Switching from Home Assistant OS to Raspberry Pi OS

Installation
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1

I am a user of Home Assistant Green, which I purchased from your official website on November 15, 2024. The device comes with Home Assistant OS (HAOS) as the default operating system. During my usage, I found that the SSH commands in HAOS are incomplete, which affects some of my needs. Therefore, I would like to switch the operating system from HAOS to Raspberry Pi OS.

I have tried the following steps but encountered issues:

  1. Using balenaEtcher to flash the official Home Assistant OS image:

    • I successfully used balenaEtcher to write the Home Assistant OS image to an SD card, and the Home Assistant Green booted successfully from the SD card.

  2. Attempting to flash the Raspberry Pi OS with desktop (64-bit) system image:

    • I used balenaEtcher to flash the Raspberry Pi OS with desktop (64-bit) system image to an SD card.
    • However, when I inserted the SD card and started the Home Assistant Green, the device still booted into the HAOS system instead of booting from the SD card with Raspberry Pi OS.

Due to this issue, I am currently unable to successfully switch the operating system from HAOS to Raspberry Pi OS. I kindly request your assistance to guide me on how to correctly perform this switch. Specifically, I need help with the following questions:

  • How can I ensure that the Home Assistant Green boots from the SD card instead of the internal eMMC storage?
  • Are there any additional configurations or settings required to disable eMMC booting?
  • Are there other tools or methods that can better facilitate this switching process?

Thank you very much for your help and support!

2

Hello pylihongge,

I have heard that that SD card slot is for emergency recovery, not the same as a PI.

I am not sure you can even run raspiOS on that thing. It was built with HAOS in mind.

1 Like
3

Thank you for your help. I am still looking for a way to flash from Home Assistant OS to Raspberry Pi OS. Can anyone assist me with this?

HAOS is too closed and not very user-friendly.

4

Why, what are you trying to do with SSH commands that you think PI OS will fix?

5

I have tried many SSH commands, but often I receive messages indicating that the commands are not available in the HAOS system’s SSH, making it difficult to operate. Thank you.

6

That still didn’t tell us what you are trying to do with SSH. It is tricky with HAOS due to users mostly. But is it relatively easy to send SSH commands to other devices,. I cant see why you would want to send SSH commands to HA.

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If the OP is able to put Raspberry Pi OS on the Green, he/she would then have to install HA in Docker correct?

8

Or core. But you’re on to it… Then to do anything else they’ll need docker. Green just simply wasn’t designed for this.

Op if that’s what you want green may not be the right device. Think of it as an appliance not a general purpose PC running Linux.

If you actually need certain commands not provided then. Hey go build a box but it’s probably not going to be on the green. That’s purpose built to run HAOS. Thus why everyone is asking what YOU ACTUALLY need. Many MANY folks start with an assumption without considering other ways to do a thing. - And end up off in the weeds for it like maybe trying to install a different os on a device not designed for it - not knowing someone already solved that problem. (it’s called the x/y problem)

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Thank you for your reply and suggestions! I now understand the limitations of the Home Assistant Green as a purpose-built device, designed to run Home Assistant OS (HAOS) rather than a general-purpose OS like Raspberry Pi OS. I will reconsider my needs and explore whether I can achieve the functionality I require using Docker or other tools within HAOS, or if I should consider a more suitable hardware solution. Thanks again for your thoughtful response!