UnitiQute2, Synology & ASUS Router problem
Posted by: Professor Fink on 02 May 2014
Hello everyone
To resolve my dropped connection issue I've switched my Virgin Superhub to modem and introduced an new ASUS N66U router. I have a UnitiQute2 wired ethernet to a Synology DS214Play.
While I now appear to have stopped the drop out, many files will not play from the Synology. I get 'connecting please wait', follow by 'skipped track' and so it goes on through the play queue. The same files played fine before (apart from the drop out!). Internet radio and streaming via airport all fine, its just files drawn from the NAS.
Any ideas where to look to sort or how I can resolve... tried turning off the firewall on the Asus and that made no difference.
Any advice gratefully received, not sure where to go with tis one!
Thank you
Simon
Hello I am not sure how recently you introduced but a playlist will probably be stored in a UPNP set up thusly, 'Mr Fink created a link to a track on IPXXXX then track on IPXXXX and so on.
If that IP has changed because you changed router then the file list becomes 'broken'
Hence why you get this issue. There is not really a solution thats easy. On you nas goto the network settings and fix the IP address. From now on this issue should be resolved.
Certainly if you can play tracks by selecting them without the playlist then this is certainly your issue.
i.e. redo your playlists.
One other thing reindex your files from the nas, there will be a button somewhere that will accomplish this.
Thank you, will try and re-index I know where to do that on the NAS, as you note I definitely have different IP addresses for the devices now the new router is in.
you have iradio access and presumably can reach your nas, so what ever the issue is its in the UPNP server from the nas.
No difference after re-indexing. If I select a track or album I get the problem as described, but some will play, there is no logic to which ones will that I can see - and they all previously played before the change to the Asus router.
Any other thoughts appreciated.
Best wishes for success. Rest assured, igary is correct that if you can see the NAS and you can play iRadio then your issue is not your network or your player, but something specific to UPnP.
Regards alan
you could also try compatibility mode with nstream.
Could be a media server software or a hardware issue with the Synology. The "Skipped Track" issue sometimes occurs if for example the NAS hardware doesn't immediately respond to nstream say if the NAS is allowed to sleep or hibernate. It might be worthwhile checking any powersave settings on your NAS and/or whether your media server software has a facility to delay streaming to allow the hardware to start up.
I used to have a "Skipped Track/Can't Play" issue when switching between files on different NAS or internal HDDs if these were allowed to power down.
Thanks everyone. I think the thing that has stumped me this time is the Synology settings allowed things to work fine before I switched over to using the Asus as a hub - apart from the drop out of course which is why I bought the Asus!
Did try the n-stream cache and and compatibility mode before posting... no successes with those.
Will go back to the Synology settings as you suggest.
Thanks again.
You might be confusing the issue by using the router as the switch & that might require some management such as IP address changes.
Have you considered a simple unmanaged switch between the Synology & UQ - then wire the router as a one wire branch off the switch. This way the Synology & UQ talk freely across the switch & the router provides only the wifi services.
Hi Mike
The Asus is indeed highly configurable and although not a lucite I'm no network expert.
I have a d-link powered switch I can try, so you think plugging into that with the Uniti and the Synololgy then connect the switch only to the Asus?
Simon
Should read... 'no luddite!' :-)
You might be confusing the issue by using the router as the switch & that might require some management such as IP address changes.
Have you considered a simple unmanaged switch between the Synology & UQ - then wire the router as a one wire branch off the switch. This way the Synology & UQ talk freely across the switch & the router provides only the wifi services.
Mike may be on to something here.
Which device is running DHCP and assigning IP addresses within the home network? I am not familiar with the Virgin device, but DHCP should be disabled on one of the devices -- the Virgin hub or the Asus router. Ideally the Virgin device.
He should have put superdud into modem only mode, asus will handle the rest.
I know it's not helpful with diagnostics to hear someone else say their (nearly but not quite identical hardware) setup works, but at least there's a morale boost in knowing you're close and a solution can be found.
ps - likely not relevant, but always worthwhile to have latest Asus firmware installed...?
Regards alan
Quick update... thanks for all the replies.
Definitely in router mode on the virgin super hub. Asus giving IP addresses on the same subnet.
Firmware up to date.
Momentarily I was able to play an album controlling the Uniti via the front panel and not n-stream. So I closed n-stream by swiping the app to close. After that the Uniti does not even find the Synology!
If I fix IP addresses it appears I can do that in three places, on the Synology, on the Uniti and on the Asus (where you can see all)... where should I do it?
Still open to suggestions on this! Thank you.
Feels like something has gone off the rails here, and it might be smartest to start over with everything in default mode.
I know zero about your super hub, but you should be able to eliminate that from the equation while you get upnp streaming from your Synology to your Qute using only your Asus.
