Transferring Ripped CDs From An External HD To Roon Nucleus

Well, I unplugged the HD from my PC and ran a USB cable from Nucleus to the computer where the HD was plugged in. I can't find Nucleus anywhere in File Explorer. And on my iPad there is nothing under Storage. The Nucleus isn't showing up anywhere. That just leaves connecting the Nucleus to the HD as an alternative. Is that correct or am I missing Nucleus somewhere in File Explorer?
 
bluegrassphile said:
Well, I unplugged the HD from my PC and ran a USB cable from Nucleus to the computer where the HD was plugged in. I can't find Nucleus anywhere in File Explorer. And on my iPad there is nothing under Storage. The Nucleus isn't showing up anywhere. That just leaves connecting the Nucleus to the HD as an alternative. Is that correct or am I missing Nucleus somewhere in File Explorer?
Click to expand...

Let me see if I understand:
1. Your computer is connected to the Nucleus.
2. Your computer has a folder that contains all of your music files.

If both of those are correct, then your next step is to go to Roon Settings (NOT File Explorer).

In Roon Settings, under Storage find and select the location of your music files folder (from your computer).

Then you should be good to go.
 
nicoff said:
In Roon Settings, under Storage find and select the location of your music files folder (from your computer).
Click to expand...

This is only if you want to keep the computer connected during playback, in other words play the files from the computer. This is exactly the same as if you attached the external drive to the Nucleus.

If you want to copy the files to the Nucleus then there is a process that does allow the computer to see the Nucleus and copy files to it. This is not accomplished inside of Roon, but from the computer itself. The Nucleus came with some kind of directions on how to copy files to its internal storage. That is the procedure you would follow. With my system I do this with the computer (actually I remote desktop to my server and copy files to it from the NAS). I have a feeling this might be done through your network, by temporarily attaching both your computer and the Nucleus to the Network

From Roon's website:
https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/nucleus-internal-storage

The iPad does not get involved until you are using it to control Roon during playback.
 
Guys, I'm sorry but reading the info from the Roon website is like trying to read Russian without studying the language. The technical jargon immediately confounds and loses me. They assume you are either an IT guy or you have a PhD in computer engineering. I need this to be as simple as possible.

nicoff, to answer your questions...1. My computer IS connected to the Nucleus via USB.
2. Yes, there is a folder that contains all my music files. It's on the File Explorer page. None of my files show up on Nucleus (my iPad) thus far. Just to clarify, my music files are on my PC (File Explorer) and external HD.

On my iPad, I've gone to Roon Settings, then Storage. When I navigate to the "Storage" page under "Storage" it says..."Folders."

Under "Folders" it states..."Roon will monitor folders for new music. Your files are left in the folder and won't be copied or modified in any way, unless you explicitly choose to add or delete them from your library." Off to the right it says..."+ Add folder"

That's all it says on the "Storage" page. There are no files or anything else.

Do I tap + Add folder? When I tap "Add folder" a window appears the says "Choose music folder." What folder? There is no folder to choose.

At the bottom of that page it asks "Add network share... Then it wants Network share location...User name...Password...then Workgroup. Then at the bottom right

Then at the bottom right it says "Cancel" and "Select this folder." But there are no folders to select and there is nothing else on this window.
 
I hope that nicoff or Randy can help you resolve the problem. You really need help from someone who also uses an iPad so they can "talk you through" the process step by step.

If you had a conventional Windows PC I'm sure it would be a lot simpler and plenty of others could help you out, but I use my iPad for nothing much more than as a BluOS controller. I think they should be considered as more like smart phones than computers so I steer clear of them as far as possible and stick with Windows. Sorry I can't help any more. Peter
 
The iPad would only be used to setup storage by adding various folders to the Roon storage or watch list. For example, on each of the four drives inside my server I have a folder entitled Music. I have added each of these 'Music" folders to Roon's watched storage folders. Therefore any new albums that I copy into any of these folders is automatically added to my library. Each album is stored in its own folder which I name the Artist and the name of the album... i.e. Dire Straits-Brother In Arms. Each song is a file within that folder.

From what I understand reading over Roon's website is to copy files to the Nucleus you would add it to your network via an ethernet cable. Your computer should see this on the network and allow you to copy folders/files to the Nucleus.

