Dead UnitiServes Society

I am also toying with the idea of one for my Netgear switch.

Any reason why the manufacturer of this linear power supply can't be mentioned?

Richard Morris posted:

Any reason why the manufacturer of this linear power supply can't be mentioned?

It can, but the reply will be temporarily blocked, untill one of the moderstors releases it realising it we are talking about powering NAS or switch. 

Generally the alternative PSU manufacturers' power suppliers (like the one from Israel) make very advanced and quiet units which replace those horrid swith-mode standard affairs. They beneift the systems by reducing system noise.

Naim also discourages the use of third party stuff. I got mine from a long-standing Linn and Naim dealer in Lewisham. It's been powered up for almost a year with the Unitiserve and no issues to date. Unitiserve has also endured a couple of short power cut with not so much of a blink. 

My US has been working flawlessly for a number of years now although flashing lights won't bother me at all since I'm blind ... so maybe there have been some glitches.

Only been powered down a few times when I needed to rebuild or reorganise my Fraim.

Allan Milne posted:

My US has been working flawlessly for a number of years now although flashing lights won't bother me at all since I'm blind ... so maybe there have been some glitches.

Only been powered down a few times when I needed to rebuild or reorganise my Fraim.

 

Lots of flashing lights here last night, lots of lightning, and a couple of brief power outages before I got out of bed and turned everything off. No direct hits this time though, US is fine. No scheduled backup, as my Synology NAS seems to have turned itself off all on its own, but it should catch up tonight.

Adam Zielinski posted:

Richard, Nick

One thing I have found, when designing my home network, is to use the router supplied by my ISP only for one thing - as a modem, decoding the signal.
I do not use its wireless function or it's network management. Found it too unstable.

So my network has one more 'magic' device, which just boringly works all the time - Apple Airport Extreme. It starts and 'defines' my home network, handling DHCP protocol for all devices.
The basic set up is:
ISP modem > Apple Airport Extreme > CISCO switch (unmanaged) > network-connected devices (NAS, 4 NAIM streamers, Oppo 105D, Airport Extreme in bridge mode, printer, 2 Macs, 4 iPads, 2 iPhones....).

There are two possible courses of actions you may try:

1. Find if one of the network-connected devices is causing IP assignment problems that 'freak your UQ out). I'd disconnect everything from your network. Then re-set the switch with nothing connected to it. Simply plug in your NAS / US and your streamer and leave it like that for 24 hours.
If all is OK: this means another device is causing problems
If not ok: we may need to check the ISP supplied modem / router

2. If 1 fails, you could try buying an Apple router (Express or Extreme) on-line and test it at home. If you don't like what it does, you can always return it to Apple within 14 days.
I would hazard a guess that with an Apple router you should get a more stable network in general (both wireless and wired).

Adam

Hi Adam, I've set up as you suggested. All wifi (iPhones , iPads, MacBook, iMac) runs off the Airport Extreme. Wifi on router turned off.

Unfortunately - no change. The US still goes offline about once a day and usually overnight as well.

Since I've now ripped all my cds and the US still streams when offline I'm going to stop fiddling and live with it.

Richard - I'm sorry to hear that it still goes off-line. I presume you're running the latest firmware 1.7?

Just a question, which got me curious reading your response now: if it serves music, how do you know / realise it goes off line? What are the symtomps?

Adam

Yes, latest software.

Offline is indicated by the n-Serve (laptop) reporting 'offline' - top left where 'library' usually is. When this happens cds will not rip and the 'newest' section in the player list shows empty.  In the iPhone app a red bar at the top of the screen indicates offline, with similar symptoms.

However even when 'offline' the Mu-so app can see the US and I can stream from that.

Adam Zielinski posted:

Richard, Nick

One thing I have found, when designing my home network, is to use the router supplied by my ISP only for one thing - as a modem, decoding the signal.
I do not use its wireless function or it's network management. Found it too unstable.

So my network has one more 'magic' device, which just boringly works all the time - Apple Airport Extreme. It starts and 'defines' my home network, handling DHCP protocol for all devices.

I've been using a similar configuration for years now, and I've always found the Airport devices to be very well behaved. I differ in that I have always used my ISP supplied router as DHCP server, rather than letting the AE handle this. I'm not convinced that it's beyond the capability of these basic 'free' devices to allocate IP addresses correctly in a relatively simple home network.

Richard Morris posted:

Yes, latest software.

Offline is indicated by the n-Serve (laptop) reporting 'offline' - top left where 'library' usually is. When this happens cds will not rip and the 'newest' section in the player list shows empty.  In the iPhone app a red bar at the top of the screen indicates offline, with similar symptoms.

However even when 'offline' the Mu-so app can see the US and I can stream from that.

Richard - I need to think about this one.... Cannot check the settings now as my US is attending an extended spa session....

I've had 2 UServes that would go offline randomly.  When it did so, it wouldnt rip or stream.  I was not using a Mu-so.  Had to send it in for repair.

