Homepage › Forums › RetroPie Project › Everything else related to the RetroPie Project › How to run from USB (the best method)
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03/04/2014 at 11:00 #5413karlossParticipant
Personally, I use a 128gb key, but the theory should be the same for HDD..
Download the image, and burn it to your HDD/USB, it will “mess up” size, but we sort that out later…
Once you have burnt the image to hdd, plug into your pc, and copy the contents of the fat32 partition onto a fat32 formatted sdcard, then open the cmdline.txt and change;
root=/dev/mmcblk0p2
To this:
root=/dev/sda2
(also make any overclock setting changes you want to make to config.txt)
now plug both your hdd/usb and your sdcard into your pi and boot, it should boot, and it should be running from usb.
Once booted, logon as pi (pi/raspberry) and type
sudo fdisk /dev/sda
Then press
p
andenter
to see the partitions. There should only be 2. What we’re going to do now is delete the Linux partition, but before we do this, we make a note of the start position for the linux partition sda2. Press d and then when prompted type 2 and then hit enter. This will delete the partition.Now we’re going to create a new partition, and make it large enough for the OS to occupy the full space available on the USB Flash Drive. To do this type n to create a new partition, when prompted to give the partition type, press p for primary. Then it will as for a partition number, press 2 and hit enter.
You will be asked for a first sector, set this as the start of partition 2 as noted earlier. In my case this as 122880 but this is likely to be different for you.
After this it will ask for an end position, hit enter to use the default which is end of disk. Now type w to commit the changes. You will see a message about the Kernel using some table yaddah yaddah, just ignore this, and reboot
Once your Raspberry Pi has rebooted, we need to resize the partition. To do this type the following command:
sudo resize2fs /dev/sda2
Be patient, this will take some time. Once it’s done reboot again. Then type:
df -h
This will show the partitions and the space, you’ll see the full USB Flash Disk has all the space available now. That’s it, all done!
I have done this method many times, and it seems the cleanest quickest way to do it..
03/04/2014 at 16:53 #5425trimmtrabbParticipantThanks for the guide! I moved to USB after having constant corruption issues with my SD, USB is so much more reliable and considerably cheaper :-)
03/04/2014 at 22:14 #5435karlossParticipantNo problem..I never have any corruption issues, my pi and sdcard arnt readily accessible and I never have to touch the SDcard I just flash images to the media and then do this, works everytime no issues..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
03/10/2014 at 16:49 #5556itsmedooferParticipantHi,
I have had issues in the past when using /dev/sdxy to specify the boot location, usually when I’m using more than one USB device…
I found this post:-
http://blog.krastanov.org/2014/01/30/booting-pi-reliably-from-usb/
Set 3, using a GPT partition table and GUID is the trick part, works well for me….
06/26/2014 at 16:45 #9577phipix01ParticipantI assume the usb Drive has to be fat32 formatted aswell, doesn’t it?
Can i access the filesystem on a windows computer afterwards aswell?07/20/2014 at 04:11 #17441cornflakuGuestfdisk is throwing an error/warning when I go to save changes that the partition is in use, then when the pi boots back up the installation is corrupt, the splash screen shows corruption then the pi drops to command line and I receive segmentation faults on most commands. Any idea what’s going on?
07/22/2014 at 15:03 #18212phipix01Participanti need help guys. i use the Disk Management Snap-In from Windows Computer Management. I have a 3TB WD Ext Drive. If i Convert it to a GPT Disk, i can use the full 3TB, unless i can make max. 2TB partitions. My Problem is though it only lets me choose between exFat or NTFS. will the Raspbian OS run on a exFat drive?
how did you guys format your 3TB drive to FAT32?10/12/2014 at 22:25 #81708esco0909ParticipantHow do I “burn the retropie image” to the HDD? what software can I use?
I know when I used an SD card I had to use Win32 diskimager to “burn” the image to an SD card but doesnt work on the HDD
I would like to run the OS and everything else from my HDD because my sd card got corrupted wheb I overclocked…I knew it was bound to happen as I already heard from many but many games were lagging…please clarify on the instructions how to accomplish this successfully! Total noob here…thank you so much!!!10/17/2014 at 11:53 #81838karlossParticipantesco0909, I think you are the guy that emailed me directly and I sorted you out?
10/18/2014 at 02:59 #81857esco0909ParticipantYea I thought I was successful installingthe OS in my external HDD but turns out it didnt work. I tried to do the same with a 4gb flash drive I had laying around and still couldnt get it towork. I wish someone was kind enough to do a youtube video tutorial as theyre are alot on installing and setting up retro pie but not running it from an SD card. On a different side note. If i was to get heat sinkers and a fan to keep thepie cool would i be able to overclock it to the highest settings or the sd card can still get corrupt? Thats the reason i wanted to run it from an HDD to be able to overcloxk. Thanks!
