RetroPie forum home
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Home
    • Docs
    • Register
    • Login
    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    Pi Drive Setup / Add Roms to USB device

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Help and Support
    pidriveinstallationusbmountusb driveexternal hdd
    8 Posts 2 Posters 2.9k Views
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • D
      dita
      last edited by dita

      Hello, after spending the day trying to get this up and running, I`ve finally caved and decided to post a cry for help!
      First the details
      pi3
      4GB SD card with retropie 4.2 installed, fresh image from the retropie.org website
      USB wireless keyboard
      USB wired mouse
      USB generic "snes style" controller
      USB WD Pidrive 340GB

      Trying to install the roms onto the Pi Drive. I`ve followed various instructions, used various web sites and your tube goods to assist in, what I thought, would be a relatively simple task.
      I've followed the guide here https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Running-ROMs-from-a-USB-drive/ but the "automatic" method caused me a problem as the drive cannot be FAT32, its too big. Or that's my understanding. I then followed the manual method, which seemed ok, but using the ROM web based manager it became apparent that I wasn't adding the roms to the USB drive as there was no room left.

      Basically, I`m looking to some guidance to get the relevant directory and then roms onto the hard drive? Should the drive be partitioned for example?

      If I need to start from scratch then that's not a problem, but knowing where I should be starting from obviously seems a problem for me :)

      Thanks in advance anyone who can assist.

      Edit: slight change to subject title was "Roms for"

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • dankcushionsD
        dankcushions Global Moderator
        last edited by

        340GB should be fine for fat32 as far as i know.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • D
          dita
          last edited by dita

          Hmm, so I must have done something wrong. Connecting the drive to PC shows it shows it as 0 bytes free of 62.8mb. Trying to format, from with a windows PC only gives me options of FAT, ExFAT and NTFS no FAT32. Interestingly It does show some of the file structure which I had tried to create earlier, ie. BIOS Retropiemenu, Roms and Splashscreens. I'm guessing I`ve formatted the drive to a smaller size perhaps?

          From https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Running-ROMs-from-a-USB-drive/ and editing the fstab I used Vfat (as shown about half way down page. Is that where I went wrong I wonder?

          dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • dankcushionsD
            dankcushions Global Moderator @dita
            last edited by dankcushions

            @dita said in Pi Drive Setup / Add Roms to USB device:

            Hmm, so I must have done something wrong. Connecting the drive to PC shows it shows it as 0 bytes free of 62.8mb. Trying to format, from with a windows PC only gives me options of FAT, ExFAT and NTFS no FAT32. Interestingly It does show some of the file structure which I had tried to create earlier, ie. BIOS Retropiemenu, Roms and Splashscreens. I'm guessing I`ve formatted the drive to a smaller size perhaps?

            i'm confused. connecting what drive to your pc? only your sd card should have the 62mb boot partition, and that's after you've written the retropie image to it. the only thing you need to do to your usb hard drive is format it to fat32. you shouldn't have written the retropie image to it.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • D
              dita
              last edited by

              Hi, thanks for the assistance. When I connect the hard drive to the pc in an attempt to format it, it cannot format it fats32. Perhaps the question I should be asking is how do I format the hard drive into fat32?

              dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • dankcushionsD
                dankcushions Global Moderator @dita
                last edited by

                @dita said in Pi Drive Setup / Add Roms to USB device:

                Hi, thanks for the assistance. When I connect the hard drive to the pc in an attempt to format it, it cannot format it fats32. Perhaps the question I should be asking is how do I format the hard drive into fat32?

                i don't personally use windows but this seems like it covers it: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/format-large-hard-drive-fat-fat32/

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • D
                  dita
                  last edited by

                  Thanks for the link, I'll give it a go later today. I don't mind using the console on the pie, if you think that's an easier method? But I think that's where I may have messed it up previously, not knowing what the right commands are/using too many different Web site for reference

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • D
                    dita
                    last edited by

                    Thanks for your assistance. From the link you gave I used FAT32formatter, it appears to have worked. I got some error messages from the program, but it seems to be working ok.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • First post
                      Last post

                    Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.

                    Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.