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[bluedoor]

To put in context:

- using MC20 in a macbook pro / Yosemite machine.
- files are stored in a Synology NAS (wired gigabit connection)
- followed all the procedures to setup and kept the "recommended" settings in buffering
- can't get one music to play until the end without stoping randomly and buffering, this occurs with all formats/bitrate.
- excluded a network problem, because I've tried a server (sOtm SMS-100) and with it in the middle there's no buffering whatsoever.

Appreciate any feedback.
Thanks.

[JimH]

Have you tried the latest build?  It's 20.0.40:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=93558.0

[bluedoor]

Have you tried the latest build?  It's 20.0.40:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=93558.0

I've searched for updates within the program and got the "your version is up to date" message, is this another release?

[mstan]

I've searched for updates within the program and got the "your version is up to date" message, is this another release?

Help-->Update Channels-->latest release

Give it a minute or so to download - watch the action window in lower left corner.

[bluedoor]

Ok, will confirm later at home what's the version i'm using and report back.

Also wanted to report another bug related to the buttons "previous" and "next song" that sometimes becomes unresponsive.
Solution is restart MC.

[bluedoor]

Was on 20.0.14, now on 20.0.40.

Unfortunately the problem persists.
Keeps stoping randomly in the middle of a track - "buffering...", which makes the program almost unusable. 

Appreciate any help to fix this.
Thank you.

[mstan]

Was on 20.0.14, now on 20.0.40.

Unfortunately the problem persists.
Keeps stoping randomly in the middle of a track - "buffering...", which makes the program almost unusable. 

Appreciate any help to fix this.
Thank you.

Don't rule out networking as a cause.  Better check your NAS settings.   Try a locally attached drive with your media and see what happens.

[bluedoor]

No buffering when reading from the local SSD.
I ruled out network problems because i ran a sOtm SMS-100 (with the library in the same location - NAS in another room) without any stuttering.
What's strange is it occurs only using JRiver engine when reading the files via (wired) network.
The NAS is a Synology DS411Slim. Do you guys know if there are any action i could take in the NAS settings to improve?

[mstan]

No buffering when reading from the local SSD.
I ruled out network problems because i ran a sOtm SMS-100 (with the library in the same location - NAS in another room) without any stuttering.
What's strange is it occurs only using JRiver engine when reading the files via (wired) network.
The NAS is a Synology DS411Slim. Do you guys know if there are any action i could take in the NAS settings to improve?

What network protocol are you running?  SMB, AFP?   Try enabling just one, say, SMB.   

[bluedoor]

I'm using smb, but I think the other protocols are not disabled in the NAS.
I've read countless threads over the web to see if I can understand and fix the problem until posting here.

[bluedoor]

Have you tried the latest build?  It's 20.0.40:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=93558.0

Hi Jim,
I have a Windows Computer at home but the trial period has expired, any chance of renewing it for testing purposes (to rule out all the possibilities)?
Thank you.

[mstan]

I'm using smb, but I think the other protocols are not disabled in the NAS.
I've read countless threads over the web to see if I can understand and fix the problem until posting here.

So try disabling the others.  Also try using AFP instead of SMB.

[JimH]

I have a Windows Computer at home but the trial period has expired, any chance of renewing it for testing purposes (to rule out all the possibilities)?

We have no way to do that.

[mstan]

Look for errors in the Synology log (I assume they have one).

[mstan]

Another thought:

What are the specs of that Synology NAS?  Is that the one with 2.5" drives (5400 rpm)?  500 MB ram?  CPU?  And it uses the ext file system, right?   
Well, I was using a shared drive under Snow Leopard to MC20 on Win7 formatted with ext and was seeing a bit of buffering as well as a few drive I/O errors.    I just reformatted it to HFS+ and no buffering or other errors whatsoever.    I suspect that ext file systems combined with less than robust hardware on your NAS may be your problem.   

[bluedoor]

Another thought:

What are the specs of that Synology NAS?  Is that the one with 2.5" drives (5400 rpm)?  500 MB ram?  CPU?  And it uses the ext file system, right?   
Well, I was using a shared drive under Snow Leopard to MC20 on Win7 formatted with ext and was seeing a bit of buffering as well as a few drive I/O errors.    I just reformatted it to HFS+ and no buffering or other errors whatsoever.    I suspect that ext file systems combined with less than robust hardware on your NAS may be your problem.   

Yes, it has 2.5" drives (4 x 1 TB), file systems are ‧EXT4‧EXT3‧FAT (External Disk, Read/Write) ‧NTFS (External Disk, Read/Write)
MARVELL Kirkwood 88F6282 - 1.6 GHz - 256 MB
Probably not the most advanced one, but nevertheless i keep wondering why is that with the sOtm server there are no stopping or buffering.
If it were network/nas related the problem should occur the same way, don't you think?

[mstan]

If it were network/nas related the problem should occur the same way, don't you think?

