Update won't load on iMac running

Rose_Hosta · August 17, 2023, 10:23pm

Roon Core Machine

M1 iMac running 13.4.1

Networking Gear & Setup Details

Connected Audio Devices

Bluesound NODE

Number of Tracks in Library

0

Description of Issue

iPad automatically updated to 2.0 (Build 1211). Now iPad won’t connect to iMac. It says the iMac needs a new build, so it downloads software, and then there is an error “There was an error checking for an update” after the software downloaded.

I went to the iMac, and tried to download the update on the iMac, and I get the same error message.

Now I can’t run Roon from either my iPhone or my iPad. Still runs directly from the iMac to by Bluesound NODE.

Please advise!

Rose Hosta

Suedkiez · August 17, 2023, 10:38pm

That’s weird because the latest version is 2.0 (build 1303). This is worthy of investigation. Are you sure? The App Store should update you to the latest.

If the update on the iMac is failing, you can always go to Roon - Downloads, download and install it manually

benjamin · August 21, 2023, 7:09pm

Hey @Rose_Hosta,

Thanks for taking the time to write in! I was able to pull your account up and see that your core is properly up to date - are you still having issues?

I’ll be on standby for your reply.

Rose_Hosta · August 28, 2023, 5:04pm

Roon core on iMac has “disconnected” twice in the past week. I have to reload Roon core on the iMac and then it works. The iPad version “forgets” where the audio endpoint is and has to be closed and reopened (again twice this past week). All this since loading the latest version Mac core and IOS software. Was running pretty smooth on old software, but now on new software we are having frequent issues AGAIN!

Why does Mac core have so many problem when a new load is installed?

Why, after more than a year, does the Mac core software not automatically load? Why do I have to delete the old software manually, and then download and reinstall a new load manually? This is what happened over a year ago, and is still happening today. Why is this not fixed after more than a year?

benjamin · August 28, 2023, 10:53pm

Hi @Rose_Hosta,

To confirm, both the iMac and iPad disconnected at the same time? It would be helpful in the future if you could provide a more specific timestamp or name of track playing when this issue occurs. That way, we could run a fresh diagnostic report and review what might be going on at the time of the issue as it could be a myriad of things based on your above description.

This shouldn’t be the case, as I use a Mac as a Roon Remote and am able to auto-update without issue. You’ve neglected to include any additional system information, and so there’s only so much we can go on to provide you with support.

If possible, please provide a more thorough breakdown of your system and network setup, and we can continue to help troubleshoot these issues for you.

Thanks!

Rose_Hosta · August 29, 2023, 4:58pm

The Roon core stopped working AGAIN this morning on my iMac. It was open in the trey at the bottom. I clicked on it to see the Roon window, and instead of seeing a working Roon screen, I got a mostly white screen with the error message “Error loading saved page.” At the bottom it said “No audio devices found”.

My Roon core is running on a 24" M1 iMac from 2021 with 16 GB of RAM and running MacOS 13.4.1 (c).

I closed Roon, and then reopened it from the Applications folder, and got the same error message.

I deleted Roon from the Applications folder, and opened the most recent DMG file from the downloads folder. I got a message that said I needed an updated Roon database and that it might take a while. After 10 seconds, the screen changed and I got the error loading saved page again.

If I click on the 3-line “hamburger” icon in the upper left corner, where I can select HOME and I can actually see my recent playlists. There is no audio selected. I click on “Manage Output” or whatever the actual words are and I can ENABLE System Output, which are the speakers on the Mac. After enabling the System Output, I can then select System Output from the Select Output button at the bottom and then music plays.

Is this what I have to every do every day now to use Roon on a Mac?

