Got this Nucleus Plus direct from Roon in June (open box promo).
Networking Gear & Setup Details
Unit is plugged directly into a Linksys mesh router via Ethernet. Rebooted my cable modem and the Linksys router and changed cables. Still not found.
Connected Audio Devices
Roon Core is not found on iPad, iPhone, Oppo 205, or my MacBook Pro (2022).
Number of Tracks in Library
85000 tracks.
Description of Issue
Got a Nucleus Plus direct from Roon in June (open box promo). Worked flawlessly until today when I powered it down to add tracks to the external HD. After adding the tracks, plugged hte drive back in, booted the Nucleus, and now it is not found. Have rebooted my entire network, changed Ethernet cables, unplugged and reconnected external drive, nothing working. Nothing to screenshot, Roon cannot find the Core.
When I turn it on, there is no display on the TV over HDMI. The TV sees that a connection has been made, but there is no image on the TV. I’ve tried all inputs on the TV and two separate HDMI cables, nothing. Tried rebooting multiple times, no image displayed.
This is the 2nd Nucleus I’ve had fail - last one was a first gen. This is less than two months old - I feel like a glutton for punishment. So disappointing.
The plot thickens… took out an old computer monitor I have, it boots on that (doesn’t like my new LG OLED I guess???).
Looks to be booting (see below0, although it is not connected to ethernet on this TV as I’m nowhere near the router. Stops at the searching for network address stage as it is not plugged into ethernet… but in the other room, when plugged into ethernet neither the Core or the Nucleus (when I search for a new setup) appear.
I’ve unplugged and rebooted every device, tried new cables - maybe its got an ethernet issue on the hardware side.
Very weird. Hope tech support shows up soon - thank you for your insights and advice! Jim
It’s a good sign that you’re seeing the HDMI output, this means that the unit at least boots. Can you try to connect the Nucleus back to Ethernet and move the monitor closer to see what it displays then?
Is your Cable Modem by any chance also in router mode? If so, it would have its own network and prevent devices on the mesh from showing up. I’d check to make sure there’s only one connection from modem → primary router and that WiFi on the modem is disabled.
Just tried moving it to where the mesh router is with the display that it would boot on, unfortunately it now will not boot. Power comes on but there is no output to the display over HDMI.
This is my 2nd Nucleus unit to have a hardware failure - I ordered this unit in late June as a replacement for my Gen 1 which died earlier this year. I think I’d really like to just get a refund, can you please message me to discuss an RMA/refund? This shouldn’t be this hard, especially for $2500.
OK so I think it’s pretty clear this is a hardware issue. After trying to boot the machine about 20 times, it finally did boot and I was able to access the system status via the browser and actually play music. I then shut down the unit using the red button, disconnected the screen that I had attached to see the boot status, and powered it back on using the back button. It has now been 20 minutes and I can no longer connect to the core via the browser or the Roon app… It’s just giving me a not found error. Again, I had to try to boot to the external display a couple of dozen times to finally get it to give me some information, then I plugged in the drives and the ethernet and everything worked briefly.
Spent several hours tonight trying to get the nucleus plus to boot without success. Ethernet light is blinking green and amber, there is no HDMI output since late this afternoon for me to get a readout. The power light comes on but otherwise it is dormant. It would be great if somebody from tech-support could get back to me, it’s been a whole day spent trying to make this work.
Hi Jim. Just been through a similar process and a dying SSD was to blame. New one was only $30 AUD and smallest i could find was 250gb. New SSD needs ROCK flashing on to it with USB, then support will update that to Nucleus version. It sounds very much like what I experienced. Use the @Support tag in your thread and they’ll contact you soon. With new SSD it was all up and running in 20mins.
Having just experienced it if you need any more help just shout out.
Thanks man I appreciate the suggestion. Already reached out and heard back this morning and I’m packing it up and sending it back.
I got to say I’m really shocked at my bad luck with two different nucleus units. I have Mac computers from like 2012 that still run like a top. These things run one program with dedicated software and I’ve had two of them fail. I think given the premium price, The nucleus should be bulletproof at least from a hardware standpoint. I absolutely love Roon, I really hope the company succeeds long-term and is there for the long run. I just wish trying to support the company with hardware purchases wasn’t so painful for me personally. I guess everybody can have bad luck.
Thank you for performing that test, and sorry to hear that the HDMI stopped working properly. Since there is no HDMI output, it does sound like a hardware issue, unfortunately
I’m not seeing any previous correspondence tied to the email address you’re posting from, did you purchase the unit through a dealer and are in contact with them?
Can you please let us know the dealer’s name so that we can attach your case notes for when they reach out if so? Thank you!
If you read since the beginning of my thread, you will see that I bought it directly from Roon as an open box product. I have the transaction receipt and I have already heard from your returns department. Additionally I direct messaged you immediately after you responded above, but I Did not get a response to my message which I sent yesterday.
Yeah agreed. Love ROON and never want to live without it now but for a simple NUC PC it shouldn’t be that hard, especially at the premium price. They’re around $4k here in Australia and trust me that hurts…
Hopefully some top business type person at ROON can address their strategies and Quality Assurance for an even better experience. Be nice if other Audiophile manufacturers out there could make their own CORE, a bit of competition wouldn’t do any harm. It would be a bit arrogant to think that no one can do it better than ROON. It would surely grow the community of users too?
Hope you’re sorted soon and run of bad luck ends. I had a brand new power amp die after just three weeks recently too which scares me for their longevity as they are mono blocks setting me back $12k! I had a load of problems with a solar install, both in electronics and tradesmanship. So, it’s not just you if that helps…
I can’t imagine that there are that many of these units out there. With pretty much any hi-end audio hardware product I buy from a small domestic based manufacturer, I can email them or in most cases pick up the phone and speak to somebody in tech-support. I think it would really behoove Roon to have dedicated support for Nucleus - I guess their answer is call the dealer, but I bought this direct, and even if I buy a Macintosh or Manley product from a dealer, I can still pick up the phone and talk to somebody in tech-support if my unit has a problem.
I’m just bummed out because I bought the nucleus plus for ease of use. I’ve run my core on my MacBook on and off and I just felt it was a better experience having a dedicated box.
Thanks for letting us know that you’ve been able to get the issue sorted with the return department’s help, and sorry to hear that the Nucleus didn’t work out for you. We do test all our products before sending them out but unfortunately, sometimes hardware fails.
We appreciate the feedback here and hope that you are able to find a suitable Roon Core for your needs. Some other options to consider is to build a ROCK, or pre-build SonicTransporter, Antipodes, or if you want to try another Nucleus. Hope this helps!
