I have been running my Roon core on a Rock for several years and never had the problem I am about to described until I migrated the core to an M4 Mac Mini. Basically, Roon will lose access to the network at random times during playback. I know this is not a network issue because I also use Audirvana and JRiver and they both continue to have network access after Roon has lost it.
I have read several older threads describing a similar problem and have tried all of the recommended solutions (toggling Appleās security stuff, rebooting both the software and the computer, etc.). I believe these older issues were resolved with updates. (my Roon software is up to date). Sometimes access returns as suddenly as it disappeared, but the only thing that always seems to work is to completely remove the Roon software (including the library stuff) and reinstall it. Certainly not ideal.
Does anyone else have this issue (and a better workaround), or do I need to go back to Using Rock for my Roon Core?
Iād consider going back to ROCK simply as a sanity check. If it is unaffected then you can further explore the reasons why the MAC may be unhappy in your network.
Thanks for sending over the latest Roon Server log from your ROCK. How is it connected to your primary router?
To confirm, is your Roon Server losing connection to your network, or is your Roon remote continually disconnecting from your ROCK? Does this occur across all your remote devices?
If you havenāt yet, please reboot your router as well, and let me know a more specific date and time the next you experince a disconnect.
It turns out that I did NOT have the same issue on the ROCK. I had my DAC set to the wrong input and didnāt notice it until now. So I have only experienced the issue when the core was on the Mac Mini.
Thanks for confirming that the ROCK still does not have this issue.
I would be curious to know if thereās anything special about the Macās network setup, is it using multiple interfaces, connected via WiFi instead of Ethernet, mesh network nodes, VPNs, or anything like that?
What is the model/manufacturer of your networking gear? Since the ROCK is working out well, we can keep it as-is, but worth noting in case we get similar reports.
The Mac is on the same network as the ROCK. It is an Orbi mesh network. The only difference in setup between the Mac and the ROCK is that the ROCK is connected via Ethernet directly to the main node of the Orbi and the Mac was connected via Ethernet to a satellite node. I originally thought that might be what was causing the issue, but, as I stated in my initial post, neither JRiver or Audirvana lost network access when Roon did.
After reading up on mesh networks (should have done that before), I am pretty sure that the problem with my Mac mini setup was the connection to the satellite node. Apparently, since the satellite is not wired to the main node, connecting something to it via ethernet isnāt much better than wireless. There can be weak signal and latency issues.
Thanks for the update! That could certainly be the case - are you able to replicate the same hardwire connection that your ROCK had, with your M4 - even temporarily?
It feels like youāre close to victory here, keep us posted on your findings!
Whenever possible, try to keep a full, end-to-end ethernet connection between your main router, your RoonServer, and your endpoints.
Sent over WiFi, Roonās uncompressed audio protocols are vulnerable to interference. If packets/samples go missing over the airwaves, the endpoint has to request them again from RoonServer. The same goes for clock sync and control traffic. If too many dropouts accumulate, it can overwhelm the buffer and force Roon to pause playback.
Weāre of course happy to help with the particulars as you experiment to optimize your network to support Roon. Please let us know if we can provide any particular advice. Hereās a general overview of our networking recommendations:
Checking back in after the weekend - have you encountered any network disconnection events since you last posted? This thread will soon auto-close due to inactivity without any new responses, so we want to ensure youāre all set.
Yes, the āissueā seems to be resolved. It was operator error. I mistakenly thought that running an ethernet cable from the satellite to the core would work the as well as an ethernet connection directly to the router on a mesh network. I would have to connect the satellite to the router via ethernet to accomplish what I was attempting.