I also assume that you can attach to and control your server (Nucleus) in some manner. All servers, no matter what operating system, have the ability to connect to them to control settings, etc. They should also have the ability of copying files to the internal drive from this administration application as well. These controller applications are usually accessed through a web interface... example is that is works pretty much the same as administering a router.

Have you copied any albums to the Nucleus or have you used it only to stream from Tidal, etc., so far? If you have copied files to it it would work the exact same way.

If you have not copied files to it one question that comes to mind is did you purchase the unit with a larger hard drive included? The only reason to purchase a larger hard drive would be to copy files to it to store and play these internal files.

If you did not purchase extra storage you probably have a limited amount of internal storage for files. In this case you could simply attach the USB from your external hard drive and your Nucleus should see it and allow you to add this as part of your watched storage and therefore play files directly from the external drive. Anything attached to the Nucleus through a USB should become available to play files from. the Nucleus is essentially another computer in and of itself that you use for one purpose only, to play music from. The main difference between that and my Windows Server is the operating system it is running and what capacity each machine has.
 
Hear Here said:
If you had a conventional Windows PC I'm sure it would be a lot simpler and plenty of others could help you out, but I use my iPad for nothing much more than as a BluOS controller. I think they should be considered as more like smart phones than computers so I steer clear of them as far as possible and stick with Windows.
Click to expand...

I use a Microsoft Surface as my Roon controller because it has all the capability of an iPad or Android to control my Roon setup, but it also can be used as a second computer. I take it with me whenever I travel because it is a pretty powerful compact Windows computer... much more so than any other "tablet" type machine, in my view.
 
I actually have a new USB cable arriving today. It is a 16' cable with USB 2.0 on one end and USB 3.0 on the other end. This should allow me to transfer my music files from my external HD to the Nucleus...theoretically. Am I right with this? We'll soon see I guess.

I really thought this would all be easy peasy, slam dunk. But, as is always the case with me, nothing is simple with computers. No matter how basic. It's extremely frustrating at times. We'll see what happens later today. I currently can't seem to get the computer to recognize the Nucleus, or vice versa. I can't find files on either device. If I can't get the music file transfer from the HD to the Nucleus to work with the new cable I'm pretty much dead in the water.
 
bluegrassphile said:
Guys, I'm sorry but reading the info from the Roon website is like trying to read Russian without studying the language. The technical jargon immediately confounds and loses me. They assume you are either an IT guy or you have a PhD in computer engineering. I need this to be as simple as possible.

nicoff, to answer your questions...1. My computer IS connected to the Nucleus via USB.
2. Yes, there is a folder that contains all my music files. It's on the File Explorer page. None of my files show up on Nucleus (my iPad) thus far. Just to clarify, my music files are on my PC (File Explorer) and external HD.

On my iPad, I've gone to Roon Settings, then Storage. When I navigate to the "Storage" page under "Storage" it says..."Folders."

Under "Folders" it states..."Roon will monitor folders for new music. Your files are left in the folder and won't be copied or modified in any way, unless you explicitly choose to add or delete them from your library." Off to the right it says..."+ Add folder"

That's all it says on the "Storage" page. There are no files or anything else.

Do I tap + Add folder? When I tap "Add folder" a window appears the says "Choose music folder." What folder? There is no folder to choose.

At the bottom of that page it asks "Add network share... Then it wants Network share location...User name...Password...then Workgroup. Then at the bottom right

Then at the bottom right it says "Cancel" and "Select this folder." But there are no folders to select and there is nothing else on this window.
Click to expand...

Try connecting the Nucleus directly to the external drive via the USB cable.

Then open Roon Settings and under storage, check if you can now see the folders from your external hard drive. If it does, select the folder with your music.
 
Did you purchase your Nucleus with extra internal storage?

If you did not then there is no reason to go any further and attempt to copy your music files to it. If this is the case then just follow Nico's advice.
 
bluegrassphile said:
I actually have a new USB cable arriving today. It is a 16' cable with USB 2.0 on one end and USB 3.0 on the other end. This should allow me to transfer my music files from my external HD to the Nucleus...theoretically. Am I right with this? We'll soon see I guess.
….
Click to expand...

