ARD sees remote computer but won't connect

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Level 1

60 points

ARD sees remote computer but won't connect

I previously used ARD 2 to connect to my Mom's Mac and all worked well. She recently had to replace her router due to a bad power supply and during that time frame I also upgraded to ARD 3. Ever since I have been unable to gain access to her computer. (I did install the ARD 3 client for her.)
If I'm at her house and connected to her router with my laptop I can gain access, but if I'm at home I cannot.

I checked the port forwarding settings on her router last night and both ports 5900 and 3283 were set to "both". In addition I read where ARD uses port 5988 so I turned forwarding on there as well. When I got home I was still unable to get to her computer.

I'd used DynDNS since she's on DSL and doesn't have a static IP. When I try to connect using the DynDNS hostname it shows up in the ARD scanner, but the IP address is not what her computer is using at the time. I went to WhatIsMyIP.com to get the actual IP address she was using and I can enter that and her computer name will show up in the ARD list so it is seeing her computer is out there, but when I try to connect to it the connection fails. I tried removing her from ARD and re-adding and that didn't help either. I also have ARD on my work computer and am unable to access her computer from there so I don't think the problem is on my home network.

Any ideas on what I might be missing here? I don't know whether this had to do with the router change or the ARD update. I only get in to her house periodically and would like to get this resolved so I can help her when she has computer problems. Thanks!

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Posted on Sep 14, 2007 6:11 AM

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Answer 1

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Sep 14, 2007 8:03 AM in response to Beth Ernst

Did you confirm that the user account that you're using to access the system in ARD has it's access turned on (Sharing ->Remote Desktop => Access Privileges) and that the appropriate permissions (probably all of them) are set?

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Answer 2

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 14, 2007 8:08 AM in response to varjak paw

I didn't check that. But I will on my next visit. It was setup correctly before and I haven't changed anything on her computer other than installing the new router and she doesn't have access to the Sharing prefs to change anything herself. But stranger things have happened. I'll post back after I'm able to get in there and check. Thanks!

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Answer 3

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 14, 2007 8:37 AM in response to varjak paw

I was able to talk her through going in and checking the Sharing prefs from the admin account and ARD access is turned on for both accounts on her computer. Where do I go from here?

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Answer 4

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Sep 14, 2007 9:53 AM in response to Beth Ernst

Have you been able to successfully connect when you're at your Mom's house since you installed ARD 3? Just want to check, as that would eliminate some variables.

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Answer 5

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 14, 2007 11:04 AM in response to varjak paw

Yes, I was there last night and hooked up to her router and could see her desktop just fine through ARD.

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Answer 6

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Sep 17, 2007 7:41 AM in response to Beth Ernst

OK, then it sounds to me like something's not right in the port forwarding or perhaps being blocked in a firewall. Check the router and confirm that both TCP and UDP ports 3283 and 5900 are both open and forwarded to the client's current internal IP address. You may also need to confirm that the same is true on your end (ports forwarded to your admin system's IP address) if your admin system gets its IP address via NAT as well. And check for any firewalls in place; the new router would be the first place I'd start.

Hope this helps.

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Answer 7

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 18, 2007 6:26 AM in response to varjak paw

I know the ports are both opened on her router, but I will check mine tonight. I'll also double-check the IP address assigned to her computer to make sure it is correct. Not sure when I will get to do that though, since I don't get in her way to often. If my ports are both open and her IP address matches the port forwarding address and it still doesn't work, what would I look at next?

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Answer 8

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Sep 18, 2007 7:14 AM in response to Beth Ernst

A firewall issue, on her system or in the router, would be my next suspect. One other thought, though probably a long shot: make sure that in ARD you're entering in the IP address of the router, not the internal IP address assigned to the computer.

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Answer 9

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 19, 2007 7:30 AM in response to varjak paw

I checked my router last night and all settings were ok. I had previously saved screen shots of all my router settings and will compare them to my Mom's. I still need to check on her end and I won't get in that way until the weekend, so I'll post back on Monday to let you know what I find.

On the address I'm entering in ARD, this is the part I'm not understanding. I had set my Mom up with a DynDNS account so that I wouldn't need to enter a specific IP address when trying to access her computer since her IP is not static. Prior to the router change and ARD update I simply entered in her DynDNS host name in ARD to access her computer. It would connect fine and show me the IP address assigned by her ISP. Now when I enter in her hostname, the hostname shows up with a 74.x.x.x address, which is not what her ISP is assigning if you look at her computer. It typically begins with 68.x.x.x. If I have her go to WhatsMyIP and check the assigned IP and enter that in ARD I can see her actual computer name and the correct IP address, but still can't connect to it. Weird.

