Why can't Roon server license be tied to computer serial number

Roon Software Discussion
22

Well, you said this, but the symptoms make no sense unless you really did go to the trouble of setting up completely different Cores under each account. I wrote that off as an unlikely possibility, but perhaps that’s what happened.

I stand by my recommendation. Using a shared computer for Core is unlikely to meet your needs, especially with respect to account security, etc. A dedicated system for Core (ideally, Roon OS) will solve this if you are willing / able to make the investment.

23

I don’t understand the significance or relevance of your response.

My time-frame was based on my experience from the time I pushed the power button to the time Roon was recognized by my Roon endpoints. Also, what is the relevance of that comment?

24

And, as I mentioned, I am not interested in the additional expenditure or waste of resources when this seems like a very simple issue.

Something is telling Roon endpoints that, depending on which account is logged into and running the Roon Core cpu, the Core is different to the endpoint.

25

That is not what happened. To date, I have only set up ONE core on this CPU.

26

Hmmm, I’m not so sure about that. Roon Server runs within a user account, it’s not part of the system software. For example, all the database files are stored within your user Library, not the System Library.

I’ve just created a separate account on my own Mac mini to test this, and there’s no way I can start the same Roon server from both accounts because the database belongs to one account and not the other.

1 Like
27

Agreed. A shared computer is just not going to cut it for @David_Russell 's use case.

28

Just re-read your original post, which confirms the point I just made. If you log in to one account, start Roon Server, and then log out, Roon Server will quit because it’s running within that account. So that’s why you can’t connect to it - it quits when you log out. There’s no way to have Roon Server running all the time unless the account that launched it is also running.

There may be some way to hack this, maybe by running the server as root and using a launch daemon to spin it up independently of account login, but that’s beyond my level of expertise and I’m not about to start experimenting with my own database :slight_smile:

3 Likes
29

It’s not a simple issue if you insist on co-opting a multi-user system for running Core. As others have pointed out, Roon Server does not work the way you seem to think it does. The choice is yours, but your current configuration is not workable or supportable by Roon, from what I gather.

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30

This might help what you want is the core app running as a service under its own account. That’s possible, it’s basically a *nix box, but you’d need to do a little tweaking to persuade the headless core to run as something more secure than root.

3 Likes
31

From reading the page linked on the thread you mentioned it looks like it would be possible to run Roon Server in a standard account by using the UserName key. Something like the following should do it …

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
	<dict>
		<key>Label</key>
		<string>com.roonserver.daemon</string>
		<key>Program</key>
		<string>/Applications/RoonServer.app/Contents/MacOS/RoonServer</string>
		<key>UserName</key>
		<string>RoonServer</string>
		<key>RunAtLoad</key>
		<true/>
	</dict>
</plist>

All we need now is someone brave enough to try it and, tempted though I am, it’s not me.

2 Likes
32

This makes the most sense. However, when one approaches it the way I did, one wouldn’t necessarily see that.

The Roon endpoints only identify the Core by its NetBios name (screenshot in post #10). In my case, “Davids-Mac-mini”. Not “Mac mini\Users\david\Library\RoonServer” or "Mac mini\Users\headlessuser\Library\RoonServer.

So, I just assumed that the Roon information was stored at the System Level (SystemLibrary) and went from there.

I suspect it will never happen, but it would be a nice option to have the information stored at the System Level.

I may look into killdozer’s suggestion, but not tonight.

Thanks to all that provided constructive comments.

1 Like
33

This is an OS permissions issue isn’t it? Bear with me because I am only a Windows user but, Windows gives you an option when you first install a program for ‘exclusive’ or ‘any user on this machine’. It does this when you install as an administrator. When you do this, another login cannot use your program. I think this needs to be approached from the Mac OS point of view and it may be exacerbated by the fact your one login has high security/privacy settings.

34

Everyone was trying to help, however you interpreted it.

4 Likes
35

I think it should work, and I understand how it works in principle, so if you need any help just ask. I’m not going to test it - it doesn’t fit with my use case, and I’m reluctant to tinker about with anything to do with the Roon database - but I’d be happy to advise.

36

Most applications on a Mac are installed at the system level (any user can run them), but they’re (mostly) run at the user level. So, in the case of Roon Server: same app, installed in exactly the same place, but requiring a different database for each user and that the user be logged in for it to work.

1 Like