Nucleus Internal Storage

Nucleus Internal Storage


Your Nucleus supports an internal 2.5" HDD or SSD to create a self-contained music server. For a completely silent system, we recommend using an SSD. If you chose to use an SSD here, the system will stay fully silent. The entire internal storage drive will be used for music content. If you need subfolders of this disk you can create it later using the SMB access.

Warning
Important: You must use the Nucleus web interface to format the drive. Do not pre-format it or load it with music before installation, as the entire drive will be erased during this process.

Step 1: Install the Drive 

Depending on the model, visit detailed installation guide to open up your Nucleus and install the internal storage drive:

Step 2: Format the Drive in the Nucleus Web Administration Interface

Once the drive is physically installed, it must be initialized by Roon OS.
  2. Look for the "Internal Music Storage" section. You should see the drive you just installed listed here.
Info
If this section is missing, your drive has not been detected. Please power down the Nucleus and re-check the drive's internal connections.
  1. Click the Format button. The process can take several minutes depending on the drive's size and speed. Roon will be unavailable during this time.

Warning
Warning: This will erase all data on the drive.

  1. Once complete, the page will refresh, showing the drive's capacity and confirming it is Ready.


Info
It is normal for the available capacity to be slightly less than the drive's advertised size.

Step 3: Copying Music to the Drive

Methods for Copying Music

There are two primary ways to copy your music to the Nucleus internal drive. Using a network share is recommended for large libraries, while drag-and-drop is convenient for adding a few albums at a time.

  1. This method is best for transferring your main music library. 
  2. On your computer, open your file explorer (File Explorer in Windows, Finder in macOS).
  3. Connect to the network share by typing the following address: Important: The network path depends on your device. Please use the full path that corresponds to your specific model from the list below.

For Windows

  1. Nucleus One:\\NUCLEUSONE\Data\Storage\InternalStorage
  2. Nucleus Titan:\\NUCLEUSTITAN\Data\Storage\InternalStorage
  3. Nucleus:\\NUCLEUS\Data\Storage\InternalStorage
  4. Nucleus+:\\NUCLEUSPLUS\Data\Storage\InternalStorage
  5. ROCK:\\ROCK\Data\Storage\InternalStorage

For Mac

  1. Nucleus One:smb://NUCLEUSONE/Data/Storage/InternalStorage
  2. Nucleus Titan:smb://NUCLEUSTITAN/Data/Storage/InternalStorage
  3. Nucleus:smb://NUCLEUS/Data/Storage/InternalStorage
  4. Nucleus+:smb://NUCLEUSPLUS/Data/Storage/InternalStorage
  5. ROCK:smb://ROCK/Data/Storage/InternalStorage
Alert
If prompted for a username and password, enter Guest for both.
You can now copy your music files and folders into this window to copy them to the Nucleus.
Idea
You might see an error like the one in the screenshot below. This is expected, especially for more modern versions of Windows; their security settings may block guest access to network shares by default. If you cannot connect from a Windows PC, you can adjust these settings:

For Windows Pro / Enterprise

Disable the SMB client signing requirement:
  1. On the Start Menu search, type gpedit and start the Edit Group Policy app (i.e. Local Group Policy Editor). If you are using Home edition, skip to step 8.
    1. In the console tree, select Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings> Local Policies > Security Options.
    2. Double-click Microsoft network client: Digitally sign communications (always).
    3. Select Disabled > OK.
  2. Disable the guest fallback protection:
    1. On the Start Menu search, type gpedit and start the Edit Group Policy app (i.e. Local Group Policy Editor). If you are using Home edition, skip to step e.
    2. In the console tree, select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates> Network > Lanman Workstation.
    3. Double-click Enable insecure guest logons
  3. Select Enabled > OK.

For Windows Home

Since Group Policy Editor is not available by default, you’ll need to use PowerShell:
  1. Press Start, type powershell, right-click Windows PowerShell, and choose Run as administrator. Accept the prompt.
  2. To disable the SMB signing requirement, run:
Set-SmbClientConfiguration -RequireSecuritySignature $false
    1. When prompted, type Y and press Enter.
    1. To enable guest fallback, run:
Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableInsecureGuestLogons $true
    1. Again, type Y and press Enter.


Method 2: Drag and Drop into the Roon App (Alternative)

For quickly adding a few albums or tracks, you can drag files directly into the Roon app from any of your remotes (PC or Mac).

  1. Open the Roon application on your Mac or Windows computer.
  2. Open Finder (macOS) or File Explorer (Windows) and locate the music files you want to import.
  3. Drag the files or folders from your computer and drop them directly onto the Roon window.
  4. Roon will automatically copy the files to the Nucleus's internal storage and import them into your library.


Final Step: Confirm in Roon Settings

Regardless of the method used to copy your music, you can verify that Roon is watching the drive correctly.

  1. Open Roon on your remote (PC, Mac, tablet, or phone).
  2. Go to Settings > Storage.
  3. You will see Nucleus Internal Storage listed as a watched folder. 


Roon will watch this drive for music files that you copy to it via the network, and automatically import them into your library.

Optional: Making Access Permanent

To avoid typing the network address every time, you can create a permanent link to your Nucleus/ROCK storage on your computer.

For Windows: Mapping as a Network Drive

This will assign a drive letter (like R:) to your Nucleus storage, making it appear like a local drive in "This PC".

  1. Open File Explorer and click on "This PC" in the left sidebar.
  2. Click the "See more" icon (the three dots ...) in the command bar at the top, and then select "Map network drive".
  3. Choose an available drive letter from the dropdown menu (e.g., R:).
  4. In the "Folder" field, enter the full network path for your device (e.g., \\NUCLEUS\Data\Storage\InternalStorage).
  5. Ensure the box for "Reconnect at sign-in" is checked. This will make the connection persistent.
  6. Click "Finish". You will now see the Nucleus share as a new drive in This PC.

For macOS: Mounting as a Login Item

This will automatically connect to the network share every time you log in to your Mac, placing an icon for it on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.

  1. First, connect to the share manually:
    • Open Finder.
    • Press Command + K to open the "Connect to Server" window.
    • Enter the full network path for your device (e.g., smb://NUCLEUS/Data/Storage/InternalStorage) and click "Connect".
  2. Once the share is connected and its icon appears on your desktop, make it a login item:
    • Open System Settings.
    • Go to General > Login Items.
    • You will see a list of applications that open on startup. Click the "+" button below the list.
    • In the Finder window that appears, locate the mounted Nucleus share in the "Locations" sidebar or on your desktop, select it, and click "Add".

Now, the network share will automatically mount and be ready for use each time you start your Mac.

Having trouble setting up Internal Music Storage on your Nucleus? Get in touch with our Technical Support team here. 

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