Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming QNAP software

Try getting in touch with a dealer they may help you with a few caveats.

Hi Tom, I've PMed you with some contact details.

Regards,
Carl

I have sent you a PM, having checked my archives, that you should find helpful.

Hi all,

Looks like the forum is back (I tried earlier today as it was "updating").

I've got an issue with my rebuilt QNAP TS-251.

Having put my old HDDs into the new chassis (and taking the liberty of acquiring some extra RAM at the same time), I've got an issue with the QNAP box being "seen" by the Sooloos Control:Ten.

So, the first thing I did was to upgrade the QNAP firmware to the version I was running before - which is 4.3.6.0895 (was 4.2.0)

I've gone through the extensive "tweaks" to set up the "folder share" and to set the privileges for "everyone" to READ/WRITE for the "Sooloos" share.

And then I've manually installed the Sooloos v2.467 QPKG on the NAS.

But I can't get the Control:Ten to "see" the QNAP - even though both happily exist on my network... looking at "Devices" on the C10 just shows itself and nothing else.

I'm also sure that in the past when clicking on the big M icon, on the App screen of the QNAP, it actually opened up a Sooloos browser page...but all I get is:


So, anyone else using this QNAP firmware and what extra steps did you have to go through to get it working.

PS: I did also note that there is now a Roon App for the QNAP...so, if this blooming thing can't work, then I may just give up Sooloos....

Regards
Tom

Looking at the Installation Guide, there are a lot of little things that could be missed. When I installed mine, there was a video on Meridian's website that I found useful. In any case here are some things to check. Is your network cable connected to ethernet port 1 on the QNAP? Did you change the Web Server to port 81 on the QNAP? Did you go into the Meridian Sooloos Configuration app on your PC and enable System Core and Storage? Those are just a few things to check, but I would go through the Installation Guide again and check your setup. I'm running Ver. 4.3.4.0644 on my QNAP.

Charlie

I had to downgrade my QNAP to 4.3.4.0675, quite some while ago now, to get it to work on Sooloos. Since then it has run without difficulty. Obviously, disable auto update for the QNAP firmware. All the latest (non Meridian) apps on the QNAP don't seem to mind the older firmware. And if you are anxious about nasties from the internet with the older firmware just get a Bitdefender Box to safeguard your network (including, Bitdefender claim, your IoT devices).

I forgot to add that if you have difficulty finding the firmware I may be able to help you.

Hi Charlie

Thanks for the reply and helpful tips.

So, in answer to your suggestions:

1) Yup - Eth port #1 is being used :-) And I can "ping" the C10 at it's IP address and it responds back so I know the network connection is good (and using the touchscreen, it confirmed it has a link to the internet).

2) The QNAP is using port 8080 for the web server. On my dead TS-251 I don't recall ever changing the web port to 81 !! And when I restored my settings from my last backup (prior to me accidentally killing my original 251) so, most other settings have transferred across...though I'm thinking there's a permission or two that might not have been set...I've re-set the Web server port to 81 but it's made no differece as the C10 is not showing it on the "Devices" screen.

3) I've tried the Meridian Sooloos Configuration app (v34) and it doesn't work...I've unticked and re-ticked and rebooted my (Win 7 Pro) PC to re-enable .NET Framework 3.5.1 (which this software uses) and all I get is a white box and nothing inside...excepting a "Devices on network (select a device to change properties)" on the program header. Seems like a pretty usless piece of software that it cannot scan a network and show live devices...(as a network engineer, whatever this software is doing is not "by the book" in terms of "snooping" the network and getting the IP addresses of their (or anyone elses) hardware. Ditto trying to FTP into the C10 leads to a "ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server".

4) Re QNAP firmware. I upgrade to the earliest version of 4.3.x firmware on the QNAP website, which is 4.3.6.0895 - this was done on purpose in order to ensure that the Sooloos plugin for QNAP would work. There are no earlier 4.3.x versions there and I only upgraded to 4.3 as Plex won't run on the 4.2 firmware.

I've read through the Install Guide and the one issue I have is with setting up a "guest" account on the QNAP...as the QNAP doesn't allow just 5 "letters" as a username for a "guest" user. However I have set up a folder share with R/W privileges to "everyone". (This worked on the old 251 and so it should be OK on this new firmware...).

What's crazy (to my mind) is that the C10 is just a simple motherboard with a CPU/RAM/Network port and a CD drive - and the Sooloos software used to run it, and you can't even use a browser to get to an admin page direct on the hardware - even the lowliest of cheap routers allow this.

regards
Tom

Hi

Thanks for the reply.

Yup - auto-update was one of the first settings to check (once I'd restored my backup of settings from the dead QNAP - but backed up before it died).

I have a couple of copies of the 4.2 firmware but I never got around to getting any 4.3 versions as I had no need to upgrade the firmware as it was working. And QNAP do not list any versions of the firmware prior to 4.3.6.0895 that I downloaded (to perform the update).

If you have an older than "x.6.0895" version, (such as x.4.0675) somewhere I'd like to give it a shot....so thanks for the offer. :-)

Nasties from the 'Net" don't scare me...having worked on IP networks (mainly Cisco) for enough years, I have quite a few tools/items of hardware at my disposal to fend off such "attacks".

regards
Tom

Hi

I've had a moment of inspiration...

I took a look in the QNAP Dashboard and the Sooloos QPKG appears to be taking up 0 Mb of memory...whereas other apps, such as Plex etc are all taking up at least some memory (obv depending on the app).

So, I'm wondering if the QNAP plugin undertakes "version checking" when it is being installed and hence if the firmware I have (4.3.6.0895) is a newer version than what the plugin will "accept"?

Of course, if that is the case, 1) it explains why my C10 cannot see the QNAP and 2) it's not good that the plugin does not give a warning that it isn't installed or cannot be installed.


I will have to see if I can log into the QNAP base code and interrogate the filesystem to see if the Sooloos app is actually present, or if there are any QNAP system logs that show if an installation has been successful or has failed.

If anyone has an different version QNAP plugin to hand (< or > 2.467), or an older firmware revision, pls get in touch...and I can experiment as to what works and what doesn't. :-)

regards
Tom

The reason I mentioned the Port 81 for the web server is that you indicated that you couldn't run the web interface. I can click on the Meridian icon on the QNAP and it brings it up. Looking at the Resource Monitor on the QNAP, I'm showing around 600MB of memory being used for the Sooloos processes and about 1% CPU usage when Sooloos is not being used. The Meridian config app should show all your Sooloos devices. You may have other issues than just with the QNAP.

Charlie

Tom, I am sending you a PM.

Hi Charlie

Thanks for the advice.

I can "see" the QNAP admin pages without any issues...whether it is on port 8080 (as it was) or now on port 81.

OK - so the Sooloos system does not use HTTP/HTTPS protocol to access the QNAP via port 81. So, it must use another port... time to get my "port sniffer" software into operation and see what the C10 is trying to access on the QNAP.

Interesting - the Sooloos QPKG I have is about 29Mb (prior to expansion/installation). One assumes it must "expand" to something bigger than that, though if it is acting as a "Core" it's internal database would expand depending on the Sooloos system in use.

Of course it could be that the QPKG I have is actually corrupt and/or not complete... and that would explain a lot. Do you have a copy of the QPKG you are using saved somewhere on a PC so you can advise me how big the file is?

Clicking on the M icon only brings up the error as mentioned above... so the Sooloos plugin could be the big issue?

Regards
Tom