Anyway, I'll post back on Monday after I get a chance to look at her settings this weekend and see if we can resolve anything. Thanks again for the help Dave!

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Answer 10

dtich

Level 1

115 points

Sep 19, 2007 6:29 PM in response to Beth Ernst

i have the same problem, but not over a wan. just on my lan. i have three computers, one hardwire and two wifi that work fine with ard. another wifi client registers, shows up in the master list, i can chat, control, etc., but not observe?? i have the same settings on all computers. the firewalls are off, remote desktop, events, etc are enabled anyway. i am enabled as a user, etc etc.

is there any reason for this?? it's been this way for months. only this particular macbook gives me trouble. any thoughts?

tia.

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Answer 11

varjak paw

Level 10

182,668 points

Sep 20, 2007 9:47 AM in response to dtich

dtich, I'd suggest you start a new topic with your issue (use the "Post a new topic" link at the top of each main topic page). It's generally better to ask a question as a new topic rather than as a reply in someone else's thread. It's more courteous to the original poster, and is more likely to get your question the attention it deserves.

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Answer 12

Sep 20, 2007 3:32 PM in response to Beth Ernst

Hi bet,

I've had similar troubles with my Mac mini at home when I've upgraded to ARD 3.1
Behind the firewalls (router and Mac mini) there was even Little Snitch installed onto the mini in order to make all things more complicated.
I'v read that You have forwarde all the needed ports, but let me suppose you need another one: port 22 for ssh!
In-fact I've found that in some situations (via Internet) ARD needs sshd on the remote machine and that this demon must use port 5900!
If you can < ssh remoteUser@remoteHost > ARD 3.1 has to go as well!
In my case I have had to tell Little Snitch how sshd had a strong need to communicate forever through port 5900.
Just my 2 cents!

/Stefano Lugano CH

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Answer 13

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 24, 2007 9:27 AM in response to Beth Ernst

Dave, wasn't able to get anything done with my Mom's setup this weekend. It may be another week or so before I get back to it. Hate to drag this out so long, but we get in her way so infrequently. That's why I'm so anxious to get things working again. I'll post back as soon as I have a chance to check everything you suggested.

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Answer 14

Sep 25, 2007 9:07 AM in response to Stefano Lesandrini

I've had similar problems and found a solution for my setup. I added port 5900 as a new service under the Firewall settings. Although you'd expect the ARD Firewall setting to include it - in my case it was only opening 3283.

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Answer 15

Beth Ernst Author

Level 1

60 points

Sep 25, 2007 9:40 AM in response to chrispmanuel

Well, I made a few adjustments to my Mom's router and I'm not sure which did it, but I can see and control her computer now. I can't copy files or send messages to it, but couldn't do that before either so don't know if that is how it's supposed to be or not. The only problem now is that I have to know her IP address so she has to go to What Is My IP and send me her current address anytime she wants me to help her. Previously I had DynDNS setup and I just entered in the hostname we had setup through that service and I didn't have to worry about the IP. I'm going to try reinstalling the client for that from their website and resetting her account to see if that helps, but will probably be the weekend before I get back to it. Will post back to followup.

Here's a couple things I changed. The Linksys router and Westell modem she had typically come with the same default address. I was advised to change the IP on the Linksys to avoid coflicts and I guess when we setup the new router I forgot that step so I changed the address yesterday. I then checked and made sure that her computer's IP matched up with the IP the router's port-forwarding was set to. I also compared her router settings to those I had previously setup (found where I had saved screen shots from a similar router.) MAC Address Clone was disabled so I enabled it. Don't know which of these worked, but something made a difference.

On Chris's suggestion about opening up the ports, I don't believe, unless something's gotten changed that I had the firewall on her Mac itself enabled. I'm using the router as the firewall and opening the ports there and have both 5900 and 3283 open. As I was typing this I saw in my screen shots of router settings that the DDNS Service is Disabled. According to the blurb in the router instructions it says that this service allows access to the network using domain names, but you must signup with a service such as DynDNS. Could this be why I'm unable to use the DynDNS hostname then? Perhaps this was turned on on her old router? I don't have screen shots of her old router, these are of a similar router at another location.

Thanks again to all for their help!

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