Thanks Kevin. Finances are in covid mode, so no new hardware in horizon. I’ll hope Linux Mint will Rock for me.
Long live rock’n roll.
1 Like
If you’re not familiar with Linux I’d go with Ubuntu desktop as I can guarantee any question or problem you have will already be answered or fixed on the internet given the number of users.
An old i3 laptop with 2GB RAM will run Ubuntu quite easily.
1 Like
Google tells me it’s a cat like mammal in Madagascar related to the mongoose.
The desktop flavour is immaterial because Roon Server has no desktop interface. You configure it through a Control device.
1 Like
Thanks. I was afraid maybe one comes with necessary drivers but other lacks them and you need to do techy stuff, etc.
Installing Ubuntu is a breeze. Good recommendation.
After checking with the devs I understand all devices that are running Windows 7 or 8, whether as Core, Remote or Output should be checked and, if possible, updated to TLS 1.2 or later. Remotes, for example, directly fetch artwork for Tidal/Qobuz from Roon’s cloud services.
Thanks to your valuable help, I was able to solve the issues. On my core machine, where I was using Roon Server on Win7, I upgraded to Linux Mint Mate. On my Win7 endpoint machine, I upgraded to Win10. Both are performing nicely. Recommended if you are in a similar situation. My remaining endpoints are either on Apple hardware or work through airplay (not a HQ solution, but they are not for critical listening.)
When Win10 was first launched, I gave it a try and found it to be too cumbersome. Since my Windows needs were basic, I reverted to Win7. Now I was forced to try Win10 again. To my surprise, the OS has become much faster and migration was a breeze. I am relieved.
Being a grumpy oldish man, I find that my dislike of Microsoft is still greater than my dislike of Apple. Anyway, it is nice to have a community. Thanks folks.
Thank you for telling me that the option to upgrade from 7 to 10 is still open (ahem). You saved my day.
1 Like
Very happy to help, that’s how these forums work.
It’s sorta strange that it still works, but Microsoft want everyone on Windows 10, so they are secretly happy as well 
2 Likes
Thank you for the info, the other ways to test for this that I tried didn’t work. I to am running Window7 as my main pc and running the roon core. Amazing according to this site, I am fully up to date with 1.2 and 1.3 support. Must have been something I did when installing all the other music related stuff to that machine.
I would be nice if support make it clearer what will not work if you do not have the required version. Will Roon run at all?
I have found that some additional Registry changes are required on Windows 7 - however see here
1 Like
@mike Could I make a suggestion, could you make available a Menu item, in the About section, to verify that the current protocols are in place?
Since the option to upgrade to win10 free still stands, I’d recommend doing this instead of trying to fix win7 or 8 (if you don’t specifically need these versions of course). You’ll need an SSD hard disk since w10 will drive you crazy with a spinning drive.
Summary
To those who had bad experiences with win10 before: I was very frustrated with w10 when it was launched. It was too slow, complicated and not very user friendly. So, I reverted to w7 and, since my Windows needs are rare, that kept me going. Now, because of Roon, I was forced to give it w10 a try. Interestingly, it runs as fast as w7 on my old laptop. It was the same machine that I had tried w10 a few years back… Worth a try.
Like I said in my initial post, my Win7 apparently already supports both the 1.2 and 1.3 version. Upgrading my main system to WIN10 is a major effort, one I want more than 30 days to do since I have to get all my other apps running in addition to Roon. Roon support should provide a simple way to determine what version you have if you are running Win 7 or 8.
I agree, I posted this since @simon_pepper mentioned that some additional registry changes are also required on w7. Even previous steps suggested to make sure that Roon will work with w7 were above my poor tech knowledge. Just wanted to share my unexpected experience w. the upgrade. Hope you have no problems.
Unfortunately, a Windows 10 update is not possible for one of my machines.
I tried initially and it was just blue screening, so I reverted back to Windows 7, where it had been extremely stable and continues to be so.
Also for one setup and configuration program (programming B&O Beo5 remote controls), I need the Windows XP Virtual environment, which is only present on Windows 7.
I think I have the TLS 1.2 issue sorted, both for Internet Services, WinHTTP communications and the SCHANNEL, where TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 is not “disabled by default”.
Will see in 20-days time. However, it would be good to have a Menu in Roon, or even a standalone tool, that runs on Windows 7 to indicate that the required protocols are enabled.
Just point a web browser at this site …
https://clienttest.ssllabs.com:8443/ssltest/viewMyClient.html
2 Likes
Yes, but that tests the Security protocols implemented within a browser, and using WinHTTP protocol. The support for an application running as a native app under Windows is different. As such the additional SCHANNEL related registry entries.
Also if the application was a .net based application there are additional registry entries.
So it’s the 31st of May and my Win7 core is still working. How will we know if they’ve “flipped the switch” yet? I made the registry changes @simon_pepper suggested and I’d like to know that they’ve been successful.
Edit: I just fired up my old Win7 laptop that I use sometimes as a remote and it works fine. I made NO registry changes to it, so I’m guessing that the new protocol isn’t live yet…