iPad screen goes blank

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

System76 Jackal 1U Rack mount server
Ubuntu 18.04.4 LTS
Intel Xeon v6 4-core, 3.7GHz
1.7B521

Remote is iPad Pro 10.5 inch, iOS 13.3.1, Roon 1.7B521

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

UniFi by Ubiquiti, Ethernet CAT6 in-wall wiring, plus several UniFi access points providing 802.11ac
Remote is connected via 802.11ac
Core and all relevant audio devices are hard-wired

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

Bryston BDA-3.14 via hardwire Ethernet

Description Of Issue

iPad Roon Remote app screen goes blank in the following scenario:

  1. Open Roon Remote app
  2. Begin playback
  3. Press Home button to return to home screen
  4. Press Power button to set iPad to sleep
  5. Wait a while, about 10-20 seconds
  6. Press Power button to wake iPad, get past TouchID to home screen
  7. Open Roon Remote app

Note the back button is absent. The music never stops playing and I can get back to the album by touching the album cover picture in the “now playing” area at the bottom.

I have a screen-capture video showing what it looks like (recording started after step 6 above). It’s in MP4 format. I cannot upload it here. Please let me know how to get it to you and you can see the issue happening.

It seems to be 100% repeatable, but only when music is actually playing. The problem goes away for a while if I delete and re-install the Roon app from the iPad, but it will inevitably return.

Does not happen on an iPhone 11 Pro, but I use it as a remote much less frequently.

Thank you.

Thanks for the report, @Kuryan_Thomas!

I think the first step here is to enable some diagnostics on your account so our technical staff can get some more insight into what’s going on here.

However, before I enable this feature, I’d like to ask for your help ensuring we gather the right information.

First, can you please reproduce the issue once more and note the time at which the error occurs. Then respond here with that time, and I’ll make sure we review the diagnostics related to that timestamp.

Thanks, @dylan

Sequence began at 6:29 pm EST and completed a few seconds after 6:30 pm EST. Saturday, February 22 2020.

The “now playing” strip at the bottom stays visible. The rest appears momentarily, then disappears, leaving the screen blank with just the strip visible.

FYI, this has been going on for quite a while, probably since 1.6. Since the music isn’t affected and I can recover the album, it’s never annoyed me enough to report until now.

Hi @Kuryan_Thomas,

Thanks for letting us know that timestamp! Now that we have this information, I have enabled diagnostics mode on your iPad and what this action does is automatically upload a log-set to our servers for analysis. Can I please ask that you let me know the next time you use your iPad so that I can check our servers for the report from your iPad? Thank you!

@noris:

I opened the Roon app on my iPad. I didn’t play any music though. I assume that’s enough for the iPad to send you the log? If not, please let me know. Thanks.

@noris, I have a video capture of the issue actually occurring. If you need to see it, please let me know how to get it to you. Thanks.

Hi @Kuryan_Thomas,

Thank you for letting me know, I just took a look at our diagnostics servers and I can confirm that your iPad logs have been delivered successfully.

I have created a case for you with these logs and have requested feedback from our QA team regarding them.

Once I have further details to share I will be sure to let you know, thanks!

Any updates on this issue? It seems to happen repeatably when music is playing. If I’m not listening but just browsing for new music, it doesn’t happen.

Hi @Kuryan_Thomas,

I just checked the status of your case and it appears to still be pending review by QA at this time. I have sent QA a message requesting a status update, as soon as I hear back from them I will be sure to let you know. Thanks for your patience here!

@support Could you please manage my expectations here? If this is a low priority and I’m probably not going to see a fix, let me know…but just sitting on this indefinitely with no updates at all comes off as disrespectful of my time.

Thanks.

Hi @Kuryan_Thomas,

I just checked the status of the your ticket once more and I don’t see any progress as of now unfortunately. We are aware of a few similar reports for this behavior and we have an ongoing investigation with QA.

Investigations such as these take time and if an issue is found, it has to be applied to a new Roon release via code changes by the devs. I tried your steps on my end using iPad Air w/ iOS 13.2, and I was not able to reproduce this issue, and QA has been trying to reproduce this issue on their end without much luck as well, so it seems that there are multiple factors to consider here.

We are of course still planning to look into this issue and investigate further once we have more reports and we find a common pattern. So as to answer your questions: Yes, this is a lower-priority fix. Yes, we are still planning to look into your report and the similar ones as they come in. When exactly this will be resolved, I can’t say for sure.

Hope this helps.

To add here, I am getting the exact same problem on ipad, but also more recently on Android app.

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