sonos port not working as upnp renderer from foobar2000

HI @Corry P 

thanks for getting back to me, I am using both the Port’s Digital and Analogue (RCA) outs and neither currently work when I try so send a UPnP stream from foobar2000 to the Port. Foobar isn’t able to start the stream although interestingly it doesn’t throw an error it just pauses. I tried disconnecting the (ARCAM irDAC) from the Coax digtal feed from the Port but that didn’t make any difference.

The Sonos Port is running 15.2 build ..316 H/W version 1.29.1.9-2.2 Series ID A102

Looking forward to a fix, as I say the same PC can stream to the Roam and all devices that I have on my S1 system (Play 5, One SL, Connect).

HI @Corry P  here’s the diag ref

116911275

I’ve also given a screen grab where you can see Foobar is just “stuck”

Hi @groove_regulator 

Thanks for the diagnostics! I see no sign in them of the Port receiving any instruction to play anything, nor of a connection being made.

Combine this with the fact that you are able to play to the Port via BubbleUPnP, and I’m tempted to come to the conclusion that foobar2000 is where the problem lies, though I don’t understand why it is still able to play to the Roam. It’s certainly strange. Was there a software update for foobar2000 recently?

Just in case this is down to the network, you could try disconnecting the Port from ethernet - that way, it will be using the same network interface as the Roam, which may, for some reason, perform differently. 

I hope this helps, but please be aware it is really just a guess. Our official answer will always be to add the folder to Sonos’ Music Library and select music to play from within the Sonos app (though if you exceed the limit of ~65,000 tracks, we recommend the use of Plex instead).

One point to add, although you’re not seeing anything in the logs, there is certainly some reaction from the Port when I start the stream since as I say I can hear the DAC “click” which as I say it does when changing sample rates or inputs. To clarify, with the output in Foobar set to the Port, if I double click around a playlist, choosing tracks at random, I’ll hear the DAC “click” each time but the stream won’t start.

HI @Corry P 

Diagnostics ID whilst successfully using BubbleUPnP 1771870117

Hi @groove_regulator 

Thanks for performing those tests and providing the diagnostics - I’ve had a look and I think I see what the problem is.

So, when the request is sent via BubbleUPnP, I can see the Port accept the prompt to start playing and it does so. With the foobar2000 attempt, however, the Port is immediately crashing and restarting it’s main software - it can recover from this in a mere second or two, but it obviously doesn’t play the requested media (you might even see the Port go offline for a moment in the Sonos app).

Due to another recent thread here on the community which strikes me as similar, in a way, I suspect a possible reason for this happening might be if the file foobar2000 is trying to play is extremely short - as in, a second or two long. Could you please confirm if this is the case or not? Thanks.

This is of course not expected or wanted behaviour, but if I can verify that the length of the track is the issue, I can at least say we’ve seen this behaviour before and are investigating.

I suspect that the person on this thread was also using UPnP to initiate playback, but the tiny audio file crashed my Amp via Music Library playback, so I don’t think the issue was do to the UPnP method.

Edit: from your first post, it doesn’t actually look like it being a short file is the answer, but I’ll wait for you to confirm.

Hi @groove_regulator 

Ah yes - the “click”. I asked, and Port has no mechanical parts, so the click must be coming from your amplifier - which is totally normal behaviour (especially since the Port is rebooting) and not a concern in any way.

Given that the issue is not related to the length of the file, however, and that UPnP playback is possible but not supported, I’m afraid the best advice I can give you at the moment is to not use foobar200 and use BubbleUPnP instead, if possible.

We did tighten some security recently, so it could be that BubbleUPnP is adhering to the increased security requirements more than foobar2000 is, but please be aware that this is just a guess and should not be taken as definite.

I hope you find a workaround that suits your usage needs.

Hi @groove_regulator 

My colleague is currently looking into this issue, as although UPnP is unsupported, our products shouldn’t be crashing, so yes please - a diagnsotic of Roam playing successfully will be helpful as all data points will be useful, I think.

The Music Library indexing problem only seems to exist for some NAS drives, though I certainly appreciate how annoying all this must be for you. One option would be to have your library stored on a computer instead, though if you don’t already have a computer powered on 24/7 I can see why this wouldn’t be ideal. I personally have my S2 system linking to a Raspberry Pi with a Samba share and experience no issues, though I admit I don’t need to connect a S1 system to it too (though I do have an Android SMB app that needs SMBv1).

My colleague is currently trying to reproduce your issue with a macOS version of foobar2000 without success (as in, it works). Could you please provide us with the software version of foobar2000 that you’re running and, if possible, a sample file (via Dropbox or Google Drive or similar) of what you’re trying to play? He’s about to start trying on Windows now. Thanks.

HI @Corry P as always I appreciate your continued support, so Diagnostics ID with foobar2000 successfully sending the stream to the Roam → 1701381231

Foobar version v1.6.11

Foobar has the default foo_out_upnp component installed v1.3.2

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the file I’m trying to stream, I’ve not managed to get it to “break” using the Roam no matter what I send (I had it streaming to the Roam from foobar2000 for about 5 hours on the weekend with no issues).

Let me know if I can do anything else.

Tony

Hi @groove_regulator 

Thanks for all those details - I’ve passed them to a colleague, and I will get back to you once he’s done some testing.

HI @Corry P 

Hi @groove_regulator 

Thanks for that!

I’m pretty sure this is a software issue - with hardware issues, things tend to either work or not work, and they don’t get so weirdly specific.

My colleague has had to order himself a Port (we’re mostly all working from home, so don’t have immediate access to all models) to test properly - so far, he’s been testing on an Amp and has been unable to reproduce the behaviour. I’ll get back to you in a day or three.