall Qos. Turn off other firewalls or uninstall them, at
least temporarily.

I'm experiencing the same problem - no voice chat, but I'm running MSN
Messenger 6.2. I've run the audio/video tuning wizard. Which UPnP ports do
I need to configure to get voice chat to work?

 

[Stephen Harris]

I'm experiencing the same problem - no voice chat, but I'm running MSN
Messenger 6.2. I've run the audio/video tuning wizard. Which UPnP ports
do I need to configure to get voice chat to work?

microsoft.public.msn.messenger is a little better forum for the discussion,
but since you are posting here I assume you have windows xp. If you
have win98 running netsetup.exe and installing directx 9.0b might help.

You do not need to configure any ports. Just upgrade your router firmware
and enable UPnP. There should be a checkbox in Administrative or Advanced
depends on your router. Do not configure any ports in order to obtain audio.

You will notice to things after you have enabled UPnP in your router.
In MSN Messenger 6.2, under Tools ---> Options ----> Connection
down towards the bottom of the window it will say "UPnP....." (good)
If it is not working its says "non-UPnP..." or symmetric UPnP (bad)

Besides checking there, check in Network Connections. You should
have a new section called Internet Gateway with a new icon. That along
with the UPnP IP restricted Nat information found in Advanced Connection
Information (same place as mentioned above, at bottom of the page) will
mean the router is set up correctly. Other things: Turn off Qos and make
sure your SSDP and UPnP services startup with windows. In MSN 6.2
Tools ---> Options --> General gives a few configuration options.

UPnP automatically opens and assigns ports. Assigning ports was
done with older routers than did not have UPnP support. Most new
router firmware will provide this functionality now.

Regards,
Stephen

 

[Fraz]

I'm experiencing the same problem - no voice chat, but I'm running MSN

microsoft.public.msn.messenger is a little better forum for the
discussion, but since you are posting
here I assume you have windows xp. If you have
win98 running netsetup.exe and installing directx 9.0b might help.

You do not need to configure any ports. Just upgrade
your router firmware and enable UPnP. There should
be a checkbox in Administrative or Advanced depends
on your router. Do not configure any ports in order
to obtain audio.

You will notice to things after you have enabled UPnP
in your router. In MSN Messenger 6.2, under Tools ---> Options ---->
Connection down towards the
bottom of the window it will say "UPnP....." (good)
If it is not working its says "non-UPnP..." or symmetric UPnP (bad)

Besides checking there, check in Network Connections. You should have a
new section called Internet Gateway with a new icon. That along with the
UPnP IP restricted
Nat information found in Advanced Connection
Information (same place as mentioned above, at
bottom of the page) will mean the router is set up
correctly. Other things: Turn off Qos and make sure
your SSDP and UPnP services startup with windows. In MSN 6.2 Tools --->
Options --> General gives a
few configuration options.

UPnP automatically opens and assigns ports. Assigning
ports was done with older routers than did not have
UPnP support. Most new router firmware will provide
this functionality now.

First off, thanks for your help and yes, I'm running Windows XP Pro.

I've checked the Advanced Connection Information in MSN Messenger and
unfortunately it says, "You are connected to the Internet through a non-UPnP
IP restricted NAT."

I'm running a Linksys router. Under the Forwarding tab, it has a UPnP
Forwarding area. Listed in there are the standard ports, such as FTP,
Telnet, SMTP, etc. All of them have a default IP address of 192.168.1.0,
but none are enabled. There isn't a general UPnP that I can enable, at
least as far as I've been able to see. Do I have to enable any specific
port in this UPnP Forwarding area? Or should I just upgrade the router
firmware to obtain this feature?

 

[Stephen Harris]

First off, thanks for your help and yes, I'm running Windows XP Pro.

I've checked the Advanced Connection Information in MSN Messenger and
unfortunately it says, "You are connected to the Internet through a
non-UPnP IP restricted NAT."

I'm running a Linksys router. Under the Forwarding tab, it has a UPnP
Forwarding area. Listed in there are the standard ports, such as FTP,
Telnet, SMTP, etc. All of them have a default IP address of 192.168.1.0,
but none are enabled. There isn't a general UPnP that I can enable, at
least as far as I've been able to see. Do I have to enable any specific
port in this UPnP Forwarding area? Or should I just upgrade the router
firmware to obtain this feature?

As an aside I've been told that a symmetric UPnP router connection may work.

I have a Linksys router, BEFSR41 version 3. It tells you the version when
you login to the router. I downloaded the latest firmware which is 1.05
and found "enable UPnP" checkbox under Administration of the router setup.

I think the latest firmware for BEFSR41 version 1&2 is 1.46
and I think it allows UPnP enabling. Most Linksys firmware now
allows enabling UPnP. You do not need to enable any ports.

Check under Adminstration to see if you already have the
enable UPnP option checkbox. If not download the latest
firmware and enable UPnP. Then check Messenger 6.2 again
to see if your Connection Information has changed to good info.
It is pretty easy to do.

 

[Fraz]

As an aside I've been told that a symmetric UPnP

router connection may work.

I have a Linksys router, BEFSR41 version 3. It tells
you the version when you login to the router. I downloaded the latest
firmware which is 1.05 and
found "enable UPnP" checkbox under Administration
of the router setup.

I think the latest firmware for BEFSR41 version 1&2 is 1.46 and I think it
allows UPnP enabling. Most Linksys firmware now allows enabling UPnP. You
do not need to enable any ports.

Check under Adminstration to see if you already have the enable UPnP
option checkbox. If not download the latest firmware and enable UPnP. Then
check Messenger 6.2 again to see if your
Connection Information has changed to good info.
It is pretty easy to do.

I'm running a BEFW11S4 V2/V3 Linksys. Anyway... I finally found the enable
UPnP Services under the Password tab in Setup of all God forsaken places. I
enabled it then rebooted my machine. Now under the Advanced Connection
Information in MSN Messenger it says: "You are connected to the Internet
through a UPnP IP restricted NAT." I was worried when I saw the word
"restricted", but I tested voice chat and it works. =) Thanks again for all
your help!