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Sonos cannot index USB drive on TP-Link Router


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Is this problem still on the SONOS software team’s bug list to be resolved?  Has any progress been made?

 

Prior thread below.

Sonos cannot connect to USB drive on TP-Link router

 
Cannot share USB audio files with SONOS v2 system
Model: TP-Link Archer C8  
Hardware Version: V3
Firmware Version: 1.1.3 Build 20220510 rel.32759(5553)

The USB drive plugged into the Archer C8 shows it is active in the Archer C8 advanced USB settings.  All files are shared with no login required.

The network address is:  \\192.168.1.1\sda1\USB_Music

Windows explorer can find the music files OK and can play them,  but the SONOS v2 system cannot access the music library.

Sonos initially connects to the USB drive at the network address entered, but gives the error message below after about 10 seconds.

I have worked extensively with SONOS customer support, but they were unable to resolve this problem.  SONOS suspects a problem with the TP-Link Archer C8's implementation of SMB1 and/or SMB2 protocols.

I have tried sharing the USB drive with and without user login and password, but neither works.

I just updated this router to the latest version firmware, but that did not resolve this problem.

Any suggestions from other users would be welcomed.

SONOS Error messge below:

 

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Best answer by Corry P 2 May 2023, 10:03

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We’re reaching the limits of my comfort level, to be honest, especially as my preferred OS is MacOS. 

As a test, if you copy a handful of songs to your C: drive, does Sonos work with them?

Yes. The same songs are on my computer in various folders. When I’ve indexed them in the past, it always worked and self-indexed daily.

Now with this new router with a USB share, I bought it purposely for that. To share my music across the network with the Sonos app. Getting the Music Library set in Sonos is not the issue, it’s trying to Index them again under “Library Update” or “Update Music Library Now” doesn’t work. Says that shared USB drive isn’t available, yet it is still in my list under Music Library | Path and in the Music Source list in the app.

I am seeing that this has been going on for months with others. Why doesn’t Sonos create an Index file within the app, a database…………….and NOT write to the USB drive, if that’s the issue?

 

We’re reaching the limits of my comfort level, to be honest, especially as my preferred OS is MacOS. 

As a test, if you copy a handful of songs to your C: drive, does Sonos work with them?

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It is hard to place blame on either TP-Link or Sonos without this knowledge. The use of a USB device, whatever version, suggests (but not certain) not an NAS drive, which begs the question, if your TP-Link is allowing access from other devices to a network share. This information should be in the TP-Link manual. 

Which version of the Sonos OS are you currently running? Have you set the share on this USB folder to all devices? Is there any VPN, port blocking, or other virus protection running anywhere? What device and OS is your controller running on?

I am running the latest, Sonos 16.0. on a PC with Windows 11 Pro and on and iPad Pro with iPadOS 17.3.1

I have the USB set in the TP-Link Deco router as Access Authentication with username & password, which was entered in the Sonos app when it first read the drive.

Sharing on Windows looks normal?:

 

It is hard to place blame on either TP-Link or Sonos without this knowledge. The use of a USB device, whatever version, suggests (but not certain) not an NAS drive, which begs the question, if your TP-Link is allowing access from other devices to a network share. This information should be in the TP-Link manual. 

Which version of the Sonos OS are you currently running? Have you set the share on this USB folder to all devices? Is there any VPN, port blocking, or other virus protection running anywhere? What device and OS is your controller running on?

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Does the TP-Link router treat connected USB drives as NAS devices? I.e does it have the necessary software to run SMB? Not all routers have built in NAS firmware to use USB connected drives as an NAS.  Also, remember that Sonos S1 uses SMB v1, but S2 can use SMB v2 or above.

The Sonos speaker (Linux) is running the library index, by connecting to the NAS via SMB, and not the Sonos controller on your device. 

However, if it shows up as a shared drive, and not an NAS, it’s handled differently by Sonos. 

I am not sure. All I know is the TP-Link router allows you to use the USB port as a network share with a USB 3.0 port to attach a flash drive, SSD or hard drive.

Very convenient to share media. But after the initial media index, it won’t index it again and says it’s “not available”

Does the TP-Link router treat connected USB drives as NAS devices? I.e does it have the necessary software to run SMB? Not all routers have built in NAS firmware to use USB connected drives as an NAS.  Also, remember that Sonos S1 uses SMB v1, but S2 can use SMB v2 or above.

The Sonos speaker (Linux) is running the library index, by connecting to the NAS via SMB, and not the Sonos controller on your device. 

However, if it shows up as a shared drive, and not an NAS, it’s handled differently by Sonos. 

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I am having the same exact issue with my TP-Link Deco mesh router. 

I spoke with Sonos Tech Support about it, and of course they acted like they never heard of this before, yet I see some of you have been encountering this for months.

I’d like this addressed, as the router has the USB port set to share and Sonos sees the library in the USB port and has the login credentials saves. Not sure why Indexing the library is an issue.

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We are still waiting to have this fixed.  Sonos doesn’t recognized the USB drive attached to my TP-Link router?  Any time line when this will be addressed?

If sonos just allowed legacy smb connections as well as more recent ones then it would work with the older routers like it used to.

Just upgraded my router to a TP-AEX5400 and ran into this issue.   From what I gather still no update on a fix.  Just chiming in to follow and see about solutions either being updates or workarounds.

This has just started being a problem on my system after working fine for years. What changed? Same asus ac68u router same usb ssd. New update on sonos? 

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We are still waiting for this to be addressed.  Any news from Sonos?

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I spoke with Sonos this week.  I was told they are aware of this and they still plan to address it. 

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Since Sonos states they are working on it, they at least feel responsible for a solution.

It would be an issue that TP-Link should be looking at. Sonos uses SMB protocols to reach out to available NAS installations, TP-Link needs to respond properly to that.
 

Note, not all routers have the hardware/CPU necessary to do this, but it’s not up to Sonos to ‘fix’. 

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I am still having this issue of getting my Sonos to recognize the USB plugged into my TP Link router.  Any news from Sonos?

I found a solution that worked for me. Like everyone, I had tweaked the network, router, firewall etc, and kept on getting the same message.

Started to suspect that the error message may be misleading, or not entirely accurate.

Then, by chance, I browsed the music folders and noticed files that I think were created by Sonos in almost every folder. These files were called Folder.jpg, and AlbumArt*.jpg, and dated from 2021.  It made me wonder whether there was some issue related to these files, and decided to remove all of them. If Sonos needed them, I presume they would get re-created, or if Sonos was trying to remove them, maybe that caused an error.

After doing so, the re-index worked without error. I now have my Music Library back.

I hope that this works for others too, who have a USB/Network Drive with their music collection. In my case, the USB drive was inserted into my TP-Link router as I did not want to have my computer switched on to use Sonos.

btw, deleting these files is easier using the ’find’ feature to list all files in your Music folder with name folder.jpg and then deleting. Do the same file with all jpg files starting with AlbumArtwork. 

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Please check to make sure this issue is still on the bug working list of the software team.

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OK Cory,  Thanks for your answer.  Looking at several threads on this site, it seems that quite a few SONOS users are experiencing this serious bug and are unable to use their personal music libraries with SONOS.  I hope you can raise the priority with the software team fix this problem.  This is causing significant user dissatisfaction with an otherwise great ecosystem.

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Hi @gmendenh 

Thanks for your post!

This issue has not yet been addressed. There is still no ETA to share, unfortunately.

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