Running RetroPi entirely on USB

lewisdawson1

Hi,

I am looking to install RetroPi on USB entirely without the need for an SD card. Is this possible? If so are there any guides out there . I've already done the instal on SD card and it runs perfectly.

I attempted to move the file system to the SSD and boot from that but I got a number of errors. I confess I'm not fully understanding of how PI works 100% yet.

Pi Model: B 8GB (Labists Kit)
Power Supply used: Labists Standard PS
RetroPie Version Used: 4.8
Built From: RPI 4/400 Preset Instal from RPI Imager v1.7.2
USB Devices connected: ROCCAT MK FX (Keyboard), SE730H External SSD
Controller used: None
Guide used: Retro Pi First Installation Guide

Thanks

mitu

Just write the RetroPie image on the USB disc, instead of the sdcard, and it should work.
Booting from an USB device is detailed in the official RaspberryPI docs - https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/raspberry-pi.html#usb-mass-storage-boot. The Pi4 has USB boot enabled by default, so no additional setup is needed for the boot loader.

lewisdawson1

@mitu
I followed the steps and get this error:
Error

mitu

Looks like a corrupted filesystems. How did you write the image and how large is the USB disc/stick ?

lewisdawson1

@mitu I used your link to install the boot loader via SD card and wait for the green screen. Then I used Pi Imager and selected that drive and selected the Pi 4 / 400 instal.

It actually got just past the point of loading the different systems. Immediately after this, i got the error.

The peculiar thingn is when I go to format the drive through Windows, it does not show FAT as an option. IIRC it only shows NTFS and exFAT. I wonder if the drive is the issue.

The Drive is 256GB

mitu

The drive doesn't need to be formatted, installing an OS with the RPI Imager will automatically format it.

You can test it on Windows, by formatting as NTFS/exFAT and trying to fill it up with files, just to check its capacity.

lewisdawson1

@mitu Yes. The drive works fine otherwise with Windows.

lewisdawson1

I ran the disk checking utility and it fixed something. However, it seems slow compared to SD in loading the system.

Is there a command i need to use for USB to access its full speed?

mitu

@lewisdawson1 said in Running RetroPi entirely on USB:

Is there a command i need to use for USB to access its full speed?

No really, just use the USB3 ports on the Pi4.
How are you powering up the disc - does it have its own power or is it just connected to the Pi ? Some USB3 controllers have issues with Linux - check this topic in the Raspberry PI forums and see if your disc/controller are affected by this problem.