I have been running Roon core on my 11 year old Mcbook pro and its time to retire the poor fellow. It doesn’t allow me to get any further Roon updates and I am still on the 1.8 version. So I have manafed to secure a pretty decent NUC8i7BEH (albeit Second Hand) with the below configuration :
Intel(R) Core ™i7-8559U CPU at 2.71GHz
500GB M.2 for OS / System Drive
2 TB Sata SSD
32GB RAM
Thing is it comes with Windows 11 pro installed - So my first question is - I would have to wipe that off the 500gb Hard drive correct ? before I can start loading the ROCK OS ?
Would just unistalling the Wondows OS good enough or there is any formatting required ? Sorry i am not that tech savvy, so reaching out for some guidance
Second Question : Currently I am mainly using streaming through Tidal but have created quite a few playlists and saved some albums on my core profile. Will those not auto move to ROCK when i get the NUC setup and choose that as my main core ? Can someone guide me how do I ensure that my current core settings are transferred over to the NUC when I load ROCK as my main core. I don’t want to begin the installation process and lose those that I have cuated over the years.
Yes. You will have to install ROCK over the top of the Windows installation - which will automatically wipe it. That bit is easy - just follow the ROCK Install Guide.
The only issue is that, depending upon the way that Windows was licensed on the NUC, once done, you may not be able to go back to Windows in the future if that was what you decided to do.
With the current Windows 11 pro installation, there are two possibilities:
An OEM version of Windows was installed linked to the BIOS - in this case, you will be able to re-install Windows again and activate it in the future with no issues.
A retail version of Windows was installed - this will almost certainly be linked to the MS account of the person who sold the NUC - so you probably won’t be able to re-install Windows (or at least activate it) in the future.
I’m not sure, of the top of my head, how you can tell which of these applies to your NUC.
If you think that there is any chance that you will want to use the NUC with Windows in the future, you may be better just going out and buying a new 128GByte or 256GByte (whichever is cheapest) M.2 NVME SSD and using that to replace the 500GByte SSD with Windows on it. You will then be able to go back to Windows at any time just by swapping the SSD’s back.
If you think you may ever want to use windows on the NUC again, I’d recommend putting that M2 drive somewhere safe and buying another specifically for ROCK. Otherwise, no need to uninstall Windows, the installer should blitz it anyway. You’ll need a usb thumb drive from which to boot and install ROCK from, the install menu with guide you through the very simple process.
I have an Intel NUC 7i7BNH with 16GB & 1TB, with Windows 11 Pro.
Apart from when Roon misbehaves after an update (as it is now - but not just on Windows-based Core machines), it runs perfectly as a Core & has done for many years.
I also use it for other services / tasks too.
If the Windows installation ‘belongs to you’ then why not leave it as it is & have it available for other things, if required?
Recently upgraded to an Intel NUC10i7. It was second hand, and had windows on a 1TB SSD drive. The SSD drive was removed, and I placed a 128GB NVME drive in its place. It also had another 1TB SSD inside. I repurposed that, and I got a 5TB HDD (External) USB and I have my music on it (makes it easy to move music around).
As the others have said, save the Windows installation drive in case you every change plans. I’d recommend ROCK as it’s a simple setup.
I’m less confident than other folks here about what will happen if you swap the drive out with the expectation that you can put the old one back and be up and running.
Is this a thing that you want to make sure is possible? If not, then none of this matters. If it is, then before you swap the drive out, I’d make sure of the following:
You have/know the Windows 11 Administrator password. If you don’t have any personal info on the device, then just write it on a piece of paper and stick it in a ziploc bag with the drive (if you decide to remove it as suggested)
You check to see if Bitlocker is enabled within Windows. If it is, disable it and wait for the drive to fully decrypt.
The computer you’re buying doesn’t have a dedicated Trustworthy Platform Module (TPM) but it does support Intel Platform Trust Tech (PTT). This means that if drive encryption is enabled, the encryption key(s) will be stored in the computer’s firmware using PTT. A number of things can cause TPM/PTT to reset, which would cause the key(s) to get deleted. Since you probably don’t have the Bitlocker Recovery Key, that would leave your drive inaccessible.
If the only purpose of your purchase is to use it as your Roon server, and you’re sure that’s al you’ll want to do, then just ignore all of this and go forward. The ROCK install will be easy and will take core of everything. But if you want the option of going back to Windows, I think you need to do a little more prep as described.
Thank you for your detailed response, here are my comments
Yes. You will have to install ROCK over the top of the Windows installation - which will automatically wipe it. That bit is easy - just follow the [ROCK Install Guide ] [SAM] So Ideally I don’t need to remove Windows OS but just overwrite it with the ROCK OS ?(https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/rock-install-guide).
The only issue is that, depending upon the way that Windows was licensed on the NUC, once done, you may not be able to go back to Windows in the future if that was what you decided to do.
With the current Windows 11 pro installation, there are two possibilities:
An OEM version of Windows was installed linked to the BIOS - in this case, you will be able to re-install Windows again and activate it in the future with no issues.
