Hello @Richard_Presser,
Thanks for running those tests, I can confirm that the server just showed up in our diagnostics servers and I was able to successfully open up the logs contained. I am reviewing them and I believe there are a few possible scenarios that are occurring here:
- There is network instability somewhere along the chain.
You mentioned that your iPad randomly disconnects from the Core and your NAS failing to communicate with our diagnostics servers further lend evidence to this theory.
Since you are using the network much more when devices are trying to stay in sync rather than a straight output to the Altair, I believe that either the router or the switch is having some issues with maintaining a stable communication.
If things are stable on WiFi, this leads me to say that the Linksys switch could be a possible culprit here. Are you using the same Ethernet ports each time you connect to the switch? Maybe one of the Ethernet ports or the switch itself is defective. I would also try another switch if you have one around the house.
I took another deeper look at your Macbook Pro diagnostics and I’ve uncovered something deeper here as well. I am seeing a whole lot of NameResolutionFailures on your Macbook Core. This can indicate that the Macbook does not have proper communication to the router or that the DNS servers on your Macbook or router are experiencing issues. To resolve this aspect, I would try to change your router’s DNS to Google DNS or Cloudflare.
You previously mention that you have disconnected the network and performed a test with no wired or WiFi connection active on the Macbook and it still occurred:
I checked the Macbook Pro logs at that timestamp and could not find this attempt. Are you certain that without the network involved in the mix, this behavior occurred? If you are sure, I would like to see this behavior in the Logs and if it is consistent it would also bring me to my next point:
- There is still something causing disconnects in your Macbook communication.
If there is a rouge driver still taking control of the sound card while Roon is playing media, this could cause the behavior you’re seeing, but it would not explain the random disconnects from iPad.
Since you are experiencing this issue on System Output, Built-In Output and the USB headset when connected to the Macbook, I do believe there is something generally affecting your Macbook’s outputs here.
Uninstalling the Ezsound driver is a good step that you have taken already, but if something is still unexpectedly taking control of Macbook audio outputs and causing playback to fail, tracking down where exactly this is will be beneficial in moving forward. Just to get everything in a clean state, I suggest trying to temporarily remove the Elgato driver and disconnect the dock.
- The NAS is under-powered to run Roon.
From the diagnostics we received, I gather that the NAS has a Celeron Core. This could further cause issues here since a Celeron Core is not up to our Roon Recommended specs.
It would not necessarily cause issues when the Core is not under a heavy load, but syncing two zones together requires more processing power than just having one zone playing at a time.
Getting the under-powered NAS out of the equation will benefit you in the future and help prevent any other performance issues that may arise. I would look into a ROCK based setup if you’re interested in having an “always-on” Core setup that is also affordable. We have an recommended ROCK hardware page that can be found here.
I can’t say with confidence where exactly the issues you are experiencing stem from, it can be a combination of any of the above factors and while we have done some troubleshooting here to eliminate variables from the equation, this warrants a closer look at each of my above points.
Please let me know your thoughts on my feedback when you have a chance.
Thanks,
Noris