Your issue with other items dying may be due to the SSD you had pulling a little too much current so the other items were starved for juice… (I have, for (further up in this thread - this SSD)) a slightly more powerful power supply than the official one that comes with the RPI - I would suggested you try a different power supply before abandoning an SSD setup. The minumum power supply requirements for an RPI4 is:
- MInimum: Voltage: 5.1V, Current (Amperage): 2.5A.
- Recommended: Voltage: 5.1V, Current (Amperage): 3A.
- Do not go above 5.25V.
(I got one from Amazon rated as 5.1V and 3.1A - and I have Wifi and HDMI and bluetooth turned off to save power on my device as well, as I use ethernet only - and no dongles like zigbee or the like - for better reliability as well) I am a HUGE evangelist for Shelly, you cannot go wrong with them.
Also, note this is the resolution to the RPI dying - (Doesn’t get to the root cause, but it does COMPLETELY resolve that kind of issue). This might in fact be because of an SSD (maybe there is a bug in USB firmware), but I am not sure. Either way my solution 100% resolves it -