Just to add some more info:
It is not an hour and quartoer thing – that is how long it takes itunes to drop the server. I have ot have itunes up and running when I start the mtdaapd for iTunes to see it. If i immediatly restart iTunes it does not see the server.
As an experiment I installed fedore on another PC i have and installed mt-daapd on that one and it works perfectly. I then installed my firewall tool (firestarter) and it did not work – however i did see hits on the firewall for the mDNS port. Enabling that port fixed it. On my main PC however i dont see hits on that port and the port is wode open.
I am thinking of rebuilding the machine over the weekend with a spare drive and then incrementally installing everything.