Roon fails to open after software update and new endpoint connection (ref#A5HLXY)

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

Roon is slow, freezing or won’t start

· Roon won’t start up at all

Tell us what's going on

· I wanted to try a new digital transport/end point so powered down my pc roon core inplugged the existing endpoint, plugged in the new endpoint but before powering back up I looked at my phone and stupidly opted to go for a software update. When I powered my pc back up I now vannot open roon.

Tell us about your home network

· Sky router, no switches

Hello @Christian_Bolton,

Thank you for reaching out. I’m sorry to hear that Roon is refusing to start after the recent update and endpoint swap.

Since your Roon Core is running on a Windows PC, this issue is very commonly tied to an outdated .NET Framework. Roon relies on this underlying Microsoft component to run properly, and recent Roon software updates often require a more modern .NET environment to launch correctly.

Let’s try updating your system’s .NET components to see if it clears the roadblock:

  1. Check for Windows Updates: Go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and check for any pending updates. Microsoft often bundles essential .NET updates here. Install any that are available.
  2. Update .NET Manually: To be absolutely sure you have the required environment, go to the official Microsoft website and download/install the latest .NET Desktop Runtime for Windows (x64).
  3. Restart Your PC: Once the installation is complete, perform a full reboot of your computer.
  4. Launch Roon: Try opening the Roon application again.

Please let us know if Roon starts up successfully after this, or if it is still failing to open. If the issue persists, we can guide you through installing a fresh copy of Roon over your existing setup.

I suspect the challenge here is that my pc won’t take Windows 11. I have a 2024 Macbook air, could I use that as the roon core instead

The macbook uses the M3 chip and has 16GB memory and Tahoe 26.5 OS.

@vadim ???

Hi @Christian_Bolton,

That shouldn’t be an issue. Let’s back up a bit, if Roon Server is running, it often puts a small icon in the system tray (bottom-right of the taskbar, near the clock). You may need to click the little arrow ^ to see hidden icons.

Can you check in Roon Server is running?

I’d also check your windows firewall. Try temporarily disabling the Windows firewall to test if that’s the culprit. If disabling it lets Roon open, add firewall exceptions for both Roon and RAATServer rather than leaving the firewall off.

Lastly, I’d try re-downloading and installing Roon on the PC, and see if that helps.

We’ll be monitoring for your reply, thank you!

Hi Benjamin, I’ve decided to use my Macbook Air as the roon core now and appear to have got that up and running perfectly. The pc I was using is fairly ancient anyway. I think I will just back up files to the pc now. Thank you.

Hello @Christian_Bolton,

Glad to hear you got it up and running on the MacBook Air! That sounds like a great solution. Feel free to reach out if you need any help with the migration or backups.

Many thanks @vadim . I am having a problem though. Roon regularly loses control of my Sonos devices. My Macbook Air is connected by wifi, maybe that is the problem? I have tried disabling the sonos devices and then enabling again but this doesn’t make any difference. Any ideas?

Roon does control my Naim NDX2 perfectly well. The NDX2 and both sonos devices are all hardwired.

Hello @Christian_Bolton,

While having the MacBook Air on Wi-Fi is incredibly convenient, it could indeed be contributing to this behavior.

Roon relies heavily on continuous multicast network traffic to maintain visibility and control over your endpoints. Many routers struggle to perfectly bridge this multicast traffic between the wireless network (where your Core is) and the wired network (where your Sonos devices are), which frequently leads to control dropouts. The Naim NDX2 uses our proprietary RAAT protocol, which handles these specific network hops much more robustly than the standard Sonos integration.

To see exactly what is happening under the hood and confirm if this is a network bridging issue, we would like to review your system’s diagnostic logs.

Please play some music, and the next time Roon loses control of the Sonos devices, make a note of the exact local time and date that the dropout occurs and share it here.

Once you provide that specific timestamp, we will enable diagnostic mode for your account and check the logs to pinpoint exactly where the communication is breaking down!

Hi Vadim, I understand. I did wonder if the wifi connection might be the problem. I just tried and roon lost control today at 09.29 GMT.

Running a wired connection to where the laptop lives most of the time wouldn’t be impossible!

Hey @Christian_Bolton,

Thanks for the timestamp! We’ve enabled diagnostic mode for your Roon Server, could you please bring the machine back online and bring Roon up?

That should send over a fresh diagnostic report for our team to analyze further. We’ll be monitoring for your reply in the meantime, thank you!

Hi Benjamin, roon is up and running and I am having the same problem today at 10:20 GMT, Christian

Hi @Christian_Bolton

Thank you for providing that timestamp - we’ve had a chance to review the diagnostic logs from your session.

The logs confirm exactly what happened. At 10:24 UTC, the Roon Server’s cloud push connection dropped (a WebSocket disconnection from the server side). This is the channel Roon relies on to relay control commands from your remote app to the Core - when it breaks, your remote loses visibility of the Core until the connection re-establishes, which in this case took about 25 seconds. Looking back through all of your logs since early June, we can see this has happened 39 times, alongside 84 network reachability events and 30 Sonos stream interruptions. All signs point to transient Wi-Fi instability on the MacBook Air itself.

Your Naim NDX2 is wired and its RAAT connection to the Core is solid - the disruptions originate at the Core’s Wi-Fi connection, not the NDX2. Similarly, the Sonos CONNECT:AMP in the Bedroom dropped out at 09:18 this morning because the Sonos device stopped responding to position polling – again a consequence of the Wi-Fi Core losing network visibility briefly.

You mentioned running a wired connection to where the MacBook lives is possible - that’s the right move, and based on what the logs show, it should resolve all of these dropouts in one step. Once the Core is on a stable wired connection, it no longer relies on Wi-Fi for multicast traffic to Sonos, push2 connectivity, or RAAT stability.

Please do let us know how you get on once you’ve switched to wired - we’d expect the dropouts to stop entirely.

Hi Vadim, I hardwired my macbook air and switched off wifi and roon could not control my sonos boxes. I switched wifi back on (so the macbook was connected by wifi and by wire) and it regained control. Out of interest, I switched off wifi but left it hardwired and it lost control again. I switched wifi back on with the macbook still hard wired and now it has lost control again which is puzzling. Does roon need wifi as well?

I have restarted my macbook and everything works now. I’ll leave it hardwired and I need wifi occasionally anyway so I will leave that switched on. Thank you very much for your help.

Hello @Christian_Bolton,

Great to hear everything is working now! Enjoy the music!