Installing Ubuntu on NVMe for Orange Pi 5: Step-by-Step Guide

In this video I will walk you through the process of prepping your NVME drive and how to install Orange pi Ubuntu on it! Plus I'll show steps on how to prep your Orange Pi 5 to be able to boot from that same NVME drive!
Thanks for watching!
Orange pi 5 NVMe Speed testing: • NVMe vs. SD Card Speed...
Great site for Orange Pi 5 info and more here: jamesachambers...
More sites for Orange Pi 5 info: github.com/Jos...
jamesachambers...
www.crosstalks...
Amazon Affiliate link for Orange pi 5 B with WIFI: amzn.to/3OG6unu
Amazon Affiliate link for: Orange Pi 5 8GB Rockchip RK3588S 8-Core 64 Bit Single Board Computer: amzn.to/43i7qCe
Amazon Affiliate link for: Crucial P3 500GB PCIe Gen3 3D NAND NVMe M.2 SSD, up to 3500MB/s amzn.to/43Gk3ra
Amazon Affiliate link for: KIOXIA (Toshiba 128GB M.2 2230 PCIe NVMe KBG40ZNS128G) amzn.to/3O2W6FJ
Amazon Affiliate link for Orange pi 5 cooler in this video: amzn.to/3XHaWox
Amazon Affiliate link for the toolkit I use almost every day! amzn.to/3oGG6zB
Amazon Affiliate Notice: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. All Amazon links that I provide will use my affiliate code with Amazon.

[@euphanasia210]

I was a huge fan of Raspberry Pi and I own all of them, just got the RPi5, I just don't use them anymore, I've switched to Orange Pi 5. it runs everything much fast then the Pi5.

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there and welcome to the channel! Yep I agree with you for sure! In fact I just got the new Raspberry pi 5 and I couldn't do half the things the op5 did. Seems like the op5 has a lot more power. I can even play a few FPS game on it! Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it :)

[@gooberminther3tik25]

I too am a BIG fan of rPi and I too just got a rPi 5, waiting for PineBerry to work kinks out of the HatDrive Bottom so I can install a NVMe storage, and I too am upshifting to Orange Pi 5+. I'll have all component to upright the system by Monday, next. My biggest concern is what OS and whether installation will give me nightmares. This video, haven't seen but the intro and the fellow is speaking of the latest version Ubuntu which I presume if Lunar Lobster, which I don't like. Largely because it is not an LTS version and 2ndly Loonies Lobster has desktop with non-descript ICONs or maybe an ICON called BFE and it has nothing to do with Egypt.

[@RememberThisTech]

@@gooberminther3tik25 Hah loonie lobster. Well I don't have a pi5 hat yet but maybe soon. I may have a newer 16 gb sbc soon so if If I get my hands on it I'll do a better job before I post the video. Inc. links, guides etc.

[@douglasdock]

Hello, I did everything in the tutorial, but it still didn't boot. Do you have any idea!?

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there. Sometimes these orange pi sbc computers have bad images and even at times bad units. I'll try and think about what you can try. Is your orange pi 5 still returnable?

[@tex1297]

Hi, after i folowed your steps, mine wont boot again. how do i reset opi5 ? mine is the plus version. thx

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there try some of these steps. I see the New OP5 firmware is bricking a bunch of OP5's lately and I've no idea what is happening. Remove all cables from the Orange PI 5 and even the SD card. Only plugin the USB-C to USB cable to the computer Hold the MASKROM button and for a little while (I think it only takes a press but who knows?) Now plugin the USB-C Power cable OR rewrite the image to the SC card again. Now, when the SD card in inserted it boots from the SD card. You should be able to write this SD card to the eMMC again to clear it from other installs. Note: Some times it wont let you "clear" the eMMC. INFO and Other things to try Here:!!!! To use the built-in of eMMC storage on the Orange Pi Plus as a writable volume in Linux, you need to delete the existing partitions (I think mine were formatted as FAT/WIN32), create a new partition, format the partition, then mount it: Delete the existing partitions: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 p to list all partitions, then d and a number to delete all existing partitions, then w to write the changes. Create a new partition: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 n to create a new partition, then use all the defaults, then w to write the changes. Format the partition: sudo mkfs.ext4 -L "emmc" /dev/mmcblk1p1 Create a mount point: sudo mkdir /emmc Mount the disk: mount /dev/mmcblk1p1 /emmc OR: Try SSh into the Orange pie: www.orangepi.org/orangepiwiki/index.php?title=Orange_Pi_5_Plus&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop Please let me know if any of these works for you. I'll look around more. ty

