NAT LOOPBACK MERLIN UPDATE
NAT LOOPBACK MERLIN MANUAL

Something appears to go wrong with transcoding media for the Echo. Workaround for now, use MP3 media or simply don’t use the Echo for music playback.A few moments ago, AsusWrt-Merlin has rolled out a new firmware package including several changes and new features, namely version 3.0.0.4.378.51 beta 1, which is compatible with certain ASUS routers.Īn immediate change that stands out is that the developer has decided to drop support for RT-N16 device models due to the increasing number of router platforms. Again, trawling forums, I found others who had come to similar conclusions. After a raft of testing I found that my older, MP3 based content would play through, without issue, but FLAC media would not. I could resume playback with a simple “Alexa, resume” command, but needless to say 30 – 60 seconds at a time, this got frustrating pretty quick. Now I was presented with a further issue, music stopped “randomly” in the middle of a track.

NAT LOOPBACK MERLIN MANUAL

Configuring a manual Port Forwarding rule for Plex to port 34200/ configuring my plex server to use Port 32400 externally.

Enabling “ASUS” Loopback NAT (changed from “Merlin”) on my Internet router.

Eventually I got the damn thing playing music on the Echo itself by performing two changes: I headed to the Plex and Reddit/plex forums and sifted through a ton of similar issues. Output from the Echo itself just would not work. RasPlex device control worked immediately, and I was able to play music without issue on these devices, instructing Alexa to “ask Plex to play music by Incubus on Kitchen TV” for example. I tried this several times, all to no avail.

The pre-requisites are fairly simple – your Plex Media server must be configured for “remote access,” and you have to install/ configure the Alex Plex “skill.” I’ve been a long-term user of Plex on a variety of devices, so I knew remote access was in-place and working well. Sounds simple enough right…? Well, yes and no.Įnabling the skill was simple enough, but on instructing Alex to “ask Plex to play music by Incubus” I received a response stating that Alexa was “playing music by Incubus” but then silence. The ability to play music via the Echo device itself.Control of RasPlex devices, playing video/ audio content on any device (all of our Plex clients are Raspberry Pi 3’s running RasPlex).Having set the device up I started looking at what integrations there were for devices/ services we consume at home – Plex is the centre of our home Television and Music entertainment, so this seemed like an obvious candidate. On paper the Alex Plex skill enables (amongst other things): Like “millions” of others over the Christmas period we obtained a generation 2 Echo device, with the (initial) sole purpose of replacing the DAB radio that struggles for reception in our kitchen. The Need for NAT loopback/ hairpin is also being worked on.

NAT LOOPBACK MERLIN UPDATE

Update 13/01/18: Plex have released a statement on these issues, available here: – in effect, the audio stream stopping issues should be fixed soon. Either use MP3 media, or don t expect to play music via your Echo device (for now). FLAC content (at time of writing) will randomly stop mid-song, or at the end of a song but fail to progress to the next track. TL:DR : The Alexa skill may well require a manual Port Forwarding rule/ Plex Media Server configured to playback music on the Echo device itself.

Nat loopback merlin