I have been a Roon ROCK user on two consecutive fanless NUCs for 7 years or so. My files are stored on a Synology NAS and the NUC (fanless Core i5, 3 years old or so) runs Roon ROCK only. I’m getting ready for a replacement and, while the easy button would be to buy a newer Core i7 NUC, I am intrigued by the new Mac Mini M4.
Problem is: although my handheld devices are all Apple (5 generations of Iphone and Ipad Pro), all my computer experience has been with Windows PCs.
So my question: is there a step by step install and config guide for Mac n00■■ like myself, to install Roon server on a Mac mini, making sure it never goes to sleep, disabling all that is not needed (the Mac Mini will ONLY run Roon and only as a headless device), etc. ?
If so, I would be grateful to receive them. I have read multiple posts on the subject but did not get the sense of a single, unified end-to-end approach on how to do this cleanly.
I have not seen a full guide (I am not a mac user). I think a guide might be tough to do as setups vary so much.
But here’s a start if you have not seen these KB articles:
install guide with a section on MacOS
Migration of server guide:
Audio on MAC settings (as I am not a mac user I am not sure if this one is helpful or not):
For the rest it might be good to search the forum for specific items and maybe someone with more knowledge with chime in…
Piece of cake. When you literally turn on your new Mac mini you have one thing to do and that is to download “Roon”
As far as helping to optimize your Mac to run headless and not go sleep I can help you with that as well. Roon Lab’s pretty much makes it plug and play (especially when using a fresh install) It’s not difficult at all. I happen to be very capable but I’m actually new to Roon. Let me know if you need any assistance. I’m sure that there are a few tweaks in the system settings which users running Roon Server/ROCK on MacMini’s might wish to share. I’m hoping that their responses will be forth coming:
Buying such a machine for a Roon server is a complete waste of money. You do not get anything, that you don’t get with a M1 Mac mini. If you want the absolute best experience and reliability (stability), get a NUC or a Nucleus. I’ve been down both paths, and my cheap second hand (older) NUC wins any day of the week over the Mac mini in performance. If you got money burning in your pocket use them on acoustic treatment or charity. Both ways will be better spent
Had a 2012 MacMini and now have M2 Mac Mini - both have been rock solid 24/7. Never had a problem with either of them. No desire to use Nucleus or NUC but each to their own.
I appreciate all the inputs here. In the end, it still felt (to me, YMMV) a bit like needing several apps and tools to make a Mac Mini do something it was not really designed for (i.e. limiting it to functioning as an always awake, headless roon server, remotely accessible from a variety of devices, both iOS and Windows). I pulled the trigger on a 13th gen Core i7 NUC to replace my existing one. The devil you know etc.
Totally understandable Patrick and I’m sure that you will be happy with your new purchase. In defense of the Mac mini I must point out that Apple’s new Mac mini has none of the limitations which you’ve outlined. No modern business/personal Mac nor Windows PC for that matter comes to my mind.
Practically any Mac/Win PC can serve as a server if it allows for network access depending upon your needs and of course you have to secure it. That’s the beauty of Roon. They really have put in a lot of work. Roon server will operate on most boxes. It’s nearly plug and play as I’ve mentioned. I know many experience difficulty in navigating the server and network aspects of the software but Roon’s implementation and creativity is impressive.
The Amphetamine app mentioned by @Jim_F isn’t required to keep a Mac from sleeping. Mac’s can do that on their own via the system settings. That wasn’t always the case (Jim’s just broadcasting his age and I mine). The app does offer some great additional features but nothing benefiting someone going headless.
In the end I believe you made the wisest decision or as close to it as possible, a Roon recommended NUC.
Very easy. I have a 2018 Mac mini. Just download the Roon server. Don’t add anything to your new mini. Run it headless as you alluded to and go to settings display set it to always awake. The only problem I encounter is if there is even a short power outage, even for a minute wrong searches for the server and can’t find it so I have to go to my display and click on the room again so Roon wakes It’s a bit of a pain I’m actually thinking of getting the new Roon server just don’t know if if want to spend $500
Anyway I hope that helps
Of course there is. I have an 2014 Mac mini modified with a 1TB memory that runs headless and is on 24 hrs a day in its dedicated role as a Roon server. This has been working the last 4 years. Where I live we have power outages a few times a week but no issues as the computer comes back on with Roon running every time. You do need to be able to connect to a monitor, mouse and keyboard every now and then for housekeeping purposes. I use another Mac and oversee using screen sharing. I do have a handwritten sheet of my settings which I will add to this. I got delivery of my M4 Mac mini two days ago which I bought to replace the old one when it dies.
Thank you for that. In the end, I went with the highest-spec NUC that Roon ROCK currently supports (13ANHi7), with 32GB fast ram and a fast SSD. This cost me slightly less than the M4, but is was familiar territory. From the moment I opened the box, to the moment I was playing music from my large library (680,000 tracks), took less than 2.5 hours. That includes the build, the config of BIOS and ROCK and the migration / backup restore. And so far, the responsiveness of the system has greatly improved. The increase in usability / reduction in frustrated waiting for a button click to result in a corresponding action from Roon (‘Play Now’, etc.), is tremendous. Fingers crossed things stay that way for a while
False info. Macs will run forever in a headless setup. Linux, if you know how to run linux, it will run forever too. But there is no way that anybody can say a proprietary tainted Linux machine will run better with more reliability than a Mac.
I’ve ran enterprise Solaris servers for over 500 days between any reboots. Same goes for enterprise Linux servers. Windows, you have to apply security fixes every month. Macs, same as Linux.
The problem with Rock is that you can’t diagnose any problem that arises. All people do is upgrade their hardware hoping that’s what it is.
99% of all audiophiles don’t know the 1st thing about Linux. So if they would have to go in and attach a new disk, create a link or any of the hundreds of system commands in Linux, they would be lost.
The creator of Pure Music documented over a dozen years ago which OSX processes should be turned off so pure music would sound better. It’s the software that creates good sq, not the hardware.
I’ve been running Roon on headless Mac minis for years with no problems.
I’ve ran Roon on a Linux server in the past to test to if there was any gains in sq over a headless Mac mini, and there wasn’t. if I did want to use Linux, I would run an enterprise Linux release so I’m in control of the server, nothing hidden from me, and I would be able to admin the server as super user or root.
I’ve been very happy with my Mac Mini M1 running headlessly as the Roon core on my LAN. I do use Astropad’s Luna Display to connect the Mini to my iMac for those invariable times you need to work on the Mac mini to do a software update etc.
Once upon a time, there was a step by step for Linux installations. This procedure included all the steps needed to install Roon Core on Debian or Ubuntu. Several packages had to be added before running the Roon-provided shell script to do the install.
The Windows and Mac packages are complete and the installers do all the work so Roon installs much like a regular MacOS app. Download the DMG, drag it to Applications, and launch it.
My recollection was that you have to leave the Roon user logged in as Roon Core starts at login rather than at boot.
My recommendation is to set up 2 users, one for the machine admin and a second for Roon operations.
Follow the first boot procedure. When it completes, add a user Roon. Set it up with screen sharing enabled. This lets you use VNC to do maintenance on a headless Mac Mini. Set up roon to start at login and set up the roon user for auto-login.
The economics of iMacs are that the base machine has sufficient storage and memory to run Roon but that you’ll want more storage if you have a collection of media that Roon will manage. I have my media on a LaCie disk formatted as FAT making it easy to move media to a new host.
Add media to Roon by drag and drop from the FInder to the controller window.
Roon controller contains logic to update all the endpoints and the core. Keeping MacOS up to date follows normal Mac updating conventions.
The admin user does MacOS updating and auto updates can be enabled.
