Chris wrote:
Hey, what you are hitting is a known Windows quirk. Your server's built-in Linux (WSL) gives it an address that only your own PC can see, so phones and TVs get shut out. The fix can need reapplying if your PC went to sleep or WSL restarted since then, which would explain it working for a bit then stopping. One thing to try: open PowerShell and run wsl --shutdown, then reopen your Linux terminal and run sudo sparkbox up. After that, try reaching it from your phone again and let me know if it holds this time.
BirdMan wrote:
That Worked. Why did that work? Moving on from that, what are the exact steps to take for an already installed SparkBox running on windows 10 via linux to be accessed from another device on the network. Thanks.
Chris wrote:
Good question. wsl --shutdown followed by sudo sparkbox up made Windows re-detect your box's address, which cleared the stuck state — but that's a reset, not a permanent fix. On Windows, WSL2 gives your box a private address that only your own PC can reach, so phones/TVs/consoles stay locked out, and it can drift back after your PC sleeps or WSL restarts (that's the "worked for an hour" pattern). Since you're on Windows 10, the mirrored-networking trick some guides mention isn't available to you (Microsoft limits it to Windows 11 22H2+). The working option on Windows 10 is port forwarding from Windows into WSL, redone whenever the WSL address changes: 1. In your Linux terminal, run: sparkbox urls — note the IP address it prints for each app. 2. In an administrator PowerShell, forward each app's port (Jellyfin's 8096 shown, repeat per app/port): netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 listenport=8096 connectport=8096 connectaddress=<that IP New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "SparkBox 8096" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 8096 -Action Allow 3. Point your phone/TV at your PC's own home-network address (PowerShell: ipconfig), not the WSL address from step 1. Heads-up: the WSL address in step 1 changes every time Windows restarts, so step 2 needs redoing after a reboot — there's no way around that on Windows 10. Full walkthrough: https://tomsparkbox.com/guides/run-sparkbox-on-windows-wsl