Direct install on SSD [Solved]

Archive HASSbian
#1

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the PI and HA world.
I’ve got myself a PI 3B+, ZiGate and Zwave stick to controls various hardware I already have.
I’d like to install Hassbian on a SSD and boot straight away from it.
Is that even possible?
Or do I have to boot from the SD first?

If you have pointers to a good tutorial for this, I would appreciate. I’ve been looking for a few days but what I found is either quite old or, I think, not suitable for my case.

I know my way around PC but almost nothing about PI.
I can do the regular install on SD as I’ve seen a few tutos online, but none covers straight boot from SSD, only transfer to existing fr SD.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.

#2

Here’s some simple instructions you could use https://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-3-With-Bootable-SSD-Drive/

#3

Seems great! I’ll try out in the next few days (maybe a couple weeks).

Thanks a lot for the fadt answer!

#4

CAUTION! That instruction is for Hassio HassOs image, not Hassbian.
I am running a venv install on Raspbian Lite on a 240Gb Laptop SSD connected by USB. My install is similar to Hassbian, but without their scripts. I used Etcher to flash Raspbian Lite to the drive.

I understand the current Hassbian image is based off Raspbian Buster which has not yet been released as stable and has no projected release date.

#5

:thinking:. Then I’m not clear, I thought HASS OS was Hassbian, not HassIo (but then I’m really to new HA so I might be mixing things up)
And I read multiple times that HassIo couldn’t run on a SSD (as of yet). Has it changed?
I’d rather use Hassbian, is there a way to do so?

#6

Hasbian from an SSD? Sure.I am running on a a spare laptop SSD.

  1. I bought this case to convert to USB. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K72TY63/

  2. I I would use Balena Etcher to flash the latest Hassbian to the SSD. https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/installation/hassbian/installation/

  3. Follow these instructions to tell the Pi to boot from USB. https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/hardware/raspberrypi/bootmodes/msd.md

I have done it with Raspbian Lite, but it should work with Hassbian too.

2 Likes
#7

Thanks a lot!
So it would be that simple? It was looking so complicated…
I’ll give it a try asap :slight_smile:

Thanks again

#8

I like this idea too.
Am I gone run in some problems with my USB Aeotec ZWave stick you think?

I don’t like the fact that it cannot be undone.

Thanks

Erik

#9

I am not sure. I put my SD Card back in & booted from it. I suspect it gets priority over USB boot.
I then later booted back to USB.

#10

It might be worth reading this post on the Raspberry Pi forum to get a feel for the different boot options and how to achieve them.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=225812

1 Like
#11

What makes you think you might have problem with Aeotec stick?
I plan on using it too so I’m wondering.

You have a 3B+ ?

#12

I have a Pi3.
I don’t know about the USB… just wondering too :wink:

#13

I use a USBZB-1 stick with no issues.

#14

I just did the change to SSD and it looks like everything works!!

E.

1 Like
#15

Ok thanks for the heads-up!
I’ll let you know as well when I have the chance to try the whole thing.

#16

It took me about 1h.
25 minutes to take an image of the sd card, do the procedure to boot from a external ssd and then put the image on the ssd. Done!

E.

#17

Another cool option to mention is a Asus Tinkerboard S, this has a 16GB SSD built-in.

I have this running for over 6 months now with Hassio on TinkerOs (Debian) :slight_smile:

#18

So to the original point of this topic: I installed Hassbian (not Hass.io) on my ssd the exact same way you would do it on an SD card and it worked straight away.
Same for the ZiGate connected a USB hub, it has been recognized automatically. Perfect so far :slight_smile:

Thanks all for your answers!

#19

Might be an old response, but I think you just saved my life!
After booting from SSD the whole systems becomes so much more responsive.

Thanks for sharing those links.

#20

If you are writing about the setting allowing to boot as a USB host, you are right it cannot be undone. However, the only feature you losse by doing so is the capacity to boot the RPi as a USB device.

In all honesty, this is not something I expect anyone to use that frequently. This use case is so different from using your RPi as a server that I bet you’ll by another one the day you’ll need it.