New Wiim Ultra - can't connect to music files on server

[Roscoe6262]

My new Wiim Ultra connects to my Arcam processor via line out RCA.
Both the Wiim and my server (UnRAID) are connected to the sanme network using Ethernet. However, using the Wiim Home App, and attempting to point the Wiim at my music drives, (using either //Server/Music or //192.168.1.6/Music), the connection fails every time. Not exactly the "out of box experience" I was hoping for, but it's difficult to know where to start looking.
Question 1 - Can anyone help resolve this issue?

FWIW, the server shares are available via SMB, and the Wiim is the first device I'd had that can't seem to connect. Connection to Ethernet for the Wiim is done via DHCP, but the server has a static IP address.

This is the main question I'm looking for help with, but....

I also have a follow-up question.

Assuming I can connect to the server, and I can see the music folder on the Wiim, what is it like navigating the Artist/Album sub-folders on the Wiim? I did a quick search of this forum earlier, and found several posts mentioning that the Wiim really needs a music server software layer working to improve the experience. I wasn't aware of this and it's a little disappointing as using the Wiim as the main music playback device in our lounge was, by far, the biggest use-case for us. So really, the question is - does the Wiim Ultra need some music server software running to have an 'improved' end-user experience? I've seen people refer to "minimserver" (which won't run on UnRAID), and "roon" (which will run on UnRAID, but is a LOT more expensive), and "plex", as examples of music server software.

Question 2 - Is using music server software the best way of playing music stored on my server through the Wiim Ultra, or can it do it just fine without?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice.

 

[Roscoe6262]

Gah! I don't know how to quote a post on this forum!

Slartibartfast,

I might have to talk to my Control4 guy - he might be able to confirm whether there's a Control4 driver I could use for Lyrion Music Server.

S3igell,

The response I got from WiiM support said that SMBv1 was the only version of Samba the WiiM doesn't support, so it's not that.

Rccarguy & PIMK,

Ideally I need to control the system (so, WiiM device and media server) - as in - browsing my music collection and selecting what to listen to - using a Control4 remote.

Adding/altering music in the collection via a web interface I'm totally fine with, but browsing and playing in my lounge, where the WiiM is located, I need to be able to use my Control4 remote to do that.

I'll contact my Control4 guy next week and chat to him about a solution that will work with Control4. If he confirms there is a driver for the Lyrion music server, that might end this struggle.

 

[slartibartfast]

Gah! I don't know how to quote a post on this forum!

Slartibartfast,

I might have to talk to my Control4 guy - he might be able to confirm whether there's a Control4 driver I could use for Lyrion Music Server.

S3igell,

The response I got from WiiM support said that SMBv1 was the only version of Samba the WiiM doesn't support, so it's not that.

Rccarguy & PIMK,

Ideally I need to control the system (so, WiiM device and media server) - as in - browsing my music collection and selecting what to listen to - using a Control4 remote.

Adding/altering music in the collection via a web interface I'm totally fine with, but browsing and playing in my lounge, where the WiiM is located, I need to be able to use my Control4 remote to do that.

I'll contact my Control4 guy next week and chat to him about a solution that will work with Control4. If he confirms there is a driver for the Lyrion music server, that might end this struggle.

If your contact doesn't recognise Lyrion tell him it used to be Logitech Media Server

 

[rccarguy]

Gah! I don't know how to quote a post on this forum!

Slartibartfast,

I might have to talk to my Control4 guy - he might be able to confirm whether there's a Control4 driver I could use for Lyrion Music Server.

S3igell,

The response I got from WiiM support said that SMBv1 was the only version of Samba the WiiM doesn't support, so it's not that.

Rccarguy & PIMK,

Ideally I need to control the system (so, WiiM device and media server) - as in - browsing my music collection and selecting what to listen to - using a Control4 remote.

Adding/altering music in the collection via a web interface I'm totally fine with, but browsing and playing in my lounge, where the WiiM is located, I need to be able to use my Control4 remote to do that.

I'll contact my Control4 guy next week and chat to him about a solution that will work with Control4. If he confirms there is a driver for the Lyrion music server, that might end this struggle.

I don't know how you would control it via that remote but you can control LMS via phone/tablet or from a computer IP control

The Wiim doesn't have IR receiver so you wouldn't be able to use a IR blaster. I wish added a IR receiver window so I can use my Squeezebox remotes with it.