I have the same offline issue with my US. Every week or three it takes itself offline, as described by Richard and TN.

Keith

ChrisSU posted:

I agree with Adam, I've been using Apple Airport Express and Extreme devices for my network for 10 years or so, and I've found them reliable and easy to set up. I do, however, leave my ISP router as DHCP server, just disabling its WiFi and connecting Ethernet cables to the Extreme.

Me too, exactly.  No issues with my ISP's router doing dhcp duties.

Adam Zielinski posted:

Ravenswood10 posted:

I also use my Unitiserve with a certain third party linear PS. I took one look at that wall wart and put it in the box which is now in the loft I also power the HH6 with a linear PS from said supplier and very good it is too. 

Same here. Also use the same company's linear PS to power my NAS. This has a noticable improvement on the sound quality.

I too am a naughty boy and use a middle eastern linear power supply to feed my lovely, reliable (well now) Unitiserve. I am pretty sure it improved the SQ over the supplied switched mode power supply, but it was a while ago. What I am sure of however is that I would not have kept it in service unless there was a good reason. 

Adam Zielinski posted:

Richard Morris posted:

Yes, latest software.

Offline is indicated by the n-Serve (laptop) reporting 'offline' - top left where 'library' usually is. When this happens cds will not rip and the 'newest' section in the player list shows empty.  In the iPhone app a red bar at the top of the screen indicates offline, with similar symptoms.

However even when 'offline' the Mu-so app can see the US and I can stream from that.

Richard - I need to think about this one.... Cannot check the settings now as my US is attending an extended spa session....

Richard - I cannot think of anything or any parameter that may casue this behaviour. I think we may be dealing either with a nasty gremlin that is intent on tormenting you or a faulty unit.

Adam

Thanks Adam. Similar problem on the first US supplied so I think - as do Naim - that it's a network issue.

It seems that when I lose my wifi connection the US doesn't reconnect and goes offline. Not sure why that should stop ripping, but it does.

Richard,

with the new network set up and Apple router you should see some improvement in the network stability. 

Adam

Yes, the US does seem to be going offline less frequently.

I have a 'new' US from my dealer to try out, the one I used for about 6 weeks whilst mine was in for an extended session of 'no fault found'. That unit behaved whilst it was resident here. I do need to fully integrate it into the system, but that will be left to my wife as she (a) understands computers/networks and (b) possesses more patience than I do when faced with the imbecilic world of computers.

I wait to see if the unit behaves itself.

A short update on my 'self-switching-off' UnitiServe SSD.
Got a call from my fantastic dealer today. Apparently NAIM is sending a brand new unit my way. If I understood correctly a batch with faulty logo switches had similar problems.

So that will take me onto a 3rd US - 3rd time lucky? 

A strange thread this is. Everyone in the IT world reminds us with regularity that any hard drive will fail. Not if, but when. So why a thread to bash the Unitiseve when it fails as predicted ?

I've had mine nearly 6 years now, it was an early  version. Yes it's failed once, went straight back to base in Salisbury and was fixed and updated, at reasonable (imho) cost.

Paul

PBenny1066 posted:

A strange thread this is. Everyone in the IT world reminds us with regularity that any hard drive will fail. Not if, but when. So why a thread to bash the Unitiseve when it fails as predicted ?

I've had mine nearly 6 years now, it was an early  version. Yes it's failed once, went straight back to base in Salisbury and was fixed and updated, at reasonable (imho) cost.

Paul

The purpose of this thread is not to bash UnitiServe. 
On the contrary - it's our twisted way of appreciating it for what it does. I love mine and it's an integral part of my home network. Cannot wait for it to come back.

It's just a bit below Naim's extremely high standard - failing hard drives are the least of our problems here. It's the rest that is a bit annoying - no other Naim box seems to suffer so many ills.

So think of this specific thread as a support to other US users.

Well that's good news, Adam, as it saves me from having to start another UnitiServe appreciation thread. 

Yes the US is quirky, but it wouldn't be Naim if it wasn't. As for 'no other Naim box seems to suffer so many ills', two words: DVD5, nVI.

Jan

Damn!  My UnitiServe started playing up last night, although I have a feeling that other pieces on the network are at fault.  

I had just finished editing some metadata when all the albums just disappeared.  I rebooted everything a couple if times, still no luck. Checked the router and noticed that it had assigned a different IP address (which was supposed to be fixed) to the NAS.  Eventually got the IP address sorted out, still no luck,  So I checked admin rights in the NAS only to discover that guest rights were now disabled so re-enabled them, which allowed me to see my Network Shares but not the network store, which was offline and read only.  By that stage it was 2am so I set the Serve to rescan the Store in the hope that all was well in the morning.  Woke to discover that the Network Store is still 'read only' and can't be seen by the N-Serve or Naim app.  I have a feeling it is still something to do with the NAS permission settings (as I only recall seeing the shares on the NAS not the store), so will have to have another look when I get home from work.  Hopefully it's nothing serious and i'll figure it out.