bug: "Control Surface: Error opening port(s)"

[clepsydrae]

If you go to prefs -> Control/OSC/Web, "Add" a new interface, choose a "Web browser interface", then click "Apply settings" and "OK", it will always say "Control Surface: Error opening port(s)". [Edit: this is apparently also a macOS thing, according to discussion below.]

If you don't click "Apply settings", or even if you do, you can just click "OK" and it works fine; you can click "Edit" to go back in to that interface, and then when you click "Apply settings" and "OK" it works fine, the interface works fine, etc. It's only when the interface is created that the issue seems to happen. (Well, maybe other corner cases, but that's the repeatable error.)

[WeepingAngel]

I'm still unable to get this set up without the error. I tried so many different solutions, most of which involved opening the port. What am I missing?

Screenshot attached

[clepsydrae]

Can you post a screenshot of the interface settings you're using?

So once you get the error and close the error dialog, if you back in to "Edit" the interface and then click Apply and then OK, you still get the error?

[WeepingAngel]

Thanks for the reply!

Interface settings screenshot attached.

And yes, if I go back and edit the web interface settings and choose "OK" instead of "Apply" I do not receive the error.

[clepsydrae]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

Interface settings screenshot attached.

Sorry, I meant for the web interface; i.e. the dialog you're configuring when you get the error. But it may be moot:

And yes, if I go back and edit the web interface settings and choose "OK" instead of "Apply" I do not receive the error.

Yeah, that's the potential bug: the error appears, but it doesn't appear to be meaningful; as described in the original post it goes away after the first time and the web interface (for me, at least) works fine, so I think the error might be bogus. I never found a way to make the error never appear.

Is the web interface working for you? If not, maybe post a screenshot of those settings. If it is working, I wouldn't worry about the error.

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by clepsydrae

Sorry, I meant for the web interface; i.e. the dialog you're configuring when you get the error. But it may be moot:

Gotcha! I've attached a screenshot of the web interface after I click "OK"


Yeah, that's the potential bug: the error appears, but it doesn't appear to be meaningful; as described in the original post it goes away after the first time and the web interface (for me, at least) works fine, so I think the error might be bogus. I never found a way to make the error never appear.

Is the web interface working for you? If not, maybe post a screenshot of those settings. If it is working, I wouldn't worry about the error.

I receive the attached message, which leads me to believe it worked, but when I click on the link it just sits there eventually timing out.

[WeepingAngel]

So check this out ... If I type localhost:8080 on my iMac, it prompts me for a password and the Reaper interface comes up. This would be awesome, but when I try it on my mobile devices, I get "cannot connect to the server" message. All of my devices are on the same wireless.

[clepsydrae]

If you hover over the http://rc.reaper.fm/test link in the "success" page, what is the URL it's going to go to? E.g. something like 192.168.... or 10.0....

Ignore that... stand by...

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by clepsydrae

If you hover over the http://rc.reaper.fm/test link in the "success" page, what is the URL it's going to go to? E.g. something like 192.168.... or 10.0....

Ignore that... stand by...

Will do ... thanks!

[clepsydrae]

You're on Linux, I assume... do you know how to open a terminal? Easy to google if not. Open one, and type "curl" and hit enter. Does it say something along the lines of

"curl: try 'curl --help' or 'curl --manual' for more information"

?

[clepsydrae]

...if it does, paste this in and hit enter and tell me what it says (do this after setting up the web interface and getting the success screen from http://rc.reaper.fm/test):

curl -v http://rc.reaper.fm/test/ 2>&1 | grep Location

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by clepsydrae

You're on Linux, I assume... do you know how to open a terminal? Easy to google if not. Open one, and type "curl" and hit enter. Does it say something along the lines of

"curl: try 'curl --help' or 'curl --manual' for more information"

?

That's exactly what is shows.

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by clepsydrae

...if it does, paste this in and hit enter and tell me what it says (do this after setting up the web interface and getting the success screen from http://rc.reaper.fm/test):

curl -v http://rc.reaper.fm/test/ 2>&1 | grep Location

curl: option -v http://rc.reaper.fm/test/ 2: is unknown

[clepsydrae]

Um, hrm, something is going wrong with the execution of the command I think... you're copy/pasting this into a regular text terminal? Maybe post a screenshot image of the terminal showing the command and the result?

