Roonserver can't see external drive upon boot

[Notorious_Stu]

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

Mac OS Catalina 10.15.5; RoonServer 1.7 Build 537; Core files are on an Drobo attached to the mac via lightening. Music directory is shared

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

Synology RT2600AC wifi routers connected via ethernet

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

Sonos Devices, Mac Computer

Description Of Issue

I am trying to run RoonServer on my mac exactly the way Sonos runs on my mac. That is, running roonserver as a launchdaemon, launched from a plist script under root (something I created based on the sonos plist file), accessing my music files on my drobo, which is attached to the mac via lightening connection. Everything works EXCEPT, the roonserver can not connect to the drobo files until any user logs in. Then it can connect and stays connected when you log out. If I move a few files to the local harddrive on the mac and change the roonserver settings to point to that directory as my core, everything works. (you can boot the computer, not login and use the roon app on your phone to stream it to any sonos or other device).

My Sonos application has no problem accessing the drobo and the music directory upon booting the computer WITHOUT a user logging in. Sonos also runs as a launch daemon and doesn’t even run under root (it uses it’s own user). I have tried changing my library connection to smb://[ip address]/[music share] and still doesn’t work. I have the music directory shared and other mac and windows machines can access it from my network via an smb call.

So the problem is, how do I get roonserver to see this attached drive on the mac without having a user login? Again, Sonos does this out of the box with a user they create that has lower permissions than I am giving roonserver.

My trial period is about to expire and I will drop the service if I can’t get this to work. It’s too bad because it has so many great features as a product but getting it to do what Sonos has already been doing for years has been a pain in the butt.

[wizardofoz (Mr Fix It aka The Wiz)]

I think you mean a thunderbolt connection but that’s not your issue. I believe roon needs to run under a user account and thus this might be the end of the road unless you want to use it on a different system that runs all the time like a macmini headless setup. This is how I have used it in the past and auto login on the mini.

[Notorious_Stu]

Thanks for the response. I have had the roonserver login as a regular user (Me) with the same result. I really don’t want to setup a headless server when I know this configuration works with Sonos just fine. I’m trying tonshrink my hardware inventory.

Any other ideas would be welcome and I appreciate the response!

[Notorious_Stu]

Anyone from Roon support have any ideas? If not, I have to cancel my service. This should be a no brainer.

[noris]

Hi @Notorious_Stu,

For Windows headless servers, I know that you have to log in for Roon to work (see here) but for Mac on headless mode I am not certain what kind of permissions Roon requires. Let me reach out to our technical team regarding your questions and I’ll get back to you.

[Notorious_Stu]

Thank you. Again, use sonos as your benchmark. It runs as a launch daemon and doesnt require any user to login on the mac for it to work and access a drive volume Attached via thunderbolt or usb to the mac.

[noris]

Hello @Notorious_Stu,

I appreciate your patience until I had a chance to consult with the technical team further.

They have confirmed that Roon is designed to work only with a user logged in, any other method of running Roon is not supported and falls under the #tinkering category.

I know that Sonos might have different requirements here, but for Roon, this is a known limitation.

Hope this helps.

[Notorious_Stu]

Thanks for the follow-up Norris. Too bad. Ask them to add this feature so they can catch up to sonos and I’ll revisit purchasing the product in the future.