Backup restoration issue on Nucleus One with Roon Remote (ref#EF3TWY)

[David_Carter]

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· None of the above quite fits

None of the above quite fits

· None of these quite match

Tell us what's going on

· Roon Version 2.60 Build 1629 running on Nucleus One. Roon Remote Control on ASUS Windows 11 laptop. Nucleus One connected directly to Plusnet Fast Fibre Router Ethernet port.

Trying to restore Roon backup on Nucleus One: copies of that currently held in both laptop folder and on USB stick. They were created from Innuos Zen Mini with same Roon build number.

Restore Backup from laptop-held folder will begin process but then screen just says "Processing" for hour after hour (longest has been 8 or 9 hours). Have tried several times now.

Restore Backup from USB stick plugged directly in to back of Nucleus One: can see the backup on the stick via Roon Interface, but when I try to begin the process, message comes up "no backups found". Despite having previously shown them on the screen.

Size of backup I'm trying to restore is around 1.6 GB. Number of tracks around 49000, number of albums around 5100. Have checked that USB is formatted to ex-FAT. Have read multiple articles and advice on forums and shared / given permissions in every way to laptop, but still nothing works.

Just how long is a restore backup supposed to take? And my concern going forwards with the Nucleus One refusing to interact with plugged in USB is the implications for Schedules Backups.

I've got scrrenshots of all this going on. More information and those images can be found on my original posting at Roon Software discussion forum under Nucleus category.

Tell us about your home network

· PlusNet MNACST fast fibre router

[alex_h (Alex)]

Hello @David_Carter

Thanks for reaching out to us with this problem.

Unfortunately, we do not see your Nucleus One in the list of your devices. Please grab the logs from the Nucleus yourself according to this article: Roon Logs and upload them to our Logs Storage here: Logs Storage.

Also, if possible, please upload your database backup using the same link, or upload it to Google Drive and share a link with us. This will allow us to inspect your backup directly in case the logs from the Nucleus are not helpful.

Thanks.

[David_Carter]

Thanks for a quick response Alex. Much appreciated. As requested I’ve uploaded the zip file of the txt logs under name DavidCarterLogs.zip, and I’m giviing you a link here to the RoonBackup folder in Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HoL4UVCyeLnXmYpNRbG6x78flD_q9r5W?usp=drive_link

I’m not sure what you mean when you say that you can’t see the NucleusOne device registered against my name. Do you mean that it’s not showing on a Network or something? Since the first time I plugged it in, and despite having Network Discovery and Sharing activated on my laptop, I’ve never been able to see the device listed on my Network. BUT…it’s definitely there. See attached ping screenshot.

This was a secondary issue that I was going to ask about once the much more concerning Restore Backup issue had been addressed. As I say, it’s clearly ON my network as I can ping it, the Roon Remote shows it being present, etc etc. And yes, I’ve made sure everything is open to sharing / finding devices on my laptop, even to downloading additional Group Permissions Editor software for Windows 11 Home in order to enable SMB files.

So, also attached here a couple more screenshots showing the IP/gateway numbers and addresses.

Many thanks in anticipation of a solution to all this: very frustrating and many hours spent already by me trying to solve it all.

Best, Dave

[alex_h (Alex)]

Hello @David_Carter ,

Thanks for sharing it.

I’ve just requested access to the backup from google account ending @harman.com .

Let us know, please, once approved.

Thanks.

[David_Carter]

OK Alex. I’ve just gone onto Google and given permission for anyone to view that link. Hope it works for you now. Just FYI. Also tried yesterday to restore backup from a different external drive plugged in to back of Nucleus One. Same behaviour. Could see it on interface but when try to activate process it claims it can’t see any backups.

[alex_h (Alex)]

@David_Carter

Thanks for granting us access to your backup.

We reviewed it and unfortunately found that it is corrupted and cannot be restored.

In this case, the only option is to regenerate a backup from your Innuos device.

Please confirm if it is still running and you can access that installation.

If possible, we would appreciate it if you could upload the entire Roon Server folder instead of just the backup. We can then review it, and if it is intact, we will create a backup for you.

Thanks.

[David_Carter]

Thanks for taking the time to look through all of that Alex. Most unexpected and surprising result. All of the non-scheduled backups I have done over the past few years from the Roon Core on the Innuos Zen Mini have run absolutely ok, with no indication of any problems being present. No evident corruption on either storage device when I run a check disc command on them.

I tried restoring some older ones as well this morning, both from the USB stick and from the other storage device plugged directly into the back of the Nucleus One. Same issue: can see all the backups on the storage device while setting up the process, but then when activated, says “no backups found”.

