Media Player Play To Error "Failed to retrieve media Information from media server"

Anonymous
2011-08-04T04:55:28+00:00

I have a Denon AVR 1912 receiver and a PC running Windows 7 w/WMP12.  When I try to use the "play to" feature I can select the receiver but get an error "Failed to retrieve media Information from media server."

I have tried to re-install WMP 12 and have tried disabling my firewall with no success.  Airplay works fine, but I prefer WMP to I-Tunes.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2011-09-09T16:43:54+00:00

The content is on the same computer.  Streaming is enabled and the receiver is "allowed." 

I am not sure if this is solved or not...but I found the solution last night after I spent the most frustrating 5 hours of my life! This is surely a windows problem. I recently replaced my HP laptop with a Dell Vostro 3450 and I suddenly found that 'Play To' feature wasn't working with my Samsung LED TV UA55C8000 .To confirm that it wasn't a firewall or format related issue I even used Samsung PC Share software on my PC to act as the DLNA server...With PC share as the server WMP12 didnt find any problems 'Contacting the Media Server' ...but with its own library it just remained stuck there, with an eventual failure message. [Point to be noted was that even when it failed to contact the media server, I could control the TV volume using the same window!]

This is what did the trick for me:

  1. Closed WMP12.
  2. Go to Services [Control Panel->System and Security->Administrative Tools->Services]
  3. Locate the service with name 'Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service'
  4. Stop the Service manually.
  5. Locate the service 'UpnP Device Host'. Stop the service and start it again.
  6. Start 'Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service' now.
  7. Close control panel and all associated windows. Open Windows Media Player...right click on a playlist and see if PlayTo option lists the TV. Try playing now...it started playing for me at this stage!

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-10-05T12:18:43+00:00

    The content is on the same computer.  Streaming is enabled and the receiver is "allowed." 

    I am not sure if this is solved or not...but I found the solution last night after I spent the most frustrating 5 hours of my life! This is surely a windows problem. I recently replaced my HP laptop with a Dell Vostro 3450 and I suddenly found that 'Play To' feature wasn't working with my Samsung LED TV UA55C8000 .To confirm that it wasn't a firewall or format related issue I even used Samsung PC Share software on my PC to act as the DLNA server...With PC share as the server WMP12 didnt find any problems 'Contacting the Media Server' ...but with its own library it just remained stuck there, with an eventual failure message. [Point to be noted was that even when it failed to contact the media server, I could control the TV volume using the same window!]

    This is what did the trick for me:

    1. Closed WMP12.
    2. Go to Services [Control Panel->System and Security->Administrative Tools->Services]
    3. Locate the service with name 'Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service'
    4. Stop the Service manually.
    5. Locate the service 'UpnP Device Host'. Stop the service and start it again.
    6. Start 'Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service' now.
    7. Close control panel and all associated windows. Open Windows Media Player...right click on a playlist and see if PlayTo option lists the TV. Try playing now...it started playing for me at this stage!

    You are GURU mate. Thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-10-06T09:56:33+00:00

    This helped me to fix the problem. Thank you RajanDhaiya.

    I attempted to play a mp3 file from MP12 in Win7 to my Samsung ES6800 LED Smart TV, earlier I failed with error on Media Server Sync but was able to control TV volume from Play To window.

    after following the steps explained by Rajan, I am now able to play the Media from my Laptop to TV.

    Thanks Again

    Cheers

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-11-18T16:08:05+00:00

    It works for me as well. Thanks a lot!

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-11-28T03:23:25+00:00

    Didn't work for me. I've been grinding my teeth for days trying to get anything to work with WMP on W764. Play to never works, my libraries are never visible to any other PC, receiver, or other device. On the computer itself, all the libraries are populated. It's only via streaming that nothing works.

    The usual line from MS is to "repair" corrupted databases (the tool always says it's corrupted, no matter how many times you repair it). I've tried deleting the databases, reinstalling WMP, etc. Naturally my android phone, my ipad, and every other simple device stream without problems to my Denon.  I've narrowed it down to Windows 7.

    I have a feeling that Microsoft's answer is going to be Windows 8, because WMP12 on W7 has been buggy from the start and only gotten worse.

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