Mivera Audio Posted December 17, 2016 Share Posted December 17, 2016 Hi guys. So who's going to build themselves a Roon-Core-Kit? https://community.roonlabs.com/t/roon-core-kit-previously-reported-as-roon-os/14175 I should clarify what "Roon OS" is, since everyone is asking questions that seem to be revolving around what they think this thing is. First, it is going to be renamed to "Roon Core Kit", as it will not be a typical operating system. This is is what it offers (and what it doesn't offer): it is completely free ($0) it is an alternative to Windows/MacOS/Ubuntu/Arch/etc.. it runs Roon (The stock Linux RoonServer to be exact), but does not come with a Roon membership. You need to bring that yourself. it is an extremely lightweight Linux-based operating system. Much more on the scale of an embedded machine than a desktop or server operating system. it is a turn-key image with all required pieces to make a Linux based Roon appliance without any prior knowledge of Roon or Linux it should be near silent or completely silent, depending on hardware it runs on a few hardware configurations that are easy to purchase worldwide, reliable, and perform at a level at which we think provides a good Roon experience for libraries of various sizes, taking into account future enhancements (to the best of our abilities). any hardware configurations not sanctioned (owned, built-for, and tested) by the Roon Labs team are unsupported, and although they may work, they may also stop working at any time due to updates. it will auto-update in an experience similar to Roon, integrated fully into the Roon Remotes' Settings->About page. it will provide a web browser based configuration for networking setup, factory reset, power/reboot, etc... it will not be able to run additional software, nor will it support any customizations or modifications to the operating system it has beta level support for some WiFi chipsets, including the one built into the 6th generation NUCs. it has support for multiple USB based ethernet adapters, plus the built-in ethernet. it supports the NUC5 and NUC6 Core i3 and i5 series machines, with 1 internal m.2 SSD (64GB or larger)) and 4GB (or more) of RAM. No additional internal drives are supported. it uses some of the M.2 SSD for the environment and Roon, but the rest is for Roon's databases. You can not store music on this SSD. it can use your existing USB hard drives and NAS for music storage, and you can migrate your Roon databases over to it. Filesystems supported: EXT2/3/4 VFAT/FAT32/FAT16/EXFAT NTFS HFSPLUS HFS and it can mount SMB shares. it exposes your USB drives as an SMB share (micro-NAS!) Roon 1.3 supports a new filebrowser and backup system (for you Roon database, not the actual music content) that works well with truly headless appliances It supports USB and the built-in NUC audio outputs -- in exclusive mode. It will run on the Skull Canyon NUC as well: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc6i7kyk-features-configurations.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.dent Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Thanks for the post Mike. This looks like a great development for anyone who wants to build a simple Roon Core machine from scratch. There's not much (any) flexibility with the OS but really who needs it if you only use the machine for Roon. And it's free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 18, 2016 Author Share Posted December 18, 2016 No problem. Yeah not much to lose if it's free. It's not made for flexibility, just made to work flawlessly like a black box. And it's not like you're stuck with it either, if you change your mind simply copy over the drive and re-purpose with whatever OS you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Not to happy with it only working on NUCs, I have a spare PC here right with similiar specs to an i3 nuc that I want to install it on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 43 minutes ago, powerav said: Not to happy with it only working on NUCs, I have a spare PC here right with similiar specs to an i3 nuc that I want to install it on. You could always just use Audiolinux and run Roonserver in command line mode. Next best thing to Roon OS, and will run on most hardware. http://www.tophifi.it/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 39 minutes ago, Mivera Audio said: You could always just use Audiolinux and run Roonserver in command line mode. Next best thing to Roon OS, and will run on most hardware. Not for me, I run a mile when I start seeing "Command Lines". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 6 minutes ago, powerav said: Not for me, I run a mile when I start seeing "Command Lines". No you set it all up in GUI mode, then you set it to automatically boot in command line mode. Takes 2 minutes to set up. After that you don't touch a thing. Only power button to turn on and off. No monitor or anything required. Just Roon app running on mobile device. Works like a black box just like the Roon Core Kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I have some experience with this sort of thing. I have set countless versions of XBMC/Kodi as OS systems such as openelec and Ubuntu and also played with raspberry pi's with retro gaming devices which require a lot of command line work but I am really over that now as people say it's simple but it really isn't. I just wanted something like Openelec Kodi on a PC of my choice but with Roon. I want the Roon GUI to display my TV or projector and control from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) 9 minutes ago, powerav said: I have some experience with this sort of thing. I have set countless versions of XBMC/Kodi as OS systems such as openelec and Ubuntu and also played with raspberry pi's with retro gaming devices which require a lot of command line work but I am really over that now as people say it's simple but it really isn't. I just wanted something like Openelec Kodi on a PC of my choice but with Roon. I want the Roon GUI to display my TV or projector and control from there. Well it's really just a matter of burning to a USB stick, placing it in an empty USB port, and boot from USB. Once open there's a Roon folder on desktop. Open the folder and click on the icon that says "Load Roonserver at boot". Then reboot. Done. Setup forever. If that's too difficult, Roon Core Kit will also be too hard to setup. Edited December 23, 2016 by Mivera Audio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 Keep in mind with Roon-Core-Kit, or anything that runs Roonserver for Linux, you need another device running Roon as a remote. They don't make a Roon Desktop for Linux. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 Sorry for being stupid, I'll just stick to my openelec kodi then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 3 minutes ago, powerav said: Sorry for being stupid, I'll just stick to my openelec kodi then. I think you're underestimating your abilities. As this is the easiest possible way to setup Roon. I think I'm too stupid to setup Kodi. Because from what I read it's much more difficult Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 I really want the GUI on the screen instead of a phone or tablet. At the moment I have Kodi with HDMI to TV which shows all the metadata and what's playing and sound is through USB to DAC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 1 minute ago, powerav said: I really want the GUI on the screen instead of a phone or tablet. At the moment I have Kodi with HDMI to TV which shows all the metadata and what's playing and sound is through USB to DAC. Yeah with RCK or Audiolinux you would need another computer connected to the TV running Windows or OSX if you wanted to run the GUI on the TV. The GUI only runs on Windows, OSX, iOS and Android. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted December 23, 2016 Share Posted December 23, 2016 6 minutes ago, Mivera Audio said: The GUI only runs on Windows, OSX, iOS and Android. It's amazing that they can't do something similar to openelec or libreELEC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted December 23, 2016 Author Share Posted December 23, 2016 (edited) 7 minutes ago, powerav said: It's amazing that they can't do something similar to openelec or libreELEC I think they figure if people want to sit in front of a screen with a mouse and keyboard they can use Windows or OSX. The Linux version is aimed for folks who want it for listening rooms where you use a mobile device for a remote. I suppose you could airplay an Ipad or Iphone screen to a TV with an apple TV connected to it, or built in airplay. Then you can still use the touchscreen to control the app. Edited December 23, 2016 by Mivera Audio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Now that the name has changed from Roon Core Kit to just simply ROCK any word on a release date, all seems secret squirrel stuff at the moment. Not much info about release on their official page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mivera Audio Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 Well sounds like any day every time I look. Who knows. I was excited about it until they released 1.3 and discovered their upsampling is sub par. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerav Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 I have a feeling it's very close now, I got a reply to my message from the developer on my post on Roon that there will also be a surprise that may be of much interest to you or not..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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