Please advise.

benjamin · August 30, 2023, 6:40pm

Hi @Rose_Hosta,

This doesn’t fully remove Roon from your Mac, if that was your intention here. A better step here would be to test out refreshing your database:

Create a Backup of your current database
Exit out of Roon
Navigate to your Roon Database Location
Find the folder that says “Roon”
Rename the “Roon” folder to “Roon_old”
Reinstall the Roon App from our Downloads Page to generate a new Roon folder
Verify if the issue persists on a fresh database before restoring the backup

I will also list the items still needing a response as well:

Thanks!

Rose_Hosta · August 30, 2023, 9:42pm

Benjamin,

I apologize for not making myself clear. I have provided all the specifications about the iMac that I can think of. What other information about my iMac do you need to know.

The track identification is irrelevant. The problem happens on the iMac BEFORE I even get to playing a track.

The network information seems irrelevant to me and I have no idea WHAT network information you need. The problem is totally with the Roon core software on the iMac, NOT the network as I see the problem from here.

There are the two problems that I seem to be having:

Roon won’t load the new software on the iMac. It downloads the software. It installs the software, and the I get the “There was an error checking for the update.” This error message is in the About page of the Roon software on the iMac inside the Core box, right under the line that says “Roon version 2.0 (build 1211) production - Read change log.”

This is the exact SAME problem I had last year. The ONLY way I can load new software is the way you described above. I just did that last week! Now there appears to be another build and the Roon core on the iMac won’t load it automatically. Why??

QUESTION 1: Why do I get this error message when I try to install a new load? This has nothing to do with my network, WiFi, end point, iPad, iPhone, or any other part of my network. When working directly on the iMac, the new version of Roon core won’t install. I can manually change the name of the library folder like you said and delete all the other files, and then manually reinstall the software, which worked last week. Is this how Roon is supposed to work??

QUESTION 2: After installing the new load, it works fine for a day or two. Then, in the morning when I try to use Roon on the iMac, I get the error message I described above.

Why are there two things happening on my iMac. The first issue is the same issue from a year ago. The second issue is new.

Please advise what I need to do to resolve these two issues?

oneofmany · August 31, 2023, 1:32am

Hi @Rose_Hosta I’m just another Roon user but it seems to me that you are trying to install Roon from an old version stored in your downloads folder on your Mac. Build 1211 is very old. Try deleting the DMG (by the way, always delete DMG files after downloading them, do not keep them. I have frequently seen this from family members who don’t really understand computers, though I am not saying you don’t).

Then download the latest version of Roon from the Roon website: Roon - Downloads and install that version.

Also you need to have the same builds running on your Mac and iPad, you don’t want B1211 on one and B1303 on another.

Rose_Hosta · August 31, 2023, 2:59am

Thanks! Great suggestions!

I actually did download the latest version from the Roon - Downloads location and I did install that new version after deleting all the old versions in the Library and the Applications folder.

QUESTIONS: Why does the ROON core keep trying to download new software on the iMac every time I go to Settings → About?? Why does it come back with the same error message when it is unable to correctly install it? Very odd indeed! Why did it do this a year ago, and it is still doing this today. Why does the newly installed Roon core run for a day or two, and then suddenly stop running on the iMac? The previous load ran for weeks before requiring a restart. Now, it only lasts a few days. However, if I reinstall the same software load from the Roon - Download site, it runs again for a while, and then after a few days stop running?

These problems are happening before I even try to run Roon from the iPad. The software is not working on the iMac. Why??

Thanks for your help!

oneofmany · August 31, 2023, 5:14am

Can you take a screenshot of the About page under Roon settings and post it.

Here’s how to do it on a Mac, if you don’t already know: Take a screenshot on your Mac – Apple Support (AU)

Rose_Hosta · August 31, 2023, 1:45pm

Attached is the requested screen shot.

benjamin · August 31, 2023, 6:34pm

Hey @Rose_Hosta,

As a quick side test: I see you also have a windows 11 machine you use as a remote device. This PC seems to be running on the proper and most up-to-date Roon build (1303). Could you please test out using this PC as your Roon core?

