EASY! Boot Raspberry Pi from USB SSD and Restore Home Assistant after SD Card Failure!

[@piloo_60]

Thanks for this "super video". Even if i'm not english spoken, i followed the procedure step by step and it was "MAGIC" ! Just what i needed.

[@bryanparks6958]

Thank you so much for your simple and direct demonstration of how to do this. I just started playing with my Raspberry Pi 4 with Home Assistant running from an SD card, and have been leery of it developing problems and making the system unusable or worse. I have ordered the USB SSD and associated cable recommended to setup my system to have more storage and be more reliable. Backups are your friend! 🤓

[@mostlychris]

Always back up (and check that they are working every once in awhile). Glad you are jumping to SSD over SD.

[@osfersa]

Great video, simple and very detailed. mine just went bad today and got it working in a matter of 20 minutes thanks to your detailed instructions.

[@mostlychris]

Excellent! That is what prompted me to finally make the switch--failure of the SD card.

[@matwatson7274]

Like many on here, this was perfect timing! Instructions were easy to follow, thank you. The only thing that slowed me down was formatting the ssd on Win 11 (mostly me being a doofus). When I got everything done with backup restored I was very proud of myself, but strangely the wife was not that impressed?!

[@mostlychris]

My wife has about a 5 min patience level for tech stuff so I understand 😉 I have a laptop that keeps bugging me to go to Win 11. Haven't done it yet. Scared.

[@daliusss]

Today my SSD have failed. I had to do this tutorial other way arround - restore backup to my SD card and update the bootloader until. my new external SSD arrives. I was little nervous on the backup restoration page as it did not show any indication of progress. Also I was not sure if I have entered my backup password correctly. Fortunatelly the restoration succeed. Thank You!

[@mostlychris]

Wow. I've never had an SSD fail (knock on wood). Glad you were able get it working. When restoring, I waited a LOOOONG time for any activity and I was also nervous.

[@doug350zTT]

Excellent video went perfect with my desk pi pro v2 and m2 SSD .. glad I have it done before the SSD died

[@mostlychris]

Congrats. Yeah, SD card failures are a pain.

[@sumtertisdale]

I’ve switched all of my other RPi s to USB boot but I have been holding out for the big switch with HomerAssistant. This was helpful so I’ll get started next weekend!

[@mostlychris]

Excellent!

[@sumtertisdale]

@@mostlychris Done! Thanks for the guide, Chris. I am not sure how long it tries to boot from SD before moving on to USB so it is best to just remove the SD card like you said and let it go straight to USB, Restore took no more than 10 minutes. I have RPi4 with 8GB RAM.

[@mostlychris]

Nice! It should try SSD first and then go to SD as a fall-back.

[@henkdevries5042]

GREAT videos Chris, very helpful! Just learning and have base installed and access it from remote!! Amazing stuff! Got many questions if okay? But for this video: can you not login and get a snapshot back directly from your NAS? Without installing Samba? I hope to do this from my SD card, set the sharp shot back from there. Works? Getting more and more amazed every step I make in this!!!! Keep up the good work please!!

[@mostlychris]

You can upload your snapshot from anywhere you have access. It doesn't have to be from a Samba share. Not sure how you'd get it directly from your NAS though but I only now of Synology as that is what I use. I use the Samba Backup for my snapshots and they are stored to a mapped NAS drive. Good news is I rarely have to do any kind of restore.

[@henkdevries5042]

@@mostlychris thank you Chris, makes sense. Yes, use Synology as well. I am considering to add two huge SSD drives to let the PI act as NAS as well, not sure if I need separate one or use same PI ?

[@mostlychris]

Depends on what you are serving from that NAS. HA has a Plex add-on. I haven't used it because I don't know how well it would work transcoding higher quality content. If what you are using it for is strictly storage, you might be able to get away with it. I like having a storage solution that is designed for storage and have that separate from my automation stuff, but that is personal preference.

[@KouroshMaalizadeh]

Hi Chris, Thank you for all your informative videos. Maybe not related to this video. But, I originally had an NVMe 250GB to run the system, in my OptiPlex. I ran out of room because of Frigate. I decided to add a 1TB SSD to OptiPlex, through “MOVE DATA DISK”. Everything went well & functional, but after a month 1TB SSD crashed, I don’t know how to get the system to boot from the original boot drive NVMe again! Can the data disk be moved back to NVMe 250GB? I do have the backup from before the 1TB addition. Both drives are still in OptiPlex. NVMe is intact. I have been searching for a solution without any success. Would you help me, or guide me where I can find out how this could be done? Ty

[@davidhill8151]

Thanks for the tutorial! Towards the final step, when you choose your backup file and click "Restore", there is no type of progress bar that shows. How do you know when the Restore has completed? I'm tempted to refresh, but I don't want to mess up the restore process. Thanks again!

