SUMMARY *** I believe I might have accidentally stumbled upon why KDE Connect so often does not connect or constantly disconnects between Windows 10 and Android. I believe it might have something to do with a foobar 2000 conflict. *** I've been dogging this problem for about a year and almost completely given up on using KDE Connect even though it is useful when it works. I've downloaded/installed just about every Windows version there is from https://download.kde.org/Attic/release-service/ and most of the Android versions from https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/kde-community/kde-connect. I'm currently using builds Android v 1.29.0 and Windows kdeconnect-kde-21.12.3-903-windows-msvc2019_64-cl as they seem to be the "most" stable (even though that's relative). Yes, I've tried the current kdeconnect-kde-23.08.1-1463-windows-cl-msvc2019-x86_64, both downloaded from the Windows Store and directly from https://kdeconnect.kde.org/download.html (as well as the most recent Android builds). They all constantly disconnect (if they even connect at all), and seemingly without clear cause. I've deleted/recreated Windows firewall rules to no avail, and obviously I've tried to apply https://userbase.kde.org/KDEConnect#Troubleshooting. Rebooting Windows sometimes helps enable the connection (not just killing/restarting KDEConnect), but not always. I just stumbled upon two oddities: first, when I close foobar2000 and then Find Devices on KDEConnect, devices are found and they connect. However, as soon as I reopen foobar2000, the KDEConnect connection to the devices die. I've uninstalled various foobar2000 plugins/components which seem like they might cause a conflict (e.g., UPnP MediaRenderer Output.fb2k-component, foo_upnp.fb2k-component) but it doesn't make a difference. It also doesn't seem to matter which KDEConnect plugins are enabled. Second, sometimes KDEConnect will connect properly while foobar2000 is running. For the life of me, I can't determine why. I'm wondering if there are port conflicts because KDEConnect is constantly using different ports but, at least on Windows, I can find no way of creating a KDEConnect log that shows the potential port conflict (or any other errors for that matter). foobar2000's log also doesn't reveal anything. What is clear is that foobar2000 works always - no matter if KDEConnect is running or not. However, KDEConnect only sometimes works when foobar2000 is running. From my research, it does not appear you can change the order/priority of firewall rules in Windows (e.g., I can't make the KDEConnect allow rules higher priority than foobar2000's rules). Any ideas how to troubleshoot further? I'd love to help you solve this. There are so many posts all over the internet where people have given up trying to get Windows KDEConnect to work and I'm wondering if it's all because they also are running foobar2000. Thanks. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Windows 10 (KDEConnect build 23.08.1-1463) Android 14 (KDEConnect build 1.29.0) foobar 2.1.1 (32-bit)
It's a lousy workaround because you will lose some of the foobar2000 functionality but I've discovered if you change foobar2000 to start in compatibility mode as Windows 7 or 8, you KDE Connect will connect properly to the devices while running foobar. Perhaps that will give some additional direction where the bug/conflict is coming from.
I forgot to mention: I have also tried removing the foobar2000 profile completely (i.e., starting foobar as it was just installed with only its base components/plugins) to no avail - same issue.
The conflict exists with foobar2000 v2.1.1 64-bit as well.
This method will not work with Starlink. The only way that I've discovered to get KDEConnect to connect through Starlink is to use Tailscale on both devices (e.g., Windows and Android). Then you "Add devices by IP" on the Android app and use the IP address of your Windows box.
(In reply to c_prompt from comment #4) > This method will not work with Starlink. The only way that I've discovered > to get KDEConnect to connect through Starlink is to use Tailscale on both > devices (e.g., Windows and Android). Then you "Add devices by IP" on the > Android app and use the IP address of your Windows box. Edit: My bad. To use with Starlink, Windows Network & Internet Settings needs to be set as Private in the Network profile. In other words, Wi-Fi > Show available networks > Starlink > Properties > set Network profile to Private.