Make publishing the content server via mDNS a little more robust

src/calibre/manual/faq.rst

@@ -146,6 +146,8 @@ Now you should be able to access your books on your iPhone by opening Stanza. Go
 
 Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running |app|. If you have changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you will have to change ``8080`` as well to the new port. The local IP address is the IP address you computer is assigned on your home network. A quick Google search will tell you how to find out your local IP address.   Now click "Save" and you are done.
 
+If you get timeout errors while browsing the calibre catalog in Stanza, try increasing the connection timeout value in the stanza settings. Go to Info->Settings and increase the value of Download Timeout.
+
 How do I use |app| with my Android phone?
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

src/calibre/utils/mdns.py

@@ -3,46 +3,59 @@ __license__ = 'GPL 3'
 __copyright__ = '2009, Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>'
 __docformat__ = 'restructuredtext en'
 
-import socket
+import socket, time
 
 _server = None
 
-def get_external_ip():
+def _get_external_ip():
     'Get IP address of interface used to connect to the outside world'
     try:
         ipaddr = socket.gethostbyname(socket.gethostname())
     except:
         ipaddr = '127.0.0.1'
     if ipaddr == '127.0.0.1':
-        try:
-            s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
-            s.connect(('google.com', 0))
-            ipaddr = s.getsockname()[0]
-        except:
-            pass
+        for addr in ('192.0.2.0', '198.51.100.0', 'google.com'):
+            try:
+                s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
+                s.connect((addr, 0))
+                ipaddr = s.getsockname()[0]
+                if ipaddr != '127.0.0.1':
+                    return ipaddr
+            except:
+                time.sleep(0.3)
     return ipaddr
 
+_ext_ip = None
+def get_external_ip():
+    global _ext_ip
+    if _ext_ip is None:
+        _ext_ip = _get_external_ip()
+    return _ext_ip
+
 def start_server():
     global _server
     if _server is None:
         from calibre.utils.Zeroconf import Zeroconf
-        _server = Zeroconf()
+        _server = Zeroconf(bindaddress=get_external_ip())
     return _server
 
 def publish(desc, type, port, properties=None, add_hostname=True):
     '''
     Publish a service.
-    
+
     :param desc: Description of service
     :param type: Name and type of service. For example _stanza._tcp
     :param port: Port the service listens on
-    :param properties: An optional dictionary whose keys and values will be put 
-                       into the TXT record. 
+    :param properties: An optional dictionary whose keys and values will be put
+                       into the TXT record.
     '''
     port = int(port)
     server = start_server()
-    hostname = socket.gethostname().partition('.')[0]
     if add_hostname:
+        try:
+            hostname = socket.gethostname().partition('.')[0]
+        except:
+            hostname = 'Unknown'
         desc += ' (on %s)'%hostname
     local_ip = get_external_ip()
     type = type+'.local.'
@@ -53,7 +66,7 @@ def publish(desc, type, port, properties=None, add_hostname=True):
                           properties=properties,
                           server=hostname+'.local.')
     server.registerService(service)
-    
+
 def stop_server():
     global _server
     if _server is not None: