UnitiServe Rips Not Appearing in App - Help, Please!

Posted by: Mostly Drummer on 27 November 2015

I've been ripping CDs to my new NAS drive with my new UnitiServe SSD and playing them with my new NDS for several weeks without issue. So far, I've ripped about 400 CDs. Tonight, the light on the front of the US started blinking while it was ripping a CD and it seemed "stuck", i.e. it never "finished" in the normal amount of time for ripping and ejected the CD. I turned off the US, left it off for about three minutes, and turned it back on. It blinked for a while and eventually spat out the CD and stopped blinking. I inserted the CD again and it seemed to rip it normally in the normal amount of time (although I wasn't monitoring it with the server app). I inserted another CD into the US to rip it, and the US spat out the CD after a minute or so and started blinking again. It eventually stopped blinking, but a few hours later neither of the two CDs has appeared in the Naim streaming app. I've rebooted the US and the streaming app and the CDs still haven't appeared in the apps. I've rebooted the server app and checked the streaming app again and still no CDs. It appears something is wrong, but I don't know where to begin. I will check with my dealer when I can, but in the meantime wondered if anyone here might have any insight or suggestions. Thanks!

Posted on: 27 November 2015 by Mostly Drummer

Update:

My original US reboot was via the switch on the back. This accomplished nothing. I later rebooted again by touching the light on the front to turn it off and then to turn it on again a few minutes later. While the two rips described above never appeared, I ripped those CDs again as well as some others after the second reboot and all are now appearing in the streaming app and playing fine.

I'm glad things are working again, but would still appreciate any thoughts as to what might have happened to cause the initial blinking. Thank you.

Posted on: 27 November 2015 by hungryhalibut

You must follow the right procedure to turn the US off - touch the logo until it flashes, then wait till the flashing stops and finally turn it off at the back. Then turn it on at the back and wait for the flashing to stop. If a cd gets stuck, push a paper clip into the little hole and the disc will pop out. All this is in the instructions that come with the Serve.

Posted on: 28 November 2015 by Jan-Erik Nordoen

From your first post it sounds like the power supply might not be providing sufficient current during ripping. Are you using Naim's power supply?

Posted on: 28 November 2015 by David Hendon

Originally Posted by Jan-Erik Nordoen:

From your first post it sounds like the power supply might not be providing sufficient current during ripping. Are you using Naim's power supply?

With my Unitiserve I found out of the box that the power connector was quite loose in the socket on the back of the US. To make sure it didn't fall out, I wedged it in place against the wall behind. Eventually I talked to the dealer and he got a new socket from Naim and fitted it. That is much better and looking at the old socket, the centre pin seemed a lot narrower than in the new one. So maybe a bad batch of sockets?

This is a long way of saying that it would be worth making sure the power connector is in properly. And as said by others you must always shut down the US properly by pressing and holding the logo on the front for a few seconds until it starts to flash and then wait for the flashing to stop and the logo go off before switching the power off on the back otherwise you are accelerating the need for a trip back to Salisbury for them to take the errors off the hard disc....

best

David

Posted on: 28 November 2015 by Mostly Drummer

I am using the standard Naim power supply (cable). The connection seems to be tight, but I will keep an eye on it. Following this idea, I didn't have any indication that the power surged or dropped out briefly while the first problem CD was being ripped, but I suppose that's possible and since the US is a computer, that such a event could have caused it to hang up pending a proper (unlike my first one) reboot.

Oddly, the ND5-XS that installed in my home office system at the same time as I got the NDS and related gear had a hard time seeing the network and US today, but I finally got it to connect. It was never turned off throughout all of this, so maybe there was a power event that tripped it up as well.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Posted on: 29 November 2015 by David Hendon

I was meaning the power connection from the power supply to the Unitiserve, not the mains connection to the power supply.

But if something else on your network (the ND5 XS) also had trouble seeing the network, then a power-related network issue seems favourite. Presumably the US indicates an error by flashing its front panel display when it runs out of room to save the rip, for example if the NAS isn't visible on the network and its internal memory cache is full.

I have several Naim devices on my network and if any of them ever has a problem (usually indicated by a "Connecting..." message on the front panel display), restarting that unit usually fixes it. Sometimes I have to reboot the router too. I could probably stop even this inconvenience by fixing the IP addresses for the Naim kit, but I haven't found it worth the effort.

Anyway I hope it is all stable now.

best

David

Posted on: 29 November 2015 by Mostly Drummer

Thanks, David.

The second issue (with myND5-XS) did result in a "Connecting..." message on the screen. I had been ripping a CD with the US, which is in a different room with my NDS but is connected to the same network, and it seemed as if the ND5-XS wouldn't connect to the network until the CD had been fully ripped and "appeared" in the streaming app. Once the CD appeared, the ND5-XS connected immediately without requiring a reboot.

All appears to be stable now (except me, perhaps...this is new territory for me and I'm slowly finding my way through it...).