USB HAOS boot install on old gaming laptop seemingly no longer working

Installation
1

Hi there! Long time lurker, first. time poster, thanks for all the past secret help!

I have been running my Home Assistance instance off a flash drive, because I wasn’t ready to commit to totally wiping my old laptop. Lately the laptop crashes for no reason, and even when up, my instance often doesn’t load. Or, when it does, the front end buttons don’t work and it flickers through options.

Is this a hardware or software issue here? Given the specs, and how folks are running HAOS on a Rapsberry Pi, I’m thinking it’s the flashdrive, internet, or software that’s the issue:

  • Asus
  • 8 GB memory (does say instance is using 7.1 GB / 8 GB)
  • Intel Core i7 - 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4500U mobile processor
  • 1TB Hard Drive - instance on a flash drive
  • Ethernet and Wifi option for connection, lugged into route
  • NVIDIA GT 745M graphics with 2GB dedicated video memory

ETA: It’s been running fine for several months. This seems so out of the blue and strange!

2

Flash memory has limited lifetime, and Home Assistant is writing a lot. So the most likely scenario is that the flash drive is failing. But several months does seem short. I would have expected it to last lomger. How old was the flash drive?

Do you have a proper backup made on anything other than the flash drive? You should. In that case you could restore the backup on another flash drive and see if it makes a difference.