Synlogoy nas and artwork problem?

I've never seen the Synology media player populate 'artist' folders with graphics.  I'm not 100% sure but I don't think it can.

I was using a system running J River media center the other day, and it does provide graphics for artist folders.  But the graphics are just one of the album covers.  I guess it's nice . . . but not life-changing.

Hi Bart, thank you for your reply. I am running a ds215 with upto date software. If I go to the DS Audio station, then if you browse by artist there then you get an album cover graphic of one of the albums by that particular artist which aids quick browsing on my phone or tablet. I have used J River on a PC to access the Synology too and this works. Naim android app however does not and it is annoying when my cheep Buffalo thing did what I expected it to do. I think it has something to do with the nas DMA settings as there is one for the n-stream app. I have contacted Synology to see what they say. It looks to me like some kind of issue between Synology and naim dma settings but I am no expert. However I can usually muddle through a fix but not this one!!

Synology's Media Server does not support art on iOS (& as you report, Android) 

I've used a mates system that does show art & TBH I refer it without,  faster & IMO better. 

If its something that bothers you,  maybe you can try another media server,  Synology only support one 3rd party server Minimserver (not sure if it will provide art)

Note -- Audio Station and Media Server are two entirely separate programs from Synology.

Cheers Mike, so it is the same for apple and android. Shame really because I'm sure it can't be that difficult to offer the option for artwork further up the tree. The Buffalo does it by default and cost a lot less than the Synology which I bought after seeing so many good reviews. Oh well...

Bart, I take your point about them being different programs but if Synology can enable it in one then perhaps they could in their server program too especially when other companies do.

It's not the end of the world! Just not what I expected when upgrading, to lose something you have grown used to I suppose.

Hardcorr...Although I use a Qnap NAS, I thought I was cursed for life, by having to use Twonky Media Server, that came with it. However, just recently I have discovered PLEX Media Server, which was hidden away in the 'apps section'. One word, Fantastic!!

I have just checked, PLEX is available as a free download for Synology. If it doesn't work, you've lost nothing. If it does...

David

Try installing and using MinimServer on the Synology. Works perfectly for me and very versatile. You can use it in parallel with the Synology media server until you're sure.  Much faster and more reliable than my previous  unitiserv. Album art works fine. 

Cheers Meerkat and RK, I will try a different server software then. See how it goes. I was unsure whether you could run it in parallel. If this is the case then I have nothing to lose. Of course I didn't want to start making things worse which can often be the case without some more knowledge from others!! Thank you. J

Instructions re installation MinimServer:

http://minimserver.com/install-synology.html

Thanks RK. Just looked at Plex and my Synology isn't powerful enough to run Plex. The things you need to take into account when buying these things. I have too many hobbies!! So I will try minim over the weekend sometime. Let you know how it goes....

Not sure why you can't run plex on a Synology 215... Perhaps not enough cup for for video and transcoding, but audio at CD quality might work (since Media Station does). Is there a build for your architecture? That said, Plex indeed shows artwork at the "artist" searc tree level...but minimServer, like Media Station, does not (at least for me, on a Synology 213+). 

Regards, alan 

Hi Alan, a quick search on the Plex site suggests that Plex won't run on the Armada CPU. Although as you say this might mean it just won't transcoded HD video and maybe it will install and be OK to play my Flac. Not sure. That's all I would want it for at this stage. Regards, J

PS. Just noted I had a problem spelling Synology earlier. Still getting over the festivities!!!

Minimserver works great on my Synology nas, but unless I'm missing a setting the Naim App does not display art at the Artist level -- only for individual albums and tracks.

Annoyingly, it pulls album artwork from the file itself preferentially over looking to folder.jpg.  Again, likely a setting I can change.