Netgear ReadyNAS

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Ok, so I have everything else in my new set up more less sorted (other than the hours ahead of ripping ablums losslesly) and now Im considering a NAS to prevent the laptop having a lifespan of months rather than 3 or 4 years!

Amazon are doing a pretty good deal on the Netgear ReadyNAS but obviously it wont come preinstalled with the likes of squeezecenter or iTunes. So my question is: how easy is it to install and set up the likes of squeezecenter so that it can operate on the NAS without having the laptop on?

From what I gather iTunes isnt really the problem as long as you install it onto one of the NASs harddrives and direct it to music stored on one of the NASs harddrives.

Help on this would be great. I was interested in the Buffalo Linkstation but when you can get something a little more substantial like the ReadyNAS with a free harddrive for not that much more then it would probably suit better.
 

John Duncan

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To answer this question I think you need to think about what you're going to do with it eventually.

A NAS is only really any help for taking the laptop out of the equation if the *client* you will use can access a music server running on that NAS. To cut a long story short, basically 'iTunes server' on a NAS is no such thing. All it does is expose a shared library which can then be run by another PC or Mac running iTunes - which *may* be able to be used by apple TV, but certainly can't be used by airport express. If that's the case, you need a laptop or desktop running anyway, so don't really need a 'NAS' as you're thinking of it, you only need storage (which can be cabled or wireless).

If you're going down the Squeezebox route, then that's a different matter, but from what I've read I would absolutely want Squeezecentre preloaded on my NAS, and that's even with my signature.

If you're thinking of something else, like PS3, you might have better luck at installing something like Twonky yourself, though I'm not the man to advise.
 
A

Anonymous

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By chance I caught one of the Amazon comments on the ReadyNAS and there is seemingly software included to allow full integration of Squeezecenter and iTunes without a PC/Laptop on.

Looking at Netgears website this certainly seems the case and from reading Logitech's wiki it doesnt seem to be a hassle - just upgrading software/firmware. Im not naive enough to think it would be that easy though!

Not sure how accurate the above is though to be honest.
 

NigelF

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I am using ReadyNAS duo since from last two years and everything come pre-installed (Squeezecenter, Itunes Server, DLNA, UPNP etc) however not configured meaning you need to copy all your music, movies and pictures need on readynas disk then in the squeezecenter configuration point to Music directory on NAS that's it your squeezebox should pickup the squeezecenter on readynas. Same goes with DLNA/UPNP if you have PS3 or newer DLNA compliant TVs they will pick the video from your readynas.

It's an excellent piece of equipment it has 2 USB ports which can be used to share a printer in the home or add a USB disk to share across all computers.
 
A

Anonymous

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Thanks for the input. Im having a bit of a nightmare getting performance out of it though. Decided to can the wireless route just now (Im using iPeng and have no squeezemote) and finally got good response times (normally) from the music stored on the NAS and other services like Napster. Still got a few hiccups that Im expecting to iron out gradually (goes out of sync often) but encouraging start.

iTunes on the other hand is looking very very slow. Ive read elsewhere that turning off the DLNA and a few other tweeks will improve performance. Going through the process just now. Before turning off DLNA it would only play about 2 seconds of music before a 7 or 8 second pause then repeating. Hopefully I can sort this out but in any case a few people have had nightmare sync times with their iPhone.

Fingers crossed it can work as when it does with Squeezebox it is a brilliant piece of kit.
 
A

Anonymous

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I use a readynas duo to store flac files for my sonos, for this purpose it works like a dream.

Having said that if I were in the market to buy a new nas I'm not sure I would go for the readynas again.

If you want to use any of the features such as remote back up, print server etc then the user interface is stupidly complicated. If you ask for help on the forum then the responses are pretty sparse and those that arrive are in geek speak. The phone support team struggle to resolve any problems that you might have.

All in all it feels like a product that is not really ready for the consumer market yet.
 
