Trouble with iTunes shared servers on NAS drives

Marco Sausele wrote:

Same Problem here with iTunes 10.5.1 and

LaCie Network Space 2 (Capsule 2.1.2) · 17. November 2011

On my LaCie Network Space 2 (running 1.2.9 - I rooted mine and haven't upgraded because I thought they'd close the security hole) I have DLNA (mt-daapd) serving to clients running iTunes 10.5.1 but not 10.5.2.

When I down-rev'd the non-working clients back to 10.5.1 they started working again. (For my setup this was as simple as dragging iTunes 10.5.1 from one machine's Applications folder to the other, and restoring the old 10.5.1 version iTunes Library from Time Machine.)

Clients running both iTunes 10.5.1 and other DLNA renderers have AirTunes/AirPlay enabled; I can select my AirportExtreme as a destination from iTunes and nearly any iPad audio app. #WINNING.

-Steve

ditto, zyxel nsa310, shows up on itunes, searchs for tracks, then just stops and reverts back to itunes music library. Tried rebuilding database and restarting itunes server.

Very disappointed, as this is the main reason I bought the NAS drive

ben1455 wrote:

ditto, zyxel nsa310, shows up on itunes, searchs for tracks, then just stops and reverts back to itunes music library. Tried rebuilding database and restarting itunes server.

Very disappointed, as this is the main reason I bought the NAS drive

Are you on iTunes 10.5.2? Can you revert to 10.5.1 and see if you get the same results? Those symptoms match what I experienced on 10.5.2: the server name appeared in the left column, the search icon spins, the tracks all show up for a brief instant - and then the selection returns to my local iTunes Music library.

BTW, on my LaCie Network Space 2, the only way to get new tracks registered in the Twonky DLNA server's database is to transfer them freshly by dragging from the Finder (FTP might work - haven't tried it.) Moving media files around on the server or renaming ANY of the files or folders in the hierarchy caused the Twonky server to lose track of where they were and stop serving them.

Good news for Linksys NAS owners! They came out with a firmware update on 12/14 that fixed iTunes and the failing connection to the "server". My model is the LS-WX2.0TL/R1

[Firmware Release Note]

* Ver.1.56 [2011.12.14]

- Fixed the issue that iTunes 10.5 cannot connect to iTunes Server of LinkStation.

Kjinthe, I think you are referring to Buffalo NAS devices, not LInkSys. I just installed the firmware update, but have not tested it yet.

I tested and confirmed the fix.

Yes, Linkstation by Buffalo. Thanks!

LG N2A2 firmware update to 9595 sorts this out too.

- Improved : iTunes 10.5 compatibility

http://www.lg.com/uk/support/product/support-product-profile.jsp?customerModelCo de=N2A2DD2&initialTab=documents&targetPage=support-product-profile

... and the problem continues with D-Link DNS 323.

I hadn't got any issues until iTunes 10.5.2. but am now facing the same access issues.

😟

Hello Everyone,

I have the exact same issue with my NAS and just spent the last 2 hours hating it even more than I did.

Running D-Link DNS-323 Firmware v1.09 with FireFly and iTunes just hangs when you click on the NAS within iTunes.

My solution was to find the older version of iTunes 10.4.1 and download it. It will be a little tricky to download as Apple does not post the download anymore. Tested on two Macs running iTunes 10.5.2 and both successfully "downgraded" to iTunes 10.4.1

I share a common frustration with the D-Link DNS-323 with all of you so here are my 2 cents on how to go about getting your DNS-323 to work again.

**** Proceed with caution and at your own risk. Always remember to keep backups *****

I suggest google search for "iTunes10.4.1.dmg" - You WILL find it.

I then went ahead and changed the permissions on my current iTunes application by right-clicking on the iTunes icon inside the Applications folder. There you will see two "everyone" users listed. One will have "read only" and the other will have "custom" rights. First, you will need to change the one that has "read only" to "read and write" and apply the changes by locking the lock and closing the dialog window. Now repeat the same process again but this time change the 2nd "everyone" with "custom" rights to "read and write".

At this point, you will then be able to delete iTunes 10.5.2 from your system by dragging it to the Trash from the Applications folder and NOT the dock.

