AudioPro Link1 and AudioStation

[christyrm]

I have been wanting to play music stored on my Synology on my analogue hifi system. These devices are not close together physically, and it would not be practical to make this true, so I acquired an AudioPro Link1 to bridge the gap. Prior to purchasing the AudioPro device, I contacted the makers and they said that in their office they have a Link1 that connects to their in-house Synology, playing music. I cannot (for reasons neither they nor I can figure out) 'see' my Synology via the AudioPro app. I can, however 'see' the Link1 via the Synology AudioStation app. When I select the output as the Link1 and I play music, I can see (via the AudioPro app) that the AudioPro thinks it is playing music. However, no music comes out of the speakers. To ensure I'm not a complete idiot, I have confired that I can stream radio stations via the AudioPro app and have sound come out of the speakers. Might anyone here have experience with these devices and/or have some suggestions I can try? Much appreciated.

 

[EAZ1964]

I do use (very happy with it) several audiopro devices, although not the link1.
In my case the synology can be found in the app under my music , home/music share/

Did you enable the synology mediaserver and tried to tweak some settings in dlna?
Also is your music in indexed folders on the nas?
Any settings in the firewall that prohibit the sharing?

There is a Logging possibility that may help find the issue.

 

[christyrm]

It's great news that you're using AudioPro products with your Synology. I'd be insanely grateful if you would be able to help me with this. I'm the opposite of an expert here.

Yes, mediaserver is enabled on the Synology
Which DLNA settings?
Yes, music is in an indexed folder on the nas
No firewall rules that I immediately know of that would cause an issue, but that doesn't mean there aren't.

FWIW, I have Synology connected to Kodi for my music and movies (connected to the television via a firestick and connected to this computer). So I know that external services can access/use the Synlology files

I've set the Link1 to a static IP address (it's hardwired; not wifi) and I set up the NFS permissions, using that address. (Which isn't to say that something might not be wrong there).

My Link1 doesn't see that the Synology even exists. This is the thing that confuses me. Kodi sees the Synology easily.

Any thoughts you have are most appreciated.

 

[EAZ1964]

There are a few settings that can be made in the synology media server. possibly not something spectacular. but worth a try to go through these using the help pages.
Not sure why you use NFS. SMB should be much easier to setup and less complications with permissions etc.

 

[fredbert]

[I've just gone onto their web site and read the manual. Doesn't really say how it connects other that using their app]

Audio Station is a server that is accessed by the AS web portal and DS audio apps, I'm not aware what else would access music from it. But you can select network speakers from within the portal and apps. I can see my Airplay devices and Denon speaker/amps (using DLNA UPnP).

The Denon speaker and amps can also connect to DSM's Media Server, either through the HEOS app or [amps] remote control. Other DLNA devices can access Media Server too. There's another option on the Denon devices but I don't allow SMB v1 on the NAS.

Media Server has a few settings, if the AudioPro Link1 uses DLNA/UPnP, that may prevent renderers from discovering it. But the NAS must be on the same LAN as the client devices.

If you have switches and routers then they may have IGMP snooping options that help direct and maintain. In SRM there is this in the Network Center / Local Network settings, which has this explanation.

IGMP Snooping: Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping stores communications among client devices and enhances wireless traffic.

These are my Media Server settings...

If you enabled last setting here then new devices won't automatically get access to Media Server. Also check the status for devices in Device List.

To force Media Server to makes itself known on the LAN more often I use a SSDP of 5 seconds. If you change the SSDP then this usually gets the server visible again (not recently, I have toggled between 5 and 6s to force this).

I've also setup my own DMA menu style to be how I like it.

 

[christyrm]

There are a few settings that can be made in the synology media server. possibly not something spectacular. but worth a try to go through these using the help pages.
Not sure why you use NFS. SMB should be much easier to setup and less complications with permissions etc.

Well, NFS is used by other things on my network. Also, the AudioPro guys went through the NFS settings (rather than the SMB settings) when trying to help me. That said, SMB is turned on and configured.

What are the media server settings you suggest? The help pages are less than helpful in this instance.

Audio Station is a server that is accessed by the AS web portal and DS audio apps, I'm not aware what else would access music from it. But you can select network speakers from within the portal and apps. I can see my Airplay devices and Denon speaker/amps (using DLNA UPnP).

The Denon speaker and amps can also connect to DSM's Media Server, either through the HEOS app or [amps] remote control. Other DLNA devices can access Media Server too. There's another option on the Denon devices but I don't allow SMB v1 on the NAS.

Media Server has a few settings, if the AudioPro Link1 uses DLNA/UPnP, that may prevent renderers from discovering it. But the NAS must be on the same LAN as the client devices.

If you have switches and routers then they may have IGMP snooping options that help direct and maintain. In SRM there is this in the Network Center / Local Network settings, which has this explanation.

Thanks. I've set the SSDP interval to 5.

My DMA compatibility is very similar to yours (only some different file types; the last option is NOT selected).

Yes, the Link1 is on the same LAN.

I've wondered if there's something in my router that's the challenge. I don't have UPnP enabled on my router because I was under the impression that this opens up some security risks and have just always kept it turned off. Could this be the issue?

I'm using an ASUS RT-AC86U router, running Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[EAZ1964]

The media settings have been addressed by Fredbert.
My MIME settings are default.
Sometimes it helps if you clear the full list of devices (bottom option), and let the system built the list from scratch.
Before doing that: is the audiopro listed?

