I’m a Mac guy. I have my Roon database saved and that’s more recent than my latest Roon backup. In other words, I have a complete copy of my entire “Macintosh HD → Users → username → Library → Roon” folder saved. This is not the same as my “RoonBackups” backup folder which I also have, but that’s several days out of date.
My computer is out for servicing and is being re-formated. When it comes back, I’ll of course re-install Roon. What’s the best way to re-install the database? Can I do a “restore” from it as if it was a backup? I don’t want to restore from the actual backup because it’s out of date, so would much rather re-install the full database since I have a complete copy of it. Is there a good way to do this?
I have the roon core installed on a Mac mini. According to my experience, you can very well restore from your HD backup and get a fully functional roon, without doing a DB restore from roon’s own backup system.
On occasions and for the sake of testing, I downgraded to a previous roon build by simply copying it from a backup drive. I did the same with the roon folder containing the DB. It always worked flawlessly.
Caveat, that is possible, however, the Roon Core must be shutdown whilst the file system backup is being taken (to prevent Database updates taking place whilst the files are copied).
Thanks for the feedback. That brings up another question. What is the best overall way of going about this and in what order? I’d planned on installing Roon via a fresh download from the Roon site, then copying my saved database to my mac. Or is it better to copy everything from my saved drive to my reformatted computer including the Roon program? If so, where is the Roon app? I know the database files are in the “Macintosh HD → Users → username → Library → Roon” folders, what else would I need to copy if I go this route? Or stick with Plan A?
While you could restore a full backup to your newly-formatted Mac, some people prefer to make a fresh start with a fresh install of their programs and environment.
If you fall into the latter category, then, yes, you will be running the Roon Installer. Once Roon is installed, then don’t run Roon immediately - if you do, it will start the Roon Server, open to the Login screen and create a new database.
Instead, first restore your backup database to the location shown in this Help article, and then run Roon:
I have my repaired Mac and am having some trouble getting Roon back up and running. I installed Roon, then made sure it wasn’t running. Next I copied my Roon library files back into the Mac in the original locations (“Macintosh HD → Users → username → Library → Roon”) then re-launched Roon and signed in. At that point I’m given two choices:
Find my Roon Core
Set up a Roon Core on this Mac
I’m trying “Find my Roon Core” but Roon just keeps searching without finding anything. Am I missing something?
I tried “Set up a Roon Core on this Mac” to see what would happen, and it gives me the option of restoring a backup. I tried to point that to the database, but it seems to want the backup files. However, I’d rather restore Roon from my preserved database files since those are more recent than my backup.
I was getting nowhere so I tried to unauthorize my Mac. It had been fully reformatted, so I wondered if that was why Roon wasn’t seeing my core. Now it seems Roon wants me to start completely from scratch and redefine where I store my music library. This is not good.
Is there any way to get Roon back to where I had it before I had my computer reformatted? I have a copy of the database from right before the Mac went out for servicing, and a Roon backup that is older. I don’t want to restore from the backup and would rather use the database which I have a copy of.
Did you originally make a complete copy of everything that was in the “Macintosh HD → Users → username → Library → Roon” folder, or just the Database folder? It sounds as though the original Roon environment has not been completely preserved.
If that’s the case, then I’m afraid that you had best follow the Migration path, and restore that Backup, even if it isn’t the most recent snapshot of the Roon environment you had.
Is there any chance that the paths to the DB aren’t the same? If you search your mac for folders with “Roon” in the name, do you find a newer, relatively small Roon folder? Perhaps in a different place than the one you copied back?
Is your Roon folder named exactly what it was before?
If your database is large, did you use regular Mac Finder copy or did you use something like Chronosync with Verification turned on to copy it? Maybe some corruption during the copy?
Yes, I made a complete copy of everything in the “Macintosh HD → Users → username → Library → Roon” folder, not just the database folder, I have a copy of all folders. I copied those back to the same locations after installing Roon.
I don’t see any other “Roon” folders or databases in my system.
Now that I unauthorized my Mac mini, what is the best way to go about this? I don’t mind blowing away Roon again and the Library and reinstalling from scratch, I still have all the folders and files. I’m just surprised I’m having the trouble I’m having, it sounded like it would be relatively straight forward.
I ended up having to restore from the backup, which was successful. I then had to manually retag a couple day’s worth or work; that was a pain, but not the end of the world. Everything’s back to where I want it now, but I’m still confused why I wasn’t able to copy the database over and have Roon recognize that. In the end, no biggy really.