Anyway what I'm trying to do here is determine the LAN IP of your computer, and you can maybe/probably do that some much easier way. Try using that LAN IP on your other devices instead of "localhost", which will only work on the device that reaper is running on.

E.g. "http://192.168.0.16:8080/test/" (except with your Reaper device's actual LAN IP instead of 192.168.0.16).

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by clepsydrae

Um, hrm, something is going wrong with the execution of the command I think... you're copy/pasting this into a regular text terminal? Maybe post a screenshot image of the terminal showing the command and the result?

Anyway what I'm trying to do here is determine the LAN IP of your computer, and you can maybe/probably do that some much easier way. Try using that LAN IP on your other devices instead of "localhost", which will only work on the device that reaper is running on.

E.g. "http://192.168.0.16:8080/test/" (except with your Reaper device's actual LAN IP instead of 192.168.0.16).

Found my LAN IP, which is 192.168.1.32. Tried http://192.168.1.32:8080/test/ and got the same error "cannot connect to server."

When I look at the IP that Reaper is using for the web interface it shows xxxxx

This is insane! I used to use this without an issue, and now it's a major pain!!

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

When I look at the IP that Reaper is using for the web interface it shows XX.X.XXX.X

You prolly wanna edit out that address as it likely is your direct connection to the internet.

REAPER should have your machine's IP.

[WeepingAngel]

Originally Posted by Glennbo

You prolly wanna edit out that address as it likely is your direct connection to the internet.

Thanks man, wasn't thinking. Trying to do too many things at the same time.

REAPER should have your machine's IP.

Where in Reaper would it show my machine's IP?

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

Where in Reaper would it show my machine's IP?

REAPER doesn't tell you your IP. I got mine from my router and then plugged it into REAPER. You can also issue the command,

hostname --ip-addresses

to find out your IP address. Once you know that, in REAPER you type it into the "Access URL" slot in the format,

http://xxx.xxx.x.xxx:8080

with the 8080 being the standard http port. Then on your phone or tablet you need to enter the address with the port :8080 at the end, assuming you didn't change the port in REAPER, which you can do but prolly shouldn't.

[WeepingAngel]

Thank you Glenn,

Unfortunately I'm not able to edit the "Access URL" field.

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

Thank you Glenn,

Unfortunately I'm not able to edit the "Access URL" field.

Well in fact, I can't type in that slot either. I can get a cursor in that window, so I thought I typed that in myself. I did note that I had to create a firewall rule to make it work. Using GUFW the graphic interface for UFW, I added an HTTP rule, then altered the ports to read 8080 where by default they were just 80. As soon as I added the rule, my phone got to the login page of REAPER's web interface.

If you don't have a firewall running, this would make no difference.

[clepsydrae]

Argh, sorry, just take the "/test/" off the end of the URL you already tried (using your local LAN IP). That should work.

E.g. instead of http://192.168.0.16:8080/test/ use http://192.168.0.16:8080 (as Glennbo also said.) (But with your actual LAN IP.)

The "test" part is only useful when using rc.reaper.fm and we're going around that.

Given that localhost:8080 works on the machine itself, I'd expect the LAN access to work as well, but yeah it's possible that there is a firewall blocking things, but this will be an important test so we can rule that out or in.

I'm still curious to know what rc.reaper.fm is sending back, so if we can continue to debug the terminal command with curl that'd be good.

[clepsydrae]

(Also, revealing your LAN IP isn't a significant security risk. Don't reveal your public facing WAN IP.)

(Edit: also just realized that when not using rc.reaper.fm and clicking "apply settings" it shows the LAN IP in the Access URL field.)

[WeepingAngel]

OK ... going to go through the steps so far.

1. Set up web interface (see attachment 01)
2. Used LAN IP with just the port on my iPhone (see attachment 02)
3. Same message (see attachment 03 ... the :8080 is not showing in the screenshot, but it's there)

Also, my Firewall isn't turned on, so all connections should be allowed.

