That’s the key part I wasn’t aware of, thanks, I don’t fully understand the difference between the traditional install and the OS install.
Also I assume updating the OS is not the same as updating HASS?, and HASS will need to be updated independently.
If you installed the supervised version the answer is YES. You have to install and maintain RPi OS and HA separately.
If you install the version described in this guide the answer is NO. It comes bundled with its own OS and updates OS and HA together.
Sounds ideal, but a little confused by the procedure “ha os update”, will this be the route for every HASS release like the most recent 0.118.0?
Any reason why you suggest the Development Release and not the latest?
No. Updates to HA like. 0.118.0 are initiated using the HA frontend as normal. Updates to HA OS like 5.5 would also be started from frontend, but currently do not appear there as they are on dev channel, not on release our beta. Updates initiated through frontend are only possible for release and beta channels. So you currently have to use CLI to update the 5.x OS. As soon as HA OS 5 is officially released you can do all updates through the web frontend.
USB boot for RPi4 is only possible with HA OS version 5.x series.
Thanks for the clarification, only inquiring because I just got my Pi 4 8Gb (ordered prior to reading your guide 
), and preparing to start an all new install in an effort to upgrade my instance of Hassbian running on a Pi 3b+, and looking for the cleanest install option, utilizing minimum system resources to allow for optimum performance, and full control over the native OS
Following this guide you will - in a not so distant future - be able to do ALL updates (HA, OS and supervisor) through simple clicks in the HA frontend.
Updating Raspberry Pi OS literally takes 1 min, once a month, or less often if you choose. Other than that, you do nothing to the OS and use and update HA, add-ons, Supervisor, as normal from the web interface.
@Coolie1101 running a Supervised install is very simple, however, you may find it easy to use the official HA OS image as is used in this guide.
After reading the 0.118.0 release notes and watching the release party stream yesterday it seems that 5.x of HA OS is getting very close to a stable release and native install on an 8gb Pi4 will be supported OOTB.
Are you saying following this guide is best, or HA OS on Raspberry Pi OS?
I don’t want to suggest not to follow someone else’s guide. The choice is up to you. Both options work and have advantages and disadvantages.
This is what I’m trying to figure out.
I did a test install on another Pi3b using your guide here but it shows unsuported installation.
Correct, Supervised on any other OS than Debian 10 is ‘officially’ unsupported. It still works without issue though (my own backup machine is a Pi4 4gb with a Supervised install).
Even Frenck runs an unsupported install from what I saw in the live stream yesterday, so it’s not a huge deal. All it means is that you will need to reply on the forums for support and can’t post issues to Github.
Do you run both simultaneously?, how does that work?, I always assume I cannot have 2 instances communicating to the same devices or using the same addons simultaneously, i.e. zwave, nest, etc…
Definitely - you are able to leverage the underlying OS to install software that isn’t available through the HA platform. It’s also very easy to remove and re-download HA should you have the need, without needing to re-flash the SSD/SD.
I don’t have the Pi running any automations or doing any work, although the config between the 2 machines is 99% the same. I simply have things like automations commented out so they don’t run. If for some reason my production machine goes down, I can log into the Pi, change it’s IP, un-comment some yaml and reboot to have HA back up and running again within minutes.
It’s overkill, but I have the equipment laying about, so I use it.
Good to know, never thought about duplicating configs the way do, that could have saved me alot in the past, do you use Z-Wave, if so, how would you handle the transition between hosts?
No I don’t, only Zigbee for non-essestial items like Temp and LUX sensors.
Probably getting a little off topic now though 
Was just thinking the same, maybe if you have the time, you can share a dual setup for us noobs.
Cheers.
Thanks for the detailed guide, helps alot.
Hello,
First of all thank you for this guide, i manage to achive the up and running system in 10 min with snapshot restored.
The only problem is my MHZ-19 CO2 sensor connected directly to the PI UART PINS (14 , 15) , this worked fine before with HASSIO 4.X and SD card. I added enable_uart=1 in the config.txt.
I can see /dev/ttyS0 under System–> Hardware, but HA dont receive any data from that sensor.
I followed this guide to setup the MHZ-19 sensor: https://home-assistant-china.github.io/components/sensor.mhz19/