As things were at stand still I decided to rule out any sort of hardware problem and install Ubuntu to check if . Turned out Ubuntu is pretty solid and doesn’t have any issue with my Devialet, the downside os that is still an OS and need to be maintained, so I am interested to switch to Rock.
The Nuc has one SSD of 256 mega for the OS and software and one HDD of 2 Gb where all the music and the Roon backups are stored.
HDD has been decrypted (yes windows 10 automatically encrypt an hard disk when you format it), so it is perfectly accessible in Ubuntu.
If I install Rock as per instructions, will it partition and format the SSD blasting away both the OS?
Will the installation affect the HDD?
Once Rock is installed will I be able to see the HDD and front there restore the backups an re target the library?
I just re-read your other thread… you still need to fix the network - I’m not sure if all this work reloading software is going to payoff, though ROCK is far leaner than Windows, and FWIW, I use ROCK with my 440CI with zero issues.
Yes, you will blow away your dual boot function, the installer will install ROCK OS on the M2 SDD. You will need to re-format the music HDD from the ROCK web-based “admin” page, and re-copy all your music to it. You will select the ROCK core in a Roon Remote application to restore your database backup.
I agree with you it shouldn’t be difficult and in fact it isn’t if my core is on mac, as was before, or on Linux as it is now. Same network, same connections, same everything. (apart the mac being different computer). The Nuc is the exact same computer connected to the exact same port, Load Windows, doesn’t work, load Ubuntu works perfectly.
But I seem to understand that having Ubuntu working without problem I should stick to it and ignore the Rock option, fair enough.
Installing ROCK will blow away everything on the NUCs internal disks and recreate everything (partition, format) as needed for ROCK from scratch. If the HDD is internal to the NUC (not an external USB), then yes, it will be erased as well. After installing, you should be able to restore the Roon database from backup and to copy the music from backup back to the internal HDD.
Note that for installing ROCK on the NUC11 you will have to turn off Secure Boot in the ROCK’s UEFI (“BIOS”) settings, because ROCK does not work with Secure Boot and there is no use for it:
ROCK occupies one SSD. Therefore, it cannot coexist with other operating systems on a single SSD.
The next best solution is to purchase another SSD and install ROCK on that new SSD.
Your NUC12 could probably accommodate another SSD with a SATA connection.
You can switch between the new SSD and the original SSD by changing the priority of the SSD to be booted in the UEFI settings screen before booting the NUC.
I am fine erasing completely the SSD but I was hoping not to erase the sata internal hd, but from what I understand that is a necessary step. So I will need an external hard drive to transfer temporarily the music and the backups
Just to clarify, when you say I will be able to copy the music from the back up, will this be possible via network or connecting an hard drive via usb?
Strictly speaking, the internal HDD will not be erased as part of the installation process of ROCK, but once Roon OS is installed and running, then Roon will require you to format the HDD before use, using the Web Administration page, and at that point, the HDD is erased and formatted…
This makes sense though, usually an os doesn’t erase all the hard disks unless instructed to do so, but conceptually the problem doesn’t change. I need to get my music and the backups out of there and put them back in later
You must use the network and Windows File Explorer or Mac Finder to copy files from the USB drive to the internal HDD. And since you are using the network, then attach the USB drive to the PC or Mac - it will be faster (less trips over the network).
I’m guessing that you meant that you have a 256GB SSD and a 2TB HDD.
If the end state you want to get to is ROCK on your SSD and your music on your HDD (where it already sits today), then perhaps one approach that might work would be to disconnect or remove the HDD when installing RoonOS to avoid having it get wiped, and to reconnect or re-install it when you’re done. This assumes that the contents of the drive will be fully readable by Roon.
In theory, you could also move that HDD into an external enclosure - those are pretty cheap.
Hopefully you don’t have your one and only copy of your music sitting on that HDD.
You sound pretty comfortable with this stuff so please forgive me if this next suggestion is obvious. You’ll run your ROCK headless so before you fully disconnect it, it would be a good idea to configure it to restore its last power state in the case of a power failure. I believe on the generation NUC you have, that setting is buried under Advanced Settings in Power (or somewhere like that). It’s there, but you have to dig around to find it.