Hi @Belly M 

You are correct - I forgot about that detail!

There probably is a way to bridge the connections on the PC, but I sure don’t know what it is.

@lab1301, I think it might be best to just buy a router that will provide you with your own subnet. Some routers do allow you to use another WiFi for internet access, while still creating a subnet for you.

@lab1301,

If the DHCP server isn’t continually working and keeps stopping/timing out, can’t you just simply set a manual IP address, subnet mask, gateway and DNS on the NAS in its configuration page, might that perhaps work for you?

Just to reiterate what Corry is saying a 169….. network address gets assigned by the device itself when it cannot reach a DHCP server, this needs to be fixed as in its current state is not fully routable without having the gateway and DNS entries. 

If the cable was faulty then it is unlikely that you will be able to see the NAS from the S1 app or WINDOWS.  There is no internet connection via the ethernet adapter but all the devices that I want to access are on a local wired network.  The NAS is accessible from WINDOWS and the S1 controller.  If the DHCP server is fixed on the router, then, I would be able to bridge the Wi Fi and Ethernet adapters and there would be an internet connection via the ethernet adapter as well but I can’t see that making a difference to this problem unless I’m missing something.

As the NAS is wired to the LAN. might it just be a faulty Ethernet connection? Maybe wire PC/laptop to the LAN using the same cable and see if that acquires an IP address from the router, just to check the cable is okay.

Hi @lab1301 

There might be something useful in the logs - please submit a support diagnostic and reply here with the number given, and I’ll take a look. The problem is that they will probably tell us that a connection could not be made, but not why. It is worth checking, however.

@lab1301,

Looking at the left panel in your screenshot, it looks to me like you ‘may’ have a DHCP server running on the NAS (if I’m reading it correctly?) - if that is the case, you need to disable that server within the NAS configuration, let it use the routers DHCP server to acquire its network connection.

Hi @lab1301 

I have no idea why I didn’t see that in the screenshot, considering I was looking at the line directly underneath it. It sounds like it is the DHCP server that needs to be reconfigured - note there’s no DNS servers listed, or a gateway.

I think I may have misinterpreted exactly what a 169 IP address means, but I am still suspicious of it. 169 addresses will not connect to the internet - only to local addresses - so, in theory, the Sonos devices should be able to connect.

Are you able to successfully ping 169.254.124.28?

Has the 169 address been set as a static address on the NAS device (rather than reserved in the router)?

(That may be the same question as @Corry P ‘s final question)

Hi @lab1301 

I still think the fact that the NAS has an IP address starting with 169 is an issue, though I confess I do not understand why you are able to connect to the NAS’s configuration web portal via your browser.

Do you have manual IPv4 configuration on the NAS, or are you using Automatic (DHCP)? If your NAS’s IP doesn’t match 172.17.5.X, Sonos will not be able to connect to it.

Sigh. Thanks, Apple, for erasing three paragraphs of commentary. I’ll try to summarize, but fair warning, the page numbers may be off by one or two pages.

First, this manual is old, and likely written before there were multiple versions of SMB to choose from. Id be tempted to contact Buffalo’s CS group for more information on exactly where you can set which version of SMB is in use.

There are a couple of pages (148, 156 I think) where there is further discussion about SMB, although the latter is if you’ve delegated that to an external device, and I hope that you haven’t, and even if you have, I think the data you cut and pasted above would handle that correctly.

Beyond that, I think id be relying on Sonos support, in the hopes that a diagnostic would reflect a useful error when the Sonos system running on the speaker tries to reach out, using SMB, to the NAS. 

I’ll keep watching this thread, hopefully I can learn a bit more. Best of luck!

Thanks, John.  I’m not using a Mac.  I’ve been using this NAS with the same settings/naming conventions for more than ten years so that is unlikely to be a factor.  The issue started in September 2022 after windows update disabled SMB and the NAS disappeared.

PS

I’ve provided more information to Bruce below.

