I checked my LAN administrator and my Nucleus shows up as a “Linux Laptop.” It is not connected. The LAN software identifies it as a device, but not a connected device.
My Nucleus has always been hardwire connected to my LAN with an Ethernet cable. The ethernet cable at the back of my Nucleus shows a constant yellow light and a flashing green light. I have powered my Nucleus off and on and I’ve switched cables to ensure that I don’t have a broken cable. Through the cable switching and the power cycling, nothing changes. The lights on the back remain the same, my LAN does not show the device connected, and the Roon program cannot find my Core.
I have Roon software on multiple Apple devices - MacPro with M1 chip, MacAir with M2 Chip, iPad, and iPhone. All have updated operating systems. Before Nucleus stopped working I installed all updates.
I have two questions:
What do I do to get my Nucleus working?
Does establishing a new Core using my laptop - so can still enjoy my music collection - mess up getting my Nucleus working again?
Try changing the port that it is plugged into on the switch / router. Also, you can plug a monitor into the Nucleus and it will tell you want IP it has, that might also be another clue.
I made a very big mistake in describing the problem. My LAN shows that the Nucleus is connected. I said it was not connected. When was pulling the ethernet cable in and out of the Nucleus to make sure the cable was not defective, the Nucleus showed as connected, when cable the attached, and disappeared when I disconnected the cable to swap out for the new cable.
The LAN now shows the Nucleus is attached. I have its IP address. This is confirmed as the lights where the ethernet cable connects to the Nucleus are solid yellow, and blinking green.
However, no Apple device I have with Roon software recognizes the Nucleus. In fact, Roon software created a Core on my MacBookPro with the M1 chip. I shows a very limited music library - just the files I have on my laptop.
Tomorrow I will move the Nucleus to where it is getting a signal from another mesh pod, also via ethernet to see if I can get the Roon software to find it. I’ll write and let you know.
Since November 2023, Roon for Mac comes bundled with Roon Server. It sounds as though your Roon on your Mac has got connected to the Mac’s Roon Server instead of your Nucleus.
You need to disconnect from the Mac’s Roon Server. In Roon, go to > General and click the Disconnect button. You should then get a screen showing the Roon Servers running in your network. One of them should be the Nucleus. Click its Connect button, and your Roon client will connect to the Nucleus.
This morning I moved the Nucleus, set it up with a new port, and still nothing. It does not work.
The new Roon Core set up on my laptop works. Not so great because I purchased the Nucleus years ago to get the Roon Core off my laptop. The Nucleus is a paperweight - an expensive paperweight.
Parenthetically, I had hoped when Roon was purchased by Hardon Karman, that the larger company would support a Help desk you could call to talk to a person, vice email back and forth. Oh, well…if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.
You said that your LAN showed an IP address for the Nucleus. Is that still the case? Can you access the Web Administration Interface of the Nucleus using the IP Address? If so, please post a screenshot of the interface page. Thanks.,
I have a mesh system. The module I plugged the Nucleus into is called New Dining Room. The Nucleus is connected to New Dining Room by Ethernet cable.
I had to scroll down to get a picture of the connection to the Nucleus. My network labeled it Tizen. I know it is that device because that is the only device that appears and disappears when I plug and unplug the Nucleus cable connection.
The last picture shows the IP address of the Nucleus a.k.a. Tizen.
I remember when Roon was working, my network labeled it correctly as Nucleus. When it stopped working, the system labeled it Linux Laptop. Per your instructions, I moved the Nucleus to a new Ethernet connection and under that new connection, the New Dining Room module, my LAN renamed the Nucleus “Tizen.”
I looked that up Tizen and here in the USA it is for a lot of stuff, including Samsung TVs and I don’t own a Samsung TV or any Samsung devices.
Per my conversation with my LAN administrator, when the LAN system does not get a clear identification on an attached device, it guesses. Why it changed the guess from Linux laptop to Tizen, no one knows. But in any case, the Nuclues is a connected device and Roon software can no longer find it.
Regards, Michael Davis
PS: I tried to send this response to your email, but Google rejected your return address.
A Nucleus should really be connected by wired ethernet to your network and the internet. Connecting it to a mesh module that is in turn using wifi to connect to your network is not recommended.
Can you move the Nucleus so that it can be directly connected with your router?
BTW, please reply to this forum thread directly, rather than trying to use email. That way all your responses are held together in the same forum thread, which makes it easier for the Support team to investigate your issue.
As mentioned, this is not what is meant by “being connected via ethernet”. The phrase indicates a continuous Wired Connection, i.e., that the device is connected by wire to the actual switch or router with NO intervening WiFi hops. If a WiFi hope exists in the network chain then it is WiFi not wired.
Got it. So I moved the Nucleus to attach, via ethernet, directly to the modem that comes from Eastern Utilities, my internet provider.
On the Nucleus, the lights of the ethernet cable are solid yellow and flashing green. On the end of the cable going into the modem, the lights are also as one would expect.
But now the Nucleus does not show up at all as a connected device on the modem. It does not even show up as a Tizen which is how it was identified from the mesh module. The other devices show up. If I plug and unplug the Nucleus, from the modem the number of items attached to that modem, as identified LAN administrative program, remains unchanged.
No surprise that the Roon software cannot find the Nucleus.
Next step - can you attach a monitor or a TV to the HDMI connector of your Nucleus and post a photo of any messages that appear on the screen? Thanks.
PS it should be connected to your network when you do this - don’t simply move it to your TV and connect it there without it also being connected to your network…
Attached is the a picture of what shows up on my TV when I attach the Nucleus to the TV’s HDMI cable.
I called my LAN administrator because the iPhone app they have me use for information on my LAN, is not as robust as what they can do. He did this analysis using his LAN administrator system.
The Nucleus does not show up as being attached my modem although it is attached with a hot ethernet cable.
From a prior conversation, he remembered that the Nucleus showed up as a Tizen when it was attached to a mesh module on my LAN. I know you said wireless is not the way to connect the Nucleus, and the mesh module does connect wirelessly to the modem where I have ethernet connected the Nucleus. But, for the fun it it, he had me reattach the Nucleus via ethernet to the mesh model.
Using the IP address in the attached picture, namely 192.168.0.60, he was able to identify that the Nucleus was now attached to the network again, but still identified as a Tizen. A Tizen with that IP address.
He had me try several times to access that IP address via the web. I use Safari and every attempt returned an error message from Safari that the IP address, 192.168.0.60 was not valid. He also had me try 192.168.0.60:88 and that resulted in the same error message.
Of course Roon operational software on my Apple devices cannot find the Tizen or the IP address.
My LAN administrator thought there as to be a problem with the Firm Ware or Hardware inside the Roon Nucleus that stops it from being identified correctly on the LAN so I can use it.
Geoff, he could not figure out what to do next. Can the Nucleus be sent somewhere to be serviced? Not sure I want to do that, but what else is there. I know it is not under warrantee as it a couple years old.
The last line giving you the IP address of the device, indicates that it is working. The issue is probably NOT the device but your network setup. I would suggest that you tell your administrator that the device is on network subnet 192.168.0 and that everything else in your network must ALSO be in that subnet. Roon does not work across different network subnets.
I refer to it as “the device” since your screenshot is showing that ROCK (Roon Optimized Core Kit) is loaded as the OS instead of the actual Nucleus OS. Are you sure that it is a Nucleus? If it were, that screen shot would be referencing Nucleus. This is concerning because IF you have an actual Nucleus it should not be running ROCK in a long term situation.
If you do have a Nucleus, then indeed the fact that it is now identifying itself as a ROCK device and you are not able to access its Web Administration Interface indicates that the SSD is failing and should be replaced.
You have the option of replacing the SSD yourself or getting it done for you by Roon Labs. The latter route will be expensive, so the Support Team are happy for you to do it yourself (or have a computer-savvy friend or relative do it for you).
@benjamin (of the Support team) has provided instructions on what to do here:
Post your decision on the next steps here, so that the Support Team can either a) initiate a RMA for a repair by Roon Labs or b) wait until you have replaced the SSD and installed ROCK on it; once the Nucleus is back online they can upgrade the ROCK operating system to the Nucleus version remotely.
I purchased the a new SSD card per the link you provided. I should be able to install it. I will probably write again after that to ensure the Nucleus is working.
I want to repeat some things I’ve written in this long dialog.
For years, the Nucleus worked fine on my LAN. Nothing at all has changed concerning my LAN. I don’t know anything about subnets vs nets vs fishing nets. Nothing changed with the LAN, absolutely nothing, but the Nucleus stopped working.
I purchased Nucleus from the Roon website. So, if what I have is not a Nucleus, then Roon sold me a counterfeit knockoff and owes me full refund. I will pursue that refund if Roon sold me a counterfeit.
The SSD card should arrive by Sunday. I will install it and let you know. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
No conspiracy theories needed.
The device is failing and @Geoff_Coupe was able to diagnose this as the extra software that is added on top of the base ROCK install has gone.
Once you reinstall and Roon add the nucleus layer (which does things like tell the device it is fanless) it will be back to normal.
Ben with the support team here - thanks for taking the time to write in and for your thoroughness! I see you’ve been helped by some of the best on our community (thank you @Geoff_Coupe and @Rugby!)
I can confirm that it’s indeed an indication of SSD issues. Let me know how the SSD replacement process goes, and if you have any questions along the way!
I installed the new SSD in the Nucleus, and nothing changed. I could not locate the Nucleus on my LAN app, and my LAN administrator, who has been with me through the whole ordeal, could not find it with his more robust LAN management program.
I got the Nucleus from Roon in November 2020, so I’m assuming it is real, not a counterfeit as was suggested by Geoff, It lasted 3.5 years. I’m not going to pay to return it to Roon for a repair. It is probably not worth it at this point. It will go into electronic recycling.
And I’m going to pass on buying any more hardware Roon. My Nucleus is probably a one-off in failing so young, but 3.5 years for solid state electronics? And his process of trying to fix the problem could have gone so much smoother with a realtime HELP system.
I’m purchasing a Mac mini to be my new music server. That is arriving May 8th. If you have a video or article on how to set up a new Roon Server with an established Roon account, I’d appreciate a link to that.
> General and click the Disconnect button. You should then get a screen showing the Roon Servers running in your network. One of them should be the Nucleus. Click its Connect button, and your Roon client will connect to the Nucleus.