To start over, disconnect the Asus wan wire that goes to your modem and reset the Asus to default (in this mode it will act as a router/DNS/wifi access point; if there is no external connection via wan to modem, you will have an intranet in your house but no internet access to the wider world...but that's ok for now). Plug in your computer (Mac iirc?) the Synology NAS and your Qute. No need to reserve IP addresses or use static IP for now: everything basic should work with dynamic assigned addressing as managed by the Asus.
The default IP for the rt-n66u is 192.168.1.1; you can find the other assigned IP addresses from there or in the case of your Qute and Mac using the devices themselves by viewing settings.
Can you see all devices showing on your Asus network map? This may give only IP and MAC address info for the connected devices. Can you browse to both the Synology and the Qute by typing their respective IP addresses in your browser? The Synology should show the usual login page; the Qute should show a black page with the Naim logo and Device Status; if you select Profiles you should see the same network connection and status information you saw when you used the little wrench button on the remote to review status and so on.
Armed with a good (intranet only) network, can you now stream from the Synology, launching from the remote control and also your iDevice (if connected to your Asus wifi network)? I assume you're still running Media Server, that it's on and pointed to a freshly indexed music folder (done via the web interface to the Synology NAS). If not, get that working first and worry about other upnp server installations later.
For a plain vanilla setup like this, it should just work after resetting everything to default. If it does, great - you can add internet access by entering your connection info and plugging the Asus into your modem. If not, there will be useful diagnostic info to steer your next steps.
Good luck. Don't be afraid to reset and start over...the chance that you've accidentally chosen some incompatible settings is non-zero, and it's easier to start from a known state than guess at all the things that could have gone wrong.
Regards alan
Quick update... thanks for all the replies.
Definitely in router mode on the virgin super hub. Asus giving IP addresses on the same subnet.
Can you clarify. Is the Superhub in 'router' or 'modem' mode?
Hi Alan
Thank for the detailed reply and assistance. I did not realise I could just set up as an internal network, so will do as you suggest and see what that gives me - as you say it will either work or or provide some pointers as to where the issue may reside.
Yes DCOne definitely in modem only on the Superhub.
Thanks again.
ON that basis then there should be one ethernet cable going into the superhub, which connects to the asus.
Sorry to do the eggs thing here.
Yep, one cable from the Superhub to the Asus. Superhub then connected to my virgin media cable service, definitely in modern only mode.
Sorry Modem only...
Update...
Did as you suggested Alan. Went back to intranet only using the defaults again. Got each bit working before adding the next back in.
Took a while but all seems well and just played a whole album and moved around my library without issue... and the original drop out issue also appears to be resolved so I don't feel I've wasted my £110 on the Asus!
Thanks to everyone who helped.... now where was I... ah yes, back to ripping.... Lossless, Flac... iTunes, XLD...?!
Congrats on your success, that's great to hear! The Asus is a top pick and now that you have things working and the butterflies are gone you won't regret the purchase.
I hope this also means that your internet access thru the super hub in modem only mode is up and running, so you have access to iRadio for the Qute and FreeDB for XLD.
Hopping to your other thread: I rip mp3 and manage a local library in iTunes on the internal HD of my Mac mini; I also rip flac using xld and manage my lossless library on my NAS and stream from there. Actually the flac directory is mirrored on two boxes: a Synology DS213+ running both Media Server and MinimServer (transcoding to wav), and an older IOmega ix2-200 (now running a pair of 3 TB WD Red drives) as backup and running Twonky 6.something. Everything works (save for the wifi issues with my original version Qute, now upstairs in the bedroom after the arrival of the Supdf) and I'm really enjoying the music and the flexibility.
Enjoy your success and very well done to stay calm and get everything sorted out.
Regards alan
Thanks again Alan for your help and advice.
Yes, put the super hub (modem) and airport express in last as the sequence and all is well.
Still playing OK this morning too! Yeah!
Ripping - thanks for the extra thoughts.... I had ripped my 500ish CDs starting about ten years ago as 128 then 256k files using our iMac and iTunes, as we have been Apple based and I just played my CDs on my Cyrus 6s.
Started re-ripping when I decided I was going to get the Niam and I got the Synology and after a few false starts due to me not understanding the iTunes library got about 150 CDs in ripping Apple Lossless through iTunes to my Synology (2tb WD Red drives mirrored).
Have now stopped partly due to the issues above but also with paranoia I'm doing it wrong and will need to do it again!
Have looked at XLD and it looks complex, but fine once set up I guess. Just not sure now which format to go with - I see you and others do different twoypes. I use Media Server on the Synology although have Minim loaded but not set up.
I can't see routine transcoding Flac to Wav in Media Server only a setting to do if your device does not support a format... the UnitiQute2 of course does.
How do you mange your Flac library? You mention FreeDB for XLD?
Sorry for all the questions! Your help is greatly appreciated.
Simon