Roon keeps freezing and crashing on Windows (mostly when resuming from minimized) [Solved After Roon Build 1302]

This is a long time problem with the Windows software. I avoid the problem by running the Roon app in its own desktop and nothing else. Otherwise, over time it will not only stop working but crash the computer.

I run it like this and never minimize it.

Hi @bob_prangnell, Are you running your core from RoonServer or Roon?

I’d suggest using RoonServer if you aren’t already.

Actually, how many of you guys having the freeze ups are running RoonServer?

Or are the freeze ups just the Roon app with the server hosted on another machine?

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I have a remote system running as a server.
My issue is on a windows client being used as a remote.
If I restore before the end of the playlist, yet say 90 minutes in, my application will crash but music will remain playing. I’ll need to reopen the app or use another remote.
Linux based server or windows based, my Windows Roon client consistently crashes.

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Hmm, thanks for the clarification. I have only a few playlists and only one gets used daily.

FWIW I’m also having this problem (or very similar). As long as Roon is playing something it seems ok, but if it is minimised, or if the play queue ends, it either hangs for c ten seconds or shuts itself down. Not unusable, but definitely annoying.
Running full and up to date version of Roon on a high-spec but slightly older PC, windows 10, everything hardwired. Seems broad-reaching enough that my individual setup is highly unlikely to be the problem.
Fingers crossed for a resolution in the very near future!
Steve

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It’s also impossible to adjust the volume in Roon on the iPad app (using the physical volume slider) when opening the app from minimized. Physical volume control slider works if you close and restart the app but fails to work if you switch to other apps and then back to Roon. Nothing wrong with the volume control slider. The problem is the Roon app. Running latest iOS 15.6.1 and Roon 2.0 (build 1182).

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A new year, lets hope a commitment from roon to fix this. Along with the totally naff roon radio.

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Interesting to find this is a long train running. Running Roon as access point on my W10 work laptop during WFH used to work quite well, maybe crashed every couple of weeks, but the last week or so it is in a crashed state more or less every time I bring it to the front (e.g. to mute when someone calls). A fix at some point would be nice!

Fortunately the core and other access points are on Macs and pretty trouble free …

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I’m in the second week of the two week demo period and it’s been a love/hate relationship so far. Running Roon on a PC and using an iPad Pro for the remote. Only playing local files from an external hard drive. Always used Roon in a window, never full screen. Keeping Roon running in an open non-minimized widow on my main desktop isn’t a viable option due to my computer usage.

Roon was very easy to set up. Love the interface, functions, and remote. Still finding cool new (to me at least) features.

On the down side, I wasn’t aware there was an issue running Roon on Windows when I started my trial period and I hadn’t looked at the Roon forum at all in the past.

In the first week of my trial period the Roon core/server was often (2-3 times a day) crashing to the desktop, many times when I switched from the window being minimized, but I wasn’t keeping track of specifics at the time. Super frustrating. Sometimes Roon just froze for awhile and started working again, sometimes it just went poof - gone. Roon never crashed the PC. Restarting Roon always went back to exactly where it was when it crashed, often in the middle of a track. After a rough week of dealing this instead of learning about the app, minimizing Roon seemed to be the problem.

Tried running Roon using a second virtual desktop (task view) and seemed to “fix” the issue, no crashes in the last two days - knock on wood. Then I brilliantly decided to Google the issue, found this thread, and saw many others had/have the same problem and have come to the same conclusions.

Considering the cost of Roon versus it’s competitors, having to find workarounds to run it without crashing is a bit hard to swallow. I hope this “bug” is squashed sooner than later.

Have to say that I am really on the fence about purchasing Roon due to this issue. The recent price increase doesn’t help my decision. Heck, I was late to the game so my bad.

