BEFORE I EVEN BEGIN, I DO NOT SUPPORT VISTA, WILL NOT SUPPORT VISTA AND DO NOT WANT TO SUPPORT VISTA. AN UPGRADE TO XP IS RECOMMENDED.



This error occurs for several reasons so we shall now work out what could be causing this. Firstly it will 'usually' be your firewall and/or router. The most common mistake made here is by people who think they don't have these items. The next 3 paragraphs explain the basics of what we will have to do.

1: For starters XP has a built-in firewall which is often overlooked. In Service Packs 2 and 3 (which you should be using with XP) it is configurable. More about this later. You may be using another software firewall such as Zone Alarm or Sygate for example. These will require prodding to allow you to stream your radio.

2: "But I haven't got a router ..." Quite possibly you are wrong! Since the advent of broadband and ADSL an awful lot of modems are also a router. You must have a look at it and find the make and model number and configure this as well as any firewall used on your pc.

3: If after configuring your firewall and router correctly you are still getting the nasty NAK error then there is one more thing to try. In your sc_serv.ini file (the DNAS configuration) hit control-F and search for yport. Change yport=80 to yport=666. Do this ONLY if the first steps haven't worked.


Configuring the router and firewall (This is the very boring part that most people have trouble with)


It's not that scary! Confusing maybe, a bit fiddly to work out yes, but there is a most wonderful website called PortForward which covers 99% of all routers and firewalls. Follow the forwarding link for information regarding your router and the firewalling link for your firewall. Recently Portforward has been updated to show how to use ports and software. They've forgotten about Shoutcasters! One way around this is to go to the Soulseek set-up and change the ports shown there to the ports you want to use for Shoutcast. If for some bizarre reason your router is not listed, simply go to the manufacturers website for support. Also follow instructions at the portforward site to set a static IP, you'll almost certainly need one.

Now hopefully you're inside your router and/or firewall config. If you are using both then you will need to configure both.

What you will be wanting to do on here is forward two ports, that's all! Assuming that you chose the default port 8000 for your shoutcasting you will need to tell your router and firewall that you wish to open port 8000 AND 8001. You may be offered different kinds of weird looking things but if it asks, you want TCP. If it doesn't ask then you're ok. In all cases you forward the port you chose and the one above it. I merely used 8000 and 8001 as examples.

Reboot your computer and also switch off the router and switch it back on again.

Hopefully now the NAK error has gone. If not refer to the 3rd paragraph of the first section here.

Many routers do not support what is called local loopback which means that you will not be able to connect to your own stream with your outside IP, nor will other computers on your local network. In this case, for testing and other listeners on your network simply use your LAN IP (the one the router points to) where your Shoutcast server is situated.

Still not working?

If you are at a college or university or a workplace it is highly unlikely that you will be able to persuade the administrators to allow any ports and have no way of doing this yourself. I would then refer you to the Shoutcast Technical Support pages to search for any previous solutions.

Tips to gain useful help on the forums

Here are a few tips for using the forum if you find you must ask a question.

Post in the right part! Shoutcast Technical Support for this error.

Always read the 'sticky' threads first, properly! Use the 'search' function with keywords such as (without quotes) "NAK", "firewall", "college" etc. You will find untold goodies there and maybe a solution without having to ask a soul.

Choose a helpful subjectline for a message. If you should need to ask a question the subjectline should relate to the question you need answering. "I'm a noob help me NOWWW!!!!" is not helpful to the people there offering you assistance. Try to make use of the short space there to say something relative. eg "NAK error, I have searched but ..."

In your main message please show us what you have already done to try and resolve your problem. eg : I have forwarded ports 8000-8001 on my router and firewall, my router is MAKE:MODELnumber and whatever other information could be useful. Also paste in the relevant parts of your DNAS log.

You get the picture. The people on the forum are volunteers, the NAK error is the most commonly asked question and also (shockingly enough) not actually related to Shoutcast but configuring the stuff outside of it. Little patience is shown to people who come up with the question : [yp_add] yp.shoutcast.com gave extended error (Cannot see your station/computer (IP: xx.xx.xx.xx:8000) from the Internet, disable Internet Sharing/NAT/firewall/ISP cache (Connection timed out)) HELP ME NOW PLZ!!!!!!!

This guide should have given you the answers you required. If you're still stuck you may wish to look into remote hosting.