Synology media server and building library

[andreart]

Hi. I have 3 different Synology servers. Sharing my music with Media server and DLNA to other devices.

Before buying check that Synology was supported and it is easy to build library https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support/solutions/articles/72000642736-building-and-managing-a-media-library-from-your-media-server
That I dont need to buy one more hdd and plug to Wiim.
But at the final it is not supported and now removed from support help section

Please can you give advice how to build library on WiiM with Synology NAS ? Indexing NAS files as external HDD.

 

[Chris P]

Once again thanks to everyone for their patience and help. I think some of this is finally sinking in but I am certain to have some further questions as I get deeper into this stuff.

 

[Buryme2wice]

If your Synology NAS is running DSM 7 (and I believe it's also available on 6), you'll find Minimserver in the package center, ready to install with no fuss. I'd install and run it as a starting point, the basic version is free so there's nothing to lose.

I run it on my NAS with WHA as the control point.

I do also have a Pi 4 running LMS as a deeper integration if I want to go delve into my collection further but you may well find Minimserver sufficient and is definitely an easier set up.

 

[Chris P]

If your Synology NAS is running DSM 7 (and I believe it's also available on 6), you'll find Minimserver in the package center, ready to install with no fuss. I'd install and run it as a starting point, the basic version is free so there's nothing to lose.

I run it on my NAS with WHA as the control point.

I do also have a Pi 4 running LMS as a deeper integration if I want to go delve into my collection further but you may well find Minimserver sufficient and is definitely an easier set up.

I have played with it in total ignorance of what I was doing and I found it totally baffling and I get the following so I guess the free version has expired

MinimServer 2.2 update 264, Copyright (c) 2012-2025 Simon Nash. All rights reserved.

Your license type is Trial. For more information, select the License tab.



Media server status for MinimServer[DS920]: Error

Your trial license for MinimServer expired on 6 October 2025
Your last rescan was at 23:50:14 on 06 Sep 2025 Rescan

You have selected the following content directory:

/volume1/music
To change this, select the Properties tab and update the contentDir property.
For more information about using MinimServer, see the Quick start page.

If it is expired and I have to pay for it what advantage is it over Audio Station/Media server? I don't want to be rude as you are trying to help me but what does this mean and how does it work?

I run it on my NAS with WHA as the control point.

 

[Mr Ee]

If it is expired and I have to pay for it what advantage is it over Audio Station/Media server?

The free version of minimserver will likely suffice.
Many people don't need the full, paid version. Well, I don't

 

[Aquaman]

I have played with it in total ignorance of what I was doing and I found it totally baffling and I get the following so I guess the free version has expired

MinimServer 2.2 update 264, Copyright (c) 2012-2025 Simon Nash. All rights reserved.

Your license type is Trial. For more information, select the License tab.



Media server status for MinimServer[DS920]: Error

Your trial license for MinimServer expired on 6 October 2025
Your last rescan was at 23:50:14 on 06 Sep 2025 Rescan

You have selected the following content directory:

/volume1/music
To change this, select the Properties tab and update the contentDir property.
For more information about using MinimServer, see the Quick start page.

If it is expired and I have to pay for it what advantage is it over Audio Station/Media server? I don't want to be rude as you are trying to help me but what does this mean and how does it work?

I run it on my NAS with WHA as the control point.

A licenced version of minim server (same as trail version) will give a truckload of options to tweak it. If you look at my previous post and compare the pics with what you are seeing in your now free version you will see that my menu looks a bit more elaborate, both with regard to the tree and the display output on the Now Playing screen.

But to be honest I don‘t think this is for you. This is definitely not meant as an insult but merely a realistic assumption. Minim advanced is the least intuitive bit of software I have come across so far and you really need to be ready to spend more than just a bit of time and learning to even understand what the options are. So be warned.

 

[harkpabst]

today is the first time I have noticed "Media Server" on the screen as I have never really read it just chose the link to the NAS. I have been choosing to select the music by folder or playlists I have but setting up a queue is something that has puzzled me.

This (WiiM Home App => Browse => Media Server => "NameOfYourServerHere" is where all real (DLNA style) Digital Media Servers on your network can be found.

The confusing thing is that the WHA also allows you to configure the path to a "shared folder", which is a pure SMB file server with no media server software running. In this case the WHA can build an index of all the music files found on this shared folder. In this case you are limited to the indices created by the WiiM Home App. The old and insecure SMB 1 protocol is not supported, for good reasons.

To make things even more puzzling, the WiiM Home App offers an "Advanced Mode" for certain digital media servers. When enabled, the WHA will display a graphical user interface that looks like the one you get from WiiM's built-in media server (for directly connected USB storage devices). So far I haven't seen many users preferring "Advanced Mode" over the standard user interface.

