Albums on NAS not visible

[Whipstall]

I recently ripped a series of new CDs I had bought using dBpoweramp cd ripper. I then did a rebuild of the database (I have Netgear readyNas NV+ and am using Twonkymedia version 4.4.5), since I often have problems with newly ripped CDs being visible after they've been ripped. With one of the CDs, the album and artist are still invisible but I can find it and play it if I search by folder. With another one, it turned out I already owned it (and had ripped it a couple of years ago) but it is entirely invisible on the system - including looking through the folders - using Kinsky. This is going to prove expensive if I keep on buying music I already own but don't know I've got because my system can't find it!!

If I use Windows Vista to explore the NAS all files and directories are visible. dBpoweramp is correctly identifiying the album and metadata and the rips are being reported as secure. For some reason Twonky is not identifying certain directories, files or data, but I don't understand why.

Any ideas much appreciated.

[rowlandhills]

I'd strongly recommend upgrading from Twonky 4.4.5 to 6.0.38. It's faster, resolves, several problems with missing album art, incorrect date handling etc. but crucially, it resolves an issue where Twonky can actually fill up the operating partition of the ReadyNAS with cached images and cause to to crash, potentially leading to data loss.

I think that your Twonky 4 key will be valid on a T6 installation, but I'm not 100% sure as I can't remember whether I had to pay a minor upgrade fee or not.

I would also recommend installing Briain's custom trees, which offer much more intuitive and effective browsing than the standard Twonky trees.

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The version of the Twonky add-on which you want is this one:

http://www.readynas.com/contributed/supe...6.0.38.bin

The latest version of Briain's trees can be found here (same ones are used on QNap as on ReadyNAS, just map a drive to the new TwonkyMedia share and copy the new trees into the views folder, then restart your NAS):

http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=10532

[Whipstall]

Many thanks for that, I'll give the upgrade a go.

[Briain]

Hi

Sorry to be alarmist, but Twonky 4 is not a great thing to have installed on a ReadyNAS. The reason for this is that the way it is installed, it saves the log files, database and its image cache on the disk partition that's used by the operating system (OS). That partition is 1900 MB and the OS takes about 550 MB, so in theory, there's quite a lot of free space. In the past, quite a few ReadyNAS units have had issues where Twonky 4 has filled all the free space on that partition and the NAS becomes slow, then it eventually becomes inaccessible, then it becomes unable to boot up (as the space runs out). It's often assumed that this is image files (Twonky caches an image for each album browsed, then each track played, so the cache can get quite large) but I suspect that something else can go a little crazy and take up a load of space (it's happened to folks who don't have that many albums on their NAS).

The first thing I always say to folks with Twonky 4 on a ReadyNAS is to open the Twonky config and note down your licence key, then remove Twonky 4. If you have a backup, this is not so urgent as you can always reset the NAS should Twonky go wonky (and restore it from your backup).

Once removed, you can then install Twonky 6.0.34 as designed by 'Super-Poussin' and posted on the ReadyNAS forum here. This will run for up to 30 days (trial period) without needing a key entered, so that gives you time to go into the Twonky web site and enter your old key to get discount on a new one (I think it's under £10, but I've not looked for ages).

I communicated with Super-Poussin quite a lot whilst he was building these Twonky packages, and the result is that he moved the bulk of the Twonky package onto the main disk partition (including the database, log files and are cache folder). I asked him to configure the package to automatically create a visible new share on the NAS, and into that share he created an accessible folder called 'views'. This means you can drag and drop custom menu packages called 'trees' into that folder and thus get round the fixed menu structure supplied in current Twonky versions. The standard Twonky menu might be fine you if you don't have a massive amount of albums, but I've written 4 alternative menu packs to suit most folks requirements. These can be changed at any time (and a Twonky database picks up the new menu structures).

Sorry to be a little scary, but if you've no backup and are using Twonky 4, it might work for years, but there is a potential time bomb of a problem with it and thus I'd advise you to back the NAS up immediately, or remove it as soon as possible (just in case your NAS becomes inaccessible).

Bri

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I think we were both replying at the same time

Remember to note the key and remove Twonky 4 before installing Twonky 6. Also, use Rollandhills link to 6.0.38 (I wasn't aware SP had made that newer version).

Bri

[Briain]

PS Once you have it installed and running, this information will show you how to set it to display high quality album art images on your controller (Kinsky Desktop etc). If you use Songbook or Chorus (iPhone/iPad) or Bubble DS (Android) then you can ignore the instructions at that link; these set Twonky 6 automatically (you only need do it for devices running Kinsky).

[rowlandhills]

Briain - Any chance that you could edit the placeholder post from you on the first page of the QNAP thread which was supposed to hold ReadyNAS installation info? I know that you want to do screenshots etc. but just putting the links in there from this post would be handy.

[Whipstall]

(2012-06-19 12:43)Briain Wrote:  PS Once you have it installed and running, this information will show you how to set it to display high quality album art images on your controller (Kinsky Desktop etc). If you use Songbook or Chorus (iPhone/iPad) or Bubble DS (Android) then you can ignore the instructions at that link; these set Twonky 6 automatically (you only need do it for devices running Kinsky).

Many thanks for your help Briain and Rowlandhills.

I've deleted 4.4.5 but am struggling to install a later version. I don't think my system can cope with later than 6.0.34, because the most recent Radiator software for the NV+ is only 4.1.8 and the later versions of Twonky require 4.2.1+, but I clicked on the 6.0.34 link and it has downloaded a .bin file to my computer.

Do either of you have a link to an explanation of how to upload this to my NAS? Sorry to be such a pain.

[rowlandhills]

Sure, once you've got the .bin file for Twonky downloaded to your PC, go into Frontview and the click System > Update > Local and choose the .bin file you've downloaded. Frontview will recognise it and ask you to confirm that you want to install Twonky.

[sofa]

Could MinimServer be installed on a Ready NAS too? I installed it on my QNAP a few days ago and since that I'm not using Twonky any more.

[rowlandhills]

(2012-06-19 15:14)sofa Wrote:  Could MinimServer be installed on a Ready NAS too? I installed it on my QNAP a few days ago and since that I'm not using Twonky any more.

Unfortunately not on a ReadyNAS NV, NV+ or Duo, as they use SPARC processors. I think it might be possible on an NVX, which I think uses an Intel processor, but I'm not sure and it would need work by someone else like SuperPoussin who produced the Twonky add-in.