I wouldn't have bought a Wiim streamer if it didn't natively support LMS (squeezelite)

You would add or alter music from a computer (local HD) ripping encoding locally, replaygain scan them, batch album art downloader, then manually editting/tidying up if needed then moving to your NAS shared music directory. Do this if the encoder doesn't create multiple artists ie AC/DC, ACDC or AC-DC

I use my phone with the LMS app which points to my raspberry Pi server

Releases · CDrummond/lms-material-app

Android WebView wrapper for LMS Material Skin. Contribute to CDrummond/lms-material-app development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

piCorePlayer

www.picoreplayer.org

So to use my system I need

laptop/desktop - music ripping/encoding/conversion/album art/copy to NAS
NAS- for music storage
Wiim Ultra streamer
Squeezeboxes - my other audio streamers
Programmable IR remote for Squeezeboxes and AV pre amp and other gear
Phone - for wiim app (used for initial setup, selecting PEQ speaker preset) and Craigs LMS app
Pi5 4GB- picoreplayer onto 2.5" SSD (music server)

I can control the LMS server from PC as well from those PC screenshots I posted earlier.

I doubt you'd be able to control the Wiim app from a third party remote, not unless Wiim have open source. If your Control4 can install a APK or can open a web browser to open a saved IP address that should work, but it's probably best to use APK as it would be set to correct size etc.

You may still need a phone.

The built in scanner in the wiim is basic but functional, for large collections and for superior browsing I would recommend LMS. For about £50-£100 get a pi and it's fantastic. I've had LMS running on NAS's before, PC's, so basically the same with old NAS's performance wasn't great but a PC/webbook or newish NAS is plenty fast enough.

 

[rccarguy]

The Wiims do have samba, if you connect a USB HDD to the back of the Ultra you can access these files from computer/TV, so that's a pretty cool feature. I can't recall if it's browse by directory or using it's Wiim scanner. I was testing a 128GB USB stick.

But pretty useful feature was surprised it appeared as a network drive on my laptop- and I could see a use for that.

Not as good as the Pi5/LMS but worthy as additional source.

With LMS server you can install a UPNP host service, so that means any UPNP device on your network can be streamed to, so my AVR, Sonos, BD player, and LG OLED are seen as audio streamers. I've tested them all, all work except for the BD player not sure why that didn't.

 

[s3igell]

S3igell,

The response I got from WiiM support said that SMBv1 was the only version of Samba the WiiM doesn't support, so it's not that.

That is exactly the issue. SMBv2 isn't fully backwards compatible. So since WiiM isn't retaining SMBv1 support for security reasons, the UnRaid Server would need to support its Music Sharing/Streaming Service with SMBv2/v3.

 

[Roscoe6262]

Thanks rccarguy & S3igell,

S3igell,

I asked the question on the UnRAID forum, and saw that my question wasn't answered in the reply. I've now asked again. I did some maintenance on the UnRAID server a few years back and I thought it was to tighten security, and I vaguely remember Samba had something to do with it. Hopefully someone sees my post and responds.

rccarguy,

I hadn't considered using a pi, or even a 2nd computer and making it the LMS server, although UnRAID does support running LMS. The last time I made upgrades to it I made it reasonably beefy. It runs on an Intel Xeon E5 1620 @ 3.50 GHz, and 16 Megs of DDR4 RAM, so it should be able to handle it. However, if I found a different solution that ticked all the other boxes, but couldn't run on UnRAID, re-purposing another PC and having it act as the music server is a viable option I hadn't thought of before. So thanks for that!

I'll try to talk to my Control4 guy this coming week. If he can get a hold of a LMS/Squeezebox driver that'll work with Control4, that'll solve my problem in one hit.

Oh, I forgot to mention - all files/tracks in my collection are all correctly tagged and include coverart. I've had that habit for years.

 

[simbun]

I asked the question on the UnRAID forum, and saw that my question wasn't answered in the reply. I've now asked again. I did some maintenance on the UnRAID server a few years back and I thought it was to tighten security, and I vaguely remember Samba had something to do with it. Hopefully someone sees my post and responds.

nmap (also available on Windows) will list the dialects in use:

nmap -p445 --script smb-protocols <server-ip>

...and smbclient ('net view \\server-ip' on Windows) will list the browseable shares:

smbclient -NL <server-ip>

My understanding is that as long as you're mapping the share directly (not to a folder beneath the share) and that dialect 2+ is supported then WiiM will make the connection. With that said browsing smb shares is very limited, so it's probably not something you'll want to use going-forward.

Plex, Emby and Jellyfin appear to have C4 support: https://drivers.control4.com/solr/drivers/browse

 

[Roscoe6262]

Hi simbun,

Thanks for your help. It's good to know Control4 CAN work with those other products.

And....

I finally got the Wiim Home app to connect!

It turns out the UnRAID SMBv1 output wasn't turned off, and that was preventing the Home app from connecting. I had to stop the server, change the setting (NetBios Yes/No), restart the server and try the connection again. At the very least I'm glad that works now.

I see now what everyone was talking about - access via SMB share is very rudimentary - so still some decisions to make once my Control4 guy gets back to me, but I'll put that into a separate post if I need to.

Thanks to all who posted!