To sum it up, if Synology Media Server is already up and running on your NAS (you can see the network name of your Synology device in the WiiM Home App right below the label "Media Server") then you're good to go. You don't need any third party media server. If you prefer a different media server, you can install and run this on your Diskstation, but in this case you'll want to disable the Synology Media Server, because running two media servers in parallel is just a waste of resources.

When I first started to use Audio Station to organise music and make playlists (which I can see in WHA) I tagged all my music (using Jaikoz) AS can index by Artist, Genre as the main tags.

Synology Audio Station is not the same as the Synology Media Server. It's a separate software package. You can use the Synology Media server without Audio Station and vice versa. In DLNA terms (I hope I get this right, it might be just a Digital Media Player) Synology Audio Station is a Digital Media Renderer with options of managing your library.

The WiiM Home App can interact with the Synology Media Server (making use of all the data and metadata stored for your music. The WHA cannot interact with Audio Station in any way. The WHA also won't let you organise your music, it can just access and play back music from the digital media server.

The free version of minimserver will likely suffice.

It probably will, but I see no advantage of the free version over the Synology Media Server, which is pre-installed already.

The licensed version may make sense if you want the features it has to offer. Otherwise the Synology Media Server just works.

 

[rccarguy]

Hi. I have 3 different Synology servers. Sharing my music with Media server and DLNA to other devices.

Before buying check that Synology was supported and it is easy to build library https://faq.wiimhome.com/en/support/solutions/articles/72000642736-building-and-managing-a-media-library-from-your-media-server
That I dont need to buy one more hdd and plug to Wiim.
But at the final it is not supported and now removed from support help section

Please can you give advice how to build library on WiiM with Synology NAS ? Indexing NAS files as external HDD.

I have a Synology NAS but I don't use any music services anymore, I did have Pinkdot LMS installed but once Synology updated firmware I shifted it to an external server (Pi4)

piCorePlayer

www.picoreplayer.org

I don't like UPNP media service it's pretty basic

The NAS is now just a network HDD

 

[rccarguy]

This (WiiM Home App => Browse => Media Server => "NameOfYourServerHere" is where all real (DLNA style) Digital Media Servers on your network can be found.

The confusing thing is that the WHA also allows you to configure the path to a "shared folder", which is a pure SMB file server with no media server software running. In this case the WHA can build an index of all the music files found on this shared folder. In this case you are limited to the indices created by the WiiM Home App. The old and insecure SMB 1 protocol is not supported, for good reasons.

To make things even more puzzling, the WiiM Home App offers an "Advanced Mode" for certain digital media servers. When enabled, the WHA will display a graphical user interface that looks like the one you get from WiiM's built-in media server (for directly connected USB storage devices). So far I haven't seen many users preferring "Advanced Mode" over the standard user interface.

To sum it up, if Synology Media Server is already up and running on your NAS (you can see the network name of your Synology device in the WiiM Home App right below the label "Media Server") then you're good to go. You don't need any third party media server. If you prefer a different media server, you can install and run this on your Diskstation, but in this case you'll want to disable the Synology Media Server, because running two media servers in parallel is just a waste of resources.


Synology Audio Station is not the same as the Synology Media Server. It's a separate software package. You can use the Synology Media server without Audio Station and vice versa. In DLNA terms (I hope I get this right) Synology Audio Station is a Digital Media Renderer with options of managing your library.

The WiiM Home App can interact with the Synology Media Server (making use of all the data and metadata stored for your music. The WHA cannot interact with Audio Station in any way. The WHA also won't let you organise your music, it can just access and play back music from the digital media server.


It probably will, but I see no advantage of the free version over the Synology Media Server, which is pre-installed already.

The licensed version may make sense if you want the features it has to offer. Otherwise the Synology Media Server just works.

I hated the Synology music scanner, it used GB of data for indexing of album art. I think around 20-30GB was in hidden $directories, it created a sub directory of every file from every album. It wasn't just one file for a single folder/album (which is fine) but it was for every file in that album, so multiply a PNG file or whatever it uses by x16 tracks. Also they were quite large, they weren't a small file jpg. When I logged into SSH/Telnet I deleted all $directories and saved a tonne of space.

It also takes ages to do a rescan.

 

[Buryme2wice]

I have played with it in total ignorance of what I was doing and I found it totally baffling and I get the following so I guess the free version has expired

MinimServer 2.2 update 264, Copyright (c) 2012-2025 Simon Nash. All rights reserved.

Your license type is Trial. For more information, select the License tab.



Media server status for MinimServer[DS920]: Error

Your trial license for MinimServer expired on 6 October 2025
Your last rescan was at 23:50:14 on 06 Sep 2025 Rescan

You have selected the following content directory:

/volume1/music
To change this, select the Properties tab and update the contentDir property.
For more information about using MinimServer, see the Quick start page.

If it is expired and I have to pay for it what advantage is it over Audio Station/Media server? I don't want to be rude as you are trying to help me but what does this mean and how does it work?