Sorry, scanning some of the data above, and what I see is SMB v1 turned on in windows, but what I don’t see it is turned on (or off, either way) on the Buffalo Linkstation’s firmware. Sonos doesn’t go through Windows to access the library, the Unix computer in the Sonos device reads that data directly from the NAS, without involving Windows.

Or is the clip under the label SMB Settings from the Buffalo Linkstation’s software/firmware? It’s listed under the Windows 11  firewall settings, but that could just be a format thing. I’m afraid it’s been quite a few years since I retired my Buffalo device, so I’m unfamiliar with their settings page. 

A 169.254.xxx.xxx IP address is intended to be a rescue space -- similar to telling the kids to go to …] in case of a large emergency (such as a major flood), phones aren’t working, etc. and then wait for adult supervision. 

Hi @lab1301 

That’s not the kind of thing you want to share on a public space - I’ve removed it for you. MAC addresses are best kept private.

It was all relating to the PC anyway, and it’s the NAS’s IP address that’s incorrect for a device on a network. The best place to find the correct IP is your router, but as you don’t have access, you can try the following in Command Prompt:

• ping the broadcast address on the network - replace last number on the PC’s IP with 255 and ping it with the ping command (I now wish I had waited before removing the info above, but the command will be along the lines of “ping 127.xxx.xxx.255”
• <CTRL> + C to end the ping loop
• “arp -a” and see if you can find the MAC for the NAS - I can only hope it is written on a sticker on the device somewhere, or you can check by typing the manufacture’s name into https://www.wireshark.org/tools/oui-lookup.html to see how their MAC addresses start.

An option might be to get your own router that connects to the network available, but gives you your own private subnet to use and configure as you see fit.

I hope this helps.

Hi @lab1301 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

Unfortunately, if you reply to yourself, your topic is no longer “in need of a reply”.

If I manually add the NAS via IP I get the error:

Reason: The Computer "169.XXX.XXX.28" is not responding

 

4) Via IP address of NAS the error message is different!

 

The missing screenshots from above are as below:

 

An IP address starting with the number 169 is one that a device will assign to itself when it doesn’t get supplied one by the router, as should happen. No device will ever respond when it’s IP starts with that number - it’s not connected.

Why this is happening, I don’t know for sure, but I would assume that the DHCP server on your router has been disabled, or the router is in Bridge mode (which amounts to the same thing). If you don’t know why this is, I recommend you contact your Internet Service Provider for assistance - our ability to assist will be limited, and hampered by our need to connect remotely.

I hope this helps.

Thanks Corry.  All worked fine when I had a router but I’ve now moved to a co-living place and that is why I don’t have access to the router and yes, they’ve probably disabled the DHCP server.  I was able to access the NAS via Sonos for a few months till September though at the co-living place. 

Anyway, thanks for the response and I’ll be moving out of here soon and the problem will resolve its self then. 

PS 

The output of my ipconfig is below. 

C:\Users\lab1301>ipconfig /all

Mod edit: removed.

https://appuals.com/how-to-fix-ip-address-starting-with-169-254/

The OP has stated he has no physical access to the Router’s Ethernet ports which is a requirement to get the NAS working correctly.

In the current config the PC would need to be a DHCP server and some form of bridge or network sharing enabled. As it stands the the Wi-Fi card in the PC does not pass anything to the Ethernet NIC. The ZP80 has no means of routing IP back to the NAS but the PC can see the devices on the Ethernet interface due to self assigned IP addressing.

Edit, I have not done any routing on a desktop PC between interfaces for about 25 years. There must have been something configured to enable this before the updates but in all honesty as @Corry P says it’s unsupported.

Sometime yesterday I posted the following:

June to September, I bridged the WiFi with the ethernet adapter and that was when I was last able to use the NAS with  Sonos.  Now when I try and create a network bridge I get “The network bridge doesn't have a valid IP configuration" and I lose all internet connectivity and the S1.

You bridge two networks by highlighting the two adapters, right clicking and selecting the bridge option.