12/01/2014 at 21:06 #83254AnonymousInactiveHello, Karloss!
Could you please give more info about specific differences of keeping OS on USB? –
1) Should I change relative paths in config files of retroarch and emulators?
2) Does it possible to make full USB image backup of tuned up system using Win32Diskimager? It has now 2 partitions. Acronis maybe can help?
3) Do we need any special attention to inserted SD card (it is used as “boot forwarder to USB”, am I right?
4) any other points related with keeping OS on USB?Thanks for your notes and replies!
12/11/2014 at 03:11 #83492subzeroevilParticipantSo it works as far as i can tell but have one issue when i try to go into retropie_setup.sh and do the Source Based Installation but when it does it stops about 5 h in or so and i left it going for 3 days still stuck lol. does anyone else have this issue if so how did you fix it.
02/13/2015 at 13:57 #87230richardpiParticipantThanks, this way works like a charm!
From what I experience, related to the questions a couple of replies above…
1. I’ve changed nothing and everything seems to work fine.
2. Sorry can’t help. I Use dd on Mac here.
3. Works perfectly when the steps are followed. Nice small class 10 card, don’t need much space this way ->cheap:-)
4. Sounds stupid, but when tweaking your system, I was looking for sudden files multiple times, since partially they’re on the sd, partially on the USB, ofcourse…Again, above is just my personal experience after using this setup for about 3 weeks now.
02/18/2015 at 16:25 #87938cudencudenParticipantis it not possible to store and play the ROMs from a network share?
03/12/2015 at 19:21 #91163pimpmyrigParticipantthanks. it works perfectly for me.
FYI, I am using external hard disk and I need to plug it via powered USB hub otherwise it will not work.
03/18/2015 at 06:14 #91869caseyjamesParticipantHey buddy this work like worked like a charm after I translated some of your misconstrued writing.Thanks for that it was great.Got any Idea how to add a another usb for the actual roms or if I usb another device will it kill it?
04/10/2015 at 04:09 #94367jackall4bdnParticipantAnyone had any experience with berryboot, autobooting into retropie and using THAT method, or rather any problems? I was thinking of doing that to keep my fairly tweaked retropie-distro running while also putting things like arch and openelec on my stick, since i don’t wanna fiddle with multiple sticks or SDs.
05/05/2015 at 12:58 #96950methanoidParticipantDo the RetroPie images use the same method of avoiding Overclock SD corruption that Raspbmc used (F2FS I think it was) or is this why we should use USB still for installs?
05/30/2015 at 14:30 #98692thatguyinflParticipantThanks for for this. Works great! Much appreciated for sharing.
06/03/2015 at 22:00 #99016patrickmParticipantWould it not be easier to just change the path option for each emulator in the es_systems.cfg so that each emulator points to the desired folder on a usb drive? This is what I’ve done, and my games load and save fine this way.
Is there some additional stability or performance advantage to also running the emulators themselves from USB?
06/13/2015 at 20:09 #99768polluxptParticipantSince my opinion is like patrickm’s post I ask if anyone had issues running Retropie by SDCard and Roms by USB drive?
I have a 4GB SDcard (got it free) where I have Retropie image and all my roms are in a 64GB USB Drive.
So far I got no problems at all but somehow I figured out some time ago that if I have my USB Drive as ext4 and I don’t have saving problems (I got them when it was Fat32) nor loading problems.
Everything runs fast enough for me and the only thing I think it will improve running OS by USB is the Retropie startup because it takes some time to load all my roms for the first time.
In my opinion to run a “real” OS (like raspian or ubuntu mate) this guide will be the best choice but to run Retropie I don’t see any advantage since it takes less time using another sdcard and if something go wrong it can be a huge frustration to lose a lot of roms.
For the other hand I have another RPi for multiple purposes and I got a “generic” USB drive (64GB as well) with a folder in it with some roms and I can run them like a charm just by plugging it to my RPi. This is why I like USB Drive option most.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
Cheers!06/16/2015 at 16:53 #99951dougie1970Participantcan anyone post the right way to run games from the usb ? and how is it set up ?
06/17/2015 at 10:58 #99987polluxptParticipantThe easy way is to edit your es_systems.cfg file and changing the path line.
Here’s an example:
<path>/media/usb/Retropen/retropie/amstradcpc</path>
/Retropen/retropie/ are my USB pen drive folders
06/17/2015 at 21:11 #100012dougie1970ParticipantThanks for your reply and how do i go about to finding the es_systems.cfg file ?