You will then need to go to your iTunes Folder - Look inside the "Previous iTunes Library" folder, you will see file(s) named something like "iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD.itl" format. I choose the oldest one and copied it to the "iTunes" directory.

Now look in the "iTunes" directory and you should have a file named "iTunes Library.itl" which is the current database file for iTunes 10.5 and the one you just copied "iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD.itl"

Rename "iTunes Library.itl" -> "iTunes Library.itl.old".

Rename the "iTunes Library YYYY-MM-DD.itl" -> "iTunes Library.itl"

Locate the downloaded disk image of iTunes 10.4.1 and install it. Now you should be able to launch iTunes and be back on version 10.4.1 with a previously working iTunes database (10.4.1) and your DNS-323 will now work with iTunes as it did before.

-John

- Questions - Feel free to ask away.

Thanks BigDC, the new firmware has fixed the issue for me and my LG N2A2 NAS.

I have a D-Link DNS-323 and iTunes isn't working with the iTunes server on the NAS.

What I see is a bit different from the behaviors described above. I think it is Apple's problem, as explained below.

I will repeat here the content of a post that I made on the D-Link discussion forum (http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?topic=44589.0)

For the record, I was at D-Link firmware version 1.09 and just upgraded to 1.10, the behavior is the same for both versions. My iTunes client is version 10.5.2.11.

I simplified the problem as follows: on the DNS-323 iTunes Server settings, I cleared the "Root" check box and set the Folder to a directory that contains a single album of mp3 files, there are about 14 mp3 files in this directory. I also downloaded mp3val (it is a freeware MP3 validation tool, as suggested by thejinx6 in a post on the D-Link forum). I used the mp3val tool to scan the files in this directory and there were no problems at all. And still, the iTunes client behaves just as Jmack described. When I click on the NAS entry under SHARED on iTunes, it takes a moment to load, then the 14 files appear for about 1 second, long enough to see that it is looking at the directory that I expect, and then iTunes clears the frame and shifts the focus back to LIBRARY:Music.

I used Wireshark to capture the protocol transaction between the NAS and my PC, and I can see the DAAP conversation. I am an embedded software engineer and I work on network devices, so I am accustomed to debugging problems with Wireshark, but I am new to this particular protocol. Wireshark shows the transactions at all its layers: TCP, HTTP, DAAP. The DAAP and HTTP look complete and normal. If I expand the DAAP content, I can see the catalog of mp3 files from the directory. At the TCP layer, it is the iTunes client PC that sends the FIN first, and the server sends a FIN after. Given the that the DAAP transaction looks complete, I think the FIN from the client makes sense. It is logical that once the client and server have exchanged the catalog information, the client will close the connection until the client needs to perform some further action in response to user input.

Given that the network protocol transaction looks complete and healthy, I think the NAS is exonerated. It is the iTunes client that inexplicably shifts the focus from the SHARED:nas view to the LIBRARY:Music view. I conclude from this is that the problem is in iTunes, not in the NAS.

If someone at Apple or D-Link would like to have my packet capture I am willing to share it.

A followup to my previous post:

I contacted Apple phone support about this issue. The first level tech support rep passed me to a 2nd level rep, and he basically told me that Apple does not support an "iTunes Server" on a home LAN. He based this on the fact that a search of the Apple Knowledge base turned up nothing in support of this feature.

So, no help from that quarter.

sigh.

Lets be blunt about this issue, and others, with iTunes. iTunes was the king for a long time and didn't have to spend the time or resources developing cutting edge advancements in this product area. Well guess what, other people and companies are. If I were running iTunes, I would worry more about responding to consumer demands and enhancements (like this one) before Spotify takes all the music subscribers and iTunes is dwindled down to a glorified Barnes and Noble.

I'm just trying to stream from my NAS server, please fix it. But then again, Spotify does it better anyway for free.

And Google Music even better than that. For the time I spent fooling around with the "iTunes Server" on my Network Space 2, it was nearly the same amount of time - and ALOT less hassle - to upload my entire iTunes library to Google Music and stream it for free over Internet/WiFi to all my iOS AND Android devices. Of course, if your bandwidth's not coming for free...