Compatibility of Roon with Linux Mint 21.2 on NUC (ref#55J2CH)

[gpdavis2]

Affected Product

Roon

Roon Issue Category

Installation or Setup

Description of Issue

I run Linux on my NUC. Does Roon run on Linux 20.2?

Roon Core Platform

Roon Core Specifications

NUC I7 with 16GB of RAM, 256GB pg SSD & 1TB HHD

Connected Audio Devices

Will be using a Hifi Rose RS250 streamer/DAC. Have not connected until I get Roon running.

Home Network Details

Wifi from Comcast to the NUC

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

There is no “Linux 20.2” as such. Do you mean Linux Mint 20.2? Mint is a specific Linux distribution and version 20.2 was released in July 2021. It is based on the Ubuntu operating system, itself a Linux distribution.

Roon generally recommends “the latest Ubuntu or Arch distro”, but Mint 20.2 is recent enough and probably works fine.

On the other hand, the current Mint is 21.2 and it’s pretty easy to upgrade at no cost.

[gpdavis2]

Yes. Typo. Is Linux Mint 21.2.
My question is - when I try to download the Roon software it offers nothing for Linux/Firefox. What do I download for my OS?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@gpdavis2

Is Linux Mint 21.2.

OK, got it What are you trying to run, the Roon Server or the Roon app with a graphical user interface? Roon Server runs and is supported on Linux,

and you can get it from the download page (scroll down), but the Roon app that includes a graphical UI is only available for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS / iPadOS. Linux is not officially supported for the GUI app.

To actually use Roon Server, you need some form of Roon app with the graphical UI. The only option on Linux is to run it inside WINE (the virtual Windows environment) or in a virtual machine that runs Windows.

It works fine inside WINE and is not hard to install. There is an installation script here:

GitHub - RoPieee/roon-on-wine: Running Roon with Wine on Linux

and if you search for Linux / Wine here on the forum you will find a number of active threads where people can help

[gpdavis2]

Just want to download the regular Roon software which states it only runs on Mac or Windows. My NUC I7 is running Linux Mint 21.2 and Firefox.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@gpdavis2

the regular Roon software which states it only runs on Mac or Windows.

Exactly. Because that’s the case for the full Roon that includes the graphical user interface.

@Suedkiez

The only option on Linux is to run it inside WINE (the virtual Windows environment) or in a virtual machine that runs Windows.

[gpdavis2]

Am computer illiterate. Where do I get WINE?

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

WINE is included in every Linux distribution. I already posted the link to a helpful script that does everything to install Roon GUI on Linux:

GitHub - RoPieee/roon-on-wine: Running Roon with Wine on Linux

There are instructions on this page to tell you everything you have to do, which is basically:

Install

To install Roon just clone or download this repository and run ./install.sh

Be patient, as installing the necessary components for Wine can take some time. Don’t be scared of the messages that flood the console: drink a coffee and wait…

The installation is basically unattended. When the Roon installer starts you will need to click ‘Install’.

When finished you can start Roon with ./start_my_roon_instance.sh

That said, if you want to use Roon on a single computer, without a separate server for the Roon Core, you may be better off to 1) Install the official Roon Server version for Linux and 2) use the above script to install the Windows version of the GUI app in WINE. This would allow you to have at least the server part be officially supported, and it would be more stable. Running the GUI in WINE works very well but is not entirely flawless.

I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t add that I am not sure that the whole endeavor is the best project if you are computer illiterate. It can be done but…

1. You must be willing to read up, in particular the links that are given to you, like the one for the install script, and to read forum threads. As I mentioned, there are many threads on the forum about this where others shared their experiences and solutions; you can search for them.
2. And you must be willing to keep at it, trial and error, and ask if things don’t immediately go as planned. You would be attempting to use an unofficial workaround after all.

If I were to make recommendations for the computer illiterate, I would recommend getting a Roon Nucleus or an Intel NUC and install Roon’s ROCK (which is very similar to a Nucleus but much cheaper) for the Roon Core (server). And to get an supported platform version for the control GUI, like a Mac, Windows machine, an Android tablet or an iPad.