ROCK problem after internet radio stopped abruptly

Hi Eric,

The dropbox link is https://www.dropbox.com/s/l9xznwm5fzprll3/Logs-hk6230.zip?dl=0

The incident happens at my local time at around 13.12 (GMT+8)

Hope the above helps.

Thanks.

Gary

HI @hk6230 ---- Thank you for the follow up, confirming that the logs have been received.

You patience is very appreciated while we conduct our evaluation. I’'ll let you know asap what the team comes up with.

-Eric

Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for your patience while we have been evaluating the information found in your logs.

Our techs have reported back to me that they are noticing numerous traces in the provided logs that show your end points dropping communication with Roon and then attempting to reconnect. These types of traces often point to some kind of network performance issue.

With the above in mind may I very kindly ask you to please provide me with a description of your network configuration/topology as well as providing insight into any networking hardware you may be implementing. I want to have a clear understanding of what the “chain of communication” looks like and the devices involved.

-Eric

Hi Eric,

I have a 100Mbps Fiber Broadband router which connects to TPlink Gigabits switch. ROCK/NUC is connected to the switch. My LS50W is connected via USB to ROCK/NUC.

Gary

Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for the follow up and providing the requested feedback, both are very appreciated!

Moving forward, can you verify for me the exact model TPLink switch you are implementing? If this is a managed switch, I would recommend enabling flow control on the device, and see if things improve.

-Eric

Hi Eric, it is TL-SG108E Gigabits Easy Smart Switch. Btw, playing local music from local NAS has no problem. So, I doubt it is the switch issue. May be my internet provider and/or the router problem. I will try to ask for a router replacement and see if it helps.

Meanwhile, if there is any other suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

Gary

Hi @hk6230 ---- Thank you for the follow up and providing the requested information.

Moving forward, I would like to just clarify something with you based on one of your posts from above. In your most recent you said that there is now issue playing local content from the NAS, however, you previously stated the following:

“I’m back and the problem arises again. Internet radio stops approximately 5-6 min of playing. Restarting any radio stations will not play, with the status bar sweeping left and right continuously. And, it won’t play local music files after this happened, too.”

Which is leading me to believe that that is not just an issue with your ISP or router. I would consider looking into/trying the following:

1) Try pinging "Google.com"

If the remote is running Windows…

  • Launch Roon and minimize the application.
  • Please open a command prompt session.
  • Type in the following command and hit enter:
    ping google.com -t
  • Let the command run for a few minutes while using Roon, making sure you are trying to stream an internet radio station that you aren noticing these “stops” with.
  • After you have let the command run please enter to stop the test:
    ctrl+c
  • What were the results of the “ping”?

If the remote is running OSX…

  • Launch Roon and minimize the application.
  • Please open “Terminal”.
  • Type the following command and hit enter.
    ping google.com
  • Let the command run for a few minutes while using Roon, making sure you are trying to stream an internet radio station that you aren noticing these “stops” with.
  • After you have let the command run please enter to stop the test:
    ctrl+c
  • What were the results of the “ping”?

2) Bypass the siwtch and mount your NUC directly to your router.

  • Please verify the make/model of router you are using.

3) On the TL-SG108E (smart switch)

  • Check to see if you are making use of JUMBO frames.

  • Enabling flow control on this device.

-Eric

Uh-oh - the dreaded TL-SG108E switch. It gave me no end of problems before I kicked it out and replaced it with an unmanaged switch…

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Hi Eric, pinging google.com while running Roon, doesn’t show abnormalities. Moving the NUC/ROCK to connect directly to the router doesn’t help; same problem. The router is ISP provided Zyxel PMG5318-B20B.

Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for touching base with me! Just to verify, when you ran the ping test, did you notice internet radio stoppages ?

-Eric

Hi Eric, yes the radio stopped but the ping access time is ranging from 2ms to 35 ms. I’m not sure what I would need to keep notice on the ping test while radio is playing.

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Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for touching base with me. I would to kindly ask you to please run the ping test once more and share the output of the terminal window with me via PM so I can see the results of the test.

Tip: While streaming internet radio via ROON, I would recommend leaving the terminal open in the “foreground”.

-Eric

Hi Eric, I’m travelling again, and would submit the results by Monday to you. And yes, I do make the terminal stay on the foreground.

Gary

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Thanks @hk6230, I will be on the look out for your follow up!

-Eric

Hi Eric,

There is a small change in the Roon/ROCK behavior. ROCK is now running on OS 1.0b148, Core is 1.3b262. Now, internet radio will still stop playing after awhile, but I can stop and restart playing. Previously, I have to restart the RoonServer. I have done the ping test, and results show 186 transmission, 186 received, 0 failure.

Gary

BTW, using Bluesound Node 2 playing the same radio channel, it will also break (stop) but music will continue playing.

Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for touching base with me, it’s good to hear from you.

Moving forward, just to clarify, with Roon removed from the equation and using the Bluesound Node 2, you are still experiencing the same behavior?

-Eric

Hi Eric, yes the radio channel will stop, but after a few seconds, the music resumes.

Gary

Hi @hk6230 ----- Thank you for the follow up and the clarification.

Moving forward, if this behavior is occurring outside of our application, I must be firm when I say this has to be related to some kind kind of network issue occurring in your setup. The two places I would STRONGLY recommend investigating are the following:

  1. TL-SG108E Gigabits Easy Smart Switch
  • Did you experiment with enabling flow control on this device or give the link that Geoff posted a read?
  1. The ISP provided Zyxel PMG5318-B20B router.
  • I would be hesitant to put 100% confidence in ISP provided gear, as we have seen users run into issues with these devices in the past. A good 802.11ac router as suggested here should be up to the task.

-Eric

Hi Eric,

Yes I have enabled flow control and no help there. I have tried using WiFi and same problem persists.

And yes, the isp router could be the main cause and/or my building internet connection could be faulty, or both. My isp provider is looking the problem now. Hopefully something good will present itself soon.

It’s an annoying problem, but I’m not pulling my hair out over it. For now, I will just use node 2 for my radio needs.

Thanks for looking into the problem.

Cheers.

Gary