Uniti list mode/meta data when using UPnP

Posted by: olrac on 17 December 2009

Struggling with Uniti list mode/meta data when using UPnP...

I'm accessing FLAC & WAV files on a Seagate NAS.
The tracks play just fine on the Uniti, but on the Uniti display everything gets merged under "unknown" album, artist list selections. So for example, on my NAS drive I have:

/Music
/ Pink Floyd
/ DSOM
/ 01-Speak to me
/ 02-Breath
/ ...
/ Tangerine Dream
/ Tangram
/ 01-Part 1
/ 02-Part 2

Then on the Uniti display in list mode I'll get:

>Music
> Music Album
> Unknown
> 01-Part 1
> 01-Speak to me
> 02-Part 2
> 02-Breath
> Music Artist
> Unknown
> "same merged list of tracks"
> Music Genre
> "same merged list of tracks"
> Music Playlist

Each list category is merging everything under the "Unknown" category. The result being a not so useful "All tracks" list.

When I use the Windows Media player on my PC to browse the same NAS library all is well, album, artist & track meta-data appears to be fine. All is well when I use my laptop as the uPNP source, the Uniti displays a vastly improved list of categories, including "folder".

The problem seems to indicate the NAS's UPnP Media server (The NAS is a Seagate Blackarmor 110). I'll be checking in with Seagate tech. support soon...But though I'd share this info. just in case you have some words of wisdom!

Kind regards,

Paul!
Posted on: 17 December 2009 by Eloise
Do you get same results regardless of if you're using FLAC or WAV?
Posted on: 17 December 2009 by olrac
Yes, I get the same results with FLAC or WAV.

[Sorry that the indents in my above directory structure didn't show in the post.]

Seagate tech support stated that if a DMP (i.e. Uniti) has trouble decoding the artist/album data then it will often default to displaying a "container name" in the "browse tree" as "Unknown". The NAS media server is UPnP v1.1...It appears that there's a minor but very annoying incompatibility between the NAS 110 & Uniti.

I subsequently verified that the Uniti behaves just fine with Asset UPnP streaming the NAS contents, so this issue is definitely a limitation of the media service of the Seagate NAS...Note that this same server is used on all the Blackarmor NAS drives, so buyer beware I guess!

The Asset UPnP software allows you to edit & reconfigure the browse menu, pretty cool stuff..But it kind of defeats my original plan of a NAS media server without needing a PC/Laptop running.

Considering the "potential value" that these Seagate NAS's represent, it would be fantastic if NAIM could take a closer look at this "Unknown" browse tree issue...Conversely, it's unlikely that Seagate will purchase a Uniti to investigate!

Kind regards,

Paul.
Posted on: 17 December 2009 by pcstockton
olrac,

no offense but.... Are you sure the FLAC files are tagged properly?

If not download some tagging software or do it in Foobar or iTunes.

Your WAVs cannot be tagged so I am not surprised they show up as unknown.

If you are planning on using WAVs, i would change the files names to include the artist.

Lastly, ditch WMP and get Foobar. Convert your WAVs to FLACs. Tag and enjoy.

-patrick
Posted on: 17 December 2009 by olrac
Hi Patrick,

No offense taken. Thanks for responding!

When ripping I'm creating both a FLAC & WAV library. I'm using dBpoweramp. (However same behavior occurs with downloaded media).

I'm not certain that the browse tree has anything to do with the file tags, it has more to do with the capability of the UPnP media service, regarding how it sorts & presents a Table of contents (?) and the media to the client. i.e. The issue is most likely something like a garbled header being sent to the Uniti from the server.

Using other uPnP services to stream media from my laptop hard drive or from the same NAS drive (such either WMP or Asset UPnP) results in normal presentation of data in the browse tree on the Uniti, regardless of whether my FLAC or WAV library are used.

What NAS drive / UPnP service are you using with your Uniti?

Kind regards,

Paul.
Posted on: 25 December 2009 by Michael Chare
What you get when you select a Upnp server is very much determined by the Upnp server. You can see this for your self by running the Intel Upnp Developer Tools on a Windows PC:

http://opentools.homeip.net/

Personally I use Mediatomb and find that a simple file structure of Artist, Album, track works best. A CD with multiple artists is kept in the Various Artists' folder.
Posted on: 28 December 2009 by olrac
Thanks Michael,

I've settled on using Asset as the server and have now turned off the NAS drive's built in UPnP server and am using it as a standard NAS drive. Asset allows me to customize the browse menu, so there are no issues!

Kind regards,

Paul.