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iTunes 12.3.3.17 can't connect to AirPlay devices (Airport Express)

After updating to iTunes 12.3.3.17 I can no longer connect to Apple Airport Express.


I have updated iTunes to 12.3.3.17 on two computers:


1. Windows 7 64-bit SP1 / iTunes 12.3.3.17 64-bit

2. Windows 10 64-bit / iTunes 12.3.3.17 64-bit


On the Windows 10 computer, iTunes can connect and play to all three Airport Express. An iPod Touch can also stream to all of them.


After updating to 12.3.3.17 on the Windows 7 SP1 computer, iTunes can see all three Airport Express and they are not greyed out. But when any of them are selected in the speaker dialog, iTunes tries to connect and after 30 seconds generates the error "An error occurred while connecting to AirPlay device "xxx". The network connection timed out" and the selection is then greyed out.


The network card on this PC, the router and all three Airport Express all seem to be working properly as I can stream to all of them using the third party software "Airfoil" with other applications as the source. I can also control iTunes on the PC wirelessly from the iPod with the Remote app.


I just can no longer stream to any of the Airport Express directly from iTunes after the 12.3.3.17 update.


Any thoughts?

Windows 7, SP1 64-bit / iTunes 12.3.3.17 64bit

Posted on Mar 24, 2016 5:40 PM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Mar 25, 2016 3:32 PM

Well, problem solved (mostly) through a lot of trial and error, and it has turned out to be a Windows Firewall problem relating to the UDP ports that need to be open for Bonjour. That was somewhat of a surprise, as the Airfoil program (third party AirPlay utility) also uses Bonjour (and that works).


The Windows Firewall had an Inbound Rule entry for Bonjour that allowed UDP port 5353. Editing the rule to allow All Ports (UDP) made it work. So I investigated which UDP ports were actually required for both Bonjour and Airplay, and edited the rule again, this time replacing All Ports with these specific UDP port numbers: 554, 1900, 5289, 5298, 5350, 5351, 5353, 49159, 49163


However, that still didn't work so I ended up reverting back to the All Ports setting.


If anyone is using the native Windows Firewall (preferably Windows 7, but probably the same for 8 and 10), I would be interested to know which UDP ports your Windows Firewall is allowing for Bonjour.

Control Panel > Windows Firewall > Advanced Settings > Inbound Rules > Bonjour


I certainly had not changed any firewall settings prior to this iTunes update (and AirPlay had been working just hours prior) and don't know why the update appears to have changed settings in the Windows Firewall, but this helps explain why the Windows 10 computer worked fine after the update, as it was using the McAfee Security Suite firewall.


Thanks!

3 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Mar 25, 2016 3:32 PM in response to grasslands

Well, problem solved (mostly) through a lot of trial and error, and it has turned out to be a Windows Firewall problem relating to the UDP ports that need to be open for Bonjour. That was somewhat of a surprise, as the Airfoil program (third party AirPlay utility) also uses Bonjour (and that works).


The Windows Firewall had an Inbound Rule entry for Bonjour that allowed UDP port 5353. Editing the rule to allow All Ports (UDP) made it work. So I investigated which UDP ports were actually required for both Bonjour and Airplay, and edited the rule again, this time replacing All Ports with these specific UDP port numbers: 554, 1900, 5289, 5298, 5350, 5351, 5353, 49159, 49163


However, that still didn't work so I ended up reverting back to the All Ports setting.


If anyone is using the native Windows Firewall (preferably Windows 7, but probably the same for 8 and 10), I would be interested to know which UDP ports your Windows Firewall is allowing for Bonjour.

Control Panel > Windows Firewall > Advanced Settings > Inbound Rules > Bonjour


I certainly had not changed any firewall settings prior to this iTunes update (and AirPlay had been working just hours prior) and don't know why the update appears to have changed settings in the Windows Firewall, but this helps explain why the Windows 10 computer worked fine after the update, as it was using the McAfee Security Suite firewall.


Thanks!

iTunes 12.3.3.17 can't connect to AirPlay devices (Airport Express)

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