Compatibility mode and Twonky
Posted by: Guto Orwig on 23 October 2014
I'm running Twonky as a media server on a Netgear NAS and streaming to a Unitilite.
The nStream app will not work unless it's in compatibility mode, which means I loose out on a lot of the app's features......
My question therefore is if I change my NAS to a Synology or Qnap (upgradeitis strikes again!), would their bundled media servers be able to talk the same language as the Unitilite?
Depending on which Netgear NAS you have, you may be able to run Minim or Asset.
These will work better with most UPnP control points (and most renderers) including Naim.
My NAS (Zyxel NSA325) came with Twonky, and I had great difficulty getting it to work properly - I don't remember exact details but those problems sound familiar. I replaced it with Logitech Media Server (which is free, and was easy to install), and it works fine on the Zyxel.
Depending on which Netgear NAS you have, you may be able to run Minim or Asset.
These will work better with most UPnP control points (and most renderers) including Naim.
There's no NetGear version of Asset that I'm aware of and MinimServer can be a bit of a faff to get working for the non-techie...
If you really do want to use a NAS based UPnP server then my suggestion would be a QNAP and then stick Asset on it - it's a simple process and Asset tends to give the least issues of the UPnP servers (you can also get Asset to decode compressed file formats to WAV before streaming)...
Cheers
Phil
Alough I use simple tagging and no artwork with all files in flac twonky is running with no issues on my qnap.
Scott
Depending on which Netgear NAS you have, you may be able to run Minim or Asset.
These will work better with most UPnP control points (and most renderers) including Naim.
There's no NetGear version of Asset that I'm aware of and MinimServer can be a bit of a faff to get working for the non-techie...
If you really do want to use a NAS based UPnP server then my suggestion would be a QNAP and then stick Asset on it - it's a simple process and Asset tends to give the least issues of the UPnP servers (you can also get Asset to decode compressed file formats to WAV before streaming)...
Cheers
Phil
Phil
Is there a better solution??
Home server?
I have a big old ex corp server running with Plex on it dishing up all sorts of loveliness. Bang for buck brings you in at far far cheaper and far far faster, with far far more memory than out of the box Nas solutions.
The upside for Nases of course being they are out of the box.
If I was to go nas I would get a HP proliant, which are great value for money, many times more powerful than nases and cheap as chips. Room for five drives. I would then install OpenMediaVault on it and run plex from that.
There are tonnes of options out there.
Another to keep it small is an Intel NUC, attache a 3TB usb drive and install something like VortexBox or Daphile and bob is certainly your uncle.
Phil
Is there a better solution??
There is no one better solution - the best solution depends on your own needs.
However...
The alternative solutions could be something like:
1) Use a UnitiServe.
2) Use something like an HP Microserver and install your own OS and ripping / serving software on it.
3) Retask an old laptop as a server.
4) Buy a small form factor PC and put a UPnP server on it. (I've done this for a few people i know using Acer Revo's and Asset / dbpoweramp.)
5) Build a machine and stick something like Vortexbox or Amahi on it.
Whether any of these are the *BEST* solution for you is only something that you can decide...
Cheers
Phil
The older SPARC-based Netgear ReadyNAS units can run a ReadyDLNA / MiniDLNA variant–this may be part of the problem, even when using Twonky. The base Linux OS is an older and now unsupported version of Debian.
If you have an x86/x64 or ARM-based ReadyNAS, you can load Asset UPnP, MinimServer (or both) onto the device. Or you can opt for Synology or QNAP (recommended) and do the same; I'm partial to the package-managed approach of the QNAP myself.
Regarding previous post - the issue is that the default package dependencies (even with a "clean" restore of ReadyNAS settings) used for Twonky and the package dependencies used for ReadyDLNA / MiniDLNA do not always play well together on an older, SPARC-based ReadyNAS, due to variances in versions, etc. and tend to overwrite configs in some nefarious places, among other issues.
Given the end-of-life status of the SPARC-based ReadyNAS family, I'd definitely opt for a better solution.
So is the consensus that I need to be running something like Asset as an upnp server?
Would this then allow nStream to run in it's full form?
So is the consensus that I need to be running something like Asset as an upnp server?
Would this then allow nStream to run in it's full form?
Asset upnp runs well with Naim
Just a thought, is your version of Twonky up to date? I use a WD NAS which came with Twonky, and the Naim app works for me. It can be clunky, but it does work.
I'm sure other products might be better, of course.
Running the latest QNAP Twonky 7.2.28 version on both HS-210 and TS-219PII with NOOOO Problems at all. Twonky improved significantly with the latest updates/builds...
Waiting for a QNAP release of Twonky's latest build 7.3.x with (an even more) configurable media tree.
I'm running Twonky as a media server on a Netgear NAS and streaming to a Unitilite.
The nStream app will not work unless it's in compatibility mode, which means I loose out on a lot of the app's features......
My question therefore is if I change my NAS to a Synology or Qnap (upgradeitis strikes again!), would their bundled media servers be able to talk the same language as the Unitilite?
I often had the same problem when using twonky with my readynas, but strangely it often worked fine when not in compatibility mode.
my problem was resolved when my readynas died. I now use a raspberry pi and a portable hd and that works a treat running asset at a fraction of the price of a nas.