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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : RPI4 boot on USB disk

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goc30

Guru

Joined: 12/04/2017
Location: France
Posts: 435
Posted: 03:26am 31 May 2020
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Good news: you can boot the rpi4 from a disk (with sata-usb interface) or a USB key.

I did it with a 2.5p disc, It is certainly not spectacular from the point of view of speed, but we must not forget that we have a sata / usb interface which slows down, and then we are still in beta version"
It's very easy. (I advise to do it from a PC under windows)
You must first download 2 files
1 - raspibian Buster version of May 27, 2020
    https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
    for full Os
     https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspios_full_armhf_latest
     
2 - firmware for rpi4
    https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware
    once loaded this file, you must decompress the "boot" directory
   
Then: install raspibian on your hard drive as with SD cards.
At the end of installation, do not disconnect the drive.
Copy the "*.dat" and "*.elf" files from the "Boot" directory of the downloaded "firmware" file, into the main "DOS" directory of the disk (the one containing the same * .dat and * .elf files).

finally you can plug the disk into a USB port (USB3 preferably) and boot.
The first time, it can last quite a long time (several minutes), do not worry.

Edit the /etc/default/rpi-eeprom-update file and change the FIRMWARE_RELEASE_STATUS value from "critical" to "beta." You can edit the file by typing:

Sudo nano /etc/default/rpi-eeprom-update

I don't know if it is necessairy. it is just to be coherent

I installed mmbasic without problems, however on exiting it seems that it crashes. As we are in beta version, I don't worry.
Already with previous versions of Buster, you could only use mmbasic once, and you had to reboot afterwards.
Edited 2020-05-31 13:36 by goc30
 
belsean21

Newbie

Joined: 06/07/2013
Location: Australia
Posts: 12
Posted: 04:38am 31 May 2020
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There's is a caveat to this. Not all USB-SATA interfaces are supported.

Gory details here:
https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-4-usb-boot-config-guide-for-ssd-flash-drives/
This blog refers mostly to an earlier method of booting from SSD but running the root file system from SSD. But the info on adapter compatibility is still useful
 
goc30

Guru

Joined: 12/04/2017
Location: France
Posts: 435
Posted: 06:52am 31 May 2020
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  belsean21 said  There's is a caveat to this. Not all USB-SATA interfaces are supported.

Gory details here:
https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-4-usb-boot-config-guide-for-ssd-flash-drives/
This blog refers mostly to an earlier method of booting from SSD but running the root file system from SSD. But the info on adapter compatibility is still useful


it is an old method which dates from January 2020, with an old operating system.
The new version of Debian (May 27, 2020) works with all usb-sata. You just have to update the "dat" and "elf" files in the boot.
No need to load additional parameters, drivers or modify configuration files
Edited 2020-05-31 16:55 by goc30
 
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