There are three parts to building a system to centralize your music library on a network drive for use by a Sonos system. A network resource to make music files available. You've done this. A file transfer tool to copy music from your 'real' library to your networked library. You've done this, too, but you want to know if your choice is reasonable. Plex music library not showing up on Sonos iOS controller. Been using and loving Plex for a year as my music service/library. Been pushing it through Sonos Play 1 and Sonos base. Once in a while Sonos acted up primarily because our Wifi was weak or because Sonos is generally unable to work smoothly with large libraries (65k tracks+).

Hi Folks

I posted this on the Sonos forum.

I have a number of Sonos products.

I also have a Naim UnitiStar which has a locally connected USB drive containing my music library. The Unitistar has a built in UpNp server.

My Sonos system has accessed this music library without any issues for a long time (years). However, this evening, it cannot access the library ‘unable to connect’ messages.

I’ve tried the basic stuff to try and fix this - but no joy. My Mac and My Smart TV’s can all connect to the Music Library on the UnitiStar without a problem.

but I wanted to post here also in case anyone had any suggestions.

One comment I have had back so far is ‘did Naim remove SMB v1 support with a recent firmware update’ - Sonos still needs it. (I very recently upgraded to 3.5.1 and I can’t remember if the problem specifically started since then.

Any help appreciated!

Cheers,

Damian

NAS and Sonos

Update 2021

There is now a simpler way to use Sonos speakers with a Brennan - details here.
NAS stands for Network Attached Storage - that basically means that the music on the Brennan B2 hard disk can be seen by other devices on the same network.
The main benefit is that you can combine Brennan with Sonos.
To Enable NAS

Settings->Maintenance->Start NAS

You only have to do it once.

Using with Windows

Not very exciting but useful - skip this if you just want to use with Sonos. Some owners back up their B2s this way.
Start Windows Explorer
Click on the Network tab on the left.
It may take a while at first but you will see BRENNANB2 like this
When you click on BRENNANB2 the first time you will need a user and password as follows. Cannot

User: root

Cannot Update Music Library On Sonos

Password: brennan
You will then see the music folder on the brennan - you can treat it like any other folder on the PC.
If you add music to the B2 then you need to do Settings->Scan Disk for the B2 to be aware.
If you delete or rename existing music then you should also restart the B2 then do Scan Disk.
NB Some B2 owners tell me you can simply type //192.168.0.4/music (substitute your IP address) into Windows File Explorer - saves it having to scan the network.

Using with Sonos

This assumes you have a working Sonos system on the same network as the Brennan.

Cannot Access Music Library On Sonos

You need to add the B2 to the Sonos Music Library
Launch the Sonos program then click on Manage->Music Library Settings... Cannot Update Music Library On Sonos

Click on Add then select the NAS option.
Set the path to the Brennan B2 music folder. You can use Browse - you will find it under the network folder.
Click on the music folder. Or type the path directly as below.
Although the examples shown by Sonos is asking you to enter BRENNANB2music it appears it does need to be Sonos

//BRENNANB2/music i.e. forward slash. Enter the user and password - “root” and “brennan” respectively - not the quotes
The Sonos will then spend ~~quite a few minutes~~ a ridiculously long time indexing the Brennan B2 - don’t worry it doesn’t do it every time. Make a cup of coffee. If you have a lot of music make a meal. You can tell its doing something if you listen to the B2 you can hear the hard disk head moving.
You can then find all the music on the B2 under Music Library/Folders.

The music is organised by artist and album - but paradoxically does not appear in the Sonos categories (artist, album, composer, genre etc) this is because B2 does not tag tracks with ID3 tags presently.
You can play music on the B2 to any and all of your Sonos speakers. Add music to the queue and create Sonos playlists. The B2 becomes part of the Sonos system.

iPad NAS App

I found an app for the iPad (and Android) that may be useful.
File explorer from Skyjos lets you use the B2 NAS on your tablet or phone.
To make it work hit + (New Connection) then select NAS and fill out the diaglog like this.

Can I play B2 through my Sonos speakers?

Strictly speaking you don't play the B2 through the Sonos speakers.
Instead the Sonos system plays music it finds on the B2 hard disk.
Its an important difference - it means you don't control it from the B2 but from the Sonos app.

But it does mean you can play different pieces of music on different speakers if you wanted.