Roon configured with "Import date defaults to: File creation time", but uses file modification time

[ascl (Nick)]

Description of Issue

In an effort to improve Roon’s (terrible in my experience) radio mode by updating Genre metadata via an external tagging app, I have noticed an issue where as I update the Genre tags, the albums appear as “new” (they retain the playcount, it appears the only thing that changes is the added date).

After some research, I found the Roon configuration item for import date, and it is set to file creation time (which makes sense). I am guessing I could use Roon import timestamp here, but this seems like a bug.

The files are stored on a TrueNAS server, shared to Roon Server via a CIFS filesystem (which is running Roon ROCK). If I check the file timestamps via BSD, I see the expected create time (2019 in this case) and modified time (2023), ditto if I check the file via a windows PC over a network share:

$ stat -x Bloodtruth\ -\ Martyrium\ -\ 01\ 1184\ P.C…flac
File: “Bloodtruth - Martyrium - 01 1184 P.C…flac”
Size: 9306069 FileType: Regular File
Mode: (0770/-rwxrwx—) Uid: ( 1000/ nick) Gid: ( 1000/sharedfiles)
Device: 1329830751,318046300 Inode: 237953 Links: 1
Access: Sat Dec 2 08:23:36 2023
Modify: Fri Dec 1 21:28:17 2023
Change: Fri Dec 1 21:28:17 2023
Birth: Sat Mar 9 21:01:42 2019

But it is now showing in Roon as added Dec 1 2023.

This is 100% repeatable.

EDIT: Hmm, if I use Roon to View File Info, the timestamp it shows for creation date does not match what the filesystem reports?!

EDIT 2:
Using a linux VM with the filesystem mounted CIFS:
stat /mnt/smb/Music/FLAC/Bloodtruth/Martyrium/Bloodtruth\ -\ Martyrium\ -\ 01\ 1184\ P.C…flac
File: /mnt/smb/Music/FLAC/Bloodtruth/Martyrium/Bloodtruth - Martyrium - 01 1184 P.C…flac
Size: 9306069 Blocks: 18297 IO Block: 1048576 regular file
Device: 0,195 Inode: 237953 Links: 1
Access: (0755/-rwxr-xr-x) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2023-12-01 23:19:26.718450500 +0000
Modify: 2023-12-01 10:28:17.758188600 +0000
Change: 2023-12-01 10:28:17.758188600 +0000
Birth: 2019-03-09 21:02:33.451365400 +0000

So this is possibly an issue with the way Roon Server mounts CIFS/SMB filesystems?

Roon ROCK seems to use SMB 2.10, everything else I have uses 3.11. Maybe this is the difference? (I tested this, and it doesn’t seem to change anything. Not sure why Roon defaults to 2.1, but that’s an issue for another day).

[connor]

Hi @ascl,

Thank you for the report and the team would be happy to investigate.

Please clarify the following so we can have full context regarding your database:

1. Can you share a screenshot of your Import Settings window in Roon → Library?

2. What external tagging software have you used in this scenario?

3. Can you please share a screenshot of an affected album in Roon?

We’ll follow up there with some conclusions about the underlying cause. Thank you!

[ascl (Nick)]

It should be noted that the issue isn’t this album alone, but rather all albums, but given I used this as an example, we can stick with it.

Album in Roon:

Library Import Settings:

(I assume you want the track import date section)

The tagging software was Jaikoz, but again, it is not specific to this tagging software. If I use the touch command to update the modified date on the file, I see the same behaviour. I suspect this might be more of a ROCK issue than a Roon issue, but it’s a little hard to diagnose.

[AceRimmer (Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!)]

Reopened for you.

[connor]

Hi @ascl,

We have a ticket in to address this behavior. Thank you again for the report. We’ll post an update here when we have more information available.