Does the issue happen with local library music, streaming service music, or both?
· *Only local library *music is affected.
Where is your local content stored?
· On the same machine where RoonServer is running, internal drive
Please try playing content of a lower sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz), does this work as expected?
· No, lower sample rates are still affected
Do you have an approximate timestamp of when the issue last occurred?
· Five new files were copied on 3/1/25 between 10:41 and 11:02 am.
What are the make and model of the affected audio device(s) and the connection type?
· The Nucleus is connected by HDMI to a Yamaha RX-V6a and by USB to an AudioQuest Dragonfly Red.
Describe the issue
I am running a Roon Nucleus One with a 4TB internal SSD. I copied my music files, Roon indexed them, and they all play. I have since ripped some files and copied them to the Nucleus drive's "internal storage" folder - they are there, but Roon doesn't recognize them. I expected Roon to auto-index, but it hasn't happened. Why?
Describe your network setup
The only network connections are the Cox Cable internet box and a copy of Roon Remote running on a Mac mini.
I’ve also noticed that other tracks by other artists are also missing from the internal SSD on the Nucleus One. For some reason, Roon is failing to properly index the internal drive of the Nucleus One. This is unacceptable.
The only thing that I can think of that might be causing this is that after I installed and formatted the internal SSD, I used my Mac’s “Finder” app to copy files from an external USB drive (connected to the Mac) to the Nucleus’ internal SSD. Looking at such transfers from an audio amigo’s Windows PC, I’ve noted that the Mac writes a zero kb file prefaced with a dot and underscore for each file’s name in addition to the actual file. Could these “extra files” be what is causing Roon to malfunction?
My internal SSD is a new 4TB Western Digital, and my music Library is 1.8TB, so there is plenty of free space…
This should be fine. This (and the Windows/Linux equivalents - including command line operations) is the only way you have of managing the files on the Nucleus internal storage.
I’m not a Mac user, so I have not seen this. However, I would be surprised if this did cause an issue.
Thanks most kindly for the suggestions, gents. I did look at “Library - Skipped Files” and the only file in the list was from 2022 (IO error). If by “rebooted the server,” y’all mean to power-cycle the Nucleus, that gets done at least once per week (my system seems to constantly be in flux).
I have used an internal drive in the Nucleus One before (changing it out only when I ran out of space). I copied files to my previous internal drive using Mac Finder app, and had no problems (everything I copied there was properly indexed & played by Roon).
I’m beginning to suspect that my Nucleus is somehow defective. It has worked OK up until the past few months, but now, it is giving me fits! My review of Roon (based on my past experience and my new Nucleus One) was published on the “Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity” website, but I’m thinking now that I may have to either go back and edit it again or else post a follow-up review of Roon.
A music player that won’t index or play music is a serious issue.
Thanks for sharing your issue! We’d be happy to take a closer look - I don’t see any specific track names linked to the issues you’re having. Would you mind sharing a few? That way, we’ll be able to pinpoint any error messages from your Nucleus diagnostic report.
Just to triple confirm, you’re only having issues with your local tracks, correct? Your Qobuz library is functioning normally?
If you could also share a few of the issue tracks to our media uploader, we’ll see how things function in-house. Here’s the upload link:
Thank you, @Benjamin - Music files and a screenshot of my Nucleus web UI are uploaded.
To triple confirm - yes my issues are only with local files - Qobuz seems to be working perfectly (I did need to temporarily disable Qobuz to make sure that my local Library files were not being found, but I’ve turned it back on now).
One other clarification, @Benjamin - My Library works perfectly with external USB drives connected directly to my Nucleus One. My problems only began when I installed the internal Western Digital 4TB SSD.
I’ve read on the web that some Western Digital drives have format protection that prevents them from being formatted by the user. But Roon told me that it had successfully formatted this drive and that almost all of the 4TB were available.
HI @Benjamin - Any progress yet on diagnosing my Roon Nucleus One? I am holding off adding any more of my CDs to the internal Library drive until I know why Roon isn’t indexing all the files on the Nucleus.
Hi @Benjamin - As an experiment, I temporarily disabled the internal SSD on my Nucleus and attached an external, USB, HDD. After letting Roon index the contents of the external drive, the files that were not indexed on the internal SSD are showing up perfectly on the USB drive.
From this, I conclude (although I may be wrong) that the Nucleus is working properly with external drives, but NOT with the internal drive. To test this hypothesis, I’m going to remove the SSD from the Nucleus’s internal mounting and install the SAME drive into an external USB housing. If the SSD works properly there, then I will conclude that the SSD, itself, is intact and not the problem. That means that the Nucleus’s interface is defective.
If, on the other hand, the Roon software exhibits the same failures when reading the SSD in an external, USB box, then I will conclude that the SSD, itself, is defective.
If you have comments on this troubleshooting path, please let me know.
Certainly let us know how your experiment goes - we haven’t had the chance to analyze the files you’ve sent over yet, we’ll respond once we’re able to do so.
After turning everything off, I disconnected the internal drive, removed it from the Nucleus, and installed the drive in an external USB cradle.
