Hard shutdown

incompletegeek

Hi, I'm building a nes/snes gaming case with screen etc. I want to be able to pull the power on the pi without damaging the sd card. I've read about various hardware available but I'm already over budget with this build.

Is there a way to set sd card to read only and write save games to a USB stick? Would this make it more resilient?

I'm using an rpi 3 and it's not overclocked. If the system was just for me I'd backup the card and rewrite when necessary but I plan on giving it to a (really) non techy friend and if something doesn't work easily she'll give up. Should I just pay for a UPS PIco or whatever? Other than save games is there any other reason to write to the sd card?

Really appreciate all and any help!

Thanks,

incompletegeek

lilbud

You can change the ROM location to the USB stick.

glennlake

@incompletegeek I don't know to much about using a USB stick but you could add a shut down switch following this link "https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-78055/l/adding-a-shutdown-button-to-the-raspberry-pi-b". All you would need in hardware is a pushbutton and some wire.

incompletegeek

Thanks, I've wired in a shutdown button and a button to change the audio from the 3.5mm jack (goes to speaker) when playing on the 10.1" screen I've put in the case to HDMI when plugged into an external monitor. Going to put a couple of backup SD cards in the case for when/if something goes wrong. I like the idea of the psu pico but it would mean changing my pi case to make room and I also can't spend any more money on this!