No, I don't think so unless they are identical.   What are the specs of the other server that works?  That Synology NAS looks very weak.  You would be better off just creating a share from a desktop PC or use that other server that works.   

[mstan]

Yes, it has 2.5" drives (4 x 1 TB), file systems are ‧EXT4‧EXT3‧FAT (External Disk, Read/Write) ‧NTFS (External Disk, Read/Write)

But which one are you using?

[bluedoor]

But which one are you using?

synology hydrid raid - file system is ext4


(off topic, which nas do you recommend that would be more powerful to act as music server?)

[JimH]

synology hydrid raid - file system is ext4


(off topic, which nas do you recommend that would be more powerful to act as music server?)

Why not just use a local drive?  There is no advantage to a NAS.

[bluedoor]

Why not just use a local drive?  There is no advantage to a NAS.

Really?

[JimH]

Not for a typical music computer.

Did someone tell you it would sound better?

[mstan]

synology hydrid raid - file system is ext4


(off topic, which nas do you recommend that would be more powerful to act as music server?)

I am no expert in NAS' so can't really recommend anything.   I don't have one myself; I just share media files from a remote computer so I don't have any spinning (noisy) hard drives in my listening room.

[BartMan01]

FWIW - all of my media (audio and video) is on a Synology 1812+ with SHR (dual disk redundancy) and have no buffering issues with MC20.  I have done nothing 'special' to the NAS, it is just running in default mode, but I have both SMB and AFP enabled and I am pretty sure my Mac is using AFP to access the device (not SMB).

[bluedoor]

Why not just use a local drive?  There is no advantage to a NAS.

I think there are a few advantages like the fact that if you have a larger library you can store it all in one place and not randomly in external discs; accessing it in every place where you have an internet connection, etc, etc...) just to name a few.

What about an hint or some insight on how to solve my problem?

[mstan]

Please clarify your setup.   Are you running the NAS directly into your MBP via ethernet and experiencing buffering when playing music on the MBP?
Have you checked any error logs on either the NAS or OS X?   If you have a clone of Mavericks or earlier Mac OS try booting into it and see if the issue is affected.

[bluedoor]

Please clarify your setup.   Are you running the NAS directly into your MBP via ethernet and experiencing buffering when playing music on the MBP?
Have you checked any error logs on either the NAS or OS X?   If you have a clone of Mavericks or earlier Mac OS try booting into it and see if the issue is affected.

Setup is a MacBook pro 8 GB 512 GB SSD on Yosemite latest build, which is connected to the main router (TP-LINK Archer C5).
NAS is in my office also wired to the network. All gigabyte connections.
No clone of Mavericks or any other OS...FWIW with Mavericks the same thing occurs, so...
I don't think its OS related (my case), but I've seen people reports of dropouts under Yosemite (http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/official-os-x-yosemite-thread-22030/index9.html)

[mstan]

Did you check your logs on the NAS and Yosemite?

[mstan]

Grabbing at straws here: Try disabling AFP and just run SMB in Yosemite; then vice versa.   I read that Sinology has a problem with permissions using AFP.

[BartMan01]

My setup is as follows:

Mac(Hackintosh) running Yosemite. 
Synology 1812+ with all of my audio files on it running the latest version of DSM and using SHR.
Everything connect with Gigabit Ethernet.
From a high level, identical setup just with different hardware.

I am having no problems playing audio files.

I have both SMB and AFP enabled.

I turned on SMB logging on my Synology (it is off by default) to confirm how files were getting accessed and found the following:

My 'normal' method of using MC is to use it as a client to my master library on my main HTPC (Windows 7 box).  When playing files as a client to that machine, I am using SMB to access the files from the NAS and they play back fine.

I switched to the local library, imported some files, and played them.  They played back fine, with the only difference being the system was using AFP to access the files this time (assumed since there is no AFP log but the SMB access log showed no activity and I see an AFP connection in the connection logs on the Synology from when I connected to import the files to the library).

All I can say is that with a similar setup, I am seeing no issues.  I really don't think this is an MC problem.

As mstan has suggested, dig in to your log files to see if there is anything hinting at a problem there.  Turn on SMB logging if it is off on the NAS as well until you are done troubleshooting. 

I have had several random network issues over the last few years that ultimately were tracked down to a network switch going bad (twice with two different brands).  I've spent my entire time on both Mavericks and at first with Yosemite thinking that VMWare Fusion was a broken product because it kept losing the network connection while everything else was fine.  When I switched to Yosemite, things got even worse.  After replacing first the network cables and then the entire switch, VMWare Fusion has been running fine ever since.

Try hooking up the computer to the same switch as the NAS and see if that makes a difference.  Try wireless vs. wired networking from the laptop and see if that changes things.  Try swapping our your switch with another one and see if that helps.

[mstan]

Agree, not an MC problem.   Most likely a networking issue; virtually all of the problems I have had with MC were ultimately networking issues - software in my case.