A

Anonymous

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Thanks for the heads up.

Im still finding things to be a bit up and down with the Squeezebox. iTunes appears to work fine. It will play music in under a second and generally works really well and as I had hoped/intended.

With the Squeezebox it ocassionaly responds instantly but last night it would take at least half a minute to change songs and volume and trying to access Napster was simply not happening. Not sure how to get the performance levels up on this. The REadynas isnt really set up for much. I have turned off the bit torrent function and only really have the iTunes server (for use with another laptop) and the squeezebox settings on that I know off. Quite frustrating but Im sure I'll luck my way to success as with everything else so far!
 

mattjax05

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JOn35y - when you purchased the ReadyNAS did it come pre-installed with the Squeezebox Server (formerly SqueezeCenter) and if so do you know ehich version and what ReadyNAS did you get.

I'm in the market for a ReadyNAS.......IF......it has the SB Server pre-installed. On amazon the Netgear ReadyNAS Duo RND2000 is £139 with a free 500GB disk!
 
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Anonymous

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Thats pretty much the deal that I got - only from Misco.

It does have SBS pre installed though I think it is still referred to as SC. Because I am using iPeng and dont have a proper remote I did have a little mucking about to do with updating the installation on the ReadyNas to recognise the Squeezebox but it wasnt difficult and there are lots of forums and guides to help you out.

What takes a while is getting your library recognised and I still havent sorted a way to get album artwork sorted within my iTunes folders so taht it is picked up by SBS.

It can be a little sluggish at times to access but Napster is almost always instantaneous whenever I use it so I tend to begin sessions with a Napster selection before queing up a playlist of songs of my choice.
 

mattjax05

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J0n35y:

Thats pretty much the deal that I got - only from Misco.

It does have SBS pre installed though I think it is still referred to as SC. Because I am using iPeng and dont have a proper remote I did have a little mucking about to do with updating the installation on the ReadyNas to recognise the Squeezebox but it wasnt difficult and there are lots of forums and guides to help you out.

What takes a while is getting your library recognised and I still havent sorted a way to get album artwork sorted within my iTunes folders so taht it is picked up by SBS.

It can be a little sluggish at times to access but Napster is almost always instantaneous whenever I use it so I tend to begin sessions with a Napster selection before queing up a playlist of songs of my choice.

That's great, I took the plunge a couple days ago and ordered it. I use iPeng too. What installation updates did you do? Did you update the SB Server to the latest version? I presume one of them was to assign it the correct IP address (but was that done from your router?) I'm hoping to have a stab and getting it going but if you think of anything which may aid me please let me know. BTW I won't be using iTunes (just the SB Server) Oh, finally, did you get the free 500gb disk if so how long did it take to arrive?

Matt
 
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Anonymous

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Got a rotten memory but I'll go through my process.

Before I had even got the ReadyNas I was struggling to get my SB to work wirelessly so plumped with a wired connection (still the case) and everything ran very smoothly.

When the ReadyNas arrived it did take some time getting my head around things but then I realised I would have to change the ip address that the SB looks for (using the udap .exe program) to the one attached to the ReadyNas. Common sense I know but Im a novice. I may have had to change a couple of other settings but not much from memory.

The SB updates itself (as you will know) but as for the ReadyNas Im sure they ship out with an older version but it the update that needs applied is 7.4 compliant (I think thats the most recent version). I got very good instructions from the Logitech forum and the update basically involves downloading 4 small files, removing the SB software from the ReadyNas using its own web tool interface and then applying the new software thats been downloaded. It really is pretty harmless.

But, a word of warning, it can and probably will take hours for SBS to sift through your music library and to organise things for the SB to work and for iPeng to pick things up. I am going through the process of upgrading my msuic to lossless so it will take even longer when completed but once done things genuinely run ok. Like I say, it can be slow but Im not entirely sure if this is the fault of iPeng, the hardware of the ReadyNas or the software the ReadyNas uses in communicating with SBS as its essentially managing an online playlist/music manager. I suspect a combination of the hardware and software with future upgrades likely to speed things up. Napster is genuinely brilliant to use via the system though, no noticeable lag at all.

