AirConnect package for Synology NAS and Synology Router
Compatible with DSM 7! Please download package with name beginning with
AirConnect-dsm7-
.
A minimal Synology package for AirConnect.
It allows you to use AirPlay to stream to UPnP/Sonos & Chromecast devices that do not natively support AirPlay.
- AirConnect package for Synology NAS and Synology Router
Information
Here is some more information to get you started.
- AirConnect-Synology is a package for your synology devices to automate the installation and usage of AirConnect.
- AirConnect-Synology releases will use the official AirConnect version + the current build date as tag/version (f.e.
0.2.25.0-20200511
) - AirConnect-Synology is compatible for almost all synology devices starting from DSM 5.0-4458 up to the newest and latest release of DSM 7
- AirConnect-Synology releases will use the official AirConnect version + the current build date as tag/version (f.e.
- Starting with DSM7 AirConnect, so both programs,
aircast
andairupnp
will now run under the airconnect user (no root anymore!). And the complete package will now fully managed from DSM (Before some parts were managed in the startup scripts).
I own multiple Synology NAS devices and the current Synology Router. As long as that is the case, I will also update the releases regularly.
If a release is missing or does not work on your device, please open an issue, then I will check this and deliver it to.
How to install
Every pre-build synology package in the releases section are including these two programs:
airupnp
- For UPnP/Sonos players
aircast
- For Chromecast
So you only need one package to support UPnP, Sonos and Chromcast devices.
Download the pre-build Synology package
You can find the available packages under releases for the following synology DSM distributions (DSM 5, 6 and 7) and the different architecture groups of the synology NAS/Router devices.
DSM Firmware Version | Package Naming |
---|---|
DSM 5.0-xxxx AND DSM 6.0-xxxx (f.e. DSM 6.0-7321) | AirConnect-x86-64-${VERSION} (f.e. AirConnect-x86-64-0.2.50.5-20210630.spk) |
DSM 7.0-xxxx (f.e. DSM 7.0-40000) | AirConnect-dsm7-x86-64-${VERSION} (f.e. AirConnect-dsm7-86-64-0.2.50.5-20210630.spk) |
The minimum firmware version for the DSM7 packages is DSM 7.0-40000).
The minimum firmware version for the x86_64 package AirConnect-x86-64-${VERSION}
is DSM 6.0-7321.
For all other package the minimum firmware version is DSM 5.0-4458.
If the x86
(32-bit) package is not working on your device, please download the x86-64
(64-bit) package instead.
Architecture Group | Architecture | Package to download |
---|---|---|
ARMv5 | 88f6282, 88f6281, 88f628x | AirConnect-(dsm7-)arm5-${VERSION} |
ARMv7 | ipq806x, ipq806x, armada370, armadaxp, armada375, armada38x, alpine, alpine4k, monaco, comcerto2k, hi3535, dakota, ipq806x, northstarplus | AirConnect-(dsm7-)arm-${VERSION} |
ARMv7 Static | noarch, ipq806x, ipq806x, armada370, armadaxp, armada375, armada38x, alpine, alpine4k, monaco, comcerto2k, hi3535, dakota, ipq806x, northstarplus | AirConnect-a(dsm7-)rm-static-${VERSION} |
ARMv8 | rtd1296, armada37xx | AirConnect-(dsm7-)aarch64-${VERSION} |
ARMv8 Static | noarch, rtd1296, armada37xx | AirConnect-(dsm7-)aarch64-static-${VERSION} |
PowerPC | qoriq, Ppc853x | AirConnect-(dsm7-)ppc-${VERSION} |
PowerPC Static | noarch, qoriq, Ppc853x | AirConnect-(dsm7-)ppc-static-${VERSION} |
Intel - 32-bit | x86, cedarview, bromolow, evansport, braswell, broadwell, dockerx64, kvmx64, denverton, grantley, broadwellnk, Broadwellntbap | AirConnect-(dsm7-)x86-${VERSION} |
Intel/AMD - 64-bit (DSM 6.0+) | x86_64, x64, cedarview, bromolow, avoton, braswell, broadwell, apollolake, dockerx64, kvmx64, denverton, grantley, broadwellnk, Broadwellntbap, v1000, geminilake, purley | AirConnect-(dsm7-)x86-64-${VERSION} |
You can check which architecture you have in the Package Arch
column on the Synology What kind of CPU does my Synology NAS have? site.
If the above ARMv7 package will not work on your device, please download the latest
arm-static
package. The static package includes "static" binaries, that means, it includes binaries that have no external library dependencies and should be run on your ARMv7 device if the normal ARMv7 package fails.
If the above PowerPC package will not work on your device, please download the latest
ppc-static
package. The static package includes "static" binaries, that means, it includes binaries that have no external library dependencies and should be run on your PPC device if the normal PPC package fails.
For the Synology Routers you should use the ARM (ARMv7 - dakota, ipq806x, northstarplus) version. If the normal ARM package is not working on your device, please try ARM Static instead.
Upgrade from DSM6 to DSM7
If you upgrade your NAS from DSM6 to DSM7, you should just download the new dsm7 package for your device. The old package and new DSM6 packages will not work anymore, since DSM7 changes a lot under the hood (no more root permissions for packages, minimum package version 7.0, etc.).
Just download the DSM7 package and install it from the Package Center as usual.
If you encounter any problems, please read the troubleshooting section first.
Install via GUI (Package Center)
- Open the Package Center app.
- (On DSM5 and some DSM6 Devices) As this package is not an official Synology package you may have to
- Allow packages from any publisher
- Go to Settings and set the Trust Level to "Any publisher".
- Allow packages from any publisher
- Click on Manual Install and upload the package you just downloaded.
Don't forget to change back the Trust level to "Synology Inc." for additional security.
Install via command line
- Connect to your NAS/Router via ssh (How to login to DSM with root permission via SSH/Telnet)
- Copy over or download your release for your architecture
- For example, you can use (S)FTP to copy your files to your NAS (How to access files on Synology NAS via FTP ).
- You can also copy your files to a shared folder (f.e.
home
->/volume1/home
) on your NAS and, after connecting via ssh, change to the shared folder directory.
- Change the path to the directory where you copied the package file (f.e.
home
->cd /volume1/home
). - Run the following command based on your architecture and version
sudo synopkg install AirConnect-${ARCH}-${VERSION}.spk
- Example:
sudo synopkg install AirConnect-arm-0.2.24.7-20200417.spk
- Example:
- Start the AirConnect package with
sudo /usr/syno/bin/synopkg start AirConnect
or trough the Package Center - Check the status of AirConnect with
sudo /usr/syno/bin/synopkg status AirConnect
- The default installation directory is located here:
/var/packages/AirConnect/
- The binaries can be found in:
/var/packages/AirConnect/target/
- The binaries can be found in:
You could also clone this repository on your synology device and build your package for your architecture locally, check Build for more details.
Logfiles
- AirConnect-Synology and AirConnect Log File
- The AirConnect application logfile is located at
/volume1/airconnect/log/airconnect.log
(default location)- This is a symlink of
/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/log/airconnect.log
- This is a symlink of
- You can open it using the Synology FileStation by navigating to
airconnect
-log
- You can also open it after login with ssh to your NAS/Router:
sudo /usr/syno/bin/synopkg log AirConnect
or by using a command line utility likemore
(more /volume1/airconnect/log/airconnect
)tail
(tail -100 /volume1/airconnect/log/airconnect
).- If you get a
permission denied
, you should use the full path, f.e.more volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/log/airconnect.log
- If you get a
- You can also open it after login with ssh to your NAS/Router:
- This log file is written by the AirConnect-Synology package. All log entries of the AirConnect application (airupnp + aircast) are also written into this log file.
- This is the first place to look for errors.
- The AirConnect application logfile is located at
- Synology Service Log File
- The synology dsm package logfile ist located at
/var/log/packages/AirConnect.log
- This logfile is used from DSM/Synology for all installation/uninstallation/update purposes
- In general you will only use it for debugging purposes
- The synology dsm package logfile ist located at
How it works
It runs the AirConnect processes with the following options by default tuned for sonos:
/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/airupnp -b [synology device local ip]:49154 -l 1000:2000 -x "/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/config.xml" -o "<NULL>,S1,S3,S5,S9,S12,ZP80,ZP90,S15,ZP100,ZP120,1.0,LibreWireless" -z -f "/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/log/airconnect.log" -d all=info
/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/aircast -b [synology device local ip] -l 1000:2000 -x "/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/config-cast.xml" -z -f "/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/log/airconnect.log" -d all=info
Supported UPnP Speakers
To speed up the detection of Sonos/UPnP/DLNA speakers and to do not discover speakers which natively supports airplay, this synology package will only include the devices mentioned in the table below.
If you have another UPnP based speaker that you want to be supported by this package which is not in the list below, please open an issue and let me know (Please tell me the product name (model name, model number etc.))
With
-o <NULL>,S1,S3,S5,S9,S12,ZP80,ZP90,S15,ZP100,ZP120,1.0,LibreWireless
the sonos/UPnP speakers that are natively supporting AirPlay or AirPlay2 will be ignored from AirConnect/airupnp and only the ones listed with-o
will be used. Since no new "non airplay" speakers (from sonos) will be released in the future, that should work in any case. So they will be not displayed twice in the list.
How to detect UPnP speakers on your network
To find UPnP speakers, their device_description URL and the model number, follow the following steps.
If you are familiar with linux commands you could use tcpdump
to discover upnp devices on your network. You can install tcpdump on any synology NAS by using he integrated synology diagnostic tools. Just execute as root via SSH synogear install
to install the diagnostic tools. See documentation here: FAQ-synogear.
Synogear also installs a few other useful linux/busybox commands. I have installed the diagnostic tools (synogear) on every synology device that i own.
Change en0 to your network adapter name (wait a few seconds until the devices get discovered)
sudo tcpdump -vv -A -s 0 -i en0 host 239.255.255.250 and port 1900 | grep LOCATION
Then you need to find your device ip and catch the location URL.
With the curl
command (or the browser of your choice) you can then search for the modelNumber
in the device xml configuration:
curl http://192.168.1.122:1400/xml/device_description.xml | grep modelNumber
S12 is a Sonos Play:1 in this example.
This modelNumber is the number that i need to extend the following List of supported UPnP Speakers.
List of supported UPnP Speakers
Model Number | Friendly Name | Comment (Sonos seriesid, etc.) |
---|---|---|
S1 | Sonos Play:1 (old model) | A101 |
S3 | Sonos Play:3 | A100 |
S5 | Sonos Play:5 | P100 |
S9 | Sonos Playbar | A100 |
S12 | Sonos Play:1 | A200 |
S15 | Sonos Connect | S100 |
ZP80 | Sonos Connect (old model) | C100 |
ZP90 | Sonos Connect | C100 |
ZP100 | Sonos Connect:Amp (old model) | P100 |
ZP120 | Sonos Connect:Amp | P100 |
1.0 | LibreWireless based Speakers | LibreSyncDMR |
LibreWireless | LibreWireless based Speakers | LibreSyncDMR |
<NULL> |
All speakers without a model number |
See Command-Line Arguemts for more information about these arguments.
These default options should work for most of you but can also be changed by using a configuration file.
Both processes are running with the low-privilege user airconnect
.
The processes will only recognise your devices if they are bound to the appropriate local network IP, but this is not trivial as there are various Synology devices and network setups out there.
The start script will check all your local network interfaces for private ip addresses (Ranges: 192.168.*
or 10.*
or 172.16.* - 172.31.*
or 17.0.64.* - 17.0.127.*
).
The startup check if new speakers were discovered is currently disabled due to a bug:
After startup of airupnp/aircast the processes will check if any device (Sonos/UPnP/Chromcast) was discovered (based on some log entries).
It there are no devices added in the first 10 seconds after startup, it will try the next interface (if more interfaces are available).
For the automatic IP discovery to work you should have at least one UPnP/Sonos/Chromecast device that is online in your local network.
If no device was discovered, the processes will be stopped automatically.
If the start script is not able to find the right IP automatically you can fix it in scripts/start-stop-status
by setting your own local IP (of your nas/router) and building your own package.
Look for the following lines:
# If you want to start the airconnect processes on a specific IP please uncomment the following lines
# and set your own local IP address:
#
# start_airconnect_on_ip "1.2.3.4" || true
# return 0
Alternatively you can open an issue and include your network interface list and your local IP and i will extend the default network interfaces filter with your list.
Configuration
If you would like to tweak the AirConnect configuration you can also use the AirConnect configuration file.
Before continuing please check the official readme for more information. I'm not going to explain how it generally works here.
Command-Line Arguemts
airupnp
v0.2.41.0 (Dec 8 2020 @ 18:43:14)
See -t for license terms
Usage: [options]
-b <server>[:<port>] network interface and UPnP port to use
-a <port>[:<count>] set inbound port and range for RTP and HTTP
-c <mp3[:<rate>]|flc[:0..9]|wav|pcm> audio format send to player
-g <-3|-1|0> HTTP content-length mode (-3:chunked, -1:none, 0:fixed)
-u <version> set the maximum UPnP version for search (default 1)
-x <config file> read config from file (default is ./config.xml)
-i <config file> discover players, save <config file> and exit
-I auto save config at every network scan
-l <[rtp][:http][:f]> RTP and HTTP latency (ms), ':f' forces silence fill
-r let timing reference drift (no click)
-f <logfile> write debug to logfile
-p <pid file> write PID in file
-m <n1,n2...> exclude devices whose model include tokens
-n <m1,m2,...> exclude devices whose name includes tokens
-o <m1,m2,...> include only listed models; overrides -m and -n (use <NULL> if player don't return a model)
-d <log>=<level> Set logging level, logs: all|raop|main|util|upnp, level: error|warn|info|debug|sdebug
-z Daemonize
-Z NOT interactive
-k Immediate exit on SIGQUIT and SIGTERM
-t License terms
aircast
v0.2.41.0 (Dec 8 2020 @ 18:41:57)
See -t for license terms
Usage: [options]
-b <address> network address to bind to
-a <port>[:<count>] set inbound port and range for RTP and HTTP
-c <mp3[:<rate>]|flc[:0..9]|wav> audio format send to player
-v <0..1> group MediaVolume factor
-x <config file> read config from file (default is ./config.xml)
-i <config file> discover players, save <config file> and exit
-I auto save config at every network scan
-l <[rtp][:http][:f]> RTP and HTTP latency (ms), ':f' forces silence fill
-r let timing reference drift (no click)
-f <logfile> Write debug to logfile
-p <pid file> write PID in file
-d <log>=<level> Set logging level, logs: all|raop|main|util|cast, level: error|warn|info|debug|sdebug
-z Daemonize
-Z NOT interactive
-k Immediate exit on SIGQUIT and SIGTERM
-t License terms
Config File
By default the config file will not being used as long as the file is not created (And you are not running on debug log level). The file is not created by default.
- Config File location for airupnp
/volume1/airconnect/config.xml
- Config File location for aircast
/volume1/airconnect/config-cast.xml
You can create each of these files manually or a reference version can be generated using the -i [config file name]
command line parameter.
For the following example i am using the default configuration you can find above in the How it works section. I am just change the -x
parameter with the -i
parameter.
Change the ip and parameters for your needs:
Example:
/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/airupnp -b 192.168.1.249:49154 -l 1000:2000 -i "/volume1/@appstore/AirConnect/config.xml" -o "S1,S3,S5,S9,S12,ZP80,ZP90,S15,ZP100,ZP120" -z -f "/var/log/airconnect.log" -d all info -d main=info
After running this command, airupnp will be started until all needed information and devices are gathered, stopped and the resulted configuration will be written to the defined config file.
Player specific settings, hints and tips
Please check the original Player specific hints and tips from philippe44 for more information.
Sonos
The upnp version is often used with Sonos players. When a Sonos group is created, only the master of that group will appear as an AirPlay player and others will be removed if they were already detected. If the group is later split, then individual players will re-appear.
You need to use the Sonos native application for grouping / ungrouping.
When changing volume of a group, each player's volume is changed trying to respect the relative values. It's not perfect and still under test now. To reset all volumes to the same value, simply move the cursor to 0 and then to the new value. All players will have the same volume then. You need to use the Sonos application to change individual volumes.
To identify your Sonos players, pick an identified IP address, and visit the Sonos status page in your browser, like http://192.168.1.126:1400/support/review
. Click Zone Players
and you will see the identifiers for your players in the UUID
column.
Bose SoundTouch
@chpusch has found that Bose SoundTouch work well including synchronisation (as for Sonos, you need to use Bose's native application for grouping / ungrouping). I don't have a SoundTouch system so I cannot do the level of slave/master detection I did for Sonos
Pioneer/Phorus/Play-Fi
Check the Configuration section on how to apply the below tuning to the configuration.
Some of these speakers only support mp3 and require a modified ProtocolInfo
to stream correctly. This can be done by editing the config file and changing <codec>flac</codec>
to <codec>mp3</codec>
and replacing the <mp3>..</mp3>
line with:
<mp3>http-get:*:audio/mpeg:DLNA.ORG_PN=MP3;DLNA.ORG_OP=00;DLNA.ORG_CI=0;DLNA.ORG_FLAGS=0d500000000000000000000000000000</mp3>
Build
You need to install the following packages on your distribution:
- make
- shellcheck
After that you can start the build process by running shellcheck
or directly with the build steps.
Run shellcheck (optional)
make shellcheck
Build packages for all architectures
make clean build-all
Build a package for a specific architecture
ARCH=arm make clean build
Possible values for ARCH: arm, aarch64, arm5, ppc, ppc-static, x86, x86-64
You can find the built packages in the dist directory.
Troubleshooting
Cannot be installed or pgrade from an older version
If you get an error message that the package cannot be installed or updated or started when updating AirConnect-Synology, please uninstall the old version first (Package Center -> AirConnect -> Uninstall
) and then install the new version. Uninstalling also removes the old scripts, references and configurations (only the logfile remains). Sometimes it can happen that the problem is already fixed with this.
If the normal uninstallation also does not work, please cleanup the old package using SSH with root permissions:
-
Delete old package (directory)
rm -rf /var/packages/AirConnect
-
Delete old airconnect user(s) from a previous installation
synouser --del airconnect
synouser --del airconnect__PKG_
-
Delete old airconnect group from a previous installation
synogroup --del airconnect
-
After that please install the new package as found in how-to-install
Issues
If you have a problem installing or using one of these packages and/or are stuck, please open an issue.
It would be very helpful for me if you tell me the synology device you are using, the package you have downloaded and upload the two logfiles mentioned in the Logfiles section or include the important parts from the logfiles in the issue.
If the package was installed successfully and airupnp
and aircast
are running and no strange problems will be shown in the logfile but for you it is not working as excpeted, please consider opening an issue at the officiall AirConnect Repository.
Multicast and IGMP Snooping/Proxy
Most of the problems with AirConnect are related to the local network configuration. AirConnect (and therefore Sonos/Chromecast) require Multicast to function properly. You must ensure that the communication within your network supports multicast. Especially important is the communication:
Chromecast/Sonos speakers <-> (WLAN)-Router <-> (Switch/Firewall <->) Smartphone which is used
So make sure that multicast is allowed on your router, your switches and your firewall and configure settings like IGMP snooping + IGMP proxy so that the communication is guaranteed. For testing, please deactive igmp snooping everywhere if you have activated it.
I have activated but properly configured igmp snooping and igmp proxy + different VLANs. It will work with AirConnect, if properly configured.
- When players disappear regularly, it might be that your router is filtering out multicast packets. For example and testing, for a Asus AC-RT68U, you have to login by ssh and run
echo 0 > /sys/class/net/br0/bridge/multicast_snooping
but it does not stay after a reboot. - Lots of users seems to have problems with Unify and broadcasting / finding players. Here is a guide ubnt-sonos made by somebody who fixes the issue for his Sonos environment
For additional information, please check the following issues in the official AirConnect Repository:
- Best Practises for getting AirUPnP working in networks?
- Troubleshooting Steps for airupnp AirPlay Devices not Appearing?
- Devices disappear after ~1-2 Minutes
- Devices found, but not being added
- Unable to Connect to "device"
Debugging
If you want to see more logs then change the -d all=info
parameter in scripts/start-stop-status
to -d all=debug
and rebuild the package, then install it again.
License
Credits
Credits go to @bandesz for the initial work and idea of a Synology package for AirConnect and of course to philippe44 for this great AirConnect application.