Intermittent playback issues on Roon with Mac Mini and external USB drive (ref#UTHNE6)

Support
1

What best describes your playback issue?

· Music stops playing unexpectedly

What type of Zone is affected by this problem?

· *All of my Zones* are affected.

Does the issue affect all file formats?

· The issue affects *multiple/all* file formats.

Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?

· *Only local library *music is affected.

Where is your local content stored?

· On the same machine where RoonServer is running, USB drive

If you move the content from your NAS to a local storage location, do you still experience issues with playback?

· The issue happens for both the NAS storage location and on the secondary storage location

Please try playing content of a lower sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz), does this work as expected?

· No, lower sample rates are still affected

Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?

· No, it's a constant anytime thing and doesn't matter the file type

What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?

· Mac Mini - Monterey 12.7.6, Fantom external 8TB HDD, AudioQuest Cinnamon USB cable (cable changes don't make a difference)

Describe the issue

Hi, The issue I'm having is playing Roon via my Mac Mini running Monterey 12.7.6. I have a Fantom external 8TB hard drive connected via USB to the Mini. (Changed USB cables doesn't correct the issue). I have 2 - Pi4's Living Room / Master Bedroom and an Eversolo DMP-A8 connected in my Media Room. (It doesn't matter if one or all zones are on and playing.) I select a playlist or Qobuz/Tidal and all zones connect and play just fine for; and here's the fun part of this mystery; it may play one song or 10 songs or maybe 2 hours before it stops playing - mostly just a few - rarely does it hit the hours part. It doesn't matter which device iPhone 15/DMP-A8, iPad Pro or the Mac Mini I press play on it starts right back up, after that it's Wash/Rinse/Repeat! My new home is wired for ethernet and all is plugged into a Netgear 28 port switch. The problem occurs both when the endpoints are hard wired to the switch or on Wifi via Asus high speed gaming router. Not that it matters in this case but I'm on ATT fiber and generally have average net speeds of 900Mbps as well as all Wifi bars for the wireless endpoints. Just trying to give you as much detail as possible here. I'm at a loss and truly frustrated thus my tech help request. I don't have any power saver/screen savers on and also have the' turn hard drives off' when monitor is asleep 'off'. It truly makes no sense to me. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kevin

Describe your network setup

Asus Gaming Router RT-AC5300, Netgear ProSafe 24 POrt Gigabit Switch

2

Hey @Kevin_Barton,

Thanks for writing in and sharing your report!

Does it still occur when playing to the system output of your mac mini?

Do you only have playback issues when playing streaming content? What happens if you play local content?

As a next step, I’d setup a temporary direct ethernet connection from your primary router to both your Roon Server machine, as well as a single endpoint, and see if you can reproduce. Eliminating any potential network hiccups will be helpful in better diagnosing the issue - we’ll be on standby for your results! :raised_hands:

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Hi Benjamin,
Thanks for the quick reply. Oddly enough I received a text and Roon stopped playing, I opened the app on my iPhone and hit play and the music continued. A few min later another text - same thing - play was paused. I deleted the Roon app from my iPhone and hit play from my iPad Pro which is not set up for text or phone, it’s been playing without any issues now for 5 hours! This is the longest it’s played in months. I’m thinking it was/is something on the phone that is causing it to pause playback. I have very few apps on the phone and most all have notifications turned off. The end points are still on WiFi, tomorrow I’ll plug them back into the wired network and see what happens. Have you ever heard of an iPhone pausing play before regardless of any incoming messages or phone calls? It has to be something running in the background on the phone I’m thinking?
Kevin

5

Hey @Kevin_Barton,

Great troubleshooting work here! I’m happy to hear you were able to figure out the cause of the pauses. That said, I don’t believe we’ve come across this specifically running Roon on an iPhone - we’d be happy to take a closer look if you’d like to re-download and reproduce the issue in a fresh instance? If you do, it would be great to review a fresh set of iOS Roon logs - please follow the below steps:

  1. First toggle “Save logs to Files on next startup” from your iOS Settings for the Roon App.
  2. Reproduce the issue.
  3. Access your Files App on the phone and upload the log file.

We’ll be on standby for your reply :+1:

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