[clepsydrae]

Uncheck "Use rc.reaper.fm", apply, and report what it shows in the "Access URL". Same thing you typed into safari?

[WeepingAngel]

No, it shows a 10.0.x.x
This does not work on my main machine or the mobile device

[clepsydrae]

Try using that URL instead. You may have determined your LAN IP incorrectly.

Just saw your edit...

Also, you said that the devices are on the same local network as the reaper machine, but we should confirm that; they are wireless? The desktop is connected wired?

Edit: it's possible a firewall is getting in the way, as Glennbo said, but let's get some basics first.

[WeepingAngel]

That IP produces the same results.

ALL devices are wireless.

Firewall is turned off.

[clepsydrae]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

ALL devices are wireless.

...and connected to the same wireless hub, right? I.e. exact same network name (e.g. not "mynet" vs "mynet-5G", etc) the wireless devices haven't sneakily changed over to some other network, or you turned off wifi data or something?

Is the wifi hub some kind of centrally-managed box, like the kind comcast/xfinity provides these days, where you manage them from an app on your phone, etc?

What is the iPhone's LAN IP? (see here)

Where did your 192.168.... LAN IP come from?

[WeepingAngel]

We just moved and this is a fresh setup, but I did verify that the SSID did not change. The settings are though an app (Spectrum).

The phone's IP is 192.168.1.127

The LAN IP was from an 'ifconfig -a' using the terminal on my iMac.

[clepsydrae]

The iPhone and the Desktop are not on the same network, otherwise they would have a LAN IP that starts with the same prefix, either 192.168... or 10.0...

You could pop up a terminal on the desktop and type "ifconfig" and then "iwconfig" and see what it reports (I'm not sure if iwconfig comes with every distribution though -- might need to be installed).

[WeepingAngel]

they do both start with 192

[clepsydrae]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

they do both start with 192

How are you determining the LAN IP of the desktop? What are the results of the commands i listed in my previous post?

The fact that reaper is reporting 10.0... in the Access URL means either a reaper bug or that your impression of the desktop IP is wrong.

[WeepingAngel]

I'm getting the desktop IP from the config.

inet 192.168.1.32

[clepsydrae]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

I'm getting the desktop IP from the config.

inet 192.168.1.32

From what config? The desktop UI? Or a config file? What happens if you enter the ifconfig and iwconfig commands in a terminal?

[WeepingAngel]

I'm running ifconfig -a to get the results. I can share the whole string with you, but it's a ton of info.

[clepsydrae]

Yeah please do, but do iwconfig if you can.

[WeepingAngel]

iwconfig is not recognized.

ifconfig produces the following (please tell me if I'm showing too much info)

