Apple AirPort Extreme Router (802.11n/g) connected via ethernet with Mac then to VerizonFios (500mbit)
Connected Audio Devices
Roon Core itself has been used via USB to DirectStream DAC and also by ethernet to DAC using their Bridge II; also used on MacBook Pro laptop as endpoint and iPhone.
Number of Tracks in Library
156,000. 70% are Qobuz; 30% are files served from local NAS on the same network
Description of Issue
Music will cut out periodically. CPU right now with out anything playing is 126%. Roon grows to 3.96 GB RAM use after 5 minutes of starting up. It can grow in excess of 8GB after running for a couple days. The only relief from cut outs is to restart the Roon Core app and then play again. When that doesn’t work a full computer reboot does.
Roon is setup on its own account on this Mac with no other apps running. As I typed this, the Roon memory usage keeps climbing. It does not appear to be doing any scanning and it’s not playing music. RAM is now beyond 4GB.
This problem is not new. It existed before Roon 2.0.
The Roon core machine is connected via ethernet to my home network with excellent bandwidth. The cut-outs are with Qobuz tracks. In certain instances I’ve tried connecting with the Qobuz app on my phone with the same albums for over an hour with 0 dropouts; the drops I think are connected with what’s happening on the core. The message I get on the Roon app on my laptop are “Roon is waiting for core…” before it resumes. I never saw this message until Roon 2.0, although the behavior was otherwise similar.
Just for documentation purposes:
24 hours later the Roon Core app on the same computer is at 5GB of memory usage and it’s currently showing me the round processing icon in the upper-right telling me it’s scanning the network drive for new music. CPU usage when playing or idle continues to hover around 108-120% with 107 threads.
@John_Hendron, as @Martin_Webster notes, it may be a network issue. Given that you are using a AirPort Extreme router but an older version with only b/g/n WiFi, how is your NAS connected to the network, Ethernet or WiFi? The router is fairly old and may not have the capacity and switching scale to keep up with network traffic (Ethernet or WiFi) that newer routers have.
However, your library also is on the larger side. 16 GB in an Intel Mac using an i7 may be sufficient, but what type of Mac are you using and what model year is it? Are you using your Mac to run any other applications while it is serving as your Core?
Hi Robert_F.
All the connections are via Ethernet. I’m only using wifi if I’m using the phone or iPad as a remote.
The iMac is a 5K model from late 2015. It’s not running anything else, no, save for the Activity Monitor to look at CPU usage and memory.
In the past Roon used to run at less than 50% CPU, even when playing music on this machine, even when I was trying DSP with 131K taps.
I tend to see the dropouts when the CPU% for Roon is 180-300%. I’m running it right now without a restart and the memory has decreased to 3.8GB and the CPU is oscillating between 8-44%. I haven’t done anything since my last post with the computer except listen to music during dinner sent to my Sonos system via Roon without any hiccups.
Thanks for your questions. I’m willing to invest in a newer wireless ap/router but I’m less interested in replacing the iMac with a Roon Rock NUC.
Not necessarily all, but many an iMac can be among the worst choices of Roon core machine because of Apple’s insistence on the Fusion Drive. That is no bueno for Roon.
Is your iMac a default Fusion Drive or an optional upgrade SSD only?
Just documenting my experience running the latest Roon Core on MacOS. After 1.5 weeks the memory usage reported by top was over 10GB of RAM for the Roon Core. A reboot was required to get it to play anything.
Thank you for your patience in awaiting an official response from Roon.
I have checked your diagnostics and am seeing some communication errors. The errors are relevant to connecting to your local zones but also, Roon’s attempting to connect to Qobuz.
Is this happening on any particular zone? Are you grouping zones?
Two things to try before you go any further though.
The connection errors MAY be resolved by changing your router’s DNS to Google (8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4) or Cloudfare (1.1.1.1).
An alternative is to use Roon Server and I will provide you with my template for doing so below.
Roon Server is a headless core solution. You can still use the Roon application on your computer to control Roon but the Roon Server application will handle core operations. Once completed, it will no longer be necessary for you to leave the Roon application open!
Once installed, you will see a taskbar Roon icon (both Windows and Mac). Click the icon and select launch at startup.
Reboot to ensure Roon Server starts successfully.
Open Roon and select the new instance of a core we just created!
Afterward, you can re-import your databases. This solution will also require your remotes to be connected to the new core and you’ll be prompted to do so when you open them.
Thanks, @Wes.
My Mac was set to use both cloudflare and google as DNS but I’ve also replicated those on the router.
I’ve also transferred things over to using Roon Server.
Will monitor over the weekend.