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:

[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.