[@tex1297]

@@RememberThisTech wow i did not expected a quick and detailed answer like this! The maskrom button works in my case. It boots fine and i have acess again. Later i try the rest and give feedback. Thank you sir!

[@RememberThisTech]

Awesome! Glad to hear it works again. Somethings up idk if it was some glitches in their firmware or what idk. If you find out more from testing let me know. Thanks!!

[@allgoblog]

Thank you, for your tutorial video. very helpful

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there and welcome to the channel! TYVM I'm glad it was helpful. I appreciate you watching and commenting :)

[@nathanpearce7169]

Hey thanks for the tutorial man this made it so easy. Im building an off grid ham radio PC for an upcoming deployment. Do you know anything about portable power banks for opi5?

[@RememberThisTech]

Hey there, welcome to the channel! Thanks, I appreciate it. If I had to guess, you probably could use a portable power bank to power it, providing it could provide 3 to 5 amps output to the USB c power input. Also, it would need to be a larger power bank. Interesting idea. Thanks for watching and commenting. I appreciate it

[@nathanpearce7169]

Hey quick question. I can't quite see the screen after you 8nstalled the updates but it seems like my pi5 with the same version Ubuntu doesn't have the same options. If you wouldn't mind helping me I can pay you.

[@RememberThisTech]

@@nathanpearce7169 Hey there. Unfortunately I just don't have the time to help out individuals at this point :( I'm Sorry. Perhaps you have a newer release for Ubuntu and things were changed around?

[@guillermocastillotapia9545]

gracias por este video, si pude instalar en nvme el ubuntu

[@RememberThisTech]

Hey there tyvm! I'm glad you found it helpful :)

[@alextrezvy6889]

Is it possible to set up dual boot and choose between SD card and M.2 SSD?

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi, and welcome to the channel. Good question. I personally don't know if that's possible. As if I've configured the system to boot from the nvme, it ignores th sd card or vice versa. I suppose something could be edited in the boot config somehow, but that's over my skill level. Sorry. Perhaps check Leepspvideo on KZbin or Jeff greeting. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@DexteraManusDei]

Which Opi OS version do you use? For me there is no command like 'orangepi-install'. Image from official website.

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there. You can use op armbian, Ubuntu, On your sd card boot os image. Download them and use belena etcher to flash the Os to your SD card first. Then once your booting from the sd card then power off and insert the nvme. Power on and boot from sd card then run the commands to format the nvme. Using Ubuntu or Debian OS is easiest. I hinted at this @ 4:23 and listed the commands for both Ubuntu And Debian and Armbian to get into the op config. Unless they have updated their images from OP, then things might have changed, as I posted this video a while back.

[@DexteraManusDei]

@@RememberThisTech OK, thank you!

[@drlecter8074]

Hi, thank you for the great video. I have a question: I have a OP5 + SSD 256gb (already plugged in board) + SD card 16GB. Cecause I don't have the device to flash ubuntu sever into SSD. I can only flash into SD card. Can I install ubuntu sever into that SSD from SD card? like I falsh an OS into SD card and then input SD card into OP. and install ubuntu into SSD. Is it impossile?

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there. Good question. Jame Chambers has a site that he goes through how to prep you ssd then also has a section on how to clone Ubuntu to the ssd. and more! I think it might answer what you want to do. Here.. jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-ssd-boot-guide/

[@drlecter8074]

@@RememberThisTech Thank you so much.

