Roon QNAP Server - occasional skipping songs with possible memory problem?

Core Machine (Operating system/System info/Roon build number)

QNAP HS-453DX with QTS 4.5.2.1594
running Roon Server 1.8 (778)

Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)

Fixed Gbit CAT5e network , Sagemcom F@st 5655v2 optical modem/router, Ignition Labs Portal in AP mode (for fixed works as dumb switch)

Audio Devices (Specify what device you’re using and its connection type - USB/HDMI/etc.)

Chord Mojo via USB from a Ryzen 9 5950X PC w/ ASUS RTX 3080

**Problem:

It seems that my QNAP HS-453DX with 4Gb RAM running the latest updated software has issues I haven’t seen before.

After extended listening (I usually see this error after many hours), memory usage for the Roon server app on the NAS goes above 2GB, which means it uses up all the total available system memory. In such a scenario it often happens that playback stops, skips tracks, reports media loading slowly, network issues etc. Before I haven’t seen memory usage above 1GB. Note that memory usage in itself is correlated but is not a sure trigger for the problems.

However, I must add, that sometime along the way I have also started using DSP for upsampling to DSD256 and EQ-ing for my Mojo + headphones, which also has an impact. However, 4GB should be enough for this too. CPU usage is usually now 40-60%, but that is also OK, I don’t really use the NAS for anything else.

Also, Roon memory usage is very inconsistent. Sometimes it goes up to 2.06Gb, sometimes it goes down to 1.6, 1.2. Also, it does not care that much in cases when I try to do something on the NAS if other apps are running, it just seem to reduce the memory footprint and it does not seem to effect playback. I am just guessing here, but as I always find something updated or done on the NAS when I check after Roon manifests this behaviour, it gives me the impression that Roon Server has issues managing memory (or even CPU?) when the OS is trying to something automatically instead of me doing it manually. It is certainly not a general performance issue (although this specific NAS is below recommended specs) as when I do anythinig manually I cannot force Roon Server to screw up.

In the forums they tell me that Roon now needs more RAM in the NAS to make sure it does not skip, someone said 16Gb, somebody 32Gb. Considering that you can cache a whole 80 minute album in 32 bit 768Khz into 14Gb and the NAS can easily do conversion in real-time I don’t see the point. Someone also said Roon is caching the database in RAM. That also is really bad design, considering that it is recommended to put the database onto an SSD for quick access. There would be no reason to buy an SSD for this if the whole thing is cached in RAM anyways. Also, I don’t actually use the whole thing while listening to music, so it would be a waste of RAM.

Please please help: is this a bug, is this a feature, do I need to buy, how much RAM?

Thanks

Check this thread:

1 Like

Hey @Aron_Ecsedy,

So sorry to hear about this and to reply this late…:pleading_face: You might have noticed that we’re a bit behind and doing all we can to reply to everyone who created a thread.

@DanielAvasilichioaei (thanks :pray: ) has kindly shared a thread that might be an answer to your problem. Did it help at all? Can we still help?

Hello @beka and @noris,

No it did not, that entire thread is still unresolved and likely covers the same issue as many other threads. I have also saw several posts in the last months on FB forums such as Facebook Groups and Facebook Groups reporting issues that might be the exact same one, just users apparently cannot identify why their Roon playback stops frequently. Effected devices are mostly seem to be Nucelus, Mac Minis and QNAP NAS-es. Common feature is that some people end up buying more (sometimes 32Gb) of RAM to combat the issue, which is obviously ridicoulous.

My experience is that after I restart the NAS it works for some days well, then problems start which culminate in more and more frequent dropouts reaching a point when starting a new track (especially when skipping tracks) causes Roon to skip the next or more tracks or cycle through a whole album skipping each track. Apparently, this is caused by the Roon Core system being busy swapping (would also explain why NAS, MAC and Nucelus users are mostly effected - neither of these systems are likely to have large amounts of RAM or configured to avoid swap files, while not very powerful either), while the RAM usage tops out. The issue is obviously NOT the RAM need, but the fact that the swap file activity slows down these fairly low-end CPUs to a level when stream gets interrupted (especially if transcoding or DSP is required). In my case Roon processing speed drops more than 50% of the “normal” rate (normal: as in right after restart). While in case of Nucleus and and MAC Minis you could test a workaround with swapping onto an SSD, this is not possible to do on a QNAP NAS, as it will not run without a swap partition for each drive installed and it will prioritize using the HDD for swapping (according to QNAP Support - they say it is a design limitation).

I hope that it helps and gets addressed ASAP.

Thank you
Áron

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