UPnP on the router is best left as you state: disabled.

 

[christyrm]

Yes, the ad

The media settings have been addressed by Fredbert.
My MIME settings are default.
Sometimes it helps if you clear the full list of devices (bottom option), and let the system built the list from scratch.
Before doing that: is the audiopro listed?

UPnP on the router is best left as you state: disabled.

Yes, the audiopro is listed. I'll reset the list. There were quite a few on there that were not ticked and that were just a generic name. I've never cleared that list before so I'm not sure what those are.

 

[EAZ1964]

I am sort of out of idea's. It seems the synology part is setup as it should.
It can see the audio pro, and it is only the other direction that is not working. Let us focus on that.
Can you see the synology mediaplayer from windows and other computers?
Did you try a factory reset of the audiopro link device?

 

[fredbert]

I've wondered if there's something in my router that's the challenge. I don't have UPnP enabled on my router because I was under the impression that this opens up some security risks and have just always kept it turned off. Could this be the issue?

That’s different uses of the term ‘UPnP’. You are correct in disabling UPnP on the router because that stops the router’s security policy being configured by whatever wants to. The DLNA/UPnP for media serving/streaming works within the same LAN and doesn’t span across the router’s firewall.

 

[christyrm]

That’s different uses of the term ‘UPnP’. You are correct in disabling UPnP on the router because that stops the router’s security policy being configured by whatever wants to. The DLNA/UPnP for media serving/streaming works within the same LAN and doesn’t span across the router’s firewall.

Thank you for that clarification. I am grateful. It sounds like I've done it correctly then, yes?

I am sort of out of idea's. It seems the synology part is setup as it should.
It can see the audio pro, and it is only the other direction that is not working. Let us focus on that.
Can you see the synology mediaplayer from windows and other computers?
Did you try a factory reset of the audiopro link device?

I'm glad to know that the synology seems to be set up properly. That was my biggest concern.

I've just tried (on a Windows machine) to map to my synology to see what I can see. This is not something I know a lot about, but I tried using the SMB connection path shown in my synology. It cannot connect. I'm pretty sure this is user error, but as the user, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

The audiopro link1 has been factory reset at least half a dozen times (at the instruction of the audiopro folks) in an attempt to solve this. never has it worked.

 

[fredbert]

Thank you for that clarification. I am grateful. It sounds like I've done it correctly then, yes?

Yes.

but I tried using the SMB connection path shown in my synology. It cannot connect. I'm pretty sure this is user error, but as the user, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

I hope that the AudioPro isn't limited to using SMB v1, as my HEOS devices are [still]. From DSM 7 the default minimum SMB is set to v2. The reason to stop using SMB v1 is that it is old, vulnerable, and has been actively used as a malware attack vector.

You can see the SMB configuration in Control Panel / File Services / SMB --> Advanced Settings. To test if the AudioPro needs v1 you can drop the minimum level and see if it can then connect. But I wouldn't leave it at v1 after the test.

 

[EAZ1964]

Can you ping the synology from the windows pc?

 

[christyrm]

Yes.


I hope that the AudioPro isn't limited to using SMB v1, as my HEOS devices are [still]. From DSM 7 the default minimum SMB is set to v2. The reason to stop using SMB v1 is that it is old, vulnerable, and has been actively used as a malware attack vector.

You can see the SMB configuration in Control Panel / File Services / SMB --> Advanced Settings. To test if the AudioPro needs v1 you can drop the minimum level and see if it can then connect. But I wouldn't leave it at v1 after the test.

It had been set to v1 all along until I saw you mention something about vulnerability in that version earlier in this discussion. So yesterday, I changed it to the second (v2) option in the DDL and rebooted the Synology. It could not see the synology before, and it can't see it now either.

Can you ping the synology from the windows pc?

I'll just raise my hand and say I don't know how to do that. So I used The Google. Using the terminal window on this windows machine, I put in ping <the_synology_ip_address> (the pointy brackets were not in the ping; I'm just using those to contain the words I wrote in lieu of the actual ip. It was more like: ping 192.168.xx.xxx). If that is correct, the answer is no, I cannot ping the synology from the windows machine. And I just double-checked; they are on the same LAN.

 

[fredbert]

Have you enabled the NAS's firewall and are you blocking/denying access to some things, specifically from LAN IPs.

 

[christyrm]

Have you enabled the NAS's firewall and are you blocking/denying access to some things, specifically from LAN IPs.

Yes, the firewall is on. Here's a screenshot of the rules:

 

[fredbert]

Can you temporarily disable the firewall to see if the last rule is blocking access. I can’t see but it looks like you haven’t got a rule to allow file sharing access.

 

[christyrm]

Can you temporarily disable the firewall to see if the last rule is blocking access. I can’t see but it looks like you haven’t got a rule to allow file sharing access.

@fredbert for the win! I could have sworn that the media files were in the allowed category. Clearly I was mistaken. I love learning about this technology and I'm learning more every day. But I admit that it's crazy-making when it is literally one little tick box that is preventing all the things.

Thank you so much @EAZ1964 and @fredbert for your help! You're the best!

 

[fredbert]

Great!

You can now add more firewall rules for the packages you need, you can set the source to be just the LAN subnet (or IP address) if you don't want every device to have access. Though many services will also require login to gain access to resources, and your Internet router's firewall won't be allowing access to the services unless you had a port forwarding rule for it.

 

[EAZ1964]

Good to hear the progress. Success!