A USB 16 feet cable is fairly long. You are reaching the limits of what is recommended. If you connect the external drive to the nucleus, you can have them side by side and use a very short USB cable.

You do NOT need an expensive USB cable. Any USB 3.0 cable or USB 2.0 cable should work. The 3.0 allows faster transfer, but the 2.0 will do the work as well albeit slower. But 16 feet is too long and you are pushing the limit.

BTW, I have never heard of a USB 3 on one end and 2 on the other end.
 
The cable itself is probably USB 3.0 on both ends just with the two type of connectors. If it is blue it is in fact USB 3.0 no matter what the connector. This is a common cable, I probably have 50 in a box in my office. I agree with Nico, if you have to use the external drive as storage for your Nucleus try to set them near each other and get a shorter cable. I also believe a better USB cable does make a bit of a difference, especially when going from the server to the DAC. I use two AudioQuest Coffee cables, one to go from the server to a Wyred 4 Sound Recovery and then another out of the Recovery to the DAC. Going from an external drive to the server a standard cable is probably fine.
 
Hey, Randy. Yeah, I was afraid that a 16' USB might not be a good idea. But my desktop PC, recording gear (preamps, studio monitor speakers, etc.) are about 10' from my home audio gear (including the Roon Nucleus). Maybe I should just go with a 10' cable. It'll probably reach. At least I'll try the 16' cable just to see if I can get the music files transferred. If I'm successful I'll order a 10' USB cable. I'm anxious to see if I can get the music files to show up on the Nucleus. I'll be really disappointed if I can't. But I'm going to think positive. :congrats: :woot:
 
Well, I tried to follow the step-by-step instructions on the Roon Community website for establishing file sharing, a mandatory hoop you are required to jump through before you can experience the blessed event of files actually transferring. I almost had it...I thought. But that grayed out button raised it's ugly head. The one that says "Share." I got all the way to that button. Nope! Grayed out. Roadblock. So, now where do I go? This is far more complicated than I ever thought it would be...or could be. And it's supposed to be easy.

If only Roon had live human beings to talk to. They could get me through this in a couple minutes on the phone. So far I have several hours invested in this. I'm now trying to convince myself it's worth the hassle (chuckling and shaking his head). OK, back to Roon Support.
 
Mike, I don't remember doing anything like that. But Nucleus streaming is working like a charm right now, if that makes any difference.

I just don't know how to get the music to transfer from my PC or my Glyph HD to Nucleus. In many cases I don't know what to enter or how to enter it. And I get tripped up by jargon and technical language.

I don't how to recognize when the files have transferred. I've gone through all the sharing steps in File Explorer on my PC. I can't get anything to show up on the Nucleus. Does it make a difference that my desktop is a PC and my iPad is my controller for Nucleus? I wouldn't think that would make any difference?

This is just an ignorance issue. It's an easy thing to do...if you know how to do it. For example, I just don't know how to enter basic things like "Network Share Location." Once I've done this I'll have it down. I just need to know how to do the basic stuff.
 
If you do not have additional storage in your Nucleus (larger or extra hard drive weather initially purchased or later added which I think I have asked already) then you probably do not have enough space to transfer or copy the files to the internal storage.

If you have the external drive attached to the Nucleus via USB then it should be available. In Roon go to storage and add the drive and all of the music on it should automatically (may take some time) be available in your Roon library, assuming the external hard drive is actually turned on :).
 
If you do not have a hard drive installed in the Nucleus, you cannot transfer any files to it!

You do NOT need your PC and you do not need to transfer any files!

Just connect the external hard drive directly to the nucleus with a USB cable.
 
nicoff said:
If you do not have a hard drive installed in the Nucleus, you cannot transfer any files to it!

You do NOT need your PC and you do not need to transfer any files!

Just connect the external hard drive directly to the nucleus with a USB cable.
Click to expand...

Hehe... we keep copying each other :).
 
Randy, how do I "add the drive." What do I type and where? On my iPad I go to "Settings" > "Storage" > "Folders" Then do I tap "+ Add folder." Then next page "Add network share?" What do I type in the blanks? What is my network share location? How do I find it? These are the basic questions I need answered. Then I think we'll have success. As you well know, I'm a complete novice at this.

BTW, I'm waiting on delivery of a 10' USB cable with the different ends. I'll send the 16' cable back.
 
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