That cannot be correct. Roon loads the database into physical memory, so it is typically a few GB.
Can you share a screenshot
How large is your library? To give you some context, my modest library of 1,600 albums has a database size of 1.5 GB.
However, this could explain why you are experiencing problems.
It is indeed a large collection, as I only listen to music from locally stored data. Normally, I only connect one hard drive to my MacBook. Now I’m wondering whether I should split the RoonServer database into several manageable parts instead of having one huge database. Then, depending on the hard drive I choose, I would either have to start different Roon instances (if that’s even possible) or, depending on the hard drive I want to listen to, restore the backup on which the albums analyzed and indexed by Roon are stored.
What do you think, which strategy is less complicated? It would make sense to distribute music across the drives according to genre… - THANK YOU!
In my case, it would probably be easiest if I could switch between several libraries. Then I could simply rename the database folder, e.g., RoonServer_WD_Duo_1_2, and the next one RoonServer_WD_Duo_3_4, and so on.
Depending on which folder I rename in RoonServer, Roon will start with the corresponding instance. That’s my assumption, anyway.
It remains to be seen whether this will solve the current Roon problems. But I’ll report back here, probably at the beginning of next week. Have a nice weekend.
The RoonServer folder in your screenshot is not just the actual database. There are several folders below it, such as Cache, etc. Only one of those is the actual Database folder.
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By the way, I have 42 tracks and the size of my RoonServer/Database folder is 6.11 GB. The size of the RoonServer folder overall is 22.56 GB, but most of this is the RoonServer/Cache folder, which is 16.22 GB.
Thanks for pointing that out.
The screenshot was “proof” of the nearly 200GB DB file that I had created a few hours earlier. In the meantime, I reset, refreshed, and restarted the Roon Core and Roon Server so that it would start from scratch. Therefore, the image is correct in terms of content, but already outdated.
However, after reinstalling and restarting, the system behaves similarly. After indexing and analyzing parts of my music collection, the DB is at 135GB.
However, the Roon Core is noticeably smaller: 12MB (with 135GB Roon Server) compared to 863MB (with 192GB Roon Server).
The Roon Server cache was 448 MB with the large database and 52 MB with the 135 GB database.
However, this probably has nothing to do with the fact that “Connect to your Roon Server” is working so poorly. In the “Menu Bar,” the status for RoonServer is ‘Running’ and there is a RED dot next to “Connect.”
Please see screenshots.
That’s the total size for the Roon Server installation (including cache files etc).
For the DB itself, have a look at the size of the Database/Core folder that is within the RoonServer folder.
Hi Carl, good day.
Is that what you mean? Please see screenshot.
What can be interpreted from this that will help me to “simply” use Roon as library software for “listening to music”?
Cheers.
Hi @Snej,
Yes, thanks for sharing that. I can see the size of the Database/Core is 134GB that is exceptionaly large. Something Roon’s @support team should look at.
May I offer some advise in taking screenshots, it looks like you are using a camera to take a image of your Mac’s screen … which produces poor results (fuzzy and lots of reflections).
Have are read of this Apple help article, which will guide you through a better method …
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I appreciate any advice and support in solving the problem of getting a Roon system to work.
Hi @Snej,
Can you share specific steps on how you performed the above?
Based on a recent Roon Server diagnostic report, I’m seeing the following:
Total tracks in library: 577,173
Tracks identified : 181,596
The red dot next to “Connect” while the status is “Running” suggests that the Roon Server process is alive, but the Roon Remote (the interface) is being blocked from talking to it, even though they are on the same Mac.
- Local Network Privacy: In macOS 15, go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Local Network. Ensure both Roon and RoonServer are toggled ON. If they are already on, toggle them off and back on again.
- Full Disk Access: A library of half a million tracks requires deep integration. Go to Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access and ensure RoonServer is added and enabled. Without this, the indexing process often hangs or crashes when it hits a folder it doesn't have "permission" to scan.
Crashes during indexing and “Waiting for Server” are classic signs of RAM exhaustion. With 577k tracks, Roon’s memory footprint is massive.
- Throttling Analysis: If Roon is trying to analyze 500k+ tracks at once, it may be spiking your CPU/RAM to the point where the server process stops responding to the Remote.
- Go to Settings > Library.
- Set Background Radio Analysis Speed to "Throttled" or "Off" temporarily.
- Set On-Demand Software Architecture to "Throttled."
- RAM Check: At this library size, Roon effectively requires 16GB of RAM minimum, but 32GB is the "comfort zone." If your MacBook Pro has 8GB or 16GB, the macOS "Memory Pressure" might be killing the Roon Server process to save the OS.
Thank you @Snej! 
This thread is now closing due to lack of response, but you can reactivate the conversation by submitting a new tech support request here. Our team will reopen the topic thread as necessary. Thank you!
Hi! What’s not quite right with Roon?
· None of the above quite fits
None of the above quite fits
· None of these quite match
Tell us what's going on
· Hello,
Benjamin has provided some very constructive information. Thank you very much for that!
I have already tried to implement it.
This includes deleting Roon Core and Roon Server from the library again. I deselected the “More covers and photos” setting and also selected fewer Roon options in the library settings. As a result, the required database size should now be much smaller.
However, since I have connected other hard drives or combined them differently, I still need to validate the result.
I cannot say whether this will affect “Waiting for Roon Server” as my Roon license has now expired.
Wishing you a pleasant day,
Snej.
Tell us about your home network
· +
Previous topic reopened and posts merged.
Hello @Snej
Thank you for the update and for taking the time to implement Benjamin’s suggestions! It is great to hear that you’ve optimized your settings to reduce the database size.
Regarding your expired license and the need to validate these changes, I have reached out to our accounts team internally to explore what options we might have for you.
I will get back to you as soon as I have an update from the team. Thank you for your patience, and wishing you a pleasant day as well!
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