[@MrAlanMacdonald]

I updated the firmware but there is no install option. I just want a live usb version i can run the normal ubuntu installer from that supports disk configuration for mounting existing partitions etc as per every linux image for the last 20 years. These images from orangepi are crap

[@RememberThisTech]

I agree they are not the greatest ;( Its one of the reasons I attempted to create an installation video. Raspberry pi has a far easier image installation process. Installing Ubuntu on these Arm based CPU computers is a bit diff and trickier than a pc for sure. I supposed you cold use a Mini PC with a intel based cpu, like the Beelink. Those would give way more power than this and you could install Ubuntu from a usb super simple. Thanks

[@MrAlanMacdonald]

@@RememberThisTech well I've already bought the thing now :-) I'm coming from a khadas vim 3 pro which had similar pains but it had emmc so I could easily install / there then just change the mounts for /home to an SSD after. I think I'll give Armbian a try tomorrow

[@RememberThisTech]

@MrAlanMacdonald Try installing orange pi os or armbian onto an SD card and try the process again. Also double check that the os images you downloaded aren't double Ipped. I've found that a few times. Once you double check these steps and done the boot configuration to boot feom nvme etc. Flash the image onto the nvme and pull the SD card and try and boot from it. Should work. Leme know how it all goes

[@MrAlanMacdonald]

@@RememberThisTech thanks but the whole thing I was trying to do was keep my existing /home data from my SSD. On a normal live linux distro you would be able to partition the SSD during the install to have a separate partition for / leaving all the existing data for mounting at /home. Again you'd be able to pick that during install but even if I had to do this first using Disks utility that would be fine. Then install without losing data into the new / partition on the SSD. The installers seem primitive and offer no disk management and mounting support and expect to just wipe things unless I am misunderstanding. I just tried Armbian and it's this same asinine installer which is built to just wipe everthing and make it harder. I have no idea why these distros are reinventing the wheel with custom installers vs just bundling the standard Ubuntu installer which supports all this. I basically just want normal Ubuntu style distro with normal sensible installer but with the hardware support cooked in for the orange pi5 plus.

[@MrAlanMacdonald]

I guess the reason is they can make the installer not tied to Ubuntu for instance since they support various distros

[@jerrylashe158]

Big question, how do you change language from Chinese to English. I CAN NOT FIGURE IT OUT!

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi and welcome to the channel. DO you mean when using the SK disk tool? If so, once your unzip the tool, go into Config double click it to open, Edit under language from = 1 to = 2 then save and reopen the SK Disk tool. Should display in English. Or is there another diff area you are asking about? Thanks

[@harrisonfackrell]

​@@RememberThisTechOh, man, that's really useful to know. I went through this entire process by using Google Translate, when I installed Android.

[@RememberThisTech]

@harrisonfackrell Hi there. Oh wow, google translate for the whole thing that's rough, but hey you got it!

[@capatarunicusor4842]

Nice explanation and good job. 👏👏👏 Please, if you can tell me how I can install home assistant on an orange pi 5 plus. I was thinking that after installing ubuntu on Nvme and booting will be done on Nvme (according to your explanations), I should install the home assistant system directly on Nvme.

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there and welcome to the channel! TY for the kind reply. I don't have experience with installing home assistant :( But I believe you are correct in installing it to the NVME as it's a lot faster than the SD card. Let me know how it works out for you I'd be interested to know. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it :)

[@User92376]

Is flashing android to nvme have the same way as you done with Ubuntu?

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there. Should be the same, use Belana etcher or raspberry pi imager.

[@gooberminther3tik25]

If you gave the source of the downloads, I backtracked several times and I still missed hearing the source. If you're trying to be resourceful you've missed that as well.

[@RememberThisTech]

It's been a while since I did this video but here's some good recourses i can remember. github.com/Joshua-Riek/ubuntu-rockchip/releases jamesachambers.com/orange-pi-5-ssd-boot-guide/ www.crosstalksolutions.com/orange-pi-5-simple-overview-and-installation-with-m-2-ssd/ I'm still slowly improving my video quality and editing and I still mess up but Jushua-riek is superb. LeePSVideo is awesome too. I've talked with him before via Email on Raspberry pi5 Overclocking: I've yet to finish that video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZjGqn6Lqbqkh9U Hope these help I'm not sure what you need or what I missed out on so if you can be a bit more specific I can try and look it up for you. Thanks

[@lightingboltcosplay731]

I do the same process on mine, but it dosent work. i install a desktop version of ubuntu on sd and it work, but on sata m2 do not boot.

