I have a Roon Nucleus Rev B which originally came with a 1 TB HDD. I never really used the internal HDD and relied on an external 2TB Samsung SSD instead. In the last 4 months I replaced the storage with a 4TB Western Digital Blue internal SSD (3D NAND). All music resides on the internal SSD. I do not stream any music.
I access the Nucleus via a home network. I use either an Apple iPad or my main computer- a windows 11 (Version 22H2) based desktop with 32 GB of installed RAM.
I backup the Roon database twice per week to Dropbox
Networking Gear & Setup Details
My network consists of a Bell Canadaās Home Hub 3000 which uses Sagemcom 5566 hardware. I am connected to the internet via Bellās Fibe (gig speed fibre optic) system.
I am not using a VPN.
I have no issues with any of the network nodes (wireless or otherwise) around the house
Connected Audio Devices
The Nucleus is connected to a dCS Bartok via a Nordost network cable
Number of Tracks in Library
I have about 25,000 tracks and 2400 albums which takes about 1.5TB of storage. Tracks are predominately WAV with a small number of FLAC.
Description of Issue
The same issue has happened at least 4 times over the past 6 months. I will be listening to music when all of a sudden the music stops mid-track. When I investigate the directory has ādisappearedā from the view both in the Roon app and the computer network. On the desktop computer I see all the other Roon directories (Codecs, MachineSettings etc) but the Storage directory is empty.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason but after toggling the āOperating System- Reinstallā, āRoon Server Software- Restartā , āRoon Database & Setting- Resetā and the Power-Rebootā multiple time, I āfindā the storage again.
I have tried to troubleshoot numerous times by checking the network cables, opening the Nucleus and confirming the SATA cable is properly connected (all cablers A-OK) but to no avail.
Is there an issue with the Western Digital drives?
Even though Roon says 4TB is OK is the drive too large?
Iām very frustrated that this persistent problem is ongoing- please help?
Via the Roon supplied 19 volt power supply. Iāve looked into aftermarket linear power supplies but I have not heard a compelling argument for them yet.
Yes- I removed the originally installed HDD and replaced it with the WD SDD which was then formatted using Roonās Interface. I have even reformatted the SSD on two occasions (and transferred the music back onto the drive), hoping this would solve the problem.
The size (4TB) is not a problem - Roon OS can use much greater capacities than this.
Did you ever see this issue with the original HDD? You say that you ānever really used itā - but did you have any part of your library stored here? If you did use it (even sparingly), and never saw this issue, then the likelihood is that the WD SSD is where the problem lies. Can you do a RMA on the SSD and get a replacement?
I purchased the 1TB version because the dealer had nothing else in stock at the time (Supply chain issues of course). I never formatted the OEM supplied HDD to keep all files on a single drive which as stated was an external 2TB Samsung T5 HDD
So if youāve never used the original HDD, youāll need to think about eliminating possible causes of the failure:
the SATA cable
the motherboard (e.g. the connector or the SATA circuitry
the WD SSD
Could you try reinstalling the HDD, formatting it and using it in conjunction with your USB drive as a test? If it works without problem, then that points to the WD SSD as the cause of the issue.
My first step in troubleshooting the problem is to return using the external SSD and pulling the SATA SSD.
While Iām comfortable replacing the SATA cable, Iām concerned about voiding the Nucleus Warranty (Roon what say you?).
As for trying a new SSD, well thatās an expensive proposition. I would like to hear from the Roon community if they too have issues with WD SSDs before advancing along the replacement path.
To date it is often a couple of weeks between ācrashesā so it will take weeks to determine.
I would expect Roon would have some sort of diagnostic tool to troubleshoot the issue and not have to resort to experiments!
They will be able to pull the logs from your Nucleus, but with an intermittent fault like this that shows itself every few weeks, the logs will probably just show that Roon OS has lost contact with the SSD, and probably not much elseā¦
SSDs are not immune to failure - Iāve had to RMA a Samsung EVO that had a failure.
