It started off I got a toy which is a U2 Mini, I installed into my setup, and can access the U2 Mini from my Lumin App as well as seeing the U2 Mini device in my Roon → Audio section, all well
Upon started playing, it doesn’t play (not via Roon nor the Lumin app), sometimes it just sit there idling doing nothing, sometimes the song get updated but it is not moving; if I waited long enough (says 30-45 seconds), if I am lucky it started playing then within seconds it stutters and stopped, this behaviour is consistent to both Roon and Lumin own app
Lumin U2 mini is on the firmware v22 (released 30th April)
What I’ve tried:
Using Roon as a software (source is from Tidal/Qobuz/NAS files)
Using Lumin own app
Using Tidal/Qobuz/Spotify Connect
Setup Environment:
Tried connected directly to router, tried two different switch (NetGear GS108, LHY SW6), tried different interfaces on router or switches
Tried different RJ45 cables
Combination of the above two, and important to note, all different combinations (switches, routers, ports, cable) always work 100% on other two streamer (Eversolo T8 and Holo Red), but just not working with U2 Mini
Further testing:
I’ve not tried the actual local file playback within Lumin U2 Mini, so I prep a USB drives with some flac files, it plays well, but the key is the streaming capability which it doesn’t play at all, or play with such stutter that it is not usable to begin with
Observations:
Spotify on “Very High” works okish if you’re lucky, anything other than that its not working (Spotify lossless, Tidal/Qobuz Connect, Roon with source of Tidal/Qobuz/NAS files). This leads me to suspect is it the network interface on the U2 Mini having some issue, I checked the router/switch port and noted no errors or dropout
Again, I have to stress that all the different combinations work flawlessly on other streamer without any hiccup, at the end, I did something which is to limit the interface that connect to the Lumin U2 mini to fixed 100Mbps (by setting the auto-negotiation to purely 100Mbps), since then everything works flawlessly, even streaming local files via Roon up to DSD256 works beautifully without stop.
I can very consistently replicate this, as long as the U2 Mini is connected to a gigabit interface it won’t work, but an interface with a dialed down 100Mbps works beautifully
Questions:
I do not believe this is a fixed, I’ll prefer my Lumin U2 connect at the LHY SW6 which is a higher quality switch, but it won’t work there as LHY SW6 switch can’t manually fixed the network port speed, so I’ve to connect it to my main routers or the mikrotik switches that allow the interface speed setting, anyone has any such experience and what can I do about this?
Would it be possible to reverse back the Lumin firmware to see if it is the firmware that causing the issue?
This has caused me non-stop troubleshooting for the last 2 days…and though I am listening on the U2 Mini now, but i just couldn’t get over it is not working as intent in the original configuration at 1000Mbps.
Appreciate any advise and feedback
* I’ve also sent an email earlier in the morning to Lumin and would wait for their response
not sure, but I am all ears…100Mbps run beautifully, but not 1000Mbps…but if it is indeed broken looks like I’ve to accept it as is, but I am leaning towards some possibility of the software on U2 Mini hopefully, will keep an update once I hear back from Lumin
Or, if anyone believes there are futher steps that I’ve to validate and try, I’ll be happy too to include those testing so I can come to a landing.
yea, definitely not debating 100Mbps isn’t enough. I’m leaning towards understanding why the 1000Mbps default doesn’t work and won’t let the streaming starts…
I’m mindful when I tested the DSD256 from Roon, i only see like 20Mbps+ traffics which the 100Mbps is more than suffice to swallow.
I’ve tried good old Belden, Panduit (both are factory terminated and works across all other streamers), as well as Sommer Mercator (factory terminated) and an Audioquest Cinnamon
None of the cables work for U2 Mini at 1000Mbps, and I check the switch interface to double confirm the auto-negotiated speed is indeed 1000Mbps
the best I could do is to check the switch interface indeed negotiated a 1000Mbps full duplex every single time, not once it down negotiated to lower than 1000Mbps/1Gbps speed, and no error and no drop packets. It almost felt it struggle for throughput (streaming can’t start). As well as an eyeball check on the physical port and all the 8 pins seems to be in a good order from the external view, but I definitely couldn’t ascertain on the dry joint point that you brought up!
Once dropped the speed to 100Mbps, it works every single time.
You won’t be able to test for a dry joint. This is indicative of a fault with the unit, and since you have eliminated everything else, you should contact Lumin for an RMA.
Shame … it’s a unit back in mid-2022, it’s out of warranty so RMA is not possible, more like repair … meanwhile I’m keeping finger cross Lumin will come back with some steps that I’ve never tried and lands on a positive ground from there :), sometimes I just wish my optimism turns out ok…
Some advice from good friend is to use contact cleaner to spray at the RJ45 pin, I am holding that action till I hear back from Lumin if there’s any more things I could isolate.
I’ve tried at least 3 switches and 5-6 different UTP cables including those standard factory terminated Panduit/Belden. I’ve responded to your email response too and will take it from there to see how I can get some assistance for the repair.