Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Streaming MC200 - Future Proofing

Hi Team,
I'm new to the forums, so hello 😊.

I have acquired a MC200, never owned any Meridian gear before.

So worked out how to use it then uploaded some music in FLAC format it’s been fun, and the music quality is good enough for me 😊.

Now that I know I have a 1TB spindle drive model, I have been looking at ways to future proof the device. Thanks to Ian for his thread on drive swaps it a great read.

I have read the OS is a version of BusyBox ?

I would like to know has anyone developed anything to update these devices when it comes to software, is or is it totally locked down. I’m guessing the IP was sold to Roon ?.

Also, what was the last firmware / software versions these run and where could I download it from.

Thanks for having such a great site online it’s been really helpful.

MrTechGuy is able to transform an MC200 into a Roon endpoint

Welcome to the forum

You can also contact Steve Perry (swpnt) who is a very well known and respected member for help and advice.

Kind regards

Jon

Hi,

There's nothing really that you can do to update the MC200 apart from cloning the disk to an SSD.
You could update the Sooloos software with the Meridian Device Manager, but it won't provide any more functionality, as development of the Sooloos platform ceased many years ago, and APIs to applications (such as Tidal / Qobuz) have been rewritten.

The O/S is Busybox Linux and is pretty much pared to the bone.

You can convert the MC200 to a Roon server, but then you lose the audio endpoint capacity as the drivers for the onboard sound card are embedded in the Sooloos build, and can't be extracted.
The same is true for the MC600 - that can be converted to become a Roon server, but you will then lose all six audio endpoints.

You can leave the MC200 alone (disable core and storage), then run a separate Roon server on a PC or NUC, and use the MC200 as a Roon audio endpoint.

If you just want to use the MC200 as a one-box solution, controlled by a tablet or PC, then leave it alone...

Cheers,

Steve

You might also considering making a second clone/copy of the hdd and storing it somewhere on your home pc or nas for safety

Thanks everyone for the welcome, especially thanks Steve for your knowlege, reading between the lines you may have already been done the path I thinking below ?

Can I ask a silly question has anyone apprached Meridian and framed it as as we are keen to keep the MC200's and MC600's in service long-term what I’d really like to know is whether Meridian would be willing to give us the software needed to keep these boxes alive now that they’re effectively legacy products.

We know the MC200 / MC600 (and related Sooloos hardware) is basically a small x86 machine running a BusyBox-style Linux OS with Meridian’s stack on top. The hardware is solid and the sound is excellent, but the weak point long-term is clearly the spinning system drive and the closed OS image.

Has anyone already tried this direct approach with Meridian, or has contacts there who might be open to this kind of discussion?

I know I'm putting this out there into the either buy hey it would be amazing if they said yes

I did approach a member of the Roon team some while ago...

Unfortunately, their response was not positive. Sooloos is a dead platform, and there will not be any further development as Roon is now the primary focus. There is no way any software company would provide any support for a 15+ year old product!

Roon will continue to support using the Sooloos audio endpoints via their legacy protocols, but that's about it.

I don't believe that Meridian have anything to do with Sooloos anymore and certainly don't have any spares (that includes ID40 / ID41 cards!)

In reality, any technical knowledge is probably within this forum.

With regards to the hardware, it is all getting very old and obsolete (and I'm ignoring IT's - It's out of the box obsolescence!). Asking an MC200 to become a Roon server is pushing the limits of the CPU (especially if you want multiple zones or any form of conversion). It works as a proof of concept, but that's it... It's the same for converting a Control 15 to become a Roon terminal - it works, but due to the age of the hardware, it isn't really a long-term solution.

If you just want a simple library-only solution, you have to go a long way to beat Sooloos, it has many features ahead of its time, but if you need the extra integrations of Tidal or Qobuz, then Roon is the solution. I switched a couple of years back and haven't regretted it for a single moment. In fact, Roon has introduced me to so much extra music and learned my tastes, it is now my go-to source.

I'm happy to help and support any legacy Sooloos users. Drop me a PM, and I'll share my knowledge and experiences.

Cheers,

Steve

i agree with Steve, you cannot expect a software company to support software for 15 years, I would just use a new NUC for roon server and the device as a endpoint.

You cant blame a guy for asking I'm just enjoying it, I know there are people out there who restore classic gear and this is will be the same I'm sure hense the questions as its the legacy software that will be the weak point as time goes by.

Again thank you you have been super helpful.

I'm off to hunt down a storage device I see you can use m.2 to SATA adapters these days even dual m.2 to SATA, these may be easier to source and cheaper in the future.

Cheers

John

What could be really useful would be the drivers for the cards - would Meridian or Roon be willing to provide those?

Then you could replace the other hardware with a NUC with Roon or other, and use the audio card from the MC200.

Or, remove the audio card, put it in a normal enclosure, with a standard USB socket (assuming that internal cable is USB).

I suspect the costs involved in what you propose would be uneconomic compared to simply replacing an MC200 with a Nucleus One.