The Nucleus recognized the drive and is now indexing the files. As soon as Roon is through indexing folders, I’ll look to see if it recognized all the files that were previously missing.
While waiting, may I ask another question. Even though the Nucleus One Internal Storage folder is disabled, I’m finding no way to delete it. The three dots to the right of the drive name (that should have a “Remove” option show only the options to “Enable” or “Edit.”
If I try to enable, it looks as if Roon is adding the files now in the external drive again. If I try to edit, I get the options to import iTunes playlists, to import other playlists, or to edit “ignored paths.” Ideas?
OK - After indexing, Roon DOES see the files it previously missed. Why? Is my internal drive controller defective? It sure seems so…
Hi @Glenn_Young,
Thanks for that detailed response.
I agree this seems likely from what you’ve experienced. Since there seems to be a hardware issue you can use this form Nucleus Troubleshooting to submit an RMA.
Just to update this thread, I created a Nucleus Hardware technical service request on 3/10. We’ll see where this goes from here. In the meantime, the same SSD that Roon didn’t index properly as an internal drive is working fine from an external USB cradle.
And another question, if I may? I want to do a Roon backup. But I don’t want to store that backup on the music drive connected to the Nucleus by USB. I want all the storage space on that drive for music. This leaves me with the choices of storing backups on my Dropbox space, or else telling Roon to use a network share. I have an external USB drive hooked up to my Mac mini, but it isn’t the internal drive of the mini itself. Can I get to my mini via Ethernet and then jump to the external USB drive attached to (and mounted by) the mini? What would that path look like?
Our development team took a closer look into your case, and it’s quite interesting that only a portion of your tracks were not properly indexed when the SSD was placed into the internal slot within the Nucleus.
We’ve received your RMA report and they will follow up with next steps there.
Can you be more specific around the files that weren’t proper indexed internally?
Not quite - this could still be a hiccup in regards to how the files were imported onto the SSD itself.
As a follow up test - after you import these tracks into the internal SSD, give Roon Server a reboot from the webUI. Do they show up properly afterwards?
This is to be expected - there is no option to delete the internal storage path within Roon Settings at this time.
Good question and great call keeping your backups in a separate location from your local library! Combining the two often leads to errors and potential database corruption.
You should be able to connect to the external drive on your Mac over a network share - you’ll want to ensure that each folder along the network path is given proper share settings for Roon to access. Here’s a KB that breaks down what those share settings look like on the Mac side:
Note that the article is specific around setting up the folder as a ‘watched folder’ versus a storage location - but the process is all the same. The only difference is you’ll be adding the network share from your Roon Settings>Back up page versus your storage page.
Let me know if this makes sense and if you have any additional questions along the way!
I think that my files were on the SSD without error. Why? First, I could see them all over the network from my Mac mini. Second, I tried erasing some of the files and rewriting them. The Nucleus One still didn’t see them on the internal SSD. Third, when I removed the SSD from the internal slot on my Nucleus One, put the drive in an external cradle, and connected it to the Nucleus One via USB, the Nucleus reindexed the drive and then SAW THE FILES AND PLAYED THEM without any further ado. Note that I did not reformat or change anything on the SSD except to move it from the internal slot to an external cradle.
Yes, I did reboot the Nucleus one when I discovered that some tracks were missing. The reboot neither caused Roon to reindex the drive nor did it cause Roon to find the missing files. I subsequently forced Roon to reindex the Library SSD drive in the internal slot - no change. The music files WERE on the SSD, but Roon did not recognize them.
I have decided to store my Roon backups on an external USB drive (NOT the SSD with the music Library). Since the Nucleus One has but two USB ports (and I’m using them both - one for the SSD Library drive and the other for an AudioQuest Dragonfly DAC), I plan to disconnect the DAC on the weekends and manually backup after plugging in the USB backup drive. QUESTION - Could I use a powered USB breakout box to connect more devices to the Nucleus One?
My Nucleus One is still under warranty. If you decide that it needs to be replaced, I want that to happen prior to my warranty expiring. Please advise.
I see how that might make it seem like the import and analysis are working fine, but seeing the files on your network doesn’t necessarily mean Roon or your Nucleus has successfully imported them. That said, it is certainly an odd behavior that certain tracks had trouble when the SSD was in the internal slot.
My apologies for not being more clear - I was asking specifically for the name of the tracks that you were having issues with. Was it only the tracks you’ve shared via uploader? We’re attempting to review another diagnostic report from your Nucleus for further analysis.
Unfortuantly not - but you can certainly still setup network connections to other devices.
We’re not able to speak on behalf of the RMA department - they’ll be the ones who will follow up with anything related to sending your Nucleus in for analysis / warranty-related topics. I’m sure they’ll follow-up with you soon!
Yo @Benjamin - @Olena_Karpenko asked last week that I disassemble my Nucleus, take photos of the SATA cable, and send them to her. I did so last week, but have yet to receive confirmation that Roon got the photos (or what, if anything, Roon thought of them),
Lest this issue fall between the cracks, could you have Olena (or whomever else is handling my case) to tell me where we stand?
It looks like the RMA team has been in touch regarding your case. It sounds like you have a workaround with the USB adapter, but let us know if you are still having any issues.
