Torben_Rick
(Torben - A Dane living in Hamburg - Roon Lifer)
1
Have been using Rock (headless) on a cirrus7 nimbini v3 (NUC) a couple of years now and has been working just fine.
But time has come to move on DietPi is next There has been a lot off good comments from @Wade_Oram, @Rugby, @Menzies, @Michael_Harris and many more. Thanks.
Been looking at some Youtube videos and the installation seems to be āeasyā - I hope
But still have some Q:
Headless
How is DietPi updates installed? And Roon Server?
Does DietP after updates reboot by it self? Auto-login?
DietPi updates fall into two categories: Package updates and OS updates.
Package updates can be done from the command line using āsudo apt updateā and āsudo apt upgradeā or they can be configured to performed automatically.
The OS updates are performed by a command line script ādietpi-updateā and is used to, for example, upgrade from dietpi 9.6 to 9.7 etc. This will also update all packages as well.
Even on headless systems, the command line utilities and scripts can by run using an ssh terminal (requires ssh to be installed during initial software configuration). You will need a terminal application like Putty (Windows, Mac or Linux) or āTermiusā (Android and IOS). Other apps are, of course available - just pick one of your choice.
Roon Server application updates happen automatically, or manually, just as with any other Roon Server machine.
Power off can be done from the command line: āpoweroffā.
Wake on Lan can be configured on DietPi - just as it is on Debian (of which Dietpi is a flavour): WakeOnLan - Debian Wiki
On HDMI audio, I donāt know for sure as I have never used it, but I donāt see any reason why it shouldnāt work. Maybe others can help here.
The ROCK/Nucleus WebUI is not available - DietPi is not RoonOS. However, there are various other Web Consoles available that can be installed. If use DietPi Dashboard:
F.Y.I. This is the set of software packages that I have installed via the dietpi-software script (automacally run on installation) on my DietPi Server:
Plex Media Server (item 42 - not, of course Roon related)
Roon Extension Manager (item 86)
Roon Server (Item 154)
Docker (Item 162 automatically added if you select Roon Extension Manager)
DietPi-Dashboard (Item 200)
Samba Server (Item 96 - for exposing an SMB share that can be used on the network for managing media files in your local library, for example)
Samba Client (Item 1 - automatically installed by Roon Server - used for access shares on, for example, a NAS)
FFmpeg (Item 7 - audio codecs for Roon - automatically installed as part of Roon Server)
Vim (Item 20 - altenative text editor - I donāt get on with nano very well and I grew up using vi and then vim on unix/linux).
There are many other software packages avaialble. A more comprehensive set can be found at:
I forgot earlier but just to remind you. If moving between early access and production versions of Roon applications is important to you, then DietPi is a little more awkward than ROCK. You have to edit the dietpi-software script:
Further, this edit will get overwriten every time you update the OS using dietpi-update
HDMI works well for multi channel Audio and now displaying screen which requires a small amount of tweaking.
I have mine set for 7.1 MC Blue-Ray and SACD rips. I have been very happy with this.
Basic setup as Wade has covered is pretty straightforward, but there are many other options with DietPi that Rock just doesnāt support.
Itās worth putting in a bit of effort as I could never see myself going back unless Room offered something very compelling, which I find had to imagine.
I have documented to tweaking required for now playing screen (for some other userās) if you are interested in trying that?
Iām very familiar with Debian Linux but had never installed dietpi until yesterday evening, when I thought Iād give it a go on a NUC.
Start to finish installing Plex and Roon and LMS took less than an hour.
Mounting SMB shares was very easy, itās as beginner friendly as it can be IMO.
I just used a usb keyboard and plugged the NUC into my TV, mouse not needed.
SSH was auto configured, installed by default, tested it this AM.
Probably saved me an hour based on stock Debian.
One thing I had to do as Roon installs as root and runs under its own user roonserver is to ensure that roonserver is a member of dietpi group or it could not access any of dietpis own shared folders under dietpi_userdata which is where my music is mounted.
If youāre not familiar with Linux @Torben_Rick I would not recommend you use dietpi. It does require a minimum understanding of how things work and a bit of Linux command line. Once setup it pretty much looks after itself I have mine do app updates automatically in the background.
Laid out in text like this, it looks more complicated than it actually is. Like @Michael_Harris, I was up on running with Roon Server (and Plex) on DietPi within significantly less than 1 hour - but admittedly, at that time I had already installed DietPi with Roon Bridge on two RPi4ās so I knew what I was doing to a degree.
From memory (going back a while now), when I first used DietPi on an RPi4, I got it up and running with Roon Bridge (not Roon server - and no Plex but otherwise a similar configuration) in about 40 minutes.
More recently, I got a new Rpi4 (my 3rd) up and running with Roon Bridge from scratch in less than 20 minutes (including the use of Balena Etcher to write the install image to a USB stick). Itās that fast and simple once you are familiar with it.
Interesting. I did not have any issues with this - using the dietpi-software script to install Roon Server during dietpi installation does it all. Did you use dietpi-software or did you use the Roon supplied easy install script?
It should be noted that dietpi-software installs Roon Server using different database and media locations compared to the Roon install script. The Roon easy install script will work but, I believe, it has the potential to complicate some other aspects of DietPi maintanance.
I did once read a rational for the use of the different file paths - but a quick search has not found the article/post in question.
I think @CrystalGipsy issues was with a specific bug in a particular version of DietPi. I have done several installs across different hardware and not had any issues either.
I do remember that issue existing though.
I can also confirm my first installation being up and running with Root in less than an hour.
I mount my secondary ssd under dietpi_userdata/music folder it gave permission issues same for my mounted back up folder. Adding roonserver to to dietpi group fixed it. They may well have changed it now to fix the issue.
On external SSD, which maybe why I have never seen it.
I always prefer to create my own mount points and set up the permissions accordingly.
Thatās what almost 35 years of using different Unix derivatives does for you
I set the mount point using dietpi drive manager. This is likely the reason. Dietpi do say local user data should be under dietpi_userdata which is why mines mounted to there. These are owned by Dietpi user so other user accounts canāt access them unless you give permission to.
My Roon local library is stored at /mnt/dietpi_userdata/Music. However, this is not a separate drive.
When I moved from ROCK to DietPi, I removed my RoonOS NVME SSD and the SATA SSD and replaced them both with a single 2TB SSD that had just been retired from my desktop computer. Thus there is plenty of space for media files (much more space than I had in my ROCK installation).
I did this because, at the time, I had the spare SSD and I wasnāt sure about the use of DietPi - this way I could easily revert back to my original ROCK install just by re-installing the original SSDās.
Maybe thatās the difference. My os drive is m2 nvme and is small. Music on separate ssd. It works for me given the right permissions so itās and odd one. I donāt plan doing a reinstall anytime soon to find out if itās fixed or not.
Torben_Rick
(Torben - A Dane living in Hamburg - Roon Lifer)
20
The Linux āworldā would be new to me. I am not that concerned about the basic installation, but what follows. I will have to drives, one for the DietPi and one for music.
It is not that I am unhappy with Rock, but I am locked, cant use the headless PC for anything else (like Plex etc. etc.)
As I see it, there are only to alternatives: DietPi or headless Windows.