My setup:

Windows 11 Pro
Version: 22H2
OS build: 22621.1105
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16-Core Processor 3.40 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 FE
GPU Driver: Version 528.02
Installed RAM 64.0 GB
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 3302, 3/5/2021
Motherboard Manufacture: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Motherboard:ROG CROSSHAIR VIII DARK HERO

I’m sure Roon would love to solve this issue, but as of yet, haven’t been able to. In the mean time, you can run Roon in a Window and never minimize and you’ll be OK. At least, that’s how I deal with it.

Try downloading RoonServer and using that. It is just the server part of roon with no client or GUI. It runs as a service in the background at startup and leaves a little icon in the task bar.

You use the Roon app your currently using on that computer solely for the GUI which you do not have to leave running to keep at all times.

Thanks ffk, I didn’t realize you could do that with Roon server.

I’m find that running Roon in a window on a separate desktop works well and there are no minimizing crashes since there is no need to minimize Roon’s window. Took a few minutes to get used to hitting Windows+CTRL and either the left or right arrow key to switch desktops, but it becomes second nature quickly and now I enjoy using the two desktops.

My only regret is I used most of my 2 week trial period troubleshooting the minimize window crashes and testing the stability of using another desktop. It feels like I’ve only scratched the surface of Roon’s features.

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Windows 11 here… Not sure if this helps the devs or anyone else with problems but I could 100% create this problem every time I minimize and bring window back to foreground. Screen freezes, music keeps playing, can click pause/play and they will still work and next/previous track as well.

Seems a 3D rendering problem for me.
So i played around with a few things.

Disabled Nvidia Overlay (i noticed Roon triggers the 3d overlay) this didnt fix it…
Disabled remember windows positions, minimise windows and ease cursor movement under Windows>System>Display>multiple displays… nope that didnt fix it…
Change windows scaling… nope no luck…
Turned off Gsync windowed support (leaving fullscreen active) YEP fixed… at least for now… will report back after a day or so on any change…

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How did you get on?

I have been plagued by resume from minimise freezes for a long time. Upgrading memory from16gb to 32gb helped with the crashes but not really with the freezes. I have found that most of the time roon will “unfreeze” if I wait long enough (but not allways). If I don’t have the patience and keep clicking it will crash.

I don’t have an Nvidia graphics card. I have dual Intel and AMD Radeon but inspired by your comment I thought I would try something. Instead of letting windows decide on graphics utilization (on my machine it will default to intel + power saving), I configured roon to use the Radeon card without advanced gaming options. So far there has been a marked improvement with no freezing but maybe it is too early to tell:

I wonder if other Windows users have tried changeing the default graphic preferences for the roon client? This reminds me of when I first started with roon 5-years ago there was a long-standing issue with embeded intel grahics chips that was never really resolved.

Edit: initially it looked as if reconfiguring my graphic defaults helped but although the freezes and crashes subjectively feel less frequent after testing for a day or so, they are still there. So no real solution.

Unfortunately I had the minimize issue with G-Sync enabled only for full screen mode, not for windowed and full screen. Using the Nvidia 3090.

I have a single Nvidia graphics card on my Windows 11 machine. So there’s no other graphics card I can select.

It doesn’t support G-Sync so I can’t turn that on or off.

And I still have the issue. No improvement with the latest Roon build from earlier this week.

@support - is this in the pipeline for a fix yet? Have you identified the root cause or are we not even at that stage yet?

There is clearly no correlation to graphics card type for this bug. There are people with Radeon cards having the same trouble. It is not an NVIDIA-based card problem. The whole “what video card and card setting are you using?” thing seems to be a complete red herring.

I’d also like to point out two things today:

  1. This problem was first reported in April 2022, nine months ago.
  2. The last @support activity in this thread was October 2022, three months ago.

I mean, I get that 2.0 just came out, etc. But this is getting to the point where I think we all have to assume it is so low on the Roon priority list that it may well never be addressed.

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Well, even on a Windows Laptop without an NVIDIA/AMD card, it happens all the time.
Solution is not to minimize the window or having to live with killing the application from time to time.

Would be reasonable if Roon would just host a web interface on the roon core.
The “native” app is just an electron(?) shell around a web interface anyway.

Er, no. It isn’t.

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