All, I have what is likely a unique situation. Can you check my action plan and see if it will work?
My Roon Core is on a computer (iMac Pro), that is in for repairs, which will likely take a long time (1-2 months); the long repair time is due to Coronavirus, closure of Apple stores, supply chain issues for iMac Pro parts, etc). I don’t have a good alternative for a Roon Core, so my plan is to use this as an excuse to buy a Nucleus, and install an internal SSD. All of my music is on an external SSD, which is doing fine.
Once I get the Nucleus, I’m assuming I can restore my metadata by using one of my backups?
Next, could I simply plug the external SSD into the Nucleus and let it find the tracks? I assume the answer is no, since the Nucleus needs to reformat the external SSD for use? Alternatively, is there a way to transfer tracks to the Nucleus from the external SSD without using a computer; e.g. plug the external drive into the Nucleus and control everything from my iPad? A third option: I have a backup of my tracks on an NAS drive on my network. Could I transfer from there, or simply let the Nucleus play the tracks from the NAS?
Any thoughts from the group for this non-tech-savvy, temporarily computer-less individual would be appreciated. I need my Roon!
The Nucleus or ROCK only need to format internal installed data drives. External USB drives can be moved around with no need to reformat if they were in exFat format. If they were in an Apple format, then you can still use it, you will not be able to add or delete music from it.
The only way to transfer music into a Nucleus, or a ROCK NUC, is to use another computer and transfer everything over the network.
You can set the Nucleus to play music stored on the NAS.
I went through a similar process , and it didn’t go smoothly. Depending on your network and file size it can take ~ 24 hours to transfer (500gb here). And for some reasons the newly formatted Ex Fat drive was very picky when transferring some files and required my attention to skip the file, then I manually had to transfer individual files. It will be easier to get a new external HD formatted in exFAT, then move your files from you old drive to the new drive ( on another computer, if yours is not working). Then I believe there’s a way to plug in the newly formatted external HD into the nucleus and transfer the files.
Forget the internal drive until you get your iMac back. If you have a backup use it to get your database and hopefully the majority of your edits restored to the Nucleus. But this may not be a smooth transition. Use the external drive with the Nucleus and you are minimising the chances of getting something wrong.
Quick update - I bought the Nucleus on the Amazon Roon storefront Wednesday, received it Friday (I live close by), and set it up with my iPad. Came together without a hitch.
Two more questions for the at-home brain trust represented here: My Nucleus is up and running with an external SSD, and I’m controlling it through various remote computers and devices. To my surprise, Amazon delivered a Samsung 860 EVO internal SSD (weeks earlier than expected), so I’m ready to install it. My questions: Should I do a “hard shutdown;” e.g. hold the button for four seconds, before unplugging the unit to install the internal SSD? Then, when everything is up and running, is it possible to move files from the attached external SSD to the new internal SSD, or do I need to move them from an NAS or computer? Thanks!
A regular shutdown is fine. That allows the software to properly terminate itself. A hard shutdown kills stuff still running after a pre determined time and should only be used if you have an issue.
If you are using a Windows laptop, plug into the same router/switch as the Nucleus if possible. That should allow much faster transfer speeds than wireless. Put the USB drive on the laptop, navigate to the Nucleus storage drive over the network and drag and drop between the USB storage and the Nucleus storage.