Does anyone use NAS DRIVES or streamers like SQUEEZEBOX to their amps?

All of my multi-disc sets share the same name and are differentiated by the disc number tag. The Squeezebox Server automatically placed the "disc 1" and "disc 2" in the album tag. I'll take a look at the Squeezebox forum.

 

The Squeezebox sorts by the FLAC tag info unless you use the Music Folder option. That one sorts like Windows Explorer would. My "disc 1"-type things look fine under Music Folder but, if not tagged right in FLAC, look like what you are seeing. Unfortunately you can't search or sort with that option.

 

Everything is tagged correctly. When I run the media server off of my computer, everything is sorted exactly the way I want it on the Squeezebox Touch. It's when I run the Touch off of Squeezebox Server installed on the NAS that I get all of the sorting issues. I just don't know how to go in and configure the server installed on the NAS (or if that's even possible).

 

Oh, I see. I can get into the server on my MyBookLiveDuo by going to mybookliveduo:9000 but I have no idea how to get there with your NAS. I would think you should be able to access yours.

 

Is there a reason that the Logitech Media Server on my Windows machine takes twice as long to scan for new files on the network drive as it did from my regular external HD?

When my library was located on my external HD, a complete wipe and rescan only took about 18 minutes. It now takes upwards of 35 to 40 minutes when I scan the exact same files on the NAS. Seriously.....considering the fact that I can't even run the Squeezebox Server from the NAS (which was the only reason I bought the damn thing to begin with) without loads of issues, is there any benefit whatsoever of having this thing? I really feel like I invested a lot of time and money into something which is giving me relatively poor results.

Needless to say, my frustration level is about through the roof right now.

 

Everything is connected via ethernet cable. I think the NAS has version 7.72 installed. I don't think there is anything else running on it. Memory is 256 MB. I can't help but think that I'm doing something wrong, but I'm having a hell of a time finding any solutions online.

<edit> The NAS itself only has LMS 7.5 and forces my Squeezebox to downgrade from 7.7 if I try connecting to the NAS. Apparently, this is a big complaint over at the Buffalo Linkstation forum.

 

My NAS (Mybook Liveduo) has a very slow operating system. I have about 3500 albums and it takes two hours or so to do a complete wipe and scan. Just logging into the thing takes about a minute. To me it's still worth putting up with the limitations of the NAS so I don't have to have a computer running all the time. I also have a vague recollection of having to increase some value in the NAS's operating system to give LMS more room to work.

 

It's looking more and more like I can't stream directly from the Buffalo Linkstation due to the LMS version installed on it. It certainly won't be compatible with the Enhanced Digital Output app. Buffalo doesn't seem particularly interested in addressing the issue and I don't have the technical know-how to hack the NAS to allow for a LMS firmware upgrade. I may try to find something out on the internets. Worst case scenario is that I brick the NAS. Whatever. At this point it's just going to sit there and collect dust anyway.

Combine this with the knowledge that my new Oppo BDP-105 won't decode HDCD via the digital inputs (a big selling point for me originally), what I have here is an $1800 mistake.

 

I've done this also. I also save undecoded files in iTunes for iPod playback. I was just hoping to avoid redundancy by having a DAC to decode the HDCD on the fly.

On another note, Amazon has agreed to let me return the Buffalo for a full refund. They will also cover one-day shipping for whatever I decided to replace it with. I've heard great things about the NetGear ReadyNAS concerning Squeezebox compatibility. It also allows you to update to the latest version of LMS. Does anybody know if this will decode Apple Lossless or would I need to convert everything to flac?

I know that the LMS runs a bit slower on a NAS than on a Windows machine, but I'm willing to trade scanning speed for the ability to stream from the NAS using the latest version of the LMS software.

Suggestions?

 

I use a Synology NAS DS 412+ and I run LMS on it. I have over 8 TB of music in my library and I have never had any issues. The processor in the Synology is fast enough to handle all the data. And I stream a lot of 24/96 or 24/192 music. One caveat is that everything is hooked up via wired ethernet, not wireless. I was concerned about wireless with hi res files.

 

How does one do this with poweramp? My Touch has been yearning for some Dropkick Murphy's in HDCD

 

There is an HDCD plugin. If you select it then dbpoweramp creates a 24 bit file which includes the additional 4 bits (the other 4 are empty) with the HDCD information.

 

Thanks for the info Geesh all I had to do is look in the dsp list, brainfart

 

Well, I'm in the process of erasing the Buffalo and restoring factory settings on it. It's been over 24 hours and it's barely over half done. Is it normal for it to go this slow or did I get a faulty unit?

 

Is the unit configured as a Raid array? If so, it could take a while. The NAS units are pretty slow.

There is a lot of good information available at the Logitech forums. Visit http://forums.slimdevices.com/forum...y-Hardware&s=aa37609994d90f26337f1d47ac1153e3

 

I purchased a Netgear ReadyNAS Ultra 2 Plus with 2 2TB hard drives (I would have gotten some bigger drives, but my wife is already on edge about the spending). It only took about 4 hours for it to completely configure (including synching the hard drives). I installed LMS 7.7.3 on the ReadyNAS and did just a quick test of a folder containing ALAC files just to see if I would be stuck converting everything from ALAC to FLAC like I had to do on the Buffalo. The answer was "No." Flawless, quick performance playing back a 16/44.1 ALAC file. Unfortunately, it still takes forever to copy all of my music from the external hard drive to the NAS (21 hours so far with 3:47 hours remaining) but it's a small price to pay. The big test will come later this morning when I do a library scan (how long will it take?) and try streaming some 24/96 files.

The only hiccup I have run into is getting internet connectivity with the NAS, but apparently this is a widespread issue with the current firmware. Not a huge deal for me since I don't really plan on trying to stream my music across the Web, but I'll probably address this issue as some later date.

 

Final report (for anybody who cares):

It took about 25 minutes for the ReadyNAS Ultra to scan my entire library of 29,000 songs (down from 40 minutes on the Buffalo). Playback was a success. No delay whatsoever due to buffering, album art displayed right away, and my tags were exactly as I wanted. I am very, very happy with the ReadyNAS Ultra Plus and would recommend to everybody in the market for a NAS.

A quick question for those with NAS experience: do you keep it powered up all the time?

 

I keep my powered up. However, your hard drives should spin down after they are idle for a while. You should go through the settings for that. I think mine is set for 30 minutes.

 

A couple of questons/issues:

I am running iTunes on our Windows 7 desktop computer, but the iTunes library is now located on our ReadyNAS. Every time I try to access my iTunes library after logging out of the computer, it has lost the location of my music library. It turns out that this is due to my home network being password protected (not the ReadyNAS, but the actual Windows home network). I can go login to the network and all is well, but it's kind of a pain in the butt to have to do that. I've done numerous Google searches and have come up short. Anybody here ever experience the same issues? What I want to do is disable the password for the network.

Also, I've noticed that it takes a lot longer to transfer files to my iPod now that the library is located on the network drive. Is there a tweak or setting that could help to increase data transfer rates?

 

Well, after several months I can say that I'm almost totally happy with the ReadyNAS. It has performed extremely well. There is one problem that pops up every once in a while, though. Sometimes neither my computer nor the Squeezebox will be able to locate the ReadyNAS and I'll have to manually power it down and then back up in order to "reconnect" it to my available network.

Anybody else ever experienced this? Is there a solution?

 

That sounds like a network issue. Try checking with ReadyNAS for patch updates pertaining to networking, and also with your router manufacturer for updates for that too.

You may be able to address it that way, or you may find you are stuck and have to bounce (shutdown and restart) some software at regular time intervals.