Waveform progress bar not displaying when chromecasting [Roon Investigating]

Roon Core Machine

Mac Mini late 2014, 2.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, macOS Monterey v12.2

Networking Gear & Setup Details

ethernet > TP-Link Deco X90 > wifi > TP-Link Deco X60 > Ethernet Switch > ethernet > NVIDIA Shield TV Pro

Connected Audio Devices

Chromecast to nvidia shield tv pro. Setup as a display for music playing on Arcam AVR20.

Number of Tracks in Library

17,142

Description of Issue

Since updating to v1.8 b898 on the connected display the screen flashes up the waveform progress bar (1 second or less) before it disappears. Prior to upgrading it worked perfectly. This is all from my local FLAC music collection. I do not use a streaming service. The waveform progress bar displays as usual on my MacBook Pro Roon app.

Is there a response on this?

Hey @Neil_McCarthy,

Thanks for following up :pray:

I was wondering if you could disable the Chromecast display, restart the device, and then try connecting it again to Roon. Does the progress bar show?

Hi @beka
Already tried that before raising the ticket. Just done it again after upgrading to ROON server v1.8b904 and it still doesn’t work. See below for the steps to recreate the issue.

Step 1 - disable the display in ROON Server (using remote client),
Success, but display screen continues to display the ROON logo
Step 2 - restart the device [nvidia SHIELD TV Pro Model P2897 v11 Android TV v9.0.1b33.1.0.283]
Success, exited the Roon logo page, executed SHIELD reboot
Step 3 - ENABLE device as a ROON display.
Success, device found, shows ENABLE button, shows it is enabled after button click
Step 4 - Play a track
Fail, progress bar still not showing. :frowning:

Hey @Neil_McCarthy,

Thanks for following up with the steps that reproduce the issue. I’ve taken them to our QA team and they would like to investigate this. So, I was wondering, could you please:

  • restart your Roon Core
  • start going through the steps that reproduce the issue
  • write down the local date and time when the progress bar does not show
  • grab a set of logs from your machine, zip up the entire Logs folder and upload it to our drive

Finally, could you please take a screenshot that illustrates the issue?

Many thanks :pray:

Hi @beka,

  • restart your Roon Core - done
  • start going through the steps that reproduce the issue - done
  • write down the local date and time when the progress bar does not show. - Doesn’t ever show now - so all dates/times
  • grab a set of logs from your machine, zip up the entire Logs folder and upload it to [our drive] - done

Finally, could you please take a screenshot that illustrates the issue? - uploaded a 10 second video to your drive with the logs, so you can see the counters moving as well as no progress bar showing.

There are amazing resources, @Neil_McCarthy. Thank you for the uploads :pray:

I’ve passed them on to our technical team and I’m waiting to hear back from them. I’ll follow up asap.

I’m having the same issues since the update. Looking forward to a reply, also using a shield pro.

also having the same issues using an Nvidia shield. Curious to see if this gets fixed

I can confirm the same thing on my Shield as well.
Put it on last night (which I rarely do) after reading that it was much improved waveform. Briefly appears at the start of the song them gone.

Update: The problem is not fixed in the latest update v1.8b923
Like the new design, but I miss the waveform bar. Shield drives the big 4K lounge TV which is all I use with chromecast.

Cannot replicate but… After updating, over about 1 second, I saw a blue bar draw left to right then vanish. Did it over-run the track-length-number, maybe, maybe not, it was too quick. Anyway that hasn’t repeated it happened just the once immediately after the upgrade. Maybe it displayed and crashed on the first update?

Current behaviour:

As described above by @Michael_Harris a solid white line appears where the waveform bar would be positioned for circa 1 second then vanishes.This happens on the track transition boundary, I have a 7 second crossfade time set. If I skip a track the white line does not always display.

After playing tracks for around 1 hour, I see a solid white bar display with a blue progress fill moving from the left, but it only updates for about 3 to 4 seconds then it all vanishes. This was not a waveform, it was solid. I’m not streaming, there should be the waveform. Also, as the bar vanishes, I see the track-time-played number jump down the screen and reposition with a very slightly lower offset.

Getting closer to the fix maybe? Hope this helps.

Neil I can confirm that this happens pretty much every time I start displaying to the Shield.
Exactly as you have said about a second or less and then nothing until I do it again on the next session.

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Hey @Michael_Harris and @Neil_McCarthy,

Thanks a lot for keeping us updated on how things unfold. I am very sorry that the Chromecast changes didn’t seem to resolve this :pensive:

I’ve connected with our technical team on this. We’ll follow up on the thread :nerd_face:

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Hey @Michael_Harris and @Neil_McCarthy,

Our team is actively investigating this and it would be really helpful to have an answer to the following:

  • if you use a different Android / Chromecast TV, do you see the same symptoms?
  • if you use a web browser on a display zone, does the same thing happen?

We’d also like to check the more recent Core machine logs. Could you please:

  • restart your Roon Core
  • reproduce the behavior and write down the local date and time
  • grab a set of logs and upload them in our drive

Thanks again :bowing_woman:

Hi Beka I only have one Android TV device which is a Nvidia Shield, and I remember noticing that several others who reported this also had Nvidia Shield’s as well.
My Google Home Max works fine and the bar fills in correctly.

I am away for several days now, so it will have to be the weekend before I can get you the logs.

Hey @Michael_Harris,

Thank you for your willingness to help :pray: . The previous answers have triggered new questions. I hope that’s ok :blush:

Does the Nvidia Shield have a web browser? If so, can you display Roon on that web browser (details here)? If so, do the same symptoms appear?

Just to make sure:

  • do both the Nvidia Shield and Google Home Max use the same TV?
  • do both devices have the same resolution? Is the resolution configurable on the devices? If so can you set the Nvidia Shield to the same resolution as the Google Home Max?
  • other than the progress bar, do the images look the same on both devices?

Thanks again :pray:

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Hi @beka I’m away for a few days but I will have a look at the weekend, but I don’t remember the Shield having a web browser

Nvidia Shield doesn’t have a built in browser. I’ve switched the TV to multiple display resolutions which did not change the waveform display. (4k hdr10+dolby, 1080p, 720p)

A web browser displays fine on every device I’ve tried.

2 Likes

Thank you for both of your answers. They are really helpful in isolating what might cause the issue.

Would it be possible, @Brian_Garwood and @Michael_Harris, to use the Nvidia Shield and the Google Home Max (or other device you have that displays correctly) at the same time or at least in the same session, and share a set of logs?

Here’s what I mean:

  • please, restart the Roon Core
  • play music and use the Nvidia Shield + device that correctly displays Roon
  • write down the local date and time
  • grab a set of logs and upload the zipped folder here

Many thanks :pray:

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@beka yes, I also found my Son has a Google Chromecast with Google TV device so we can try that as well. I will restart Roon service to get fresh logs and feed them back to you including some timings for each part.

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