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there try some of these steps. Make sure your downloaded image isn't double zipped. Remove all cables from the Orange PI 5 and even the SD card. Only plugin the USB-C to USB cable to the computer Hold the MASKROM button and for a little while (I think it only takes a press but who knows?) Now plugin the USB-C Power cable OR rewrite the image to the SC card again. Now, when the SD card in inserted it boots from the SD card. You should be able to write this SD card to the eMMC again to clear it from other installs. Note: Some times it wont let you "clear" the eMMC. INFO and Other things to try Here:!!!! To use the built-in of eMMC storage on the Orange Pi Plus as a writable volume in Linux, you need to delete the existing partitions (I think mine were formatted as FAT/WIN32), create a new partition, format the partition, then mount it: Delete the existing partitions: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 p to list all partitions, then d and a number to delete all existing partitions, then w to write the changes. Create a new partition: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 n to create a new partition, then use all the defaults, then w to write the changes. Format the partition: sudo mkfs.ext4 -L "emmc" /dev/mmcblk1p1 Create a mount point: sudo mkdir /emmc Mount the disk: mount /dev/mmcblk1p1 /emmc OR: Try SSh into the Orange pie: www.orangepi.org/orangepiwiki/index.php?title=Orange_Pi_5_Plus&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop Please let me know if any of these works for you.

[@lightingboltcosplay731]

@@RememberThisTech thank you i will try

[@RememberThisTech]

Perhaps try this: Try installing orange pi os or armbian onto an SD card and try the process again. I've found that a few times. Once you double check these steps and do the boot configuration to boot feom nvme etc. Flash the image onto the nvme and pull the SD card and try and boot from it. Should work. Leme know how it all goes

[@lightingboltcosplay731]

@@RememberThisTech one more question, on the sd you have mount the orange pi os arch?

[@RememberThisTech]

@lightingboltcosplay731 hi, I'm not 100% sure of your question but I have installed armbian and Ubuntu on the SD and ssd before fine.

[@miguelmendoza3403]

Someone could help me? 😢 I've been trying to install ubuntu on a nvme with orange pi 5 plus 32gb for a while but the m.2 doesn't recognize the nvme. It doesnt start the system whenever the nvme it's plugged and it wont recognize when I plug the nvme while the orange it's on either. I'm very desperate, but I suspect the nvme might not even work for my opi5+ because of the speed is over 2100 mb/sec that is more than opi5+ specifies in its website. Someone could suggest me what should I do or if I must buy another nvme? Another thing, i'm booting through the eMMC that arrived with my orange because it didnt work on my SD card either and I can plug the mvme through an USB adaptor but the terminal shows it as /dev/sda 😢

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there try some of these steps. Remove all cables from the Orange PI 5 and even the SD card. Only plugin the USB-C to USB cable to the computer Hold the MASKROM button and for a little while (I think it only takes a press but who knows?) Now plugin the USB-C Power cable OR rewrite the image to the SC card again. Now, when the SD card in inserted it boots from the SD card. You should be able to write this SD card to the eMMC again to clear it from other installs. Note: Some times it wont let you "clear" the eMMC. INFO and Other things to try Here:!!!! To use the built-in of eMMC storage on the Orange Pi Plus as a writable volume in Linux, you need to delete the existing partitions (I think mine were formatted as FAT/WIN32), create a new partition, format the partition, then mount it: Delete the existing partitions: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 p to list all partitions, then d and a number to delete all existing partitions, then w to write the changes. Create a new partition: sudo fdisk /dev/mmcblk1 n to create a new partition, then use all the defaults, then w to write the changes. Format the partition: sudo mkfs.ext4 -L "emmc" /dev/mmcblk1p1 Create a mount point: sudo mkdir /emmc Mount the disk: mount /dev/mmcblk1p1 /emmc OR: Try SSh into the Orange pie: www.orangepi.org/orangepiwiki/index.php?title=Orange_Pi_5_Plus&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop Please let me know if any of these works for you. I'll look around more. ty