06/18/2015 at 10:47 #100055polluxptParticipantYou can find it in /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
If you have another doubt you can always check this link:
06/18/2015 at 11:32 #100056dougie1970Participant[quote=100055]You can find it in /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
If you have another doubt you can always check this link:
https://www.petrockblock.com/2014/07/01/major-update-for-retropie/
[/quote]
thanks
06/18/2015 at 19:50 #100079dougie1970Participanti am still a bit stuck on this because how do i go about adding this new line ? i cant see the file on the sd card or do i have to do it another way .
what is the right steps to do this .
thanks
06/18/2015 at 20:04 #100081polluxptParticipantYou must replace every path before your emulator name.
In the example above that line already exists in the file, I just edited the path.06/18/2015 at 22:32 #100102dougie1970Participant[quote=100081]You must replace every path before your emulator name.
In the example above that line already exists in the file, I just edited the path.[/quote]
ok but how do i get to /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg ? as cant see it on the sd card .
what do i use to edit the file and how to go about it ?
thanks
06/19/2015 at 10:58 #100120methanoidParticipantHave you heard of Google? https://www.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/how-to-run-from-usb-the-best-method/#post-100012 indicates you wanted someone else to tell you everything (it was the first Google result if you had bothered).
re your latest “please tell me every single thing i should do” post..
/etc is a directory. Are you at a command line? have you tried “cd /etc” ?
Editors? There are many you can use.. you could try nano or vi…. but please find out how to use them yourself. There are many sites that can tell you the commands to load/save files and add/delete text.
I am not normally so unhelpful but you really do seem to be seeking a 100% spoon feeding without doing much yourself!!
06/19/2015 at 11:09 #100121polluxptParticipantOk are a few things here that makes the difference.
If you are on Windows I suggest you edit your file in your raspberry pi as you cannot see your file properly.
To edit your file under Rpi (linux) environment you can use this command:sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
Please note you must exit Retropie first in order to get your command prompt.
If you use linux in your desktop (Ubuntu ou other operating system) you can edit your file with other application like gedit but I’m affraid it’s not your case.
Because NANO has a very simple interface this link will help you in your find and replace journey:
http://artinpetrossian.com/?p=53
You will find lines as it follows
<path>~/Retropie/roms/EMULATORNAME</path>
(something like this, I don’t have it in my mind right now as I’m outside my house)And what you need to do is to replace this address to Your USB PEN Roms Directory.
Cheers!
06/19/2015 at 11:29 #100122dougie1970Participant[quote=100121]Ok are a few things here that makes the difference.
If you are on Windows I suggest you edit your file in your raspberry pi as you cannot see your file properly.
To edit your file under Rpi (linux) environment you can use this command:sudo nano /etc/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg
Please note you must exit Retropie first in order to get your command prompt.
If you use linux in your desktop (Ubuntu ou other operating system) you can edit your file with other application like gedit but I’m affraid it’s not your case.
Because NANO has a very simple interface this link will help you in your find and replace journey:
http://artinpetrossian.com/?p=53
You will find lines as it follows
<path>~/Retropie/roms/EMULATORNAME</path>
(something like this, I don’t have it in my mind right now as I’m outside my house)And what you need to do is to replace this address to Your USB PEN Roms Directory.
Cheers!
[/quote]
ok thanks thats it sorted . and the info was spot on .
[quote=100120]Have you heard of Google? https://www.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/how-to-run-from-usb-the-best-method/#post-100012 indicates you wanted someone else to tell you everything (it was the first Google result if you had bothered).
re your latest “please tell me every single thing i should do” post..
/etc is a directory. Are you at a command line? have you tried “cd /etc” ?
Editors? There are many you can use.. you could try nano or vi…. but please find out how to use them yourself. There are many sites that can tell you the commands to load/save files and add/delete text.
I am not normally so unhelpful but you really do seem to be seeking a 100% spoon feeding without doing much yourself!!
[/quote]
Muppet
06/19/2015 at 11:39 #100124methanoidParticipantBut a muppet who can use Google and isn’t spoonfed like a baby ;) Just deal with it and move on!
06/25/2015 at 01:21 #100663patrickmParticipantOne thing I haven’t been able to figure out:
In order to start emulationstation, I first have to start the x server and then logout. Otherwise emulationstation crashes immediately upon startup, like the usb drive is not loaded until I start the x server.
Anyone know how to get the usb drive to load upon startup rather than needing to login to the x server?
07/11/2015 at 07:57 #101845ezeitgeistParticipantIf I run through the full setup of Raspian and then RetroPie on my SD card, can I still transfer it to the USB? If so, is it the same instructions or different?
Also, any specific recommendations for doing on Mac OS? Thanks!
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