A retail version of Windows was installed - this will almost certainly be linked to the MS account of the person who sold the NUC - so you probably won’t be able to re-install Windows (or at least activate it) in the future.
I’m not sure, of the top of my head, how you can tell which of these applies to your NUC. [SAM] I am not sure either but I don’t really care much for the Windows OS as I will be using the NUC for the ROCK installation as a dedicated machine.
If you think that there is any chance that you will want to use the NUC with Windows in the future, you may be better just going out and buying a new 128GByte or 256GByte (whichever is cheapest) M.2 NVME SSD and using that to replace the 500GByte SSD with Windows on it. You will then be able to go back to Windows at any time just by swapping the SSD’s back. [SAM] This seems like the most simple way to proceed. At least that way, I will have no challenge with any issues with the SSD where I intend to load ROCK right? What I am not sure is if I removed the existing SSD, will that impact the NUC in any way, I don’t think so…but just confirming.
Thank you for your response. I don’t really care much for the Windows OS but would like to save some money if I can use the current 500GB M.2 SSD for the ROCK installation. Not sure if I need to first remove Windows and If I do, I don’t have the authorization key and the first owner doesn’t remember it either, so not sure if the ROCK OS installation will overwrite Windows automatically.
The windows installation is owned by the first owner and I don’t really care much for it either, but I don’t think he remembers the authorization key, so I am not sure if I can reuse the 500GB M.2 SSD for the Rock installation and is that an automated process of Windows getting removed automatically when I try to follow the ROCK installation guide.
As per the first owner its 2 years old but I think I will have to update the BIOS by following the steps as well just to ensure everything syncs. This also makes me a little nervous as I am not sure how to manage the install if something goes wrong with the BIOS update. Thanks for the guidance though.
I think this makes perfect sense, replacing the current drive that holds the Windows OS is probably the easiest way to ensure the machine is all clean for the ROCK installation. Did you have to do any software based clean up once you removed the SSD ? or is it just that?
I’m less confident than other folks here about what will happen if you swap the drive out with the expectation that you can put the old one back and be up and running. [SAM] I am not planning to put the old one to use but was hoping if I can salvage the current SSD and save some money Seems like that won’t be the case!
Is this a thing that you want to make sure is possible? If not, then none of this matters. If it is, then before you swap the drive out, I’d make sure of the following: [SAM] I don’t care much for the Windows OS but the SSD
You have/know the Windows 11 Administrator password. If you don’t have any personal info on the device, then just write it on a piece of paper and stick it in a ziploc bag with the drive (if you decide to remove it as suggested) [SAM] I don’t have it nor does the first owner remembers, so this is a lost case I think
You check to see if Bitlocker is enabled within Windows. If it is, disable it and wait for the drive to fully decrypt. [SAM] Is this also required if I just swap out the windows loaded SSD with a new one? Sorry if it’s a silly question
The computer you’re buying doesn’t have a dedicated Trustworthy Platform Module (TPM) but it does support Intel Platform Trust Tech (PTT). This means that if drive encryption is enabled, the encryption key(s) will be stored in the computer’s firmware using PTT. A number of things can cause TPM/PTT to reset, which would cause the key(s) to get deleted. Since you probably don’t have the Bitlocker Recovery Key, that would leave your drive inaccessible.*[SAM] Sorry but all of this is pretty ‘‘Greek’’ to me but, if swapping out the current SSD to a new one saves me any of these hassle, then I am very comfortable going towards that route.
If the only purpose of your purchase is to use it as your Roon server, and you’re sure that’s al you’ll want to do, then just ignore all of this and go forward. The ROCK install will be easy and will take core of everything. But if you want the option of going back to Windows, I think you need to do a little more prep as described. [SAM] So I don’t really care much for the Windows OS but would like to save the SSD if possible to launch ROCK but if it requires a lot of permutation, then I would rather get a new SSD and swap it out with the new one. Hoping that I just follow the ROCK install guide as if I am doing a new install and no complexity of any other OS present in NUC etc. Thank you for your guidance.
Well Once I am aligned on how to get my NUC up and running with ROCK, I would look into it, but is it really necessary? I will be placing my NUC far away from my audio setup, closer to my router for a wired connection, so I don’t expect my noise to disturb my listening. Is there any other reason you are recommending such?
Nothing else is needed. This thread has been massively over complicated for no apparent reason.
Once the drive is out, you can install your new drive and install rock. And, off you go to enjoy Roon.
Even if you want to keep Windows, there are plenty of software to get the Product Key, you don’t need to worry about an administrator password either, that is easily bypassed on the login screen should you really need access. But, I can’t see someone selling a second hand pc without access to a login for Windows.
Anyway. In principle any PC I get is instantly wiped for security. You do not have to worry about the window installation at all.
So back to basics…
Remove the drive.
Install your new one
Get a usb and install the rock install package
Install the ROCK OS
Update BIOS if it’s really needed. I would install rock first personally.
If there’s any chance you want to play multi-channel music, I think you need to use the HDMI out - into a surround-sound-processor - so bear that in mind.
Seems like that won’t be the case!