Boot Zynthian from USB SSD

Not just updates, but also any changes to config can revert it too. That said, if you do get it working and don’t change stuff often, it feels pretty good.

root@zynthian:~# uptime
00:41:18 up 24 days, 15:26, 1 user, load average: 1.46, 1.36, 1.29

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Some nice open source info here about a case that can house an m.2 sata drive and a way to re-route a usb 3 port back inside the case.

If I could re-route a usb3 to m.2 cable inside an official zynthian pi 4 case my dream sequence would be reaching the closing credits.

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Hi,
That one is nice and ready made with m2 SSD for 45$:

Another one with SATA drive, for 55$, but provides PSU and an excellent pwm fan:

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I use the argon 1 case and these new features address a couple of issues rather nicely.

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I’m looking carefully on these announcement because I’ve got some “spare parts” liké 2.5 inch SSD and M2 SATA SSD in my definitively dead computers (PC and notebook). :face_with_thermometer:

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Thanks. I tried this, and made the changes.
However, as soon as I make any changes in the webconf and try to save them, I permanently lose the ability to use webconf over browser. Any ideas?

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I found that webconf changes reverts the settings.

In a connected issue, I talked about an SD card extension ribbon I bought recently on the zynth club meetings. It turns out that pi 4s use a low power mode for SD cards and as such, they don’t work very well unless you update the cmdline.txt on the boot partition, which has similar results if you webconf.

I will raise a request tonight to add “special cmdline.txt and config” parameters to webconf to rectify.

I’ve narrowed this down. If I choose custom kit in order to change the hardware, then the webconfig permanently stops working.

Context; SDCard slot not usable, so trying to boot Rasp 4 b from USB port.

Does it stop working because the pi reboots though?

It’s possible. I’ve changed to a faster higher capacity usb stick, and this time, I changed the .sh settings file for the entry for the Kit from V4 to Custom before rebooting, rather than through the web interface, and it seems to be working.

Submitted a feature request for this :-

Add additional webconfig settings to allow custom cmdline.txt and config.txt settings #676

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After a week’s use of zynthian I got so excited I bought my raspberry pi a case with a 7-inch touchscreen and having set it all up, I find that the SD card is behind a fragile cable that is held in place with a broken connector and so I’d rather not have to mess with the SD card too often. I now, of course, now considering booting off USB to both get around this and give me an option to use the pi for other things without dismantling it.

Has setting up USB boots got any easier over the years? Or should I follow the instructions above carefully?

The latest firmware for the RPi5 allows (fairly simple) configuration of boot order including SD, USB & NVME. I am not sure whether similar config has been ported to earlier models. You didn’t mention what RPi version you have.

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I am wondering whether anyone is successfully booting Oram from USB on Pi5? If so, is it just a matter of setting the appropriate boot order or is the process needed described for NVME (earlier @riban post) with changes appropriate for the USB drive?

Hi @harrylnorris :slight_smile:,

I guess that the procedure may be slightly different, and would have to be adapted to the specific mass storage media.

I think that you can safely opt for the first boot order sequence in raspi-config, in order to be always able to manage a system recovery, inserting a uSD card with Raspberry OS.

I also surmise that you might have to identify the name of your mounted USB adapter, with the SSD drive inside, arguably using the commands:

sudo fdisk -l

lsblk

You should see in this way the name of the larger USB-SSD partition, which has to be pointed at in cmdline.txt.

I’m just advancing hypotheses, because I’ve never used an USB adapter as a system drive.

Anyway, I am in the process of writing a step-by-step simple tutorial, for installing the Zynthian OS on Pi5 with NVMe. I think that it might turn out to be useful for your project, once I have posted it in this forum.

Best regards