Network Details (Including networking gear model/manufacturer and if on WiFi/Ethernet)
Google Mesh/Ethernet/Comcast/Cambridge Audio CXN
I’m setting up this nuc to run Roon ROCK flashed to the m.2. I’ve read through all the instructions about transferring the Roon database to a USB drive and then recovering to the m.2 from there. No problem with all that.
Question is about the library. Right now all my music files are on a 1TB internal HDD in my main desktop. It is just about full anyway, so I was going to use the nuc as an excuse to transfer all the music library to a 2T 2.5" drive internal installed in the nuc.
The instructions for library transfer seem to assume doing it over ethernet or like that. Is there any reason why I can’t set up the nuc with Roon ROCK and the Roon database, then copy the library folder from its present HDD to the 2.5" drive in a USB enclosure, then just install the 2.5" drive into the nuc?
I understand about leaving Roon off so it isn’t searching live while files are moving around and also disabling the file path for the library. Is there anything else I have to watch out for doing it the way I propose?
Library is just under 1TB, ~2200 albums, ~37,000 tracks.
That should work. I left my drive in its USB enclosure, though. I imagined that if it ever failed or needed swapping it would be a shade more convenient to access.
To be clear — Are you wanting to connect a USB drive and transfer the files itself to the internal drive? Or are you wanting to use the USB drive and the internal drive?
If you’re looking to transfer music to the internal drive, this always has to be done over the network. You’ll need to connect to the internal drive via SMB as outlined here: https://kb.roonlabs.com/ROCK:_Importing_Music
That’s the very thing I was asking. I’d read in the KB that you ought to use the network to transfer files into Roon, but not an entire library.
What I was asking about - just to speed things up and simplify - was to put the new 2.5" HDD in a USB enclosure and copy the entire current library to it. Then remove the 2.5" drive from the enclosure and install it into the nuc. This is after installing ROCK and the Roon backup directory on the nuc.
As John V suggested, this seems really no different (I guess) than leaving the library HDD in the USB enclosure outside the nuc. But I got the H nuc so I might as well use the HDD internal.
Right now the Roon “watched” folder is my iTunes Music folder, so I intended to leave it the same in the nuc. That way I can import files and manipulate file names and labels using iTunes and Roon can recognize them the same as before.
Even doing things this way would require using the network to transfer. There is no function that will automatically take the files from a connected drive and move it to the internal drive.
a. put 2.5" drive into USB drive enclosure
b. plug USB enclosure into desktop
c. transfer entire library folder from desktop HDD to USB enclosure
d. remove 2.5" drive from USB enclosure
e. install 2.5" drive into nuc
f. tell Roon (already on nuc) to look for watched folder on - now internal - 2.5" drive.
Network is not used to transfer files, just a bulk transfer from the current internal desktop HDD to the USB enclosure.
I understand now, apologies for the prior confusion. Unfortunately this is not possible — When you install a drive on a ROCK device you must format it via the Web UI. Any media already on that drive will be lost during the formatting and would need to be imported again.