Arduino OTA port not updating in Arduino IDE

Question

The OTA (from the ArduinoOTA library) on my ESP8266 does not show up in the programming ports on the Arduino IDE unless I restart the IDE. Even when I plug in a usb cable and the ports list updates to show that device, it does not show the network port without a restart. Does anyone know why this would happen or how to solve it?

I downloaded the newest version of the IDE and this is still the case.

• Murey Tasroc: Is there any way to make the IDE actively check for a re-established mDns connection?
• Sundeep Goel: I have the same problem, ports appear on IDE restart and then except one (which also seems to be random) all disappear after some time.

Answer 1

I found an workaround for Windows:

• disable IPv6 from Network Configuration
• disable/enable network interface
• restart Arduino IDE

You should see your OTA device in port list, in Arduino IDE.

• Murey Tasroc: Do you have to do these steps every time the OTA device turns on or does this cause the IDE to actively monitor for network OTA ports?
• Bogdan: I just did it on the Windows machine with Arduine IDE. For example on Mac I don't have this problem.

Answer 2

For some reason you have to close and reopen the Arduino IDE for it to discover all available OTA ports. Not sure why this is -- if anyone knows I would be glad to learn.

EDIT: keeping this answer just for comments -- it's not a real answer.

• Jaromanda X: Which version of Arduino IDE? Which Operating System? Mine eventually discovers a a device that is flashed with OTA support added - usually takes less than a minute
• Murey Tasroc: 1.8.4 OSX -- is there maybe a refresh ports function somewhere in the IDE?
• Jaromanda X: How long do you wait? Is there a later version of the ide available for Mac
• Murey Tasroc: I downloaded the most recent version of the IDE and this is still a problem.
• Rudy: I have this problem on Windows 10. I am running Arduino 1.8.5 but this problem has been on previous versions. From what I understand it is a Windows issue. But some people have what appears to be the same problem because it get assigned to IP6 rather than IP4. I'm not really familiar with the details.

Answer 3

I have the exact problem on various flavours of Linux with last Arduino IDE and rebooting the router seems to be the only thing I've found that can make the IP address port appear.