Introducing myself and questions about SSD M.2 (Argon ONE M.2 Aluminum Case for Raspberry Pi 4 with SATA SSD Support)

General Discussions
1

Aloha guys, my name is Icaro, I’m Brazilian and I recently started installing and doing some tests with the Raspberry Pi. I bought an Argon ONE M.2 Aluminum Case for Raspberry Pi 4 with SATA SSD Support, I installed Umbrel on the SD card and I am unable to transfer the installation to the M.2 SSD. Could anyone help me with this task?

Thanks

2

Hi, and welcome :slight_smile: Are you following this tutorial? If you are, then at which step are you getting stuck?

3

Hello Hi, same here. I also have Raspberry Pi 4 inside a Argon Aluminum case Case with a external mount SSD m.2 drive.

What he means should be how to install the whole umbrel os directly to the SSD ( larger capacity, more durable) instead of install onto the microSD card.

After successful umbrel OS installation, the SD card can be remove , the raspberry pi 4 will boot from SSD drive directly.
Am I right?

4
  1. NVMe Support on Raspberry Pi 4: The Raspberry Pi 4 does not natively support NVMe drives. It has USB 3.0 ports, which can support NVMe drives through appropriate adapters, but it lacks a direct NVMe interface. The Compute Module 4 (CM4), on the other hand, provides more flexibility in interfacing with different types of storage, including NVMe, through its IO board.

But, Pi 4 doesn’t support NVMe - it has a jumper cable issue… CM4 is unrelated to the Pi 4 platform, there are differences in the model too…

  • Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: This is the standard Raspberry Pi model, intended for general-purpose computing, education, and hobbyist projects. It comes in a familiar rectangular form with standard ports (USB, HDMI, Ethernet, etc.).
  • Compute Module 4 (CM4): The CM4 is designed for professional and industrial applications. It has a more compact form factor (similar to a SO-DIMM module) and is intended for integration into custom hardware and embedded systems.

We don’t have a CM4 in this scenario, I have always had issues with direct installation on NVMe, I have tried this before on Pi 4… I recommend if possible what you’ll need to do is install via the command line like the Linux method and ditch the Pi.

Command for this: curl -L https://umbrel.sh | bash

As listed to set up here: umbrelOS - An elegant OS for your home server

easy way to run umbrelOS in VM on your NVMe! :slightly_smiling_face:

I’ll share some other possibly relevant answer below,

But please feel free to share the specific adapter model and NVMe model again for me I can try and look further into compatibility etc.

Forgive any grammar below didn’t have time to proofread this generated resource based on prompts etc.

  1. Using an Adapter for NVMe with Pi 4: You can use a USB 3.0 to NVMe adapter to connect an NVMe SSD to a Raspberry Pi 4. This setup will not provide the full speed potential of NVMe due to the limitations of the USB 3.0 interface, but it will work.

  2. Concerning Icaro’s Question About the Argon ONE M.2 Case:

    • Case Description: The Argon ONE M.2 Aluminum Case for Raspberry Pi 4 is designed to house the Pi 4 and provides an M.2 slot. However, it’s important to note that this case supports SATA M.2 SSDs, not NVMe.

I don’t know that for certain ^^

  • Possible Solutions:

    • Check Compatibility: Ensure that the SSD is a SATA M.2 SSD, not NVMe, as the Argon ONE case supports NVMe there’s lots of adapter NVMe issues when attempting to boot an NVMe from an adapter not only on Pi or Linux… but in my experience, Windows too.

    • Update Firmware: Make sure the Raspberry Pi’s firmware is up to date, as recent updates have improved USB boot compatibility.

    • Boot Configuration: Modify the boot configuration of the Raspberry Pi to prioritize booting from USB. This is done by changing the boot order in the firmware.

  1. For the User Who Wants to Boot Directly from SSD:
    • Process Overview: To boot the Raspberry Pi 4 directly from an SSD, you need to ensure the Pi’s firmware is updated to support USB boot, prepare the SSD with the necessary boot files and operating system, and configure the Pi to boot from USB.
    • Configuring Boot Order: Change the boot order in the Raspberry Pi’s firmware settings to prioritize USB boot.
    • Testing and Troubleshooting: After these steps, remove the SD card and try booting the Raspberry Pi with the SSD alone. If it doesn’t boot, troubleshooting steps may include checking connections, reformatting the SSD, or re-installing the operating system.

Both these tasks involve a fair bit of technical know-how, especially when it comes to firmware updates and changing boot configurations. It’s recommended to consult detailed guides or forums specific to Raspberry Pi for step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting.

Adding, this should operate just like in the rare cases I’ve seen people install directly on an SSD on a Pi vs on the MicroSD card, installing the debian-based umbrelOS, an ext 4 drive (also seen issues installing ext4 on an NVMe as the file format never ran well for me in Windows machines specifically)

But this should operate in those cases like when people install directly on the drive on Pi,

I don’t advise on this, I advise against it, for aforementioned issues,

But please let us know how this goes!

My advise - