Roon Rock unable to access external disk (ref#3RXK66)

Support
1

Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?

· Music won’t play or issues with my library

Music won’t play or issues with my library

· Local files won't import or appear

Tell us what's going on

· Roon Rock can't access to external disk

Tell us about your home network

· ASUS Router

2

The Rock server stopped working after a power outage.

When I restart it, it can no longer access the files on my external hard drive.

If I disconnect the hard drive from Rock, connect it to a Mac, run SOSDISK, and then unmount the drive, it’s still not recognized when I reconnect it to Rock.

3

I assume it is usb, did you try a different usb port?

4

Hello @Stephan_VITAL,

Power outages can be tricky—they often cause “handshake” glitches between hardware or, in worse cases, file system errors that tools like First Aid can’t always catch.

To help us narrow down whether the problem is the USB port on your ROCK machine or the external drive itself, let’s try a quick diagnostic test:

The “Flash Drive” Test

  1. Find a spare USB flash drive (thumb drive) and put a couple of music files on it.
  2. Plug that flash drive into the exact same USB port where your hard drive was connected.
  3. Check your Roon Settings > Storage.

Does Roon see the files on the flash drive?

  • If YES: The USB port on your ROCK is working fine. The issue is likely with the external drive’s partition table or how it was unmounted from the Mac.
  • If NO: Try the other USB ports on the back of your ROCK. If none of them recognize the flash drive, we may be looking at a hardware glitch on the ROCK’s motherboard caused by the power surge.

Let us know the results of that flash drive test!

5

The external disk works fine on another thunderbolt port on the rock server.

6

Hello @Stephan_VITAL,

Thank you for the update! I am very glad to hear that the drive is being recognized and working perfectly on the other Thunderbolt/USB port.

This result tells us exactly what happened: the power outage and subsequent surge unfortunately damaged or shorted that specific USB port on your machine’s motherboard.

Because ROCK is an operating system designed to be installed on your own personal hardware (such as an Intel NUC), Roon Support cannot repair or replace the physical motherboard components for you.

The great news is that your workaround is exactly the right solution! You can simply leave the external drive connected to the working port and continue enjoying your music. If you ever find yourself needing more ports in the future, you would need to contact the hardware manufacturer or local repair shop for a physical repair.

Since your Roon Server is back up and running with your external drive, I will go ahead and close this thread. If you run into any software or network issues in the future, please feel free to open a new topic.

Happy listening!