Will any Intel Pentium processor work for ROCK?
I keep seeing NUC, a list of models I see them, I don’t have that but could possibly have the same processor? Is that the only thing that can work with ROCK?
I had a guy in Poland have me buy some stuff then he bailed on me. Says he’s helped 10 people load ROCK on my hardware.
@Marc_Lewis, I moved this to the ROCK section. ROCK is specficially designed for (previously Intel) now ASUS-designed New Unit of Computing (“NUC”) systems. ROCK does not work on all NUC models, and is not designed to work on any other PC-based systems (although some users have been able to do so, and these are not specifically supported by Roon).
Intel Pentium-based systems are not part of the Roon-approved systems. You may want to ask users in the Tinkering category for possible assistance, or possibly just use the Windows version of Roon running Windows 10 or 11.
Marc if Rock doesn’t work on your hardware then I recommend DietPi X64.
It has much broader hardware compatibility than Rock and works great. It also allows you to run Roon extension manager, Plex server and other features that are easily managed. It also gives good performance stats so you can see what Roon is doing and how much memory and processor it is using which helps when Roon is not working so well.
I moved from Rock to it back in February and I have not regretted it for a moment. I ran Rock happily for 4 years, and it is good, but it is limited and appliance like, which is perfect for many.
I will second the use of DietPi on x86_64 for Roon Server.
The initial install procedure is practically identical to that of ROCK. You do then have to go through a software selection procedure (which is where you select Roon Server to be installed) but it is very easy to follow.
Further, DietPi, being a lightweight Debian based distribution, gives you the option to install other software (e.g. Plex) and gives tools for monitoring system performance which RoonOS does not.
For example, with DietPi running on my NUC11TNHi7 with the DietPi dashboard installed, I can see:
The only caviate to my recomendation relates to the use of Early Access versions of Roon server. The Roon supplied easy install scripts are not compatible with the DietPi default installation of Roon Server and so, in order to change from production and early access (and vice versa) a few hoops have to be jumped through. See:
I had a guy from Poland who bailed on me, said he’s installed rock on this hardware! You’re telling me it isn’t possible? Or it may work but not guaranteed?
Hi @Marc_Lewis
Maybe share the full specs of the machine you wish to use with Roon Rock.
I have tried a multitude of unsupported machines with Roon Rock and have great success with only a few issues.
I’d be happy to advise.
It may work but it is not guaranteed.
ROCK installs Roon Server on top of RoonOS.
RoonOS is a very lightweight linux build with device driver support limited to that required to support the NUCs listed in the Roon Optimized Core Kit Help Centre article. If these device drivers are sufficient to run on your hardware, you may be lucky. If not, then your Roon Server may fail to work in one way or another.
Choosing a more general linux OS distribution (like, but not limited to, DietPi) or Windows 10 or Windows 11 to host Roon Server provides a much larger range of hardware support and so is much more likely to work on your non-standard (for Roon ROCK) hardware.
I have a samsung 870 EVO Sata 2.5, asrock J5040-ITX mobo and 1 16 gb memory card. That’s it, I have an external LPS uptone audio unit for power. This is in a nice streamcon carcass. I plan on buying a j cat usb also in the near future. I would buy a clock but what I understand using usb it won’t make a difference? I only have usb out on this server.
If you tell me using the other software other than rock I’ll go that route. How do I get started?
Based on the specs I’d opt for DietPi.
Rock may not give you USB support which is one of the limitations I have.
DietPi works great on these unsupported devices.
It’s the devices on the motherboard that count.
For example, the network interface would be of some concern because your ASRock J5040-ITX uses a Realtec solution whilst the NUCs almost certainly use an intel solution (my NUC11TNHi7 uses an Intel i225-LM).
Originally I had a branded server not gonna mention the name, it had its own Linux based program with kernel the builder called it. And it was definitely a step up than my MacBook Pro with J river.
The mobo was an older asrock model and the new one is faster, I swapped in the new mobo and it wouldn’t boot. I was told it might not before hand. An IT guy might’ve gotten it to work but not me. I had a list of things to do and it was very complex for a rookie, next to impossible.
The builder of the server would have repaired the unit but I figured for the price of shipping both ways and it was out of warranty I’d be in it for less doing it myself with the guy who said buy this hardware and install it and I’ll help you with the programming, Well he’s had enough and I don’t blame him one bit, he’s in Europe and I’m not.
So I want to try another os other than the original one! Does this make sense?
It makes perfect sense. But ROCK is not the best choice because it is very specifically targeted at a certain hardware configuration - likely the same issue as you had with the original OS.
Dietpi is a good choice because it is based on Debian Linux and has good hardware support but has a set of interactive scripts which make configuration and the install of the many common software components (including Roon Server) very easy.
However, anything that can be done on DietPi can also be done on any number of other linux distributions (although some have had issues on Ubuntu that needed help to resolve).
For instruction on installing dietpi on your system, see:
You will need to scroll the first set of tabs to the right and select ‘Native PC’ rather than ‘Raspberry Pi and other SBCs’.
And then you will need to select the instruction for your boot method - most likely using UEFI boot and thus requiring ‘UEFI Installer Image’
e.g:
You will need to download the dietpi boot image from the download page ( making sure that you select the correct image as detailed in the installation instructions) at:
Both pages I have linked in this post are linked to by the DietPi home page linked above by @Menzies-Old.
I’ll try this when I get home this afternoon. Thanks
Dietpi doesn’t have my board on there list
Can’t be done. Need an image of mobo have that, it won’t fit in there window, also says to insure a Debian/raspbian OS is running on system! If your not a computer scientist your screwed.
AFAIK, you simply choose the “Native PC (UEFI)” image of DietPi for your Asrock motherboard - it’s built as a standard x86_64 architecture…
As per @Geoff_Coupe
This is the download link for the x86 image.
This is the instructions to flash the DietPi image to a USB thumb drive
You need Balena Etcher to flash the image to a USB drive. I found this to be the easiest option.
Alternatively, you can use Rufus to flash the USB drive.
Just moved this, it’s not a ROCK support request, it’s tinkering…
@Mikael_Ollars one can’t keep moving it as the discussion evolves 
This was never about ROCK in the first place, but let’s not dilute this any further…
