Can I play Flac files direct from a USB hard drive connected to the Port?

No, the Sonos plays music from a network location, and doesn’t have the ability to read directly from USB sticks. Many, although not all, router’s provide an opportunity to set up USB sticks as NAS drives when connected directly to the router’s USB port, you may want to check the manual for your own router to see if it supports such a feature. 

Many thanks.  It’s not a USB stick, but a small (2 TB) external hard drive.  I thought maybe I could use a USB to ethernet adapter - but it sounds like that won’t work.  I have thought about using one of the USB ports in the router (Arris BGW 210), but I wasn’t sure how I would get the Sonos Port to “see it” in the network.  Is there a “how to” somewhere on that subject?

I haven’t ruled out an NAS server, but my IT skills are fairly modest.  Are there recommendations anywhere on what kind of NAS and software would work well with the Sonos Port?  BTW, when I rip and play files Ion my Windows laptop , I use the J River Media Center.  Now, the FLAC files will play through my Sony BDP without the software, so I know that they can be played without the software if the device can play FLAC files.  Thanks again!

Either way, stick or HD, it needs to be on the network. It can’t be read directly by Sonos. If there is a ‘how to’, it would be specific to your router make and model. As I suggested, check the manual, or perhaps do a google search on your router and the term NAS setup,

Sonos is a networked system, so any NAS that exists on your network would be fine. Right now, there’s a minor caveat that the NAS needs to accept SMB v1, but the expectation is that will change with the upcoming software revision. 

Thanks again.  The router manual confirmed that the USB ports for the ATT model are for “charging only” so that is not an option.  Thanks for the tip on SMB v1, since that’s one element of the alphabet soup of NAS specs.  Since the Sony Blu Ray player is also on the network, does that mean there is a way for the Sonos Port to access it?    

I don’t think so, I don’t believe it is a network location, but instead accesses the network. You could, however, check the manual for it for further details. 

Bruce,  Thanks again.  In the meantime, I have accessed the USB drive with the FLAC files through my laptop, and added them to the Sonos music library, so I know that the concept works!   There’s over 1,200 jazz CDs on the drive, so it took awhile.  I’d like to free myself from having to have the laptop up and booted for access to the music, so I’m going to try an older Windows 7 laptop that is sitting around collecting dust.    

Completely understand. Sometimes, getting music setups to match hardware requirements Seems to be a ‘thing’, but I think you’ll find the one time effort to be worth it. I was happy when I moved my library from my Mac to an NAS as well. 

This is probably a good candidate for a Raspberry PI based homebuilt NAS.  I know a few people here have set them up.  Searching these forums for Raspberry would help.  Just make sure it’s configured for SMBv1. (crossing fingers for S2 to finally overcome this hurdle.)

Something simple like this RAVPower Filehub might work well for you. available on amazon.

Thanks guys.  The RAVPower Filehub looks really interesting.  Given the cost, it might be worth a try before committing to an NAS.    My IT skills are ‘modest’ (to use a kind word), and so the task of building and configuring a Raspberry Pi may be too challenging for me.   Configuring an out of the box NAS is going to be a stretch for me.

So, as an example of my lack of knowledge, especially about networking,  it’s not clear to me how the Sonos system would “find” something like the RAV-PFH?  Would I try and install a Sonos app on this device?  Would I ethernet it directly to the Sonos Port?  If not, how would I connect something like this to the Sonos network?

So far, I’m a couple of hours into trying to get the old W7 laptop and USB drive combination to allow access to the “Music Library” in Sonos.  It tells me it’s still indexing, so I’m trying to be hopeful.