Hi @moredins,
We see two Roon Server instances associated with your account, both of which seem to have been online since this thread started. One is hosted on the PC in question, while the other is mentioned on a third machine not mentioned here.
Just for due diligence and to ensure we’re aligned: when you’re having issues with device discovery on the PC, which server are you using?
Hi @moredins,
Just checking in on this. Are you able to use your Mac zones on the PC as expected now? Let us know what you are seeing, and we can take it from there, thanks.
I did the steps above that I received from Vadim as I already stated. And again, the issue is with my PC, not the MacBook. The issue seems to be intermittent. When I looked at Roon on my PC this morning I did not see all of my audio zones. However, I just looked again and they are all showing up. I did nothing…no reboots, nothing, so something weird is going on.
I’m also getting a bit confused about what you mean when you mention Roon Server and how you think I have two of them. My system consists of a Small Green Computer i7 Server…that is where I thought Roon Server resides. I control my i7 Server with two different computers running the Roon App. One is a Macbook and one is a Windows PC. The Macbook works fine as I can see all my zones there. I have very little technical experience so I’m sure I am just being dumb, but the app I use to play albums and songs I think of as a control app not the Roon Server. I thought Roon Server ran on the i7 Server.
I just looked at the desktop of my PC and do see an icon labeled Roon Server in the upper left. When I click on it nothing opens or happens. When I use Roon on my PC I use is the control app -see icon shown on the lower right of my desktop screen shot. Maybe I unnecessarily downloaded the Roon Server software to my PC when I didn’t need to???
Hey @moredins,
Thanks so much for the additional information and for the screenshot! Let’s first run through the following:
How to close (and disable) Roon Server on the Windows PC
Roon Server on Windows typically runs in the background and shows up in the system tray, which is why clicking the desktop icon “does nothing visible”, it’s already running.
I hope this helps! 
I went to Settings/General and only see the Small Green Computer there.
Thanks for including instructions on how to close the Roon Server. After closing it I still can’t see all my audio zones. I’ll try rebooting my PC and see if that does anything.
Also, I was poking around and went into Settings/About and saw this screen. Does this look correct?
Thanks for being patient with all this. I have a feeling some of the issue is that I don’t know much about how this is all supposed to work.
Hey @moredins,
Thanks for the screenshots and for closing Roon Server on the PC, that About screen is really helpful. Good news: it tells us a lot.
On your PC’s About page, under Roon Server you see your sonictransport i7 (192.168.1.185), and under Roon Remote you see “This PC.” That’s exactly the correct setup, your i7 is the server, and your PC and Mac are both remotes pointing at it. So you didn’t break anything, and the i7 is doing its job.
Here’s the key insight: you’ve told us all your audio zones show up fine on your Mac. Since the Mac is just a remote (like your PC), that proves the i7 server is holding and serving every zone correctly. So the problem isn’t the server, and it isn’t the Mac, it’s specifically the connection between your PC and the i7. We can now focus there.
A few steps to work through:
Make sure the dormant Roon Server on the PC is fully gone. After you close it, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager and check that there’s no “Roon Server” or “RoonServer.exe” process still running. You want only Roon.exe (the remote) and its RAATServer.exe. If you’re sure you only want the PC as a remote, you can uninstall Roon Server entirely from Settings → Apps → Installed apps, leaving just the Roon control app.
Check that the PC and the i7 are on the same network. Your i7 is at 192.168.1.185. On the PC, go to Settings → Network & Internet → (Ethernet or Wi-Fi) → and find its IP address. It should also start with 192.168.1.x. If your PC is on Wi-Fi while the i7 is wired, some routers block traffic between Wi-Fi and Ethernet devices (often a “guest network” or “client isolation” setting). That alone can cause zones to flicker in and out exactly like you’re seeing.
Confirm the firewall allows network traffic, not just local. Earlier in the thread we fixed the internal (127.0.0.1) handshake for your directly-connected DAC. But for your PC to see the i7’s zones, Malwarebytes/Windows Firewall also needs to allow Roon.exe and RAATServer.exe to talk across your home network (Private/Local). Worth confirming those rules cover the network, not only the local connection.
One question that will really help us narrow this down: the next time your zones disappear on the PC, does the Benchmark DAC zone (the one plugged directly into your PC) also disappear, or does it stay visible while only the other zones vanish?