And the bridge is created as below:

But unlike in September, the problem is the DHCP server is timing out and that means there is no internet connectivity on the bridge.  My laptop has a valid IP and so has the ZP80 as I’m streaming radio but for some reason the NAS, connected via ethernet to my windows 11 mini, is not getting a valid IP. 

C:\Windows\System32>ipconfig /renew

Windows IP Configuration

No operation can be performed on Local Area Connection* 1 while it has its media disconnected.
No operation can be performed on Local Area Connection* 12 while it has its media disconnected.
An error occurred while renewing interface Ethernet : unable to contact your DHCP server. Request has timed out.

Hi @lab1301 

I was about to look at your diagnostics when I saw this.

I agree, in part, with @Belly M - we don’t recommend you connect your NAS to a Sonos device, but it should work without issue (a Sonos device with 2 ethernet ports will act as a switch, in part). However, connecting a Sonos device to a PC via ethernet is a definite no-no.

Rather than create a bridge between WiFi and ethernet on the PC, however, I recommend you simply do not wire Sonos to your PC with an ethernet cable - both Sonos and the NAS should have their own ethernet connections directly (or via a switch) to the router. If, after doing this, you still have access issues, by all means please submit another diagnostic and I’ll take a look for you, but with the current, unsupported configuration, there’s not much point in me doing so - it’s not actually expected to work.

If the NAS stores nothing but music, connecting it to a router-connected Sonos device is acceptable. I still don’t recommend it though. If you have, for example, movies stored there too, please connect it directly to the router.

This does explain why you have a 169 IP address though - the DHCP server on the router has no idea the NAS drive exists. The PC is an effective firewall.

all becomes clear… but it’s totally the incorrect way. 
 

The ZP80 needs to connect to the Router by Ethernet and NOT the PC (NAS can then stay connected to the ZP80) BUT you have said no Ethernet connection available.

You need to know how to create a bridge between the Wi-Fi card and the Ethernet card in the PC.

Thanks Belly M.  This could indeed be a routing issue caused by the NAS not being able to obtain a valid IP from the router DHCP server.  But having said that the NAS is on the local network and I’m able to log into it from windows.  S1 controller  also sees the NAS share and allows me to select the relevant share but then encounters the error.  I’m able to ping the NAS and arp also lists it.

C:\Windows\System32>arp -a

Interface: 169.254.225.160 --- 0x9
  Internet Address      Physical Address      Type
  169.254.124.28        00-XX-XX-XX-XX-cc     dynamic
  169.254.255.255       ff-ff-ff-ff-ff-ff     static

The connectivity is as follows 

NAS is connected via ethernet cable to ZP80. Second port from ZP80 is connected via cable to PC.  If the DHCP server on the router is enabled, then, I would be able to bridge the ethernet and Wi Fi adapters. 

Yes, I’m able to ping the NAS. 

If you look at my very first post, there is a screenshot of where the S1 does see my NAS and displays the share ShareSonosZP and the folders in the share.  But I get the error shown in the initial post when I try and add the share.   But I’ve posted a fresh set of screenshots below.  I was hoping that there would be a Sonos log somewhere that would give more details on the failure. 

C:\Users\lab1301>ping 169.254.124.28

Pinging 169.254.124.28 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 169.254.124.28: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.124.28: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.124.28: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64
Reply from 169.254.124.28: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 169.254.124.28:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
 

I enter the NAS login details here (admin/password)

The settings screenshot is as below.  I’ve just responded to Corry P with more information on how I tried changing the IP here and ended up losing access to teh NAS.

Diagnostics submitted as per screenshot below 977543576.  I tried adding the NAS share just before submitting the diagnostics just in case…

Also, I tried disabling DHCP on the NAS and manually entered the following as shown in the screenshot but the NAS was not accessible after the change.  If you can spot what I did wrong do please let me know.  It is rather easy to recover the NAS by restoring the settings back to default.

Wireless LAN adapter WiFi:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::3XXXXXXX
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 172.17.3.218
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.240.0
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 172.17.0.1
 

Same subnet mask and gateway as the PC as detailed just above: