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Nuvo Troubleshooting

Having trouble with your Nuvo Player Portfolio System?


Explore our troubleshooting library below to find fixes to the issues you may be experiencing.

System Diagnostics
Using URL Scheme with Bitwise App
Wireless Frequency Quick Change
Zone Player Has No Audio Output
Zones Appear or Disappear
Zone Software Upgrade Issues
Player Portfolio Third Party Drivers
"Not Connected" Control App Screen
Not Recognizing Wireless Zones
Control Device Can't Discover Zones
Cradlepoint Router
Fios Router
Missing iTunes Library Content
Music Share Software Can't Connect
Nuvo App URL SCHeme on iOS Devices
Restoring Defaults

 

System Diagnostics

The Player Portfolio System has the ability to drill into a firmware page that exists within each of the zone players. This page houses specific diagnostic tools that can be very useful for troubleshooting.

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System Diagnostics Tools:

There are several tools to look at within the System Diagnostics. Three of them are specifically highlighted here as being especially useful to troubleshooting network and zone communication issues.

To get to the site, open a browser and type the zone's IP address into the address pane and /diagnostics.fcgi, ie. 192.168.1.110/diagnostics.fcgi. This will open the diagnostic window.
  1. "iwconfig" is a snapshot of the zones performance. Look at the line beginning with Link Quality. 100/100 is the best possible quality. You will also see a "Signal level" and "Noise level" dB measurement. There needs to be a measurable difference between the two. The signal level needs to be a number closer to 0 than the noise level.

  2. "iwpriv ra0 get_site_survey" is a great snapshot of network traffic the zone is seeing. The left column "CH" will display either 2.4 or 5 GHz channels the zone sees. If there are multiple 2.4 GHz networks broadcasting on channels 1, 6, and 11, then switching to 5 GHz may dramatically improve the zone's performance. You will see columns with the SSID, mac address, security, and signal level. This is a very useful view for determining the level of competition to any zone in the system.

  3. "iperf" is a wonderful live throughput test for each of the zones in the system. When you click on the "iperf" button, it launches the test. When the test is completed you will see the results as green, yellow, or red. Red zones are an issue. They indicate the minimum 10 Mbits/sec throughput is not available. Red zones need to be switched to 5 GHz, placed on a wire and allowed to operate over Ethernet, or moved closer to the system Gateway. You may also consider adding an additional Gateway to the system. Since the iperf test is a momentary snapshot, it is a good idea to run the test multiple times to get a more accurate picture of overall performance.

 

Using URL Scheme with Bitwise App

The Nuvo Player app features a URL designed to launch the app from inside a third party app. This works especially well with Bitwise Touch automation app. When fully implemented, a button in the Bitwise app can be setup to launch the Nuvo Player app which will then provide a back button to return to the originating page of the Bitwise app with a single button push.


Implementing the URL Scheme:
  1. Within the Bitwise Editor software, identify the pages with buttons you wish to launch the Nuvo app. Keep in mind that each page with a button must be set up individually.

  2. Double click on the button you would like to implement. That will open the "Edit Properties" window for that button.

  3. Within "Edit Properties" under "Navigation" select "URL Scheme" from the drop down menu. This will open a window for the appropriate script.

  4. The actual information is made up of two parts. The first part is the Nuvo URL and script for the back button implementation nuvoplayer:///?returnTo=. This will be the same for every button implementation. The second part is the specific URL and return page for the back button. In this example it is bwtouch://A_HOME_L

  5. Before you can actually implement this in the Bitwise build, you will need to encode it into ASCII Hexidecimal. That is easily done with an online conversion tool: http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/. The encoded URL is bwtouch%3A%2F%2FA_HOME_L.

  6. Type the entire URL: nuvoplayer://?returnT0=bwtouch%3A%2F%2FA_HOME_L into the Bitwise URL Scheme window.

  7. When the desired Bitwise buttons have the appropriate URL and return page added, and the job is uploaded to the Bitwise processor, the result will be a back button that appears on the Nuvo app. When the Nuvo audio button is pressed within the Bitwise app, the Nuvo app will open with the back button that when pressed, will return the user back to the original page within the Bitwise app.

 

Wireless Frequency Quick Change

The Nuvo P100 and P200 players have the option of operating at 2.4 or 5 GHz wireless frequencies. This is a useful feature, since in some environments 2.4 may have enough traffic on its three communication channels (1, 6, and 11) that audio streaming may be challenged. Changing the zone to 5 GHz offers twice the throughput and nine potential communication channels. It also typically has much less wireless traffic.


Symptoms:
The obvious symptom is that the audio will be choppy and drops in the stream will occur. Another potential issue is that the zone will acquire an IP address at initial setup, but once it starts communicating with the rest of the system it will lose connection. This will not allow the controller to connect with the zone, so trying to change zone parameters will be impossible from the app.

Resolution:
To provide an easy process for changing the wireless frequency, follow these instructions at the front panel of the zone player.
  1. Press and hold the "Mute" button for 5 seconds.

  2. When the LED lights once, release the button.

  3. The LED will flash red momentarily until it reacquires a network address.

  4. When the LED stops flashing and becomes solid white, the player will be communicating at the 5 GHz frequency.

  5. Repeat the above process to return the zone to 2.4 GHz.

 

Zone Player Has No Audio Output

It is possible that a zone or multiple zones of the system are connected to the system, display a solid white LED, but do not have audio output.


Symptoms:
The zone or zones of the system are configured and wirelessly connected to the network (indicated by a solid white LED on the front panel), but when music is selected, there is no audio output.

Resolution:
This situation typically is symptomatic of a poor wireless connection. It is possible that the player is connected but the actual signal strength and throughput are so poor that audio streaming is not possible. If you have verified that the speakers in the zone are actually connected, it is a good idea to check the zone's wireless throughput by running the embedded iPerf test. Go to "Settings" / "System" / "About" and reference the IP address of the zone in question. Open a web browser and type the IP address, ie. 192.168.1.xxx/diagnostics.fcgi into the address pane. This will open the System Diagnostics page for that zone. On that page, click on the "iPerf" button. This will initiate the zone test. If the result is red (meaning sub-standard throughput), here are some additional steps.
  1. Try changing the wireless frequency. The default setting is 2.4 GHz. This may have too much traffic for reliable audio streaming, and changing the setting to the 5 GHz band can fix this issue. Go to "Settings" / "Zones" and select the problem zone from the list, then select "Wireless" under the header "Advanced." Select "Wireless Frequency." A choice for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz will be available. Change the selection and touch the "Done" button. The zone LED will flash red for a few seconds before returning to solid white on the new frequency.

  2. Put the zone on a Cat5 wire back to the system Gateway, network router, or a switch on the network.

  3. Add another gateway to the system to provide a better access point for the wireless communication. To do this, plug an additional Gateway into the network from its desired location. Go to "Settings" / "Add a Nuvo Component." You will see an image of a Gateway and a prompt to complete its connection to the system.

  4. Move the player closer to the network router where it is able to have a stronger signal.

 

Zones Appear or Disappear

Zone icons for wireless zones that have been setup as part of the Nuvo Player Portfolio System will appear as normal in the dashboard view of the control app, but then will disappear from view and often reappear.


Symptoms:
When this occurs, it is symptomatic of a challenging Wi-Fi environment.

Resolution:
There are several steps that can be taken to fix this issue.
  1. This could be a symptom of very high traffic on the common 2.4 GHz band. A good tool for seeing how much traffic is the Meraki WiFi Stumbler. This tool opens in a browser and automatically shows the area networks and how many are broadcasting on the 2.4 GHz channels. The key channels are 1, 6, and 11. If it is showing significant traffic, then you should switch the zone to 5 GHz. This band allows more available channels and bandwidth for streaming, see section 4.1 Zones in the Nuvo Player Portfolio System Product Guide. Note that 5 GHz range is typically not as good as 2.4.

  2. Another very useful tool is Diagnostics.fcgi. This is a Nuvo Player Portfolio System diagnostic web page. It is found by typing the player IP address into a web browser. The IP address is found by going to the Settings menu from the control Dashboard and selecting "System," then "About," the problematic zone IP address will be displayed on this page under the zone's name. Type this into the browser address pane, ie. 192.168.1.149/diagnostics.fcgi. This will bring up the .fcgi page. Click on the "iPerf" button. This will run a system throughput test for all zones. All zones need to be green. If one or more appear red, the best choice is to add another Gateway to the system, plug the zone into the network via a Cat5 wire, or move that zone closer to the existing gateway and rerun iPerf.

  3. A network that is based on a weak or outdated router may present spotty performance. In some cases, all Wi-Fi performance including the Nuvo Player Portfolio System will benefit by upgrading to a new 802.11N (preferably dual band) router.

 

Zone Software Upgrade Issues

The zones apparently do not accept a software upgrade from the control app.


Symptoms:
After checking in "Settings" (the button that appears as two gears at the bottom of the dashboard) / "System" / "About" following a software update, the zones in the system do not show the same firmware version.

Resolution:
 
  1. Give the system a few minutes. It should recover from this issue on its own.

  2. Check the zones for a solid red LED. If this is the case, go to http://downloads.nuvotechnologies.com/software/release/golden/zone/latest/tlvupdate and download the update to the root directory of a USB drive.

  3. Turn the zone's power button off and insert the USB drive with the software update file.

  4. Turn the zone's power button back on.

  5. The LED will flash white as it boots up and then green during the update.

  6. When the update is complete and the zone is rebooted, the LED will return to solid white.

  7. Go back to "Settings" / "System" / "About". All the zones should display the same version number.

 

Player Portfolio Third Party Drivers

Visit our Third Party Drivers software page to download the correct software for your system.




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"Not Connected" Control App Screen

When the Control device looses connection with the Nuvo Player Portfolio System, It will go to a "Not Connected" screen.


Resolution:
 
  1. Make sure your control device (iPad, iPhone, Android phone or tablet, etc.) is connected to the correct network. The device may be associated with another network within range, this is often the case. Switch it back to the correct network and open the control app again.

  2. Make sure that the players in the system are powered on and have a solid "white" LED on the front panel.

  3. Force close the app (see iOS or Android), and then re-launch the app.

  4. If the player has gone offline, the front panel LED will flash red. Often this is a momentary state and will return to a solid white state. If it does not, try simply rebooting the zone by turning the zone off and back on. It should boot back up with a solid white LED.

  5. Reboot the home's router by unplugging it and plugging it back in. This can easily repair a locked up router.

 

Not Recognizing Wireless Zones

High traffic and interference in the 2.4 GHz wireless spectrum can possibly prevent the control device from seeing wireless zones in a system.


Symptoms:
The zones are setup for operation with the system and either have a solid white LED or a flashing red LED on the front panel. Even with a solid white LED, the zone icons do not show up in the Dashboard view of the control app.

Resolution:
A common solution to this situation is to switch the zone(s) from the default 2.4 GHz setting to the 5 GHz setting.
  1. Go to the Settings button at the bottom of the Dashboard (the app page where the zone icons are located) and select "Zones."

  2. If all of the zones are visible on this page, select a zone that is not appearing in the Dashboard. If the missing wireless zones are not visible on this page, see step 7.

  3. Navigate to the bottom of the Zone page and select "Advanced Wireless".

  4. Select "Wireless Frequency."

  5. Change the frequency to 5 GHz and touch the "Done" button.

  6. The zone will have a flashing red LED for a brief time and then it will go back to solid white once the new frequency is acquired.

  7. If the missing zones do not appear on the Zone Settings page, plug them directly into the network router, switch, or Gateway. Once they are back on the network, follow the above steps to set the wireless frequency to 5 GHz. When they are taken off the Cat5 wire, they will resume operation wirelessly.

 

Control Device Can't Discover Zones

When a controller for the system cannot connect to the zones, and the easier more obvious solutions have been tried, ie. making sure the control device is on the same network as the system, the actual source of the issue could be at a deeper network level.


Symptoms:
The control app goes to the "not connected" screen, or if you are attempting to do the "Advanced" setup with players wired to the network, and the controller will not connect to the zones, this could be a deeper issue.

Resolution:
The zones require UPnP and Multicasting to discover each other across the network.
  1. The first part of communication is UPnP and this requires that the gateway obtain and IP address from the Network's DHCP server. You can check for this by typing the network routers default gateway IP address into a browser and opening the routers configuration utility. Generally, you will see the DHCP table in the basic setup page. Look there for the Nuvo Gateway. If it does not appear, the solution could be as simple as a new cable between the router and the Gateway, or try rebooting the router. This will often fix a communication issue with the DHCP server.

  2. If the Gateway has an IP address the issue could be with UPnP discovery. A great downloadable utility for UPnP is Device Spy for PC's or Cling Workbench for Mac users. These will search the network for UPnP devices. The Nuvo Gateway and zones should appear in this utility. If they do not, UPnP is not communicating. Check the router settings for UPnP. If it is disabled, this can impede our products from working. If the network is relying on an older G router, UPnP may not be enabled. In this case, going to a new 802.11N router is highly recommended.

  3. Another communication issue could be a lack of Mulitcasiting. This will prevent the Nuvo Wireless Audio System from communicating with each of the zones in the system. If the network is using a combo modem/wireless router provided by the cable company, this could be a setting mismatch. Look in the router's configuration utility for Multicasting or IGMP Proxy. If this is disabled, try enabling it. If it is enabled, try disabling it.

  4. Is the network using VLANs? These would be setup on a more advanced managed network switch to optimize network traffic across multiple virtual networks. All of the components of the Nuvo Wireless Audio System must be on the same VLAN or "broadcast domain". This situation is easily corrected by the network administrator

 

Cradlepoint Router

This router creates an open view of all network traffic unlike a normal router which is designed to isolate traffic.


Make and Model:
Cradlepoint MBR900 "Wipipe".

Problem:
This router is designed to accept a USB mobile hotspot. While this is a useful application in mobile environments, it creates an open "access point" type view of all network traffic, unlike a normal router which is designed to isolate traffic into a separate broadcast domain. The Nuvo Player Portfolio is a multicasting system that works best on an isolated broadcast domain. The wide open architecture of the Cradlepoint MBR900 presents a challenging environment for the Nuvo Player Portfolio System.

Solution:
It is suggested that you do not use this router. While it may work, it will likely present communication interruptions for the system’s streaming audio.

 

Fios Router

TIGMP Proxy defaults to the enabled state and prevents the NuVo control app from connecting to the system.


Make and Model:
FIOS MI424WR-GEN3I

Problem:
IGMP Proxy defaults to the enabled state and prevents the Nuvo control app from connecting to the system.

Solution:
  1. Open an Internet browser and enter the router's IP address to access the router configuration utility.

  2. Select "Advanced."

  3. Under Advanced select "IGMP Proxy."

  4. Click on "IGMP Proxy (Enable/Disable)" and make sure that "Disabled" is selected.

  5. Click on the "Apply" button to save the setting.
​​​​​​​Please note: router versions; 20.19.8 and 40.19.22 are compatible with the Nuvo Player Portfolio using the above steps to disable IGMP Proxy. Version 10.19.36 does not allow IGMP Proxy to be disabled and is NOT compatible with the Nuvo Player Portfolio System.

 

Missing iTunes Library Content


Symptoms:
When a share is created with an iTunes library only some or perhaps none of the music files appear in the app library of the Nuvo Player Portfolio System.

Solution:
This is typically caused by adding content to a library by association with the iTunes Media folder as opposed to copying the files to the folder. iTunes handles library content in a very specific way. When CDs are ripped using iTunes 9 as the default location or if music is downloaded to the library from the iTunes Store, Apple will place the content in a specific directory: Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music. It does this as a data management structure. As part of this, there are important database management files that organize the folder content so music systems like ours can read the files. iTunes allows files to be added to a library by dragging and dropping them from another location or going to File within iTunes and selecting music through the "Add to library" function. iTunes will reference these files, but not organize them within the iTunes music database files. This prevents the Nuvo Wireless Audio System from being able to reference those files.

There are some easy steps to correct this situation and allow the missing files to be referenced by the Nuvo Wireless Audio System.
  1. If you are using iTunes 9, open iTunes and select File/Library/Organize Library. Check Consolidate Files. This will create copies of the associated files in the iTunes Media folder. When this is complete, the Nuvo Player Portfolio System will rescan the library and add the newly copied files to its library database.

  2. If you are coming from a previous version of iTunes (prior to 9), you need to upgrade to the new iTunes Media folder structure which includes folders for other applications such as movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audio books. This is easily done by also checking Reorganize files in the folder "iTunes Media."

  3. To keep the iTunes library organized, go to Edit/Preferences/Advanced Preferences and check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library. This will keep the iTunes database up to date for any future additions to the library.

 

Music Share Software Can't Connect

The Music Share software is downloaded, but when is opened, it will not connect to the Player Portfolio System.


Symptoms:
When the software is launched on a computer, the initial share screen does not actually connect with any of the zones set up on the system. If the software is connecting correctly, it will appear as an empty share screen, or with any current shares displayed.

Solution:
The inability of the Music Share software to connect with the zones is symptomatic of the same issues as with the controller not being able to connect. If this situation occurs, here are some simple troubleshooting steps to correct it.
  1. Make sure the zones of the system are powered on and booted up with a solid white LED.

  2. Check the computer's network connection. It must be connected to the same network as the zones and Gateway of the system.

  3. Remember the zones (at least one) must be configured and on the network for the Music Share software to connect.

  4. Try turning off the computer's firewall. If that allows the software to connect, than it is an issue with the firewall settings.

  5. If the computer and the system's zones are on a managed network, they must both be on the same virtual network broadcast domain for the all the components to communicate with each other.

 

Nuvo App URL Scheme on iOS Devices

A great feature to know about is the Nuvo Player App URL (nuvoplayer://). This type of URL is common for many apps and can be used to launch a specific app from within a different app.


Implementing the URL Back Button:
The advantage of the Nuvo Player Portfolio System URL scheme for iOS devices is the implementation of a back button on the app's zone dashboard. The user can seamlessly launch the Nuvo app from the automation control app and, using the back button, just as seamlessly return to the original app.

Implementing the URL and back button feature is easily done. Note that this only applies to iOS devices since Android phones and tablets have a back button on the device.
  1. Find out if the automation company you are working with has activated a URL scheme for launching their app. You will need this to complete the back function.

  2. Embed the Nuvo URL, nuvoplayer://?returnTo=XXXXXX, with X being the appropriate return URL, in the automation company's programming button being used to launch the Nuvo app

  3. Some apps will require a specific landing page URL. This will vary from control company to company. In most cases this will require that the return landing page URL is encoded into ASCII hexadecimal format, since a URL scheme cannot have two // references. Here is an example using the Bitwise app implementation. To reference a specific Bitwise landing page for the return URL you need to enter nuvoplayer://?returnTo=bwtouch://A_HOME_L. The presence of the second // will not allow this URL to work. The solution is easy. Use http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/dencoder/, an online conversion tool to encode bwtouch://A_HOME_L. The result will be bwtouch%3A%2F%2FA_HOME_L.

  4. To make the back button fully functional for the above reference, you must enter the entire return URL, which would be nuvoplayer://?returnTo=bwtouch%3A%2F%2FA_HOME_L.

  5. When this is active, the button from the automation control with the Nuvo URL in the above step will launch the Nuvo app. When the Nuvo app is launched, a back button will be present in the upper left corner of the Dashboard. The Nuvo app will return to the control app that launched it. The back button will only appear when the Nuvo app is launched from the configured 3rd party app.

 

Restoring Defaults

Occasionally when a player goes offline, the solution is to Restore Defaults. This will restore the zone back to its original factory default state.


Symptoms:
An offline player is indicated by a flashing red LED on the front panel, or a hard failure is indicated by a solid red LED. A database error message may require that you reset defaults.

Resolution:
Here are the steps for restoring defaults on a P100 or P200 Player.
  1. Turn off the power to the zone using the power button on the back panel of the player.

  2. Turn the power back on.

  3. When the front panel LED flashes white the first time, touch the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons simultaneously.

  4. When the flashing LED turns green, let go of the buttons.

  5. Let the zone continue to reboot with a flashing white LED.
  6. When the process is complete, the LED will go back to a solid green state. This indicates that it is in a non-configured factory default state.
  7. Repeat the zone setup steps in the control app to return the player to audio system operation.