NAS & Sonos

NAS
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. 

Sonos can use NAS but we added a much better way of using B2 or BB1 with Sonos here.


To Enable NAS

Settings->Maintenance->Start NAS

You only have to do it once.

Using with Windows

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.

User: root
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.

To repeat the earlier messsage Sonos can use NAS but we added a much better way of using B2 or BB1 with Sonos here.

You need to add the B2 to the Sonos Music Library

Launch the Sonos program then click on Manage->Music Library Settings...

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.

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.