Other tips, if you are a Vista user and if large files are not copying over properly and you keep getting an error message turn off the DLNA service (I think thats right?) as for some reason it has been known to cause issues with Vista. Also, turn on Jumbo frames (again, I think thats what its called!) as I noticed things speeding up a bit. And I think there is also some experimental SB related search engine that you can turn on - this increased performance for me too.

Kind of ended up rambling there! In short, manual update of SBs IP to the IP that the ReadyNas uses, update/reinstall the ReadyNas related SB software and it should (fingers crossd) recognise everything and will only require a music search of the library which will take some time.

Phew!
 
A

Anonymous

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Oh, and not got free hard drive yet. My old man ordered it through his work and it took a couple of weeks for him to get the invoice copy for me. The application was sent out on MOnday so hopefully I will get something back before the end of the year.
 

mattjax05

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Thanks for your replies. It's been delivered so will play with it tonight. I won't have a hard drive yet so will have to direct it to the music on my pc - but my aim tonight is to get my SB/iPeng/Server on NAS working together. Will let you know how I get on.
 

visionary

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mattjax05:
Thanks for your replies. It's been delivered so will play with it tonight. I won't have a hard drive yet so will have to direct it to the music on my pc - but my aim tonight is to get my SB/iPeng/Server on NAS working together. Will let you know how I get on.

Hi mattjax, how did you get on in the end? I've just got a readyNAS and the manual is about as comprehensible to me as Sankrit.

Anyone know if there's an "idiots guide to readyNAS" out there?
 

visionary

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Thanks

well, for starters, every time I try to copy files across from my PC Music folder I get "the specified address is no longer available" after, usually, only one file has copied.

Also, naively perhaps, I assumed that the NAS would appear as a network drive on my PC. Do I have to "map" it to achieve that?
 

visionary

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nads:
what operating system?

and can you see the shares folder? (as mine needed a re install before it would work correctly.

XP Pro and yes, I can see the shares folder inside the ReadyNAS in "My Network Places"
 

mattjax05

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visionary:

Thanks

well, for starters, every time I try to copy files across from my PC Music folder I get "the specified address is no longer available" after, usually, only one file has copied.

Also, naively perhaps, I assumed that the NAS would appear as a network drive on my PC. Do I have to "map" it to achieve that?

Sorry just read this,

It should appear on the network as a drive, I use Windows Vista - did you install the RAIDar software?
 

visionary

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yeah I did install Raidar

Just found a post on another forum about the "no longer available" issue and they suggest it is to do with either Auto clock update or Auto scan features on the NAS. Wil try disabling them tonight and see if that helps
 

mattjax05

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visionary:

yeah I did install Raidar

Just found a post on another forum about the "no longer available" issue and they suggest it is to do with either Auto clock update or Auto scan features on the NAS. Wil try disabling them tonight and see if that helps

My auto clock is on however not sure about auto scan - good luck let us know.
 

mattjax05

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visionary:

yeah I did install Raidar

Just found a post on another forum about the "no longer available" issue and they suggest it is to do with either Auto clock update or Auto scan features on the NAS. Wil try disabling them tonight and see if that helps

Right, just had a look on the net and the 'auto scan' refers to NetgearDLNA. Do you use a network player that is DLNA compliant? If not just disable NetgearDLNA completely. My Squeezebox Receiver is not DLNA compliant so I don't have NetgearDLNA activated. Also, it is best to disable anything you don't use on the NAS to maximise performance.

Matt
 

visionary

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OK, some time later

Delay because I was waiting for my free second drive from Netgear which has now come.

Disabled DNLA autoscan and clock update.

Now working perfectly, thanks for all your help
 

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