USB Drive for Raspberry Pi to run Asset

My (limited) understanding of UPnP servers such as Asset is that they serve files over a network, so would need to be able to see a drive on your network (i.e. a NAS) rather than a directly attached USB drive. Otherwise we'd all be using cheap easy USB drives like this rather than messing around with big ugly Synology or QNAP boxes etc.  

But this is exactly how it does work with the Pi. The Pi is connected to the network and can read its data (music files) from a number of places - they could be on the internal SD card, on a USB-attached device or an a network device / drive.  S-in-S, for example, runs a Pi that reads its data from a NAS (I believe)

There are plenty of reasons why you might choose a NAS to do this; I actually use a Windows-PC to run my Asset and store my files. The Pi solution is for other situations: my son at Uni, my sister-in-law who would just need a smallish collection to sit and be served. Certainly in here case, I'm sure I could set it to run from a larger pen drive (32Gb would probably do).

Gavin, I am no expert but I believe you need to define the usb drive on the pi and mount it to be able to read from it, this might help

http://www.htpcguides.com/prop...torage-raspberry-pi/

I hope it helps

David 

Gavin, correct I have two Pi's currently - one running Asset and the other MinimServer - and they both mount the NAS file stores over the network using SMB. 

I could also mount a USB memory stick and stream from that over the network via a UPnP media server - but I don't .. as I wouldnt be able to share it between the two Pi's and using a common NAS makes ripping new CDs easy to appear in the new UPnP media server directories.

Simon

David - yes, that's right. I was going to follow the instructions on the Asset forum page, but the Pi doesn't get that far. With the pen-drive it recognises it in the GUI interface (in the same way as it would in Windows) but it doesn't do this with the Samsung drive, so I can't get to the point where it's recognisable to mount. The drive makes slightly odd noises as it struggles to read it. Indeed, the 'light' on my mouse dims and goes out when the Pi is trying to do this - really does sound like too much of a strain.

Simon - yes, a somewhat more complicated set-up! I could certainly try to mount my own NAS or share but ultimately that's not how I need this set-up to work. 

Trying the JRiver 30-day trial on MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, using Meridian Explorer 1/2, OSX 10.11 and 10.12.

Initial results indicate confusing setup (max volume!!!) and very sluggish interface response, indicating cross-platform port from Windows.

Overall, no significant improvement from iTunes and Bit Perfect, so doubtful if I'll proceed much further, especially for $50.....

(Was looking for a Mac upnp solution that will run on Mac power up rather than user login. Firestream was hopeful, but cannot get it to install as power on option.)

Unless I'm missing something?

KR, J

Gavin B posted:

Simon - yes, a somewhat more complicated set-up! I could certainly try to mount my own NAS or share but ultimately that's not how I need this set-up to work. 

Gavin - not much more difficult than mounting a USB memory stick on the Pi.

in my /etc/fstab file I simply add:

//192.168.1.20/music /home/pi/nas cifs guest,_netdev,sec=ntlm 0 0

I leave as guest so the media server has only read only and no write permissions to avoid upsets and all my music files appear under /home/pi/nas/ which becomes the media search directory for the UPnP media server.... 192.168.1.20/music is simply my SMB music share on my NAS

Simon

Dr J - either that's come to the wrong thread or its a very random suggestion!

Gavin B posted:

Dr J - either that's come to the wrong thread or its a very random suggestion!

Good catch, wrong thread, tilt!

KR, J

Gavin

if you are plugging the drive directly into the Pi then lack of power is probably the issue.  You need a powered USB hub.  These are cheap but make sure you get one that's designed for the Pi.

Gavin,

You neither say which version of the Pi, nor which power supply is being utilised.

It is possible to alter the configuration of the Pi to pass more power to peripherals, but it is dependent on the version.

Regards

JackRabbit

just a thought but is your drive formated for windows, and can asset pick this up?

you can pick up powered enclosures for hdds for pennies

Gavin,

If you are using Raspian, or a variant thereof, try the following -

Edit /boot/cmdline.txt and add a line max_usb_current=1

The Pi will will require a reboot following the change.

Regards

JR

Thanks folks. I'll try the cmdline change then look for either a powered hub or a powered drive.

Gary - could you point me to one?

It's a Pi 2 with just the standard power supply.