Accessing Melco from MinimServer on QNAP

[Peter@57m]

I was messing around with my MinimServer instances and at one point think I had MinimServer running on my QNAP but accessing music files on my Melco rather than on the QNAP. I had been copying some properties using cut and paste from one to the other.

Now I must admit I am not 100% sure I did this, but did overwrite the contentDir in the QNAP properties without properly taking note of what was there.

I have tried to refer to the Melco directory from the QNAP but haven't successfully found the correct format.

Am I deluding myself that I ever had this configuration working or can somebody tell me how to set the contentDir property to refer to a Melco file system in the MinimServer properties on the QNAP.

Thanks, Peter

[simoncn]

QNAP File Station allows you to create a remote mount for any network shared folder. For details, search for "remote mount" on this page.

[Peter@57m]

Thank you Simon, I am now able to remote mount the Melco disk in filestation.

Does this make it available outside filestation to other apps on the QNAP such as MinimServer? How do I refer to a remote mount in the contentDir property.

thanks, Peter

[simoncn]

After a fair amount of trial and error, I have discovered that you can do the following:

1) In File Station, right-click the mounted folder that you want to access and select Properties

2) In the folder name field at the top of the Properties pop-up, right-click and select Copy

3) Paste the copied value into the contentDir field

Edit: Just tried this again and doesn't seem to work any more. No idea what has changed.

[simoncn]

I'm still not sure how I managed to do this for a few brief minutes yesterday. My best efforts to repeat it have failed.

The remote mount is accessible in a folder with a path such as /mnt/rf/nd/0/04038e1e9ad691d8768997dffce3057a6044ffa4. This folder path can be used in the MinimServer contentDir property. As far as I know, the only reliable way to find the correct folder path is by logging in to the QNAP via SSH and running the command:

mount -v | grep cifs

I don't know if the path stays the same after a QNAP reboot.

[Peter@57m]

Thank you Simon

I will try both ways.

However this is leading me to the conclusion that I was most likely fooling myself that I had MinimServer running on the QNAP with the files stored on the Melco.

I wanted to try doing this as I had a Roon Nucleus plus on trial. It was reading and indexing the files on the Melco. The playback music path seemed to be Melco file to GS105 switch to Roon Nucleus plus to switch to Melco to KDSM.

At times I thought the Roon sounded better than the Melco direct at other times the reverse. The Roon was obviously taking some processing off the Melco and I wanted to see if I could replicate this with the Melco and QNAP, by having the QNAP MinimServer serve the music rather that the Melco.

Will have a go in November when I get back from a diving trip :-)

[simoncn]

Having an external device serve the audio files and using the Melco as a pure renderer can (in my experience) improve audio quality. I have tried this with a Melco N1Z as a UPnP renderer and a Melco N1A as a UPnP server, the latter running MinimServer. I haven't tried any experiments with offloading file access using the SMB/CIFS file serving protocol.