· ROCK shuts down after an hour or a bit longer in standby. About three days ago my ROCK was offline when I wanted to start playing music. After I restarted it manually, it was working again. A few hours later (according to the log), when it was in standby, it shut down again . Every time I tried since then, it shut down again as well. This never happened since I installed it more than two years ago. Hardware: SBNUC11TNHi7000 with i7-1165G7 16GB DDR4 RAM 500GB M.2 SSD 1TB SATA3 SSD.
Thanks for writing in and for sharing your report! If possible, could you please bring your ROCK back online? We’ll enable diagnostics on the machine to take a closer look.
If you manage to reproduce the issue as well, sharing a more specific date and time around when the issue occurs would be helpful as well.
Many thanks for your reply and your offer to support with remote diagnostics. I didn’t have the chance to try to bring my ROCK back online again since I posted the issue. But the last time I tried to boot the device, I connected it to a screen, keyboard and mouse but it didn’t get far: the LED of the Standby button was blinking and went dark again without displaying anything on the screen. I have to retry over the coming weekend. I will post my findings then. It looks a bit like a hardware issue. Anyway, before this happened I was able to copy the log folder of the ROCK to my computer. But based on my rather brief linux knowledge, I couldn’t find an indication for the shutdown reason in the logs.
Thank you for the update. Based on the behavior you described—the blinking LED and the fact that there is no video signal output—this unfortunately points away from a software issue and strongly suggests a hardware failure with the NUC itself.
When a NUC refuses to boot, shows no BIOS/UEFI output, and shuts down immediately, it usually indicates one of three things:
Power Supply Unit (PSU) Failure: The internal or external power adapter may be failing to provide a stable voltage, causing the motherboard to cut power immediately as a safety precaution. If you have another compatible 19V power brick, testing that is the easiest first step.
RAM/DIMM Seating: Sometimes, even if no one has touched the hardware, a RAM stick can become slightly oxidized or loose in its slot. Please try removing the RAM modules, cleaning the gold contacts with a soft eraser or isopropyl alcohol, and reseating them firmly. If you have two sticks, try booting with only one at a time in different slots.
Static Charge/BIOS Hang: NUCs can occasionally get stuck in a “bad state.” Before you do anything else, perform a hard CMOS reset:
Unplug the power cable.
Open the case and locate the small CMOS battery (the coin-shaped one).
Disconnect it for at least 30 seconds, then reconnect it.
Plug the power back in and attempt a fresh start.
Important: If the device still refuses to show even the Intel NUC logo on your screen after these steps, it is highly likely that the motherboard has failed.
Please keep us updated after you have had a chance to tinker with it this weekend. If it remains unresponsive, you may need to reach out to the manufacturer for potential warranty support, as we would be unable to recover a machine that won’t complete the initial hardware boot sequence.
Just checking in on this, were you able to try the hardware checks we mentioned, including testing with another compatible 19V power brick, reseating the RAM modules, and doing the hard CMOS reset by disconnecting the coin-cell battery for 30 seconds? If the NUC still will not show the Intel logo or give any video output after that, it does sound like the motherboard itself may have failed. Please send us any update when you have a chance, thanks.
Many thanks for the hardware checklist and for asking about my progresses. Indeed I was able to perform all the suggested tests, it only took a bit more time:
The power supply is not the root cause. I’ve powered the NUC from a lab power supply with 19.0V and it behave the same. Also the power drawn by the NUC seemed to be in range: roughly 1W in standby and 20W when started.
I also disassembled the NUC to clean the RAM contacts using a special contact cleaner solvent and to remove the dust fron the fan and the cooler.
The I also applied the CMOS reset as described.
After every step the NUC behave more or less the same: The on/off button is blinking for about 40 seconds and then the NUC shuts down again. No graphics output at all with the exception of a short phase before I tried the steps above. Then the NUC came up three times, showing the boot selection screen to shut down again immediately after I selected normal boot. Only once it startet roon as far until it showed the setting if the IP address and then it shut down as well. Never after it showed any graphics output anymore.
So it definitely looks like the mainboard has a defect. I don’t expect the system drive to be the issue. As the warranty of the NUC did run out three month ago, I’ll have to purchase a new NUC. After a short check of the usual online shops I was a bit confused because the Asus NUC 13 Pro models listed on the roon website don’t seem to be available so easily anymore. Is roon eventually planning to adapt the ROCK software for more current models of the Asus NUC in the near future?
@Marc_Maeder
Hi Marc,
What I would try in your place: remove the old thermal paste of the CPU, clean it with Isopropanol (CPU and Cooling Fan), and reapply new thermal paste on it. With a bit of luck, you are all up and running with a cool processor.
Good luck, Frank.
Hi Frank,
Many thank for the hint. Definitely something I’ll try - there’s nothing to loose anymore. Putting the NUC in the fridge for a few hours before starting it, didn’t help yet…
Best regards, Marc
Thank you for the thorough testing. Based on everything you’ve described — no video output, immediate shutdown, and no response even after ruling out power supply and RAM — the motherboard has most likely failed.
Before purchasing a new machine, it may be worth taking it to a local repair centre. In some cases a failed capacitor or other component can be reflowed or replaced at a lower cost than a full replacement.
Regarding your question about supported ROCK hardware: for the most current list of supported models, please check our hardware page here:
If you end up needing a new machine and prefer a plug-and-play solution, the Nucleus is also worth considering.
Wanted to follow up on this. Were you able to take the machine to a local repair center to see if the motherboard issue might be something they can rework, or have you moved ahead with a replacement? If you are planning a new setup, the current ROCK hardware support page is the best place to double-check compatible models, and a Nucleus is still a good plug-and-play option. Let us know where things stand, thanks.
Many thanks for taking care of this issue. In the meantime I’ve tried to find a repair center, capable to fix the NUC, but didn’t succeed. I did also check with Asus, whether they are able to offer a repair or spare parts. Unfortunstely no. So finally I decided to purchase a new NUC, which I’ve ordered yesterday. I hope the migration of ROCK will be done easily and without loosing settings or the like.
Please feel free to close this discussion now. If I’ll be facing problems later with the migration I’ll start a new thread.