If the local DAC stays but the others vanish → it’s a network/discovery issue between the PC and the i7 (steps 2 and 3 above).
If everything vanishes at once → it’s the PC’s overall connection to the i7 dropping.
That one detail will tell us exactly where to aim next. Thanks for your patience working through this with us!
By dormant Roon Server I take it to mean the Roon icon we deleted from the system tray in the last response you sent. I checked the system tray again just now and somehow the Roon icon had reappeared so I deleted it again. I then went to Settings/Apps/Installed apps and all I see is one Roon icon. It does not have an extension like. It just says Roon…no Roon.exe and I don’t see RAATServer.exe at all. (I also don’t see Roon Server or RoonServer.exe which is good). So I can’t uninstall Roon Server entirely because I don’t see it there. If I click on the Roon Server Icon on my desktop and go under properties it shows its location as (C:\Users\mored\AppData\Local\RoonServer\Application\RoonServer.exe) So why isn’t it showing up under installed apps?
I checked my PC Settings/Network & Internet/(Ethernet or Wi-Fi) and the IP address under IPv4 address is 192.168.1.177. There is also a line IPv4 DNS Servers that is 192.168.1.1 (Unencrypted). There is also a IPv6 shown that looks completely different. Also, Ethernet and Wi-Fi are on separate lines. I only see an IP address when clicking on Ethernet…I don’t see an IP address when I click on Wi-Fi. Also - you make it sound like having Wi-Fi on (I do) in and of itself could cause my problem. Should I try turning Wi-Fi off?
I’m not exactly sure if I know what to look for here. In Malwarebytes under Window Firewall Control it says to Allow Outbound Connections but to Block Inbound Connections. However, under the Rules tab there are Rules Allowing Private/Public Inbound/Outbound traffic for Roon.exe, RAAT Server, roonappliance.exe, ratserver.exe, and roon.exe
To answer your last question: Currently the Benchmark DAC zone on my PC is staying put (not disappearing). It has in the past, but that has not happened for quite a while. Also, in my ignorance when I first bought and set up Roon I think I created a duplicate zone on my PC for my Benchmark DAC. I have one that I labled PC to Benchmark and then I have one labled Benchmark DAC. Can I/should I delete one of these?
I’m moving and will not have my PC hooked up for a while…probably until the end of July. I’ll need to table this if possible. I still can’t see all my zones on my PC btw.
Hey @moredins,
Thanks for the reply!
This is a known quirk, not a bug specific to your PC. Roon Server installs to %LocalAppData%\RoonServer and doesn’t always register a clean “Roon Server” entry in Settings → Apps → Installed apps, sometimes it only shows the generic “Roon” entry (your remote app), especially if Roon Server was installed/updated silently or the uninstall registry key got orphaned. The fact that the folder and RoonServer.exe still physically exist at C:\Users\mored\AppData\Local\RoonServer\Application\ confirms it’s still there, just not cleanly registered.
Since you only want the PC to act as a remote, it’s safe to fully quit the process (Task Manager, as you did) and then delete the entire C:\Users\mored\AppData\Local\RoonServer folder. Just make sure the process isn’t running when you delete it, or Windows will block it.
Leave the Roon folder and all other folders as they are - only remove Roon Server.
Good news here, no subnet issue. Your PC’s Ethernet IP is 192.168.1.177 and the i7 is at 192.168.1.185; both are on >192.168.1.x, so they’re on the same local network. The fact that Wi-Fi shows no IP address just means the Wi-Fi adapter isn’t actually connected to any network right now, it’s sitting idle, not competing with Ethernet. Since it’s not connected, it isn’t the cause of the dropouts, and you don’t need to turn it off. (It also explains why Ethernet is your active path, that’s the one Roon should be using.)
Allow Outbound / Block Inbound" is just the default global policy, that’s normal and expected. The Rules tab entries you listed (Roon.exe, RAAT Server, roonappliance.exe, ratserver.exe, roon.exe) are the exceptions that override that default for specific apps. What matters now is whether those rules apply to the Private network profile (not just Public), since PC↔i7 traffic is local network traffic, not internet traffic. Worth doing:
As long as you keep the stale zone disabled, you’ll be good to go!
We’ll be here to continue troubleshooting when you are ready.
