Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Thread Like Summary - Roon Server not seeing 861v8 ID41

I posted this on Roon's support forum - thought I would place it here too. Any assistance would be gratefully received. I have read other posts but the issues appeared by an unmanaged switch (at least for one of them).

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

Roon is on a QNAP RAID Model: TSA-670 Pro.

Roon Server
Status : Running
Version : 1.7 (build 505) stable
QPKG-Version : 2019-06-09
Process ID : 14615

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

Broadband via Virgin Media fibre service --> Draytek Vigor2862AC which has 4 LAN ports connected to:

1. & 2. QNAP Drive which has the Roon service on an SSD drive and the database on a separate RAID drive (this volume has about 4TB of space available).

3. Meridian MC600 (Sooloos Core and Drive turn off). 4 of the 6 zones are active (ceiling speakers in various rooms. Each zone analogue converted to IP and sent via ethernet across home LAN).

4. Unmanaged Switch - the switch then allows the connection to various ports on an ethernet panel switchboard to provide ethernet connections to various rooms in a 3 storey house. Sadly none are near my Meridian 861v8 with ID41 card.

The Vigor2862ac (running firmware 3.8.8.2_BT) is also connected wirelessly to an Draytek AP903 (running firmware 1.3.4.1) in Range Extender mode. The AP903 connects via ethernet to the ID41 card. The ID41 card is allocated a DHCP IP address (192.168.0.41) and it is possible to view the ID41 settings page. The ID41 does not appear as a zone on Roon / is for some reason not visible. The Meridian MC600 is also allocated a IP address and can be viewed using the Sooloos Configuration Program (via Parallels) - all zones are visible to Roon and can play music.

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

The audio devices are:

Meridian 861v8 ID41 card - connected as described above
Meridian MC600 with 4 of 6 zones active - connected as decribed above
Various iPhones, iPads and a Mac Book Pro - wirelessly or over ethernet

Description Of Issue

My Roon installation has been work for about 5 years without any issues. In the last 6 months, the Roon Server can not find the ID41 card although it has an IP address (as indicated by ARP and DHCP Tables). I can also access the ID41’s settings web page via a browser. As part of my diagnostic tests, I used a long ethernet cable and connected the ID41 directly to a Draytek Vigor 2862 LAN port and it performs flawlessly. The Roon Server can see all of the MC600 zones and play music through each and all of them.

Previously and for about 5 years, I was using a Devolo Powerline network which worked fine. For some reason, and without a change to the rest of the environment (other than various firmware updates to various devices) ID41 card started to drop off from Roon but still had an IP address. It would come back after leaving it alone. Then it would not come back on at all. I replaced the Devolo Powerline system with their newest model thinking the other unit had partially failed. Same problem repeated itself. I then moved to my current set-up with the AP903 - ID41 gets an IP address but Roon does not see it. I am reasonably certain that both the ID41 card and the MC600 have the latest firmware releases available. If I plug my MacBook Pro into the AP903, it gets an IP address and I can run Roon and use it as an endpoint. If I connect my iPhone wirelessly to the AP903 - the Roon app works, I can stream to my phone and control the other zones via my phone.

I am at a loss as to what is the issue? Any thoughts?

Do you beg/borrow a replacement ID41 card to eliminate my card as the problem? Could it be a problem with the primary ethernet card in the QNAP? Try running Roon off another server - could set-up an old Mac Mini or my current MacBookPro?

I used to really like Roon

Just to second that Nick, and to give credit where it's absolutely due...

Ratbert got in touch after my post above, and set up ROCK for me on a NUC which I'd bought several months ago, but hadn't yet configured.

Roon has now been running for 5 days straight, not a single drop out or loss of the ID40, every endpoint and remote springs to life immediately, and the whole thing is extremely responsive. A completely different experience from running Roon on an older iMac which was just about wheezing along.

For the first time I'm experiencing Roon as intended, and it's revelatory. And Russ is an absolute Gentleman, giving his time and experience freely (as several of us on the forum have found!) Sincere thanks!

Very Happy Camper!

George

I think most people find that putting the Roon core on a suitable machine gives a pretty much bullet proof experience. Running it on anything less is just asking for trouble.

Given the cost of a NUC vs historical cost of Sooloos Hardware cores (just giving the relative sense of affordability) it makes it much of a no-brainier.

I think in hindsight supporting Roon core on NAS units will be viewed as probably a bad idea (given the cost of Other options these days)