It’s all very strange: and begins to make me wonder if any of my historic backups made from the Innuos Zen Mini were ever OK. There would have been no way of me telling that they weren’t. Plus it makes me very grateful that I’ve never suffered massive database corruption in the past and needed to restore a backup, only to discover it wouldn’t work. Can a backup made on an Innuos machine usually be read on a Nucleus One I begin to wonder.

Obviously, what I’m first trying to do here is get the Roon Bookmarks and Playlists etc that I used to see when Roon Core was on the Innuous Zen Mini, to now also be visible when the core has been moved to the Nucleus One. The additional matter of getting a new backup after that to schedule and work from the Nucleus One is further down the road.

OK. Just to be clear what you now would like me to do:

sounds as though you want me to move the Roon Core back again from the Nucleus One to the Innuos Zen Mini; then to navigate to the Roon OS and Roon Server folders within the Zen Mini, and upload those to you. Presumably the past Roon Backups will be visible to you then.

Is that correct? Move Roon Core back to Zen Mini; then once I’ve uploaded the folders you would like to see, move Roon Core back to the Nucleus One again? Please confirm that’s correct before I go ahead and do so.

Just FYI. I’m around and able to look at Roon stuff until the end of this Sunday, but then not for a fortnight. I guess you’re hoping to be able to re-build a Roon Backup made from the Zen Mini during (say) January 2026 [the last one that I would have made before the Roon Core was moved for the first time to the Nucleus One] and then load it remotely into the Nucleus One…

Many thanks and do let me know if you now want me to move the Roon core back to the Innuos machine and try to locate and upload to you the Roon folders. Dave

[David_Carter]

Morning again Alex

Haven’t heard back from you for a couple of days. Perhaps you are thinking about things / otherwise occupied. Just checking back in to see if a) there’s any further progress with my issue; b) for an answer to whether you do want me to move the Roon Core back to Innuos Zen Mini so that I can load up the OS and Server logs for you to examine. They would show all the backup history pre-mid January this year.

Just to remind you: I can do stuff/answer messages for the next couple of days but then not for a fortnight after that. Best Dave

[benjamin]

Hey @David_Carter,

Thanks for the update and for the patience so far!

@David_Carter

I tried restoring some older ones as well this morning, both from the USB stick and from the other storage device plugged directly into the back of the Nucleus One. Same issue:

Apologies if I’ve glazed over this, but have you tried a different USB drive yet?

@David_Carter

sounds as though you want me to move the Roon Core back again from the Nucleus One to the Innuos Zen Mini; then to navigate to the Roon OS and Roon Server folders within the Zen Mini, and upload those to you. Presumably the past Roon Backups will be visible to you then.

Yes, that would be helpful - it won’t provide backups, but it’ll provide helpful information for our team to analyze further. You can upload it here:

https://workdrive.zohoexternal.com/collection/gnhz54df9ddffa33d49a3be8619bd6376a5de/external

Thanks, David!

[David_Carter]

Thanks for your message Benjamin. I’ve moved the Roon Core from the Nucleus One back to the original Innuous Zen Mini as requested. I’ll upload the OS Roon folders via the link as you suggest, prefixing the folder names with “DavidCarter”. I’m also attaching a couple of screenshots here to show that in the Innuos / Roon Core combination, I can see the Roon Playlists and Roon Bookmarks that are part of what I’ve been trying to get visible on the Nucleus One via a restore backup….

[benjamin]

Perfect, thank you for the update @David_Carter, we’ll be monitoring for when you’re able to go through the above.

[David_Carter]

Morning Benjamin. I’m rather lost as to what your last message means. Or what you want me to do next. Or what solution there might be to all this. Just to repeat. I moved the Roon Core temporarily back to the Zen Mini and then uploaded the OS folders to your site. The Roon Core is now back on the Nucleus One again.

I’m assuming you plan to do some analysis of those Zen Mini sourced OS folders or something? Current situation: i still can’t see my Roon bookmarks and playlists when the Core is on the Nucleus One.

As I said I’ll not be able to do anything with the either of the machines for a fortnight now. Best Dave

[alex_h (Alex)]

@David_Carter ,

We have reviewed the Roon Server folder you uploaded. Unfortunately, it is missing many essential files, including the logs, which prevents us from using it for diagnostics.

Could you please clarify if you have tried signing in to your Zen device with your user account. Additionally, please let us know if you are able to successfully restore any backup on it.

Thanks.

[David_Carter]

OK. This situation has been going on a long time now. We seem to be going around in circles and getting nowhere. It would appear that no one in tech support can follow the email trail of what I’ve already tried, nor come up with any solution or action that will enable me to make visible on Nucleus One the Roon playlists and bookmarks that can be seen when the Core is on the Zen Mini.

