rooDial a Wireless Volume Knob for Roon with Microsoft Surface Dial

Audio Gear Talk rooExtend
983

In my previous post, I reported a long press on the dial would shut off my KEF LS50W2 system.

After my KEFs had a firmware update to 2.5, a long press does not shut the system off.

I am using the original version of rooExtend and did not update it, because some reported new problems, so I chose to wait.

Is there a way to get back my “shut off” feature? Update rooExtend version?

984

Are you sure that the longpress is configured in rooDial as Standby? Please check and let me know.

Please also check if you can see a blue power symbol above the volume slider in Roon. If not standby is not supported. If yes please click on it. The KEFs should go to standby and it sould become red.

Best DrCWO

985

DrCWO,

Thank you. Yes, Long Press action is set to Standby in rooDial ver 1.4.0.

No, I do not see a blue power symbol above the volume slider- only the Sleep Timer moon, DSP, Transfer Zone arrows, and the Settings gear.

I do miss the Standby function.

Rob

986

It sould look like this:
image

If the blue power button is missing during playback to your KEFs then the new KEF firmware sems to have no more support for standby. This means rooDial also cannot activate it and here I’m out :wink:

I think this might be worth a question to KEF support. Roon Ready should provide this especially as it already worked before as you said. You can also contact Roon to verify your findings and maybe they will report the issue to KEF.

Best DrCWO

987

Thank you for the advice.

1 Like
988

I’m sorry I can’t help you more with this :disappointed_relieved:

989

@ROB_BREWER @DrCWO I also have these KEFs. The firmware did not disable this setting. It’s configurable in the KEF Connect app (Speaker Preferences/Standby). You just need to make sure you have it enabled choose ECO, 30, or 60 DO not select NEVER. I have the dial and the latest firmware and can confirm this works as expected for Standby. Great feature, great products than you Carl!

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990

I will check this and report back, but I thought I had ECO mode selected.

1 Like
991

Henry, where are you located? Could it be, it behaves differently, in different countries

I have read the app standby setting does not fix the Roon power button not showing up.problem.

992

I’m in the US in Scottsdale, Arizona. I don’t know about behavior in other countries but I can tell you I have FW 2.5 my Standby setting is on 30 minutes and my RooDial Standby action works as expected.

993

I would also suggest a power cycle of your Roon Core and Speakers… I haven’t had to do that to resolve this issue but unfortunately, I find this is sometimes necessary to get things working as expected.

994

Thanks Henry. I too have found power on reset to be one of my favorite fixes.

995

Well, in a lightening fast move by KEF, the hotfix has been deployed as Firmware 2.6.

Now my LS50W2s, once again, shut off w a long press of the rooDial.

The MS Surface Dial is elegantly designed, and DrCWO’s rooDial extension makes it a perfect accessory for my listening experience.

1 Like
996

Hey, that’s great :+1: :+1: :grinning:
You contacted KEF directly or via Roon?

997

Dr,

I contacted Roon first, and they said they would not refer the problem to KEF as likely it was an extension problem. I had made it clear it worked before, but not now; nevertheless, they interpreted the situation differently.

Next I contacted KEF USA through their Support page. Fred Ward responded this was a known problem, and they were working on a hotfix.

Best regards,
Rob

998

Would you please let Roon know about the end of the story.

For me this looks like an issue in their quality insurance process. It should not happen that a Roon Ready device offers a firmware update with such a bug and Roon did not recognize it and even don’t believe you.

I believe they should find out what went wrong in their certification process…

999

Yes sir. I will let them know.

1000

I’m not sure that Roon test firmware updates? I imagine this would prove overwhelming for them but am happy to be proved wrong. I’ve raised a related issue in the past about manufacturers keeping pace with RAAT developments, but it’s clear from that thread that there’s no expectations around this.

1001

How can I solve these issues:

  • every now and then I have to re-enter the RooDial license, even though I use it daily. I understand that it’s connecting to the Sellcodes servers periodically to check for license, but I’m almost never without internet so lack of connection shouldn’t be a problem. To be honest this is preventing me from buying a RooWatch license which is really expensive, and if I still have to enter the license every other day I’d rather wait for a more stable implementation
  • after I enter the license sometimes the volume control doesn’t work. Playback controls work but turning the dial does nothing. To solve this I have to restart the Pi, then volume controls will work fine.
    Thank you
1002

Please let me know which release of rooExtend you use. I hopefully recently fixed an issue with licensing.
I also would be interested to see the system log right after loss of license.
Best DrCWO