ROCK was great - just replaced with Ubuntu Server and OwnCloud

Roon Software Discussion ROCK
1

Hi all! I used ROCK for about 6 months on a NUC NUC7i5BNK. Worked perfectly. I had HDMI problems at first, but replaced the HDMI cable with a high quality one and all problems disappeared.

Got a bit frustrated with keeping the audio files up to date on Rock with my catalog. So I decided to install Ubuntu Server with OwnCloud, and put Roon Server on top of it. Fantastic. Now I can install new files to an OwnCloud sync’d folder in Windows Explorer, and Roon automatically picks them up. Big benefit is that now I have access to all the music (and photos, documents, videos, etc) on OwnCloud from outside of my local network. All https secured. I’m not sure why Roon gets inside the protected OwnCloud data folder, but it works. The HDMI port on the NUC works perfectly for Roon audio too.

I use dnsexit to keep my dynamic IP up to date.

I’ve had a couple of songs skip to the next unexpectedly, but I hope it’s just because Roon is busy indexing its database. It should settle down. I’ll monitor it.

Thank you Roon.

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An update. Two weeks in, and no skipping. Perfect. It’s very convenient to use the OwnCloud client in Windows Explorer to copy ripped albums into the Roon music folder. OwnCloud and Roon on Ubuntu Server seem to cooperate very well together on the Intel NUC i5. I’ve been ripping CDs with WaveLab into FLAC files, and then copying the files to the OwnCloud music folder. You have to be diligent about getting all of the track names, numbers and artists’ names into the metadata. The sound through the NUC HDMI is fantastic.