Post-update connectivity issues with iPad and iPhone to Roon on QNAP NAS (ref#8985UP)

benjamin · July 6, 2026, 6:54pm

Yes, it appears there are two different machine IDs with the same name, which is causing issues. We’re attempting to see if it’s something our team is able to manually remove on our end, but the path to do so isn’t completely clear quite yet.

Our development team is still taking a closer look into this, and we’ll follow-up when we hear more information.

In the meantime, I’d set up a temporary Roon Server on your PC so you’ll at least get to enjoy some music in the meantime.

Alan_C · July 6, 2026, 10:14pm

Hi Benjamin,

Thank you for your note. I installed the Roon app on my iPad this morning. The app connected to the QNAP NAS112F59 as the Roon Server and loaded my Tidal albums after I logged onto Tidal. (I subsequently deleted Roon from my PC since the app is more convenient on my iPad.)

Would it make sense to associate this Roon Server with the old storage folder and Music storage on the QNAP? If so, I would appreciate help identifying to which folders to connect. I can send screenshots if that would help.

Thank you.

benjamin · July 8, 2026, 11:12pm

Hey @Alan_C,

That’s great news, thanks for the update, and we’re really glad you’re back up and running and listening again after everything it took to get here! Our team will still investigate the PC related issue no matter.

Your question about the storage is an important one, and the wording matters a lot, so we want to make sure we point you in the right direction. There are two very different things that could be meant by “connecting to the old storage folder,” and they are not interchangeable:

1. Your music files (a Watched Folder). This is almost certainly what you want. If your music lives in a folder on the QNAP, you simply add that folder to Roon as a storage location, and Roon will scan it and pull those albums into your library alongside your Tidal content. This is completely safe: Roon only reads from a watched folder, so there’s no risk to your files. You’d go to Settings, then Storage, then add the folder where your music is stored.

2. Your old Roon database (a Backup restore). This is a separate thing, and we’d ask you to be careful here. Your old database holds your history, playlists, tags, edits, and settings from before the move to Docker. You do not point a running server at an old database folder to recover it; that isn’t how Roon works, and aiming a new server at an old database directory can cause problems rather than merge anything. The correct way to bring back your old library data is to restore from a Roon backup, if you have one, via Settings, then Backups, then Restore. Restoring overwrites the current database entirely, so it’s best done before you invest time in the new setup, not after.

So the key question that decides your path: do you mainly want to get your music files showing up again (Watched Folder, safe, do this now), or are you also hoping to recover your old playlists, history, and edits (Backup restore, only if you have a backup, and it replaces the current database)?

If you can send those screenshots of your QNAP folder structure, we’re happy to help you identify exactly which folder holds your music so you can add it as a watched folder. And if recovering your old library data matters to you, let us know and we’ll walk through whether you have a usable backup and the safest order to do things.

Thanks again for your patience through all of this, Alan.

Alan_C · July 9, 2026, 12:29am

Hi Benjamin

Thank you for your note.

I would prefer to perform a backup restore mainly because of edits and to a lesser extent playlists. I have a Roon Core Backup from 04/25, created just before I encountered the problem we have been trying to resolve. However, when I re-connected the iPad Roon app to the QNAP NAS112F59, it apparently resumed the old backup schedule and created a backup dated 07/07/26 in the container in a folder called roon-backups. When I select “Find backups” in the Roon app, it is the 07/07 backup that is identified. I am providing snapshots of the NAS, including the container, and of the iPad app backup screens.

I should note I also have a backup dated 04/27/26 on a Synology NAS. If you can walk me through a restore from the QNAP 04/25 backup, I would very much appreciate it.

I look forward to your guidance.

Thank you!

Alan

Alan_C · July 9, 2026, 12:41am

I’m attaching a screenshot of what I see when I select “Choose music storage folder” in the app. It appears to be the container folder system. I would appreciate your advice on what to select.

benjamin · July 10, 2026, 7:26pm

Hey @Alan_C,

Thank you for the detailed notes and screenshots, they make the situation clear.

Here’s what happened. When you reconnected the iPad app to the QNAP, Roon Server re-activated your old backup schedule and ran a fresh automatic backup early on 07/07 into the container’s roon-backups folder. That’s the backup “Find backups” is showing you.

Roon’s “Find backups” only lists what’s inside the specific folder you point it at, so as long as it’s resolving to that container folder, the 07/07 backup is all you’ll see.

The good news: your 04/25 backup is safe and untouched. It lives in a separate backup folder (the RoonBackups folder containing the set that begins 2f91535b…), which is completely independent of the 07/07 set. The new backup did not overwrite it, and Roon’s retention limit is applied per folder, so nothing was pruned.

To restore from the 04/25 backup, here’s how I’d proceed:

Protect your good backups first. In the iPad app, go to Settings → Backups and turn off (or delete) the scheduled backup so no further automatic backups run. As added insurance, use File Station to copy the entire 04/25 RoonBackups folder, including the _roon_backup_root_ file, to a safe spot before doing anything else.
Point Roon at the 04/25 backup. In Settings → Backups, choose Find backups / Browse, and navigate to the folder that directly contains the _roon_backup_root_ file and the 2f91535b… folder , that's the RoonBackups folder itself, not the GUID subfolder inside it, and not the container's roon-backups folder. If that share isn't listed in the browser, use "Add network share" in that same dialog to add it (SMB path plus credentials), then run Find backups there.
Select and restore. Once you're pointed at the correct folder, the 04/25 backup will appear in the list. Select it and confirm the restore.
What to expect. A restore fully replaces your current database with the 04/25 state, so your edits and playlists will return. Anything changed after 04/25 (play history, later edits, settings) will revert, and Roon Server will restart as part of the process.
After the restore. Reconnect the iPad remote, re-authorize if prompted, confirm your watched storage folders are still enabled, and check that your streaming services (Tidal/Qobuz) are still signed in. You can then set up a fresh backup schedule if you'd like one.

One quick thing to confirm before you begin: your note mentions the 04/25 backup is on the QNAP and a 04/27 backup on the Synology, but the screenshots show the 04/25 set under a Roon Core Backup/RoonBackups path. Could you confirm which NAS and share actually holds that 04/25 folder? That way we make sure step 2 points at exactly the right location.

Hope this helps!

Alan_C · July 10, 2026, 8:29pm

Hi Benjamin,

Thank you for your very helpful reply. I can confirm that the QNAP holds the 04/25 folder with the Roon Core Backup/RoonBackups path. I’ll follow your instructions and hopefully report that all went well.

Best wishes,

Alan

Alan_C · July 13, 2026, 12:37am

Hi Benjamin,

I have tried unsuccessfully to point Roon to my 04/25 backup on my QNAP NAS. All of my efforts on both my iPad and Windows 11 PC have resulted in an error message.

As you can see from the earlier screenshots, the path is NAS112F59/DataVol1/Roon Core Backup/RoonBackups. SMB3 has been enabled on the NAS. The static IP for the NAS is 192.168.1.45. I don’t know whether to include the port (192.168.1.45:XXXXX), which is not the default of 445. I don’t know whether to revert the port to 445. I also considered changing my password for the NAS because it contains special characters. However, I was hesitant to do that since there might be another issue. I should note the NAS has 2FA, for which I use an authenticator app.

These conditions have been present for years and were not a problem for Roon prior to the software upgrade that created the issue we have been working on.

I look forward to your advice.

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Alan

benjamin · July 15, 2026, 10:26pm

Hey @Alan_C,

Good news, the logs make this one clear, and it’s a smaller fix than it looks. You don’t need to change your NAS password, and the 2FA and port questions turn out to be red herrings for now. Here’s why.

Every one of your “Add network share” attempts failed at the same spot, with the same internal error: the path you entered had no share name in it. Roon needs at least \server\share, and the strings that were tried (\192.168.1.45, smb://192.168.1.45, smb://192.168.1.45:45179, NAS112F59, etc.) all stop at the server.

Roon rejects the text before it ever tries to connect, which is why the password, the authenticator, and the port never actually came into play. So let’s fix the address first.

A few things to correct in the network-share dialog:

Use Windows-style backslashes, not smb://.
Include the share name. DataVol1 is the QNAP volume, not a share, over SMB the share is the folder itself. So enter: \\192.168.1.45\Roon Core Backup and then browse into RoonBackups.
Drop the port. Roon uses standard SMB (445) and has no field for a custom port; appending :XXXXX gets read as part of the server name and fails. Please set the NAS SMB service back to 445 (or make sure 445 is reachable) and enter no port.
Put your NAS username and password in the dialog's credential fields, not in the path. SMB uses username + password only, 2FA doesn't apply to it. If your account's 2FA policy blocks the connection, the easy workaround is a dedicated NAS user with no 2FA and read access to that share; that also sidesteps any special-character worries in your main password.

That said, since Roon Server is running inside the container on the QNAP, my stronger recommendation is to skip SMB entirely and let Roon read the backup as a local folder. Two ways:

File Station copy (simplest): Copy the entire 04/25 RoonBackups folder, including the _roon_backup_root_ file and the 2f91535b… subfolder, into your container's existing backup folder (/share/Container/roon-backups, which Roon sees as /RoonBackups). Then in Roon go to Settings → Backups → Find backups and browse that folder.
Add a volume mount: In Container Station, add a mount such as /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/Roon Core Backup/RoonBackups:/OldBackups (adjust the left side to your actual volume path), restart the container, and Find backups → browse /OldBackups.

Either way, remember from before: point Find backups at the RoonBackups folder itself, the one that directly contains _roon_backup_root_ and the 2f91535b… folder, not the GUID subfolder inside it, and not the container's roon-backups folder that now holds the 07/07 automatic backup. Restoring will fully replace the current database and restart the server, so once it's done, reconnect your remote and re-check your watched folders and streaming logins.

Give the local-folder route a try first and let me know what the backup browser shows.

Alan_C · July 17, 2026, 10:28pm

Hi Benjamin,

Thank you for your advice. I copied and pasted the RoonBackups folder into the container’s backup folder and then browsed to the container’s backup folder in the Roon app. However, the only albums that I see are from Tidal. None of the 2000 or so CD’s that I copied into Roon and none of my playlists are visible. Thanks, again!