I can't boot to my /root USB/SSD via /boot SD - Manjaro ARM Xfce - Raspberry pi 4

[folaht]

I already have a mini-ITX computer working fine as my "TV-computer" for the not so intensive game Stepmania, better known as Dance Dance Revolution.

But I thought "You know what? Maybe I can go smaller."
Raspberry Pi 4 smaller.

But in my experience with raspberry Pi 3s and SD cards,
they tend to die after a year of use,
and they're rather slow,
unless you buy the more expensive version that I'm told die even faster.
Enter SSD cards...
well in February because I bought a cheap one from China that arrives by boat.

So USB stick it is for now.

So I've done the following

* Downloaded Manjaro-ARM-xfce-rpi4-xx.xx.x.img
* Installed it on a SD card [balenaEtcher]
* Created EXT4 partition on USB stick, labeled it ROOT, and moved ROOT files over there [gparted]
* Moved BOOT files to ROOT, deleted BOOT, made it FAT32, relabeled, reflagged, and moved BOOT files back to BOOT, deleted ROOT and extended BOOT to maximum.
* Changed cmdline.txt to:

Code: Select all

root=/dev/sda1 rootfstype=ext4 rw rootwait console=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 selinux=0 plymouth.enable=0 smsc95xx.turbo_mode=N dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 elevator=noop snd-bcm2835.enable_compat_alsa=0

In other words root=/dev/mmcblk0 to root=/dev/sda1
assuming this is all that's needed to boot my USB-stick.

I put both devices in my RPi4, plug in the power cord and... nothing happens.

What have I done wrong?

I'm suspecting my /etc/fstab is all wrong

Code: Select all

# Static information about the filesystems.
# See fstab(5) for details.

# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
LABEL=BOOT  /boot   vfat    defaults        0       0

[RonR]

Have you tried usb-boot?

[thatchunkylad198966]

Or you could just use PINN, install Arch to a USB3 device and away you go. you may need to add usb-stroage.quirks=*number*:*number*:u though but that can be found on this forum or Google.
*That's what I've done and loving it.

[curtvaughan]

I have exactly that configuration on my RPI 4 - at this time, it's a stretch to boot the RPI 4 directly from the USB device. You need to leave the "/boot" partition mounted to the SD card and put the "rootfs" (/) on the USB drive. I can only give you a brief description as I don't right now have my RPI in front of me. Everything installed by default in rootfs (/) needs to be transferred to the USB device (I used "rsync") after the USB device is mounted and formatted (preferably to EXT4). One then needs to alter "/boot/cmdline.txt" point "rootfs" to SDAx (use a combination of "gparted" and "blkid" to get the information you need). One can use either a generic "SDAx" designation to specify the USB drive, or you can supply the UUID (information from blkid) in /boot/cmdline.txt. It is also possible to do this via /etc/fstab for more granularity, should you want to have a separate home partition (/home) from (/). In my case, it has worked like a charm. I have two partitions on my SSD going through a USB-3 port containing everything except "/boot", which remains on whatever SD contains system boot information needed to point to the respective systems. I'm guessing that the RPI 4 will eventually be able to boot independently to the USB device, but right now that can only be done with the RPI 3.

BTW, I have another SSD I use in the same manner for Raspbian, both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions. I do this, like you, to save wear and tear on the SD cards. Even though they still are needed for booting, once the system is up the SD card is mostly dormant. I would also recommend you use an SSD rather than just a USB stick, as the SSD will give you a noticeable performance boost through the USB-3 port.

[zelu]

Process seams to be easy however it doesn't work for me.
System tries to boot from SSD and after a couple of minutes finishes with Kernel Panic.
Can you please provide exact content from cmdline.txt ?

[hectorkvs]

In my expiriance u need to flash both SD card and SSD in 2 exact same copies with Etcher, and just change the cmdline root=/dev/sda2 on your SD, but do it before you power up Pi..no need to change anything else.. Works like a charm with latest Manjaro KDE plasma on my Rpi4 and 240Gb Biostar SSD with usb 3.0..first u need to format SSD and SD in fat32 on you PC or Mac and then burn same images to both, change cmdline, plug both into Pi and it will work.. Hope this will help..

[hectorkvs]

To specify, burn 2 copies of Manjaro image.. one on your SD card and the same one on your SSD.. just change your cmdline.txt on your SD card like this: root=/dev/sda2 Nothing else need to be changed, but don't forget to change it before you power up your Pi 4..mistake was in directing SD card to got to /dev/sda1.. Cos it's boot partition on your SSD... You need to direct it to go to root partition on your SSD and in this case it's /dev/sda2..

[hectorkvs]

Download the KDE or XFCE image of Manjaro ARM for Rpi4 and write it to your SD card
Burn the image with BalenaEtcher and after that navigate to the /boot drive on your SD card and open cmdline.txt
Change the part of the line that says root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 to root=/dev/sda2
Now format your SSD to Fat32 and burn the same image again to your SSD
Plug in both the SSD and Micro SD and boot up the Pi
It's that easy...u don't need to change anything else