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[Jmack]

I've had my 323 for several years, but just decided to start serving music using the itunes server.

I have 2 PC's which have the same following issue which is not allowing me to access the music properly from itunes.

I have the newest itunes installed on both PC's (itunes 10.5.2.11).

the 323 shows up under "shared" in itunes as expected.  When click on it, it accesses the 323, displays the music files as expected for 2 seconds, then go back to the local library.  I've tried refreshing the itunes server and resetting the 323, but this continues.

Any thoughts?

[jhtopping]

Did you turn on Home Sharing within iTunes?  These might help:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4620

[Jmack]

thanks for the suggestion.

I do have the sharing on - not it...

[thejinx6]

Hey Jmack,

I had the same issue which plagued me for weeks. I determined that it was down to some of my mp3 files that contained corrupt information which in turn caused the itunes server to do exactly what you re experiencing.

Try using mp3val to repair and invalid information in yor mp3 collection on your hard drive(s). I used mp3val as its free and fixed my problem. Add all you mp3 files and scan them for errors then click the 'repair all files with errors' button.

Allow these changes to be reflected in the itunes server database on you dns323 (ie wait a couple of hours or force a refresh of the database) and try again in itunes to see if that fixed it.

Alternatively transfer all your music to another source and add 'fixed' music sytematically to your drive whilst looking to see if the problem crops up in itunes.

Depending on the size of your collection these suggestions may take you ages...

let us know how you get on...

[GordonJLee]

I am experiencing the exact same symptoms as described by Jmack.  And I want this fixed.  However I think it is Apple's problem, as explained below.

For the record, I was at firmware version 1.09 and just upgraded to 1.10, the behavior is the same for both versions.  My iTunes client is version 10.5.2.11.

I simplified the problem as follows: on the DNS-323 iTunes Server settings, I cleared the "Root" check box and set the Folder to a directory that contains a single album of mp3 files, there are about 14 mp3 files in this directory.  I also downloaded mp3val as suggested by thejinx6 in the previous post.  I used the mp3val tool to scan the files in this directory and there were no problems at all.  And still, the iTunes client behaves just as Jmack described.  When I click on the NAS entry under SHARED on iTunes, it takes a moment to load, then the 14 files appear for about 1 second, long enough to see that it is looking at the directory that I expect, and then iTunes clears the frame and shifts the focus back to LIBRARY:Music.

I used Wireshark to capture the protocol transaction between the NAS and my PC, and I can see the DAAP conversation.  I am an embedded software engineer and I work on network devices, so I am accustomed to debugging problems with Wireshark, but I am new to this particular protocol.  Wireshark shows the transactions at all its layers: TCP, HTTP, DAAP.  The DAAP and HTTP look complete and normal.  If I expand the DAAP content, I can see the catalog of mp3 files from the directory.  At the TCP layer, it is the iTunes client PC that sends the FIN first, and the server sends a FIN after.  Given the that the DAAP transaction looks complete, I think the FIN from the client makes sense.  It is logical that once the client and server have exchanged the catalog information, the client will close the connection until the client needs to perform some further action in response to user input.

What I would conclude from this is that the problem is more likely in iTunes than in the NAS.  I will take this information over to the Apple discussion forums.

If someone at D-Link would like to have my packet capture I am willing to share it.

[GordonJLee]

I cross posted this issue to the Apple Discussion forum,

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2564964?start=135&tstart=0

And I called Apple phone support.  The first level tech support rep passed me to a 2nd level rep, and he basically told me that Apple does not support an "iTunes Server" on a home LAN.  He based this on the fact that a search of the Apple Knowledge base turned up nothing in support of this feature.

So, no help from that quarter.

sigh.

[Jmack]

Thanks Gordon.

I also reduced down to 1 folder and 4-5 mp3's, cleaned then as jinx suggested and ended up with the same issue, as you note.

Agree that it sounds like an itunes issue.

Frustrating to say the least...

Let us know what you find out.

Pretty limiting in terms of sharing out the music.

[GordonJLee]

FWIW, I am still monitoring this issue.  iTunes released 10.5.3.3, but there is no change to the behavior.

I suspect that Apple deliberately put something in the iTunes client to detect a non-Apple server and close the connection.  This would be consistent with their quest for market-dominance.  They are becoming the sort of closed monopoly player that Microsoft was always vilified for being.

Anyways, I think at this point it may be D-Link's responsibility to find out what the secret handshake is in the protocol so the iTunes client will work with the DNS-323 server.

    - Gordon

[blastro]

I think itunes intentionally broke NAS support on ver 10 as they started to drive people to the apple cloud.  Google around on "itunes 10 breaks NAS support" - plenty of apple forum chatter.  I went back to itunes 9 and NAS support with my 323 works fine but I'm also not having to support other apple products with an up to date itunes.