First, on your Mac, head to Settings>General> Disconnect

Then, head over to your Windows 11 and set it up as a Roon core. From there (if successful) head back over to the Mac and set it up as a Roon remote rather than a core, and let me know if you still run into the same issue.

Thanks, Rose!

Rose_Hosta · August 31, 2023, 7:14pm

Wow! I’m not aware of any Windows machine anywhere in this home! Not sure what you are seeing, but there is no Windows machine here!!

Rose_Hosta · August 31, 2023, 7:50pm

Your suggestion reminded me of what I did last year to make this work. I went to my wife’s MacBook Pro, which had no Roon software, and downloaded the Roon core software on her machine and created a new core there.

Then, I copied the Roon folder on her MacBook Pro to a thumb drive and loaded the Roon folder from the thumb drive to my iMac. That solved the problem, but it was a complete PIA.

The question is WHY won’t my iMac download the right software version, even if I do it manually? Is there some file or setting that tells your Roon download site to download the old version? Unfortunately, there is no way to see what file I’m getting from the Roon site. The DMG file just says Roon. The Roon download site has no indication of which version is being presented. Last year, downloading to the iMac got me the old version. Downloading to a virgin MacBook Pro, get me the right version!!

Perhaps this helps with the diagnosis of what is going on here!

I am so frustrated I just tried playing a hi-rez Qobuz file via my BluOS software to the Bluesound NODE, and then I played the same hi-rez file directly from Roon on my iMac to the Bluesound NODE. (Surprisingly, the Roon software is still running OK on my iMac this morning It’s the wrong version, but works as long as I only control Roon directly from the iMac).

The sonic result of my test to see if I want to keep Roon is very interesting! The Roon rendering of the same Qobuz album stream does indeed sound much better. Not sure what Roon is doing to make the same Qobuz stream sound better, but it does. I would really like to keep Roon and have your product give me the sonic pleasure that I’m paying for and have enjoyed for many months now (when it works!!).

oneofmany · September 1, 2023, 1:46am

Definitely something strange going on here, this is not right.
I don’t know if you have an old DMG file tucked away somewhere on your iMac and it keeps defaulting and installing from that one. I’ve seen family members and friends with DMG images in their application folders and tucked deep within system folders, something is definitely not right. Have you got more than one instance of Roon installed on your iMac?
Make sure you clear out old files from your iMac and empty the downloads folder trash regularly.

If I click on the link to download the Roon image that has been supplied to you, I don’t get B1211.

I’ll leave it to @benjamin to help you now as I don’t want to clutter up the thread any more. Sorry I can’t be of more help to you.

Rose_Hosta · September 1, 2023, 8:02pm

UPDATED INFORMATION

So, while I don’t have any Windows machines here, I do have another Mac, so I disconnected Roon core from my iMac and went over to the other MacBook Pro.

I deleted Roon from the Applications folder on the MacBook Pro, changed the name of Roon in the Library folder to Roon-old, and downloaded the Roon core software for Mac from your Roon site. I created the new Roon core and after authenticating I proceeded to play music to my Blusound NODE from the MacBook Pro. If plays just fine - from the MacBook Pro.

I went to Settings->About and Roon started downloading and then installing new Roon core software. After about 30-second, I got the EXACT SAME error message as I did on my iMac: “There was an error checking for an update”. The MacBook Pro is a 2016 15-inch, 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core I7, with 16 GB of RAM, running macOS Big Sur Version 11.7.9. Different processor, different OS, so it seems like the hardware is not causing the problem, unless there is some setting in the OS on BOTH machines that is not set up to Roon’s liking. I also made sure there were NO OTHER Roon DMG files in the downloads folder, as was suggested above.

So, on two separate MacOS machines, I cannot automatically load new core software, and I cannot manually load new core software. The first failure is not operator error. The second failure may be operator error, but I believe I’m following ALL the instructions provided to install the software manually. When I install Roon core on a virgin machine with NO core software anywhere on the machine, my manual download worked fine (last year).

