QNAP TS-101 review

[Mark Lanctot]

OK, so it covers the QNAP official firmware, not Progessive's SlimServer firmware, but still:

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1007&pageID=2803

Although the review is littered with grammatical errors (as most are, I'm not sure why) it will give you an idea of things that won't change - external appearance, connectors, specs, performance.

[roamingstudio]

Yep nice review.. if a lot of info is from the manual ;-)

New features are also on their way...

[Paul_B]

Ohhh come on RS let us know what is on the way and when firmware 1.3 is due for release

[roamingstudio]

Ok firmware 1.3.0 is in test - no major changes but some nice little updated features, and new Bit-Torrent (someone else has already mentioned they are using it)... I have no idea when it will be released - this is a Qnap thing!

If you want the prerelease firmware it can be downloaded from Qnap's ftp site. Note; I have no idea whether it will work with Progressive's modifications (paul mentioned new firmware headaches); and do not advocate doing so...

[Jazz1]

If I'm reading the forums right there is some UK shop that sells these with Slimserver installed. There is no U.S.A retail seller?

[roamingstudio]

Not at the moment. Progressive AV (uk) are planning on selling a install package for other users; and this is being tested with the new firmware. Still not sure for a release date... but it would be a web-download.

[flusk]

It also looks like there's iTunes DAAP support using mt-daapd if anyone fancies moving over to the dark side!

[Andy_W]

Ok firmware 1.3.0 is in test - no major changes but some nice little updated features, and new Bit-Torrent (someone else has already mentioned they are using it)... I have no idea when it will be released - this is a Qnap thing!

If you want the prerelease firmware it can be downloaded from Qnap's ftp site. Note; I have no idea whether it will work with Progressive's modifications (paul mentioned new firmware headaches); and do not advocate doing so...

I am using QNAP Beta 1.3 with no issues. There is another media server on board (Twonky) and this uses the same port as Slimserver. I changed the slimserver port number and everything is pretty sweet. I am not using the latest release of slimserver though - could not really see the need to upgrade. Only problem is that if you enable UPnP (ie Twonky), unit will not got into stand by (ie green light off). I have advised QNAP of the issue with regard to a final release.

I did mention in a previous post that I am streaming Xvids directly from the QNAP to a Kiss DP600 media player and hence on to my Plasma. It works really well, so much so I have just bought another QNAP (without Slimserver) for purely this purpose.

[Paul_B]

Andy can you provide more info on video streaming from your QNAP? I would like to have a play. Don't worry I will always use Slimserver and Squeezeebox for audio, plus with xPL and xAP the Squeezebox makes a lovely display for home-automation

[flusk]

TwonkyMedia 3.1 is already included in the 1.2.1 firmware. The new firmware just updates the version (to 4.1 I think).

So you can probably already play if you have a media player. I stream DVB-T MPEG2s from my TS-101 with no problems, although I also observe that disk spindown doesn't work.

[Andy_W]

Andy can you provide more info on video streaming from your QNAP? I would like to have a play. Don't worry I will always use Slimserver and Squeezeebox for audio, plus with xPL and xAP the Squeezebox makes a lovely display for home-automation

Hi Paul

Its really easy to get working. You need a device to recieve the video stream that is UPnP compliant. I have a Kiss DP600 media player that has both wireless and wired network connections. All Kiss products seem to be riddled with bugs and the DP600 is no exception. I cannot get the wireless network to work with WPA encryption, so I use Devolo high speed homeplugs for a wired connection. If you look on the Twonkyvision website there is a list of some of the available devices that the Qnap should be able to talk to.

Copy some avi files to the Qmulitmedia directory (I am mainly using xvids or divx files) Then you simply enable the UPnP server in the QNAP admin area and this directs you to port 9000. Unfortunately, Slimserver also uses this port, so you need to move it to another one - I am using 8500 and that seems to work.
You then should then see a Twonky admin webpage which you need to alter a few settings to get it to scan the Qmultimedia directory. Once scanned, it should appear as a directory in your recieving device. the Kiss uses Windows Media Connect and the QNAP appears as a Twonky device there. You then select the xvid you want to stream and that's it!

One of the reasons that Paul (Progressive) put the poll out to see if QNAP users wanted their music files in Qmultimedia share was to anticipate the increased introduction of UPnP compliant devices. You then have the option of streaming your music to other devices other than the SB.

Hope this helps!

[dennisolly]

Hi, I hope I am posting this in the right thread.

... I don't think this was the right thread so I removed the entry.

Dennis