· I need to upgrade my NUC8 since with 6 endpoints and nearly 100k tracks, I am having increasing server connection issues that requires frequent rebooting (network speed is fine). I don't want to MOCK but it seems almost impossible to get a NUC13 i7 Tall in Canada, and no higher NUC models are certified for use (plus I could re-use my SSD and RAM in a 13 if I could get one). Where can I either get a 13, or is Roon going to certify the Asus NUCs soon so I can comfortably upgrade to a 14 or 15?
Tell us about your home network
· don't think that matters - I have a 2GB services and no problems with anything else
Thanks for the details. If the library is crashing because of large tracks or albums, then only a RAM upgrade is required.
Could you please let us know the exact local time and date the next time this happens? We’ll enable diagnostics and that will help us line up the issue more precisely.
I understand the frustration with sourcing new hardware. The transition of the NUC product line from Intel to Asus has definitely made finding specific older models like the NUC13 i7 difficult in certain regions.
Regarding your upgrade questions:
1. Asus NUCs and Linux Compatibility You do not need to wait for us to officially “certify” the Asus NUC 14 or 15 for ROCK. Because newer hardware often introduces different network adapters or UEFI boot requirements that our custom ROCK operating system isn’t tailored for yet, we recommend a different, fully supported approach for these machines.
You can comfortably purchase an Asus NUC today, install a standard, current Linux distribution on it (such as Ubuntu LTS), and use our official Roon Server Linux installer. This ensures you have full hardware driver compatibility while still providing a highly robust, headless Roon Server experience.
2. Reusing Components You can reuse your current M.2 NVMe SSD in a newer NUC. As for the RAM, your NUC8 uses DDR4-2400, while a NUC13 (or newer) is designed for DDR4-3200 or DDR5 depending on the model. While older DDR4 might physically fit and work in a NUC13, it will operate at a slower speed. If you move to a NUC14/15, you will likely need to purchase new DDR5 memory anyway.
Before you upgrade, let’s look at your NUC8: An i7 NUC8 is a powerful machine and should theoretically handle 100k tracks and 6 endpoints, provided you aren’t running heavy DSP (like DSD upsampling) across all of them simultaneously. The frequent server connection issues and the need for reboots could be caused by a few factors that are worth ruling out before buying new hardware:
Thermals/Overheating: The NUC8 i7 is notorious for running hot. If the cooling fan is clogged with dust or the thermal paste has degraded, the system will thermal throttle or lock up entirely to protect itself. This would exactly explain connection drops that only resolve after a reboot.
Local Network: While your 2GB internet service is incredibly fast, Roon's stability relies entirely on your local area network (LAN) and how your router/switches handle multicast traffic to your 6 endpoints.
If you are open to it, we can enable diagnostics for your account to check your server logs. The logs will quickly tell us if the machine is overheating, running out of memory, or experiencing network dropouts. Let us know how you'd like to proceed!
Thank you for your helpful response. Good to know that there is a path on NUC14/15 with upgraded RAM. Even better to know that my NUC8 may be just fine if we can pinpoint the problem. What does it take to enable diagnostics? If all you need is a “Yes” response, then you have it….
Thank you @jrobb! We see you’ve recently updated again to Roon 2.66 - we’ve included some additional tweaks in this release that may help with the symptoms you’ve been experiencing.
Let us know how the next few days perform, and we’ll review another fresh diagnostic report from your Roon Server. Thank you!
