Installing ROCK on a NUC

[stephen_colman]

I have a i5NUC running windows.I use Mac book and iMac as controllers.
To install ROCK am i to install it in windows on the NUC ?
Should i be installing OSX first to control ROON ?
Do i need to wipe the NUC ? and start again with mac install ?
Can i use the current windows install with mac controlling roon ?
I cant seem to find these answers in the getting started pages.

[stubaggs]

There are no stupid questions :-).

Install ROCK or Roon Server on the one system you want to store and stream your music from (roon refers to this as the ‘core’).

Install roon or roon remote (potentially many places) where you want to browse and control your library from (roon refers to this as ‘control’)

Install roon bridge where you have somewhere that you just want to stream music to. (That you don’t already have roon or roon remote installed, roon refers to this as roon ‘bridge’)

ROCK install will end up overwriting anything on the NUC. You could also just install Roon Server onto your existing windows NUC.

Hope I have not added additional confusion ! Here is a better description of how these all work together.

[stephen_colman]

So even though i use a mac book to control Roon,it will control it on the NUC running windows ?

[Simon_Arnold3 (Simon Arnold)]

Yes remotes are os agnostic to the core as long as it’s on the same network.

[stephen_colman]

In the download section there is Roon and Roon Server downloads ?

[Geoff_Coupe]

If you are wanting to install ROCK on a NUC, then first take a read of this Knowledge Base article.

A more expansive guide to installing ROCK is to be found here.

ROCK is an operating system designed for just one thing: running Roon Server (it comes with the Roon Server software bundled with the OS).

[stephen_colman]

What really was confusing me, is i have a NUC with windows installed and i use OSX for everything else.

[stephen_colman]

What are you opening the downloaded .bio file down with on mac ?

[Geoff_Coupe]

Er, you don’t “open” the BIO file on the Mac; you’re just using the Mac (or a Windows PC) to download the file from the Intel site, and put it on a USB stick. From there, you plug the stick into the NUC and use the NUC BIOS to update itself…

[Tony_Reimann]

It would be a good idea to say what you actually want to achieve.

As for the .bio file you don’t open it on your Mac. You use it to update the nuc bios. A google search will yield instructions on how to do that.

[Geoff_Coupe]

@Tony_Reimann

A google search will yield instructions on how to do that.

Or, indeed in Roon’s own Knowledge Base.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@stephen_colman

What really was confusing me, is i have a NUC with windows installed and i use OSX for everything else.

Definitely have a read of the links that @Geoff_Coupe shared.

But to answer this question, when you install ROCK on your Windows NUC, Windows will disappear. Windows will be replaced by ROCK (Roon OS).

So you will keep using your Mac devices for Roon Remote control and your ROCK’ed NUC (running Roon OS) will now be your Roon Server.

[stephen_colman]

Thankyou so much for all your replies’ understand a lot clearer now

[danny (Danny Dulai)]

• ROCK is an alternative to Windows, not an add-on
• Roon and RoonServer are both software packages that can run on MacOS or Windows (or Linux for RoonServer), both can operate as the Roon Core, the brains behind the Roon system.
• Roon comes with a UI, and can be used as UI only (a remote) or it can be used as a Roon Core + Roon Remote all-in-one.
• your NUC can run ROCK as a Roon-only appliance, or it can run Windows + Roon or Windows + RoonServer.
• you can use Roon as a remote on your Mac.

[Redwine]

Great with some elaboration, could you also explain

• difference between Roon and RoonServer?

*what do mean: Roon comes with a UI, and can be used as UI only (a remote) or it can be used as a Roon Core + Roon Remote all-in-one.

I use Roon installed on my Nuc with Windows, control my Nuc using Teamviewer, and use Roon app on Ipad and Samsung mobil to manage my music. Works fine but wonder if optimized?

[Geoff_Coupe]

See here for a description of what Roon Server is. If your NUC is headless, and you don’t use the UI of Roon via Teamviewer, then you could move to running Roon Server on the NUC in place of the full Roon software. However, it’s not necessary, and I doubt that you’d see much, if any, optimisation in practice.

[Redwine]

Thanks, but what stands “UI” for?

[Geoff_Coupe]

Sorry, User Interface…

[danny (Danny Dulai)]

@Redwine

Great with some elaboration, could you also explain

• difference between Roon and RoonServer?

I explain all of this and more here:

What are the differences (Roon Endpoint OS Options, Roon Server vs ROCK)?

There are services/applications and there are operating systems. Operating systems run the hardware and provide an environment for software services/applications to run in. Examples of operating systems include Windows, MacOS (formerly known as OSX), and multiple Linux based distributions (popular ones include Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, but there are many more). Linux itself is just the core of the operating system, known as the kernel – you still need to have an operating system around that kern…

[Graham_Bird (Graham)]

I will only add that for me, running ROCK on a NUC has been a revelatory experience. It has completely eliminated the issues of random disconnects and endpoints not finding the server.

To me, the investment in a NUC and wading through the slightly consuding insatll :-)) was well worth it.