lo0: flags=8049<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 16384
options=1203<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TXSTATUS,SW_TIMESTAMP>
inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
inet6 ::1 prefixlen 128
inet6 fe80::1%lo0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x1
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
gif0: flags=8010<POINTOPOINT,MULTICAST> mtu 1280
stf0: flags=0<> mtu 1280
en0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500
options=50b<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,VLAN_HWTAGGING,AV,CHANNE L_IO>
ether 38:c9:86:0b:7c:b5
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
media: autoselect (none)
status: inactive
en1: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500
options=400<CHANNEL_IO>
ether d0:03:4b:cf:5c:b9
inet6 fe80::c2e:5b7b:3fc0:9619%en1 prefixlen 64 secured scopeid 0x5
inet 192.168.1.32 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
inet6 2603:9000:b300:6f72:142a:ac4e:9680:bbe prefixlen 64 autoconf secured
inet6 2603:9000:b300:6f72:9cf3:a8ca:1f9:33b5 prefixlen 64 deprecated autoconf temporary
inet6 2603:9000:b300:6f72::1ac7 prefixlen 64 dynamic
inet6 2603:9000:b300:6f72:f0c1:e418:3580:664e prefixlen 64 deprecated autoconf temporary
inet6 2603:9000:b300:6f72:48ca:a2c7:3646:6273 prefixlen 64 autoconf temporary
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
media: autoselect
status: active
en2: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMP LEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
options=460<TSO4,TSO6,CHANNEL_IO>
ether 82:11:02:f9:08:40
media: autoselect <full-duplex>
status: inactive
en3: flags=8963<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMP LEX,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
options=460<TSO4,TSO6,CHANNEL_IO>
ether 82:11:02:f9:08:41
media: autoselect <full-duplex>
status: inactive
bridge0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500
options=63<RXCSUM,TXCSUM,TSO4,TSO6>
ether 82:11:02:f9:08:40
Configuration:
id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 hellotime 0 fwddelay 0
maxage 0 holdcnt 0 proto stp maxaddr 100 timeout 1200
root id 0:0:0:0:0:0 priority 0 ifcost 0 port 0
ipfilter disabled flags 0x0
member: en2 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
ifmaxaddr 0 port 6 priority 0 path cost 0
member: en3 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
ifmaxaddr 0 port 7 priority 0 path cost 0
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
media: <unknown type>
status: inactive
p2p0: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> mtu 2304
options=400<CHANNEL_IO>
ether 02:03:4b:cf:5c:b9
media: autoselect
status: inactive
awdl0: flags=8943<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,PROMISC,SIMPLEX,MU LTICAST> mtu 1484
options=400<CHANNEL_IO>
ether ea:ba:f1:62:74:d6
inet6 fe80::e8ba:f1ff:fe62:74d6%awdl0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xa
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
media: autoselect
status: active
llw0: flags=8863<UP,BROADCAST,SMART,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULT ICAST> mtu 1500
options=400<CHANNEL_IO>
ether ea:ba:f1:62:74:d6
inet6 fe80::e8ba:f1ff:fe62:74d6%llw0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xb
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
media: autoselect
status: active
utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
inet6 fe80::1c3f:e60c:5e94:adfd%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xe
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun1: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 2000
inet6 fe80::7d87:2fff:6232:b169%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xf
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun3: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
inet6 fe80::912f:fde0:b7b4:b3f9%utun3 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x12
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun4: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
inet6 fe80::173d:fd4b:3f4d:2f40%utun4 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x13
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun5: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
inet6 fe80::1c66:fc6b:3016:b857%utun5 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x14
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun6: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
inet6 fe80::a115:bf53:cc4c:3123%utun6 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x15
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun8: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1420
inet 10.0.255.6 --> 10.0.255.6 netmask 0xff000000
inet6 fe80::3ac9:86ff:fe0b:7cb5%utun8 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x18
inet6 fd00:feed:face:cafe:beef:70:69:6 prefixlen 64
nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>

[WeepingAngel]

When I first learned about this, it worked like a charm. I didn't use it for a while, and when I went back to it I started having this issue. Two different ISP's, two different states. No idea what changed, and at this point I'm ready to do a fresh install of Reaper. Everything is backed up and I just want to go back to making music!!

*sigh*

I do appreciate all of the help.

[clepsydrae]

Wow, a lot going on there. Your name is revealed on the last line in case you want to remove that. You got it.

What distro is this? Is this a VM or some kind of other unusual setup? Is this a simple wifi card you have installed in the desktop or something more unusual?

Reaper seems to be finding the 10.x address of the utun8 network interface rather than the 192.x address of en1. Google tells me that utun8 is a "virtual interface created by an application on macOS endpoints to interact with the system" -- is that at all accurate in your case?

Does accessing the web interface via a browser on the desktop using http://192.168.1.32:8080 work? And you already said that accessing on the desktop using http://10.0.255.6:8080 does not work, correct?

And accessing via http://192.168.1.32:8080 on the iPhone does not work, correct?

(And you are of course testing all this with reaper running and the web interface already created and "apply" clicked and "ok", etc.)

[clepsydrae]

Originally Posted by WeepingAngel

When I first learned about this, it worked like a charm. I didn't use it for a while, and when I went back to it I started having this issue. Two different ISP's, two different states. No idea what changed, and at this point I'm ready to do a fresh install of Reaper. Everything is backed up and I just want to go back to making music!!

Reinstalling reaper almost never makes a difference... [edit: except in cases where settings have been tweaked, but that's not an issue here] Don't lose heart, we're almost there!