I run it on my NAS with WHA as the control point.

My License version shows as Starter, having never touched the License section. I notice you've opted for the Trial which has expired, I also noticed the server status shows an error which may be linked to the Trial expiry.

Having said that @harkpabst is more than likely right, these extra servers may not be necessary for what you want to achieve. No point going down the rabbit hole......

 

[Aquaman]

The confusing thing is that the WHA also allows you to configure the path to a "shared folder", which is a pure SMB file server with no media server software running.

I wouldn’t add to the confusion here. Plus SMB is kinda dodgy with WiiM. I haven‘t managed to establish a SMB connection to my QNAP NAS to date.

To make things even more puzzling, the WiiM Home App offers an "Advanced Mode" for certain digital media servers. When enabled, the WHA will display a graphical user interface that looks like the one you get from WiiM's built-in media server (for directly connected USB storage devices). So far I haven't seen many users preferring "Advanced Mode" over the standard user interface.

But it admittedly looks a lot prettier than the standard.

You don't need any third party media server. If you prefer a different media server, you can install and run this on your Diskstation, but in this case you'll want to disable the Synology Media Server, because running two media servers in parallel is just a waste of resources.

Running two or more server softwares side by side only makes sense if you want to compare them. But for final operation switching the other one(s) off, or better, deinstalling them is the way to go!

 

[harkpabst]

I hated the Synology music scanner, it used GB of data for indexing of album art. I think around 20-30GB was in hidden $directories, it created a sub directory of every file from every album. It wasn't just one file for a single folder/album (which is fine) but it was for every file in that album, so multiply a PNG file or whatever it uses by x16 tracks. Also they were quite large, they weren't a small file jpg. When I logged into SSH/Telnet I deleted all $directories and saved a tonne of space.

It also takes ages to do a rescan.

I'm getting along very well with Synology Media Server. I am known for my very modest demands. And I'll let @Chris P judge on it's own, of course.

I really wonder now if you will pursue your crusade against all media servers with the same, almost religious zeal with which you were trying to convince everyone of LMS until recently.

 

[harkpabst]

I wouldn’t add to the confusion here. Plus SMB is kinda dodgy with WiiM. I haven‘t managed to establish a SMB connection to my QNAP NAS to date.

I have seen too many users confusing the two over time, so I thought I'd use that term.

Running two or more server softwares side by side only makes sense if you want to compare them. But for final operation switching the other one(s) off, or better, deinstalling them is the way to go!

Absolutely!

 

[Chris P]

But to be honest I don‘t think this is for you. This is definitely not meant as an insult but merely a realistic assumption. Minim advanced is the least intuitive bit of software I have come across so far and you really need to be ready to spend more than just a bit of time and learning to even understand what the options are. So be warned.

No offence and thanks for the heads up.

 

[rccarguy]

I'm getting along very well with Synology Media Server. I am known for my very modest demands. And I'll let @Chris P judge on it's own, of course.

I really wonder now if you will pursue your crusade against all media servers with the same, almost religious zeal with which you were trying to convince everyone of LMS until recently.

Not my problem if other media servers are crap. Or you have to pay to use them, ie need to pay minimserver plus bubble upnp. There aren't any customization options in Synologys own, it's just the barebones UPNP service.

I put Synology media server in the "crap" box.

 

[harkpabst]

There aren't any customization options in Synologys own, it's just the barebones UPNP service.

No surprise: That's not entirely true. Maybe you didn't find them?

 

[rccarguy]

No surprise: That's not entirely true. Maybe you didn't find them?

Can you post a screenshot of that? It's pretty basic when I tried it. Also using 20-30GB for album art.....it went bye bye

 

[harkpabst]

Can you post a screenshot of that? It's pretty basic when I tried it. Also using 20-30GB for album art.....it went bye bye

Well, I could, but would that change your mind and your opinion (which you are entitled to)?

You can basically configure a number of (nested) indices the way you want them.

 

[rccarguy]

Well, I could, but would that change your mind and your opinion (which you are entitled to)?

You can basically configure a number of (nested) indices the way you want them.

Does it have option of download missing album art, not build it's own bloated album art per track (just one per folder)



I remember I left it building for a day or so, and how much HDD space went down, I knew I didn't copy anything new to that drive. I think the album art was stupidly big per track as well, perhaps bitmap therefore uncompressed (maybe 30MB per file?) multiply that by 300,000 tracks....and gulp.. Might install it and do test scan a artist and see the total in just one artist branch

 

[rccarguy]

Ok loaded it up, it creates a sub directory of every audio file, and withing that sub directory a jpeg and a info file.

jpeg isn't that big. however I guess 4K cluster used for each file, plus directories, and two files mount up.

 

[JAB]

Just imagining hoarding 300,000 tracks on a hard drive gives me the creeps, unless, of course, you plan to send them to other intelligences in distant galaxies.