[@mostlychris]

I just waited. Give it 15-20 min and then refresh. You can also check your router to see if the device is up and go to that IP in a new window.

[@Tafh1337]

For anyone following this guide: Using the flash from URL adds a lot of unexplainable time to the process of making the SSD/USB device, I am on a gigabit internet and was told the process would take 18-ish minutes, manually downloading the image, extracting it and adding it to Balena myself knocked it down to 4-5 minutes, this includes, downloading, extractive and the verification process at the end! (I tested the flash from URL twice with the same results) @mostlychris, thanks for a great video, with simple and easy-to-follow instructions.

[@mostlychris]

Interesting find. I'll try that next time. I wonder if it is proxying somewhere. I don't like that if it is.

[@PatrickL91-l1g]

good evening i've taken a nvme ssd that i'm going to install on the argon v3 box when that's done, i'll have a sd card with raspbian bookworm on it, and a ssd sata + usb interface on which i have homeassistant. and of course an empty ssd nvme. so how can I run a dd command like : dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/nvme0 status=progress logically, everything should be easy to copy. so is it viable to do it this way? without errors....

[@DougLight]

Thanks for all your step-by-step instructions! Question: In the video, and after doing my Balena flash of the hassos to the SSD, the SD card has a 32 MB partition and the rest of the SSD is un-allocated, even if I have formatted the SSD with a larger partition. Does the rest of the 200+ GB on the SSD remain unable to Home Assistant to grow into?

[@mostlychris]

Mine is using the full amount. If you hover over the "Used Space" graph under configuration->supervisor->system does it show the full size?

[@DougLight]

@@mostlychris Yes, thanks. My misunderstanding. I was looking at the SSD configuration after flashing but before booting. Apparently one of the setup steps Home Assistant goes through to prepare a new install is to format the un-allocated space into the HA partition. Still working on getting my pi 3 configuration/backup fully over to the pi 4 but making progress. We appreciate your many useful ideas and clear explanations!

[@mostlychris]

Awesome. Good luck on the migration.

[@prawn5148]

what happens when the USB SSD is not plugged in? I would like to have a "only boot this when it is plugged in. when not then boot from SD Card" / Edit... sry you tell it at 2:40.

[@BrummBilt]

Great timing. I’ve been meaning to do this, but haven’t got around to refreshing my memory on how to. Very clear and succinct. Thanks!

[@mostlychris]

I was holding off myself because I thought it might be harder than it really was.

[@MaxGoddur]

The first time I followed your video it was easy as pie to setup. Well that drive (SSD Samsung) failed after running just fine for months. Picked up a 120GB Kingston drive and for the life of me can not get the steps to work now. The first thing I noticed while attempting to format on Windows 10 was the FAT format ability was missing from the selection possibilities only NTFS and exFAT were available. Going to start over but would appreciate any help or suggestions.

[@mostlychris]

Is this a power issue maybe? Are you running it on a powered USB hub? Could also be an issue with the adapter you are using.

[@MaxGoddur]

@@mostlychris turns out the SSD case I used during my successful install was the cause this time around. Found out after buying a new SSD case.

[@mostlychris]

Sweet. Figured it was something like that. I assume the case is the adapter.

[@MaxGoddur]

@@mostlychris correct.

[@n.r.2258]

Maybe as an additional note... For me it does not work with any USB3 adapter, not even with an ext. USB disk enclosure. Tried 4 adapters on two different Pi4B. But great when using USB2.

[@mostlychris]

That's odd. Usually that is a power issue and an external powered USB hub fixes that issue. You might have an issue with your USB3 on that pi. USB2 will be slower.

[@n.r.2258]

@@mostlychris I exclude power problem , because the Pi original power supply makes the same problem, as a DC backup power (80 Amp.). But as long as it works with USB2, it's ok. (fortunately I do not notice how much slower HA is on USB2 because I have no comparison to USB3 😂)

[@mostlychris]

@@n.r.2258 I guess as long as it works for your needs then everything is good. One thing I probably overlooked in your comment is the adapter. Maybe the type of adapter you have plays a part--however, it's working so I wouldn't fix what isn't broken 😀

[@n.r.2258]

@@mostlychris 👍

[@mksmurff]

Great video however this initially hasn't worked for me with a bunch of errors on ssd startup. Reading through the community forum, it appears my usb to ssd may not be compatible. It seems like not all adaptors work. And it seems difficult to get a list from anywhere

[@mostlychris]

There is a link to the known working hardware in the video description. You are correct in that it is probably a compatibility issue.