So…. In a fortnight’s time, with the Roon Core moved onto the new Nucleus One, I’m going to recreate my Roon bookmarks and playlists there by hand.

Then I will attempt to a) create my first scheduled backup from the Nucleus One and then b) run another newer one with additional material added and then c) attempt to restore that first backup from my storage device.

If any of the above fails to work then there’s really a deeper more fundamental problem with the Nucleus One and how it’s behaving. To be totally honest I’m beginning to really regret buying the Nucleus One. If I could send it back and get a full refund I’d be very tempted to do so. The whole experience of owning one has just been a nightmare which i could do without, especially when comparing its performance so far with the Innuos Zen Mini which has performed faultlessly for several years.

Just to remind you: unable to do anything for next fortnight with the physical machines.

[alex_h (Alex)]

@David_Carter,

we have also noticed that the backup you provided does not appear to match the expected folder structure.

The reason you might not see the backup from the USB stick on your Nucleus is a missing “roonbackup_root_” file.

Here is how the backup structure should look:

If you do not have this file next to your backup folder, Roon Server will not recognize the backup.

This file is universal, meaning you can take one from any of your existing backups. If you did not place it on the USB stick before trying to restore it on your Nucleus, please try putting this file next to the backup folder and attempting the restore again

Thanks.

[David_Carter]

Thanks for that suggestion Alex. Think I understand the potential folder and file hierarchy issues that you have described here. As soon as I’m able to look at laptop and also the usb device in a wee ’s time I’ll try to apply all this and then see if I can restore a backup to the Nucleus One. Can you please keep this message string live for us in the meantime. Best. David

[benjamin]

Sounds good @David_Carter! Certainly keep us in the loop with how things go, thank you!

[David_Carter]

Will hope to achieve all this in next 48 hours and will let you know of course. Thanks. David

[David_Carter]

Morning Benjamin/Alex.

OK. Yesterday I created a new Roon backup on my Innuous Zen Mini. Then transferred Roon core over to new Nucleus One. Made sure that the root file was sitting in parallel with the latest backup folder as you suggested:

Was then able to drill down to the relevant latest backup folder on the Toshiba external USB plugged directly into back of Nucleus One, and set a backup restore going:

Backup restore confirmed; went to “Preparing” screen and then sat there for the next 8 hours achieving nothing [same behaviour as when many many weeks ago I first ever tried to restore a backup to Nucleus One from its storage folder on my laptop]. In the end, had to end the process: tried pressing “Cancel” and waiting but that achieved nothing, so had to restart the Roon Server on the Nucleus One. You can see that something appeared to be trying to happen from screenshot below, if that’s what the presence of a “readme” text file means:

Now… As I said before, I’ve got around 49000 tracks in my Library. In all the time I was using Roon Core on the Innuos Zen Mini I never had to restore a backup, so I’ve got no idea how long it’s supposed to take. But surely not that long and still achieving no result?

I’m at a total loss. What am I doing wrong? Is it supposed to take forever to restore a backup? Is something just not working properly?

Grasping at straws: does it matter that I renamed the backup folder from the unwieldly string of numbers and letters to something date recognizable (i.e. Roon Backup 18 Mar 2026)? Does that cause a “mismatch” with the root file’s metadata?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I’ve followed the on screen instructions to the letter; I can get to the screen that says “preparing” but nothing seems to ever happen.

Best. Dave

[benjamin]

Hey @David_Carter,

Thanks so much for the reply and including screenshots!

In your first image, I can see the folder renamed to “Roon Backup 18 Mar 2026”. While it makes sense to us humans, Roon uses a UUID (Universally Unique Identifier)—that long string of letters and numbers—to link the metadata in the roon_backup_root file to the actual data chunks inside the folder.

Even though Roon “sees” the backup (as shown in your second image), it’s likely hanging at “Preparing” because it’s looking for a folder named c5bab9d7-1f82-d31a-75fe-91968eb81b43 (the ID shown in your screenshot) and can’t find it to begin the extraction.

See if this helps:
Connect the USB drive to your computer.

• Rename the folder "Roon Backup 18 Mar 2026" back to exactly: c5bab9d7-1f82-d31a-75fe-91968eb81b43
• Make sure there are no trailing spaces.
• Plug it back into the Nucleus and try the restore again.

With that, you mentioned using a Toshiba USB drive.

• Nucleus One runs a Linux-based OS (RoonOS). It works best with exFAT or EXT4 formatted drives.
• If that drive is formatted as NTFS (common for Windows), the Nucleus can sometimes struggle with "write" or "deep read" permissions during a heavy restore, leading to that "Preparing" hang.
• Note: If you can see the backup in Roon, the drive is at least readable, but exFAT is the safest bet for cross-platform compatibility here.

Thank you! 🙌