@support can anyone give me any idea when I can get some assistance with this problem?
I have paid for a lifetime membership in Roon. Now I have no access to my music. I’m not technically very proficient so I rely on your support team for assistance.
Thanks very much for your response! I did the reinstall with an Apple Senior Advisor on the phone with me. We did use Time Machine to do the reinstall.
The Roon problem I’ve described presented as soon as the computer was operating again, following the reinstall.
Subsequent to that, also at the direction of the Senior Advisor, I upgraded from the MacOS Catalina to Big Sur. I had hoped that might help (though it is not why we did the upgrade) but it did not.
A bit more information: When I open Roon on my iMac now, it opens to the page I have shown above in the screenshot. I then click “Continue” which brings me to “Add a Music Service.” So I add Tidal with no problems.
That brings me to Step 3 in the Setup process (Audio). I’ve attached a screen shot. As you can see it offers no way to add a device. However my device is connected by ethernet to my network and everything appears just as it did before the reinstall.
Finally the other step I’ve tried is: I go to “Settings” where it says “Configure” under “Roon Core.” (I’ve attached a second screen shot. But all that happens when I click the “Configure” button is a evidence that a search is occurring but it never ends with any result.
I asked about Time Machine because you shouldn’t restore a Roon installation using Time Machine, it can ruin the database.
Here is the FAQ on backups:
Here is the relevant paragraph (bold not mine from the original source):
Other backup applications
Because the Roon database is frequently being updated in the background with new metadata, cover art, artist information, and more, backing up your “live” Roon database using external programs can result in corrupt backups. We strongly recommend against using Time Machine, Crashplan, Backblaze, or other backup applications to backup your “live” Roon database. If you would like to use any of these applications to back up Roon, set up a Scheduled Backup and tell your backup program to backup the RoonBackups folder.
The question is what to do next. Do you have a backup not made via Time Machine, but, done via Roon’s backup in Settings/Backup? I am cautious about suggesting a course of action from here before @support has engaged because I don’t want to have you try something that might make things worse.
I am a Windows guy, so, I have limited “under the hood” Mac. However, I have tagged support again and I’m sure they will see our discussion.
Thanks again Daniel! I had no idea. There was no other way to reinstall my operating system.
My Roon backups are on a separate external hard drive that also contains all my music. It is not backed up to Time Machine and was not involved in the reinstall in any way.
Thanks for tagging support again. I don’t understand why I have not heard from anyone there, but hopefully they can offer some step-by-step instructions for how I can fix all of this.
I had intended to replace that external hard drive with my music, with an external SSD drive (and then use the current external as a backup disc for the music). Maybe when someone from Support can help me, now would be the time to do that.
Apologies for the delay here! Our queue is a bit longer than typical from the recent release.
Daniel is correct — This is almost certainly from using Time Machine to reinstall. The best course of action is to reinstall Roon fresh and then restore a backup of your database.
Thanks Dylan. Unfortunately your response is not enough for me to know HOW to do what you suggest.
Let me explain again. I fully understand many Roon users are extremely knowledgeable about computers and computer audio. I am not one of them. When I purchased my lifetime Roon membership I did not expect that I needed to have such proficiency. At age 67, with no professional background in this field, I am not likely to attain such proficiency either.
I’m fairly sure I am not the only Roon subscriber who needs more detailed instructions to solve an issue like this.
So please reply to me ASAP – I have not been able to use Roon for days – with some step-by-step instructions.
Some obvious questions:
Do I need to to uninstall Roon first before reinstalling?
If so, how do I do that?
What backup of my database should I reinstall? Attached is a screenshot.
You may notice there are so many subfolders I am unable to take a screenshot that shows all of them. Do I need the most recent subfolder? Or do I need one of the two parent folders and if so, which one?
HOW does one reinstall the database, once one knows which backup to install?
VERY IMPORTANT: The current external hard drive that holds my music and all my Roon backups is an older mechanical drive. I have wanted to replace it with a new SSD drive I have on hand. This leads to a few more questions:
Does anything need to be done to prepare the SSD before I begin to use it for this purpose? Please remember I am using an iMac.
Do I then just move all the files – both music files and Roon backups – on the old HD, over to the new one, and then commence the reinstall?
Or is some other process necessary? If so, what is it? I understand there is some fairly involved process for changing the external hard drive one uses for music with Roon. But as I have to start with a new Roon installation, I am hoping I can avoid some of that because it seems I am starting from scratch again. You can see on the screenshot the file structure of my music on the current HD. An earlier screenshot showed the file structure in my Roon account.
I am not trying to be critical. I understand your support staff can get swamped at times. But if Roon’s plans for further growth include more people like me – music lovers who are not deeply knowledgeable concerning computers – more of a step-by-step support approach is necessary. Please accept that as a constructive criticism.
Thanks Dylan. I will do my best to follow these instructions after I read all the information you have pointed me to.
With respect to this: " * Restore a backup using these instructions"
As I explained (and showed you in a screenshot) I have MANY Roon Backup files. Which one(s) do I use?
This part is VERY unclear to me.
“For moving your music files to a new location, you’ll want to follow this guide:”
What does this mean?
“* Make a backup before making this change”
Make a backup of WHAT?
What does this mean?
“* Remove the existing folders from Settings > Storage before adding your new folders”
Are you referring to existing folders on my external hard drive that stores my music? Or are you referring to files that are in my Roon Database Location?
Honestly you folks are still assuming a level of familiarity with computers that many music lovers do not have. I appreciate you have offered some step-by-step directions but more detail not less is more useful.
For example, ss I explained, I am hoping to use a new external drive to hold my music. I asked some very direct questions and would still appreciate more direct answers:
1. Does anything need to be done to prepare the SSD before I begin to use it for this purpose? Please remember I am using an iMac.
2. Do I then just move all the files – both music files and Roon backups – on the old HD, over to the new one, and then commence the reinstall?
****3. Or is some other process necessary? If so, what is it? I understand there is some fairly involved process for changing the external hard drive one uses for music with Roon. But as I have to start with a new Roon installation, I am hoping I can avoid some of that because it seems I am starting from scratch again. You can see on the screenshot the file structure of my music on the current HD. An earlier screenshot showed the file structure in my Roon account.
Daniel as you can see the instructions @Dylan has provided remain confusing to me. If, after reading our back and forth, you have any suggestions to help me understand the process better, I would be most appreciative.
Thanks Daniel. Even with that in mind I don’t understand why I should not completely uninstall Roon and then reinstall. But I’ll do my best to follow the instructions that have been offered.
The earlier instructions say a Backup can be installed from the Roon Log-in screen. So, I opened Roon and found what is shown in the screen shot attached.