[@RememberThisTech]

Perhaps try this: Try installing orange pi os or armbian onto an SD card and try the process again. Also double check that the os images you downloaded aren't double zipped. I've found that a few times. Once you double check these steps and done the boot configuration to boot feom nvme etc. Flash the image onto the nvme and pull the SD card and try and boot from it. Should work. Leme know how it all goes

[@BeamNawapat]

How can I do If I Accidentally deleted orangepi-config file

[@RememberThisTech]

eject microSD · put microSD into OPi · choose boot from eMMC - system on eMMC · sudo shutdown -h now · remove microSD · power on OPi

[@satishb4945]

@@RememberThisTech How to: choose boot from eMMC ??

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi There and welcome to the channel! Use this Github Guide: github.com/kaveh-kaviani/Tutorials/blob/main/content/sbc/orange-pi/orange-pi-5/boot-linux-from-emmc/README.md

[@RememberThisTech]

This could help: github.com/kaveh-kaviani/Tutorials/blob/main/content/sbc/orange-pi/orange-pi-5/boot-linux-from-emmc/README.md

[@alexsampaio9368]

É possivel instalar o batocera no nvme usando essa explicação??

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there! That's a great question, and unfortunately, I haven't had the time to test if Batocera will work. Perhaps you can try Leepspvideo on KZbin and see if he's tried it on his channel.

[@Tom_Neverwinter]

didnt work for me. I hate orangepi bootloader. its their one major flaw and its a big one.

[@letmedwight]

Its not helpfull if you dont say which Orange PI OS you did on your SD Card. there a 3 variants out there, arch, droid and OH. It seems the google drive only have .zip archive with empty folders inside of it for arch and OH and droid doesen't work. Belena Etcher told me that the "table" is not looking correctly and if I still try to boot Orange Pi OS, it doesen't will work. Not I have 2 construction sites.

[@RememberThisTech]

Hi there. You can use op armbian, Ubuntu, or armbian On your sd card boot os image. Using Ubuntu or Debian is easiest. I hinted at this @ 4:23 and listed the commands for both Ubuntu And Debian and Armbian to get into the op config. As far as why you can't see any os on Orange pi os download links, are you logged into your Google account/Gmail? I've found that if your not, you can't see any images or downloads properly. Also when using Belena etcher make double sure that the image you downloaded isn't double zipped. This can cause errors when trying to flash or image sd cards or nvme. Thanks for commenting.

[@letmedwight]

@@RememberThisTech Now, I made it to the point where you shutdown the OS and eject the SD Card and leave the orangepi with the NVME. I pluged out the cable, put it back in but it is not booting with the NVME. Its just a black screen in my Monitor. 5:18

[@RememberThisTech]

@letmedwight hi there. Did you successfully complete the orange pi 5 firmware update? And then select the bootloader selection to boot from nvme? 4:48 just checking because you might have to redo the steps. Also your flashed nvme could not be a good image as well. You will need to double check or redo the above steps then verify your image. Let me know thanks.

[@letmedwight]

@@RememberThisTech I updated the firmware, I made the SPI flash and its doing nothing after I powered it off, ejected the SD Card and powered it back on, with only the NVME in the pi5.

[@RememberThisTech]

Here's another guide to try. I've use this guy's image and some of his goby before. unixorn.github.io/post/2023-03-boot-orange-pi-5-from-nvme/

[@Tom-jd1rm]

well my orange pi is now a brick.

[@nathanpearce7169]

Why

[@Tom-jd1rm]

@nathanpearce7169 I went back to using Rasberry pi thanks

[@nathanpearce7169]

Shit I bet I just did the same thing

[@SuperRealhigh]

Mind telling us what happened so we can avoid it?

[@nathanpearce7169]

@@SuperRealhigh not sure about him but I set the wrong boot partition and got stuck in initramfs. Think I fixed it tho bout to find out.

[@bimbo-yw6ny]

i've tried several time, but unfortunately many sd, i couldn't make it