I bet, if I buy a new virgin, non-Roon Mac, I will be able to download the updated core software just like I did last year, and can then copy the correct version files over to my iMac, but that seems like a very expensive work around just to get updated software.

The operational problem I have that is very frustrating is that my iPhone and iPad have automatically updated to the new version IOS Roon software, so they won’t operate now with my iMac or my MacBook Pro to control Roon. I can certainly run back and forth between the home office where the iMac is and the family room where the Bluesound NODE and stereo system. I can change songs and playlists on the iMac and then run back and listen to them in the family room, but is that how Roon is intended to work. It also makes it hard to look at all the tremendous metadata that is the main reason I’m paying for the Roon subscription.

Clearly, there is some other bit of metadata that is stored some other place on both Mac computers when Roon core is installed on a Mac. This metadata or file or whatever does not seem to allow the new version software to be installed. Hence, the error message on both machines.

The error message doesn’t just appear by itself, It must called by some line of code when certain conditions exist. Can’t a software programmer find those lines of code that call the error message so they can find out WHAT is causing this error.

Please advise. It looks like I would be listening to Roon over this Labor Day weekend!

benjamin · September 1, 2023, 8:26pm

Hi @Rose_Hosta,

Thanks for the update! We’ll pull another set of core diagnostics to take a closer look.

In the meantime, with the long weekend fast approaching, have you tried out downloading and running Roon Server in stead of the All-In-One version of Roon?

Here is more info on Roon Server (it’s headless so you wouldn’t be able to navigate around Roon on the Mac, you’d need to use another remote device for control) :

As well as:

Give the above a try and let me know if you’re able to get things up and running!

Rose_Hosta · September 2, 2023, 6:57pm

It’s not clear to me HOW to control Roon Server from another machine. Can I control it from an iPad? I see no indication that IOS has a role to play in Roon Server. So much for clear instructions!

After reading the Roon Server page for MacOS, the last paragraph says don’t run two versions of the database on the same network or bad things will happen. “You have been warned”. That makes me feel confident when you can’t get Roon Core to work properly on either of my Mac computers. Since Roon does not work very well on MacOS, I don’t think adding yet another level of complexity to a system that already does not work, and it’s not even clear HOW to control the Roon Server, seems like I would just be asking for more trouble. I need fixes, not more trouble!! Warning heeded!!

Let’s make the Roon core work as it is supposed to work before we add any more complexity. I think you have a very good idea now what the repeatable symptoms are on TWO of my Mac computers. Now, let’s get to work and put some smart people on this to figure out WHY Roon for MacOS won’t work on TWO of my computers, but it did work ONCE last year on a Mac that had no Roon software installed.

Please advise!!

Rose_Hosta · September 2, 2023, 7:39pm

MORE INFORMATION!

I just downloaded the MacOS Roon Core DMG from from your Website to the Downloads folder of my iMac. There is obviously no Core software on the iPad. I then transferred the DMG file to my Mac via AirDrop.

I renamed the Roon folder in the Libraries folder and removed the Roon app from the Applications folder.

I then launched the Room DMG file directly from the AirDrop popup. I copied the new Roon icon to the Applications folder, and launched Roon. I entered my login and password for Roon and Qobuz. I enabled the System Output on the iMac. Qobuz music streamed directly to the iMac speakers and all my artists and playlists showed up just fine.

I went to System → About. Roon immediately started to download and install a new version of Roon. The listed version was still the old version 1211. After about 30-seconds of installing, I got the SAME ERROR MESSAGE AGAIN “There was an error checking for an update”.

So either the DMG file on your downloads page is the wrong one, OR, there is some latent metadata left on my iMac (and on my MacBook Pro) that prevents the new software from loading.

I hope you are going to give me some kind of rebate this month for charging me for Roon software that does not work on either of my MacOS machines.

Please advise.