I’m completely new to Roon. Recently set up a nice new audio system and decided to give Roon a try. My plan was a NUC running Rock tucked away in the cabinet, using an iPad to access Rock and stream music from one or more services. First question - am I right in understanding that this setup would work?
I built the NUC today, NUC10i3 with 512G SSD and 16M memory. Following the install guide, I was able to get Rock installed and to boot up. The guide seems pretty outdated regarding the BIOS changes required, but I eventually figured that out. But now Rock boots up and it wants a network connection. Evidently I need this to up Codecs (I don’t really know what that means yet). But I only have a wifi connection available and can’t connect the NUC to wifi without entering the network password, which doesn’t seem to be possible. I don’t really have a way to hook up an ethernet connection. Any ideas on how to proceed?
Thanks.
Wifi is not enabled on most NUCs. I know you said you cant hook it up through ethernet, you are going to need an internet connection full time to the NUC so it is best to find a way to hook it up to your network with an ethernet cable if possible. One other option is to use a USB WiFi dongle to connect to WiFi, but that is not recommended and probably won’t work well in the long term. You could also use a wireless router that you set up next to the NUC, connect it to the WiFi and then connect the NUC to it with a cable but again, not recommended. Another option would be to install Windows or Ubuntu as the OS to replace ROCK. Then you would install Roon Server and you would be able to run Roon that way. If you don’t mind me asking, why can’t you hook up to ethernet?
Thanks folks. The NUC is native equipped with wireless, 802.11g. This one has it, as does a 3 year old one I have running in my office. I assume the Rock core does not activate it on boot up. Even if it did, I can’t enter the password, so no go. I assumed I’d have to connect to a wired port. Unfortunately, there is only one monitor in the house to use for the setup, and it is a huge task to extract it from my office and take it to the router. I don’t see how I’m going to get router, monitor and NUC in the same place without a lot of work.
I’m with you on the final location - I already have a Cat6 line to that location for the permanent setup.
If you have setup the NUC such that it is searching for network. Then you can probably just plug it up headless to the router and finish what you need to do via the network. At least try it and see.
Plug it up and see if you can get to the Webpage via just typing’ http://rock/
in your browser bar.
Definitely connect your NUC to your router using an ethernet cable. Use a PC or laptop to connect to your NUC via your network to accomplish the setup.
Your DAC does not need a direct connection to the NUC, but will need a network connection using WIFI or ethernet and needs to be a Roon capable device. Otherwise, you will need a Roon bridge device.
Yeah, ROCK doesn’t use it. I didn’t realize you had already set it up and got past the BIOS settings. If it is already set up you can plug it into ethernet at its final location and you can access the NUC and its file system on any computer that is connected to the same network, WiFi or ethernet. You then access it like you would any server. You download the codec files you need and then just put them in a folder on the NUC. I am a Mac guy so I don’t know the process for accessing servers on the network on a PC, but it may even be automatic.
No need. Once you have BIOS updated and the initial install done, you can power down and move the NUC to where your router is located. There’s nothing interesting on the HDMI output once installation is complete.
Just take a long network cable. It only costs a few $. This allows you to position the Nuc next to your monitor. After the installation, you no longer need a monitor. You then connect the Nuc with a short network cable near your router.
The Rock is designed to run “headless”. Once I had ROCK installed, I powered it down, moved it over to my server cabinet, put it inside plugged directly into my core switch, and left it there. Hasn’t had an HDMI cable plugged into it since then. It occasionally fetches an update. I occasionally reboot it (from the http://ROCK/ address) when I get laggy and hope that does the trick. Otherwise no need to physically access it or see what’s on the monitor/HDMI output. I choose not to use the audio outputs on the ROCK itself - all my endpoints are Sonos or RopieeeXLs.
Thanks all. It never occurred to me that I could go without the display monitor from that point. The NUC is happily plugged into the network at its final location and I’m connected from the office PC just fine. Several of you suggested this and thanks.
Now I’m wrestling with the Codec install - instructions for this don’t seem to be working for me so far, but I’ll keep working at it.
Thats not a big deal. It works for everyone, so it will work for you too. Do it as it is in the description: Click on these Link and load the file withe name “ffmpeg-git-amd64-static.tar.xz”. Save the file in a folder of your choice. Uncompress it with WinRar or 7-Zip. You will find a file with the name: “ffmpeg”. The file has no extension, the name is only “ffmpeg”. Copy this file in the Codecs-Folder via network (you need to have an extra computer). If you have a windows-computer start the windows explorer and type: \\Rock in the adress line. Go to the folder Data > Codecs. Copy the file with name “ffmpeg” into the Codec-Folder. Thats it.
Finally got the codec. I missed after the second uncompress that I had a new folder. You have to open that folder to find the ffmpeg file. I had been trying to copy in the entire folder. I’m connected now, will sign up for my trial tonight.
