DLNA server doesn't serve M3U playlists well on RT-N66U

[Razzmatazz]

I'm running Merlin v380.69_2 on an ASUS RT-N66U with a USB HDD attached and the UPnP Media Server enabled. Music files are in a "Music" folder. I normally keep my M3U playlists in a "Playlists" folder at the top level of the storage device, but since that wasn't working, in order to help debug this issue, my playlists are redundantly located:

1. In a "Playlist" folder inside of the Music folder, and
2. In the top level of Music folder, and
3. In a "Playlist" folder at the top level of the USB hard drive, and
4. In the top level of the USB hard drive (which seemed to help, albeit briefly).

I can use a variety of UPnP player apps to select and stream music from the NAS by Album, Artist, Folder, Genre, etc., but none of those UPnP player apps can see the playlists on the ASUS NAS. When I copied my playlists to the top level of the USB hard drive, they appeared briefly (and were usable), but then they disappeared. Is there some way to serve playlists properly?

 

[Razzmatazz]

In answer to my own question, just in case it helps anybody else...

Bottom Line: The media server does properly serve playlists that are put into any of the 4 folders mentioned above (and perhaps other locations as well) but it can take several hours (perhaps even 1-2 days) for the playlists to appear to UPnP clients.

An interesting side note: One noteworthy, impressive surprise is that the media server seems capable of intelligently interpreting the playlist song's path-name: (1) regardless of the location of the playlist, and (2) even if the path-name is somewhat wrong.

For example, I placed a bunch of different playlists in the 4 different locations mentioned in my previous post, and for each location I renamed the playlist with an identifying suffix ("-NAS", "-NAS Playlist", "-Music", "-Music Playlist") so that I would know where each was located in case any of them appeared to my UPnP player apps. All of the playlists eventually appeared (overnight) and all of them worked regardless of the location, even though the various playlists (depending on which program I used to generate the playlist on my PC) had faulty song-path-names of the following 3 types:
Playlist Type 1: ..\..\..\Music\50's Music\Rosie & the Originals-Angel Baby.mp3
Playlist Type 2: ..\Beatles\Please Please Me\Beatles-I Saw Her Standing There.wma
Playlist Type 3: C:\Users\Joe\Music\Animals\The Animals Best Selection\Animals-House Of The Rising Sun.wma

All three of those song-path-names are actually wrong but they all worked. For Playlist Type 1, the "Music" folder is at the top level of the NAS drive, not 4 hierarchical levels down as the path-name indicates (..\..\..\). For Playlist Type 2, the "Music" folder isn't even mentioned in the path-name, even though all of my song files are hierarchically located inside the "Music" folder. And for Playlist Type 3 there is no "C:\Users\Joe". Not to mention the translation of Windowsy "\" to Linuxy "/".

I'm very happy. I can now use the "HiFi Cast" app on my Android smartphone over WiFi from anywhere on my property to stream playlists/music directly from my NAS to my Xbox 360 which is connected to my whole-home-and-patio stereo system. (No TV needed.) Phone calls and smartphone notifications don't interrupt the music/playlist streaming-- which is very nice when throwing parties. Unlike streaming from my phone to a Bluetooth receiver, the range is excellent, there's no sound-quality-degrading Bluetooth re-compression, and even if you leave the WiFi LAN (e.g. to go to the store), the server continues to stream music and can be controlled by smartphone when you return to WiFi-range. And unlike Chromecast Audio, the Xbox 360 is capable of playing practically any song-file-type, including WMA-files, without sound-quality-degrading transcoding.