Anyone get a NUC8 (Bean Canyon) yet?

Yeah, apart from the layout changing with each generation, I don’t quite get why it hasn’t happened. Maybe the intersection between people interested in something that locked-down and people who build their own computers isn’t that big… but I still don’t understand what it is the 7 year old employees of the case-bundled-with-the-motherboard vendors know how to do that a half-sentient (even if borderline geriatric) adult couldn’t pull off. These guys are building cases, they might as well sell 'em…

I did the following now - I attached via HDMI then restarted a couple of times until the screen shows the Roon server running text (it shows the BIOS every time, but after that the screen shows a weird noisy green/ black image). It takes a couple of tries to get there with HDMI - it is no issue with the USB-C, however. But with USB-C I am not getting a stable ROCK in any way. So, when I have the HDMI connection and the Roon server text is shown I then turn off the screen and then unplug the HDMI cable. This way the Rock has been running for two days now…

I will go nuts with the next power out, though. Having to get through that procedure every time would suck. Thinking about buying a Win 10 license and see if I have the same trouble. Right now it seems like a Roon issue.

Problem with running Roon core on Win10 however is the whole Windows housekeeping stuff. You’ll be getting updates and will have to reboot from time to time. Also, running a headless Windows instance is less than fun.

Rock is running steady and stable for almost two months now.

But I’m glad my hunch about the HDMI connection seems to have paid off.

Oh yeah, I had a power outage due to public works maintenance a few weeks ago. Power came back on, NUC rebooted without problems and went on with it’s business without so much as a hiccup. Just got assigned a new IP address by the router. (So best not refer to the share with the IP address)

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This! Try running Rock on a dedicated server, it’s honestly a much better experience.

Your HDMI cable is not up to spec. I’ve had the same issues. HDMI protocol is very sensitive to cable quality and the artifacts you describe are due to handshaking problems.

This is just not true. When W10 updates it automagically does all the reboots that are necessary and, optionally, updates can be done at a time you specify.

You can set WIN10 to do the same thing. Additionally, one can put Roon software in the Startup page or in Task Scheduler.

Best is to use Address Reservation in the router software and then the same IP will remain in effect. Do not set a static IP without also doing an address reservation.

I’ve used both ROCK and WIN10 for Roon Core. There’s no appreciable difference, but whatever.
I haven’t turned off or attended to my WIN10 machine in weeks.

I’ve run windows and ROCK on the same hardware too and have to respectfully disagree with Slim. You can get windows to work but have to really know what you are doing to configure windows to work properly, ROCK is easier on the brain and nerves.

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It’s not the HDMI cable. Tried various one from the oldest I have to the one I run a 4k Dolby Vision/ HDR TV with.

The Win10 thing sounds good, though. I was quite happy to have a house without it, but seems like the best way to go at the moment if I want a NUC with Roon on it.

As with most things everyone’s experience is different. I installed Roon on a Windows 10 based NUC with Plex already running on it when I got Roon last May. No problems. It logs in automatically when it reboots after the infrequent O/S and Anti Virus ( Sophos ) updates. Technically headless and controlled by VNC but it is connected to a monitor that is shared with a laptop that uses the monitor 99+% of the time.

I like that I get notified when Intel publishes driver updates and can easily install them including BIOS updates.

I’m relieved when I see posts about slowness after upgrading to 1.6, problems with Chromecast Displays and lack of USB DAC support since many recent ones have theorized that the issues affect Rock based systems but not Windows based ones.

Tim

I am.

Might be the cable, most likely it’s the monitor. HDMI is quite a wonky protocol and most manufacturers don’t comply fully with the HDMI standards, because they don’t want to pay for the HDMI certifications.

I was actually referring more to the inevitable slew of Windows processes and embedded apps that come with Windows. Auto update is far from flawless and it will always be vulnerable to outside attack. ROCK on the other hand is much less vulnerable.

I you can, absolutely. My home network runs behind the integrated router in my ISP’s cable modem. I leave it this way because it’s easier to keep the settopbox accessible through the home network. The integrated router does not allow static IP’s.

I’m not very bothered by this. I could hack into the router, but why bother?

Still, Windows 10 is a pain to run headless in my book.

The big advantage of ROCK is that it’s such a slimmed down distro that there is no excess baggage as far as I can tell.

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Don’t listen to g.h. Win 10 is a piece of cake. No problems what so ever, where as Rock gave constantly problems.

ROCK has never given me “constant problems”. I switched my NUC from Windows 10 to ROCK back in June 2017, and have not regretted it at all.

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I’m not sure how ROCK could cause issues? It’s a tiny limited functionality OS install that autoconfigures itself.

Win10 is great as a general purpose OS.

Currently, ROCK has issues with ChromeCast that Roon on WIN10 doesn’t, but that’s just a bug that will get straightened out.

What’s the bug slim?

Display freezes on ROCK, but not under WIN10.

Currently I have Core on WIN10 machine rather than my ROCK machine, were I’d rather have it (just for sh*ts and giggles).

Oh good to know. I don’t have any Chromecast displays just a chromecast audio in the garage.

I have Rock installed on my NUC and I use Chromecast for one of my Roon end-points with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Are you sure that there is a widespread issue?

Well, I seem to have identified a new factor causing the NUC8 crashes. Currently I own two DIMMs with 16 and 8 GB. When I only use the 16GB one, I get the display issues (distorted screen, sometimes the Roon text is legible ab bit, sometimes not at all and then it crashes after a maximum of 5 minutes more or less). When using the 16 AND the 8 GB stick, it gets a bit more random. I can when using HDMI as output and carefully removing the screen (turn off screen first, then remove plug) get the system running. Sometimes takes a while though.

BUT when only using the 8 GB stick, the Rock runs like I would expect it. No crashes (so far after a day), restarting without issues.

I kind of ruled out the memory sticks as a source of error before. They did not make any difference when tinkering around with the NUC7 issue. Might be a compatibility issue here of the NUC8 and the emory? Though they both are of Crucial brand. The 16 GB stick I bought in December, the 8 GB one just last week for testing.

Will see how it goes now with ROCK. I already have WIN10 installed on the NUC8 on a second SSD (ROCK is running on the NVMe one), but I do not really WANT to go that route.

It does look as though your issues are caused by a faulty DIMM module. As a matter of interest, my NUC is only used to house Roon Rock and so I have only installed 8Gb RAM - Crucial Ballistix.

I at first thought I had switched everything possible between NUC7/8, ‘old’/ ‘new’ SSD and RAM when trying to locate the different issues. But I just might have missed that one.
Amazon offered me to send back the NUC7 and keep the 8 as a replacement now, so I think I will stick to the 8 and hope that I really found a working combination. I saw that Intel actually publishes compatibility lists for Dimm modules and the NUC (though mine are on it). Amazing that stuff like that still exists. I have not put together a machine for about 15 years now (the Apple bug caught on :wink: ) and thought that kind of issues would be a thing of the past.