[@mksmurff]

@@mostlychris Yep thanks. Already ordered and delivered thanks

[@Sonu_sukralia]

Dear Sir Please make a tutorial base on How I can share my Hardisk Or pendrive over wifi using Home assistant OS... please

[@mostlychris]

I'll add it to the list. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@BlakeAutomotive]

Most people probably already know this but, now you can just use imager to install HA on your USB SSD, unplug the raspberry pi, remove the SD card, plug the USB SSD into the pi and plug it back in. That's it

[@Warmandk]

With the current version of Raspberry Pi Imager v. 1.7.2 I'm able to install an OS directly to a USB drive (SSD or otherwise). I'm also able to install Home assistants directly from the menu. My point being, is there any reason not to just install any OS and/or Home assistant directly from Raspberry Pi Imager?

[@mostlychris]

The imager is a nice tool. I don't see an disadvantage to doing what you said. HA will still go through the initial setup process as outlined in the video. Getting the OS onto the drive can be done many ways and the imager seems like an easier one.

[@robertdalga128]

Chris, could u use a USB drive (i.e. thumb, jump, flash drive) instead or r they not as reliable?

[@mostlychris]

I don't know that you can boot off of it. I am running a 1TB drive on my HA Blue so that I can record 24x7 on some of my cameras that are tied into Frigate NVR.

[@bill_automated1226]

I am not sure if you can use a thumb drive, but I would encourage you not to do that. The quality of the flash memory in a thumb drive is typically even lower than what's used in an SD card.

[@mostlychris]

@@bill_automated1226 Agreed.

[@waelzayed]

Did you keep SSD disk after the restore? If yes, the RP has two USB 3 ports, usually one is used for Z-Wave/Zigbee controller and the other for TPU. Which one do you think must be moved to USB 2 port?

[@mostlychris]

I am still running the SSD. Not sure I understand the rest of your question.

[@BrummBilt]

My Z stick is on a usb 2 no problems

[@doug350zTT]

I put my zwave stick on usb3 and my zigbee dongle on usb 2 came back up no reconfigure needed

[@fawad.rashid]

Are there any additional steps if you have setup MariaDB instead of filesystem based db that HA by default uses ?

[@mostlychris]

I don't think so. It still boots of the SSD and all stuff runs off the SSD. MariaDB is still stored on the filesystem.

[@edwardlytton1548]

Great Video, but i have a Problem with the Bootloader, only a green screen. SSD config looks well

[@mostlychris]

Make sure you have enough power to the SSD and make sure you are using a known working SSD adapter. If you haven't already, try a powered USB hub to plug the SSD into.

[@waelzayed]

I’ve migrated my HA to SSD and I’m experiencing a frequent connectivity loss on My Z-wave and zigbee devices. I think I’ll flash it back microSD

[@mostlychris]

Do you have logs that tell you why? Shouldn't make any difference UNLESS you have a USB issue. I would first try putting the drive on a powered USB hub. That'll probably fix it. If not, the drive or USB adapter is causing interference. In that case, get a USB extension cable and move the zwave or zigbee device away from the Pi a little way.

[@yousaf.saleem]

with new network install bootloader installed, can't we do away with PC/MAC method?

[@mostlychris]

Details?

[@yousaf.saleem]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/paLcfpl9hKp6rac and kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZmmmXWeltWXitE

[@mike95826]

Does this boot from USB method work with the Raspberry Pi 3B+ ? The most current confirmed info I have is about 2 years old.

[@mostlychris]

It can, but there is a different process for getting the pi 3b+ into USB boot mode.

[@techrant6853]

My raspberry pi starts but randomly freezes out. And stops working. Anybody else have this proble? I tryed 3 usb sata cables/cases. The voltage is stable 5.1V. I use Y cables with external usb power supplys.

[@jmpcrx]

Try doing that on a 3b+. Not poss.

[@mostlychris]

Think I mentioned that. I know I've talked about it somewhere. The different pi versions don't allow the same options.

[@ppi57]

Can I use a Samsung T5/7 SSD (its usb-c)

[@yousaf.saleem]

why you want to use that?

[@mostlychris]

Check out the list of devices in the link in the description. It talks about what does and does not work.

[@yousaf.saleem]

@@mostlychris it is a expensive drive although it can be used but why someone could use it?

[@mostlychris]

Dunno. I probably have stuff that is overkill for what I am using it for, but because I had it lying around.

[@JarppaGuru]

0:20 never had sd card fail. dont abuse them xD. if you use sd card on raspberry pi its just DEMO gimmick system not any.... you got it lol

[@mostlychris]

I don't have them fail often, but when they do it's at the most inconvenient time.

[@CagrTOPCU]

My octopi sd card failed about 3 hours ago. Such a coincidence.

[@mostlychris]

Ugh. Boot into that SSD and restore from backup.