At the risk of actually reaching 500 (because we are over 300 now, @Jim_F), the docs I’ve read suggest various ways of moving my music files onto the Nucleus.
Is it safe simply to drag-and-drop them from their present location (Roon’s (macOS/Finder) watch folder, of course) into the Nucleus ‘InternalStorage’ folder - presumably using SMB in fact?
If so, could I also create a new folder at the Nucleus root level and put the music files there; so as to separate them from the Roon database, which I assume goes there too?
Yes, it will be using SMB, and probably safe. I would check Nucleus docs as to where the preferred location for music files is. It being an appliance, I would presume that the database is “somewhere where it should be” and ideally user can’t even get there, to prevent mucking with it.
If I am reading them correctly, it has some storage specifically for OS and database, and the once it has the (optional) internal drive, that’s what is showing as “InternalStorage” and that’s where they recommend drag and dropping your music. It’s not where the database is.
I suppose you could organize your files whichever way you want, but there are some writeups here on optimal ways to do it, But you can safely start from the root of the InternalStorage.
Your Roon database is on the m.2 drive in the Roon Nucleus. Nothing else goes there. Music files can be on an internal SSD (or HDD) that you install in the Nucleus or ordered pre-installed from Roon. Or, you can put your music files on a USB SSD or (HDD) attached to one of the two USB ports.
I really am sorry (and feel a little ashamed) that this has gone on for so long.
Roon has become my musical life and I don’t want to take any step which might compromise it working as it should. Being new to SMB and Nucleus, I am beginning to see how it all works.
But I do want to get things 100% right.
So I plan to follow the instructions for the Roon database saving and restoring - after I’ve moved the music files over to Nucleus.
I suspect in the end it’ll seem a lot simpler than it did on November 13!
I’ve found in computing that doing things 100% right can be annoying when beginning a project (I never want to spend the time) but saves a lot of grief in the long run, so I support your approach
For instance, I just tried dragging-and-dropping a subset of my music files onto the SSD installed (by RoonLabs) in my new Nucleus. That seemed perfect.
But when I tried to run a new Backup Task in CCC, it complained that it would be slow with SMB and that I’d be better off using a USB connection and mount the Nucleus.
Then I do find it a little odd not to be able to relate to what I see inside the Nucleus.
For instance, this is a listing of the contents of that sub-folder on macOS:
At this point, if that’s how they’re supposed to be because RoonOS handles them that way, I guess I’ll just happily accept it and hope it all works :-).
You know the Roon database backup using the Roon backup protocol is going to work. I use an old 1TB HDD attached to one of the Nucleus USB drives to automatically backup every night.
As far as backing up your music in your Roon “watched folder,” I would not worry about that until you get the Nucleus up and running with all your music copied to the watched folder or moved there however you intend to do that. As long as you have your original music files on another computer or drive and you keep those backed up, you’re OK until you start adding a lot of music files to Roon.
You are making this WAY more complicated that it is, IMHO.
I support that too. Many people seem to drop 100K and more files into it and once and then are totally lost when something isn’t right. I did it album by album at first with my new Roon library, and then artist by artist once I got more confident (granted, I didn’t have 10K albums), checking quickly after each one that things are ok. And it seems to have served me well.
USB is faster most of the time, but an album or a few of music should be done quickly over halfway competent wifi. So who really cares. And when backing up, you don’t watch it anyway
Is this after CCC operation? Maybe housekeeping info by CCC? Not sure if I’d want my backup program to do this
I think those might be hidden files MacOS creates to store its own metadata about files. One of the reasons all Apple products are banned from my network… I don’t think Roon creates them, at least I do not see anything like that on my Synology Roon core…
You too get a heartfelt thanks for your patience !
I certainly do, Yes.
My plan is similar. Especially since the Roon database is barely a GB in size.
If it works like everything else has in this project from day 1, I can easily put it aside, Yes.
Well - in a way, that’s one of the main reasons why I am migrating to Nucleus. So that I can free up space on my iMac and hive all those music files on the Nucleus. And take care of backing them up from there.
So things have already worked (the above-mentioned issue of USB vs SMB to the Nucleus installed internal SSD aside).
But in future I’m planning to add Music files to the Nucleus directly.
If Roon OS deliberately adds those ._ (I’m assuming that the period/dot/full stop means they’re hidden?) copies into the folder, then I’ll expect it.
If I’m doing something wrong, then I’d kind of like to know now and put it right.
Exactly. And just like the Guest warning the other day, I can quite happily live with what to CCC is ‘slowness’ - provided the copy is complete and safe.
Personally, if I had a large music library, I would not trust that to Roon as my main file location. Even with a backup of the watched folder, something could go wrong, IMHO. I would keep my original files somewhere else never to see Roon. And, if I really valued my library, I would keep a backup drive in my safe deposit box at the bank.
I don’t have the extra four objects with those prefixes in the corresponding location in the CCC backup which I made as a test. Nor, as I say, in the ‘original’ location on my iMac from which I copied them.
However, I just looked one from the Nucleus. This is what I see:
cat ./._DDufay - Lament for Constantinople
Mac OS X 2??ATTRo??*?*$com.apple.metadata:_kMDItemUserTagsbplist00? This resource fork intentionally left biMiiMaiMiMaiMiMaiMaiMiMiMiMiMiMiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMac-Pro:C15 mark$
I hear you. Time to rethink this side of things. Because of course I can quite happily keep those (untouched-by-Roon) files (still < 300 GB) on the RAID 1 external 4 TB HDD which I was intending to clone from Nucleus; and let Time Machine back that up into the bargain.
(And Yes, probably keep a clone of that HDD in a big hole in the garden under where all my gold ingots are stashed.)
Thanks for the confirmation. Yes. I have barely 200 albums. But I’m determined to get it right.
Exactly. As long as the clone is solid…
That’s what I was worried about. No, the original location on my iMac and then again after the CCC clone from the Nucleus don’t have them. It was the first and only (so far!) drag and drop from iMac to Nucleus when they appeared. I now suspect Extended Attributes which Linux/Roon OS ignores. But I’d like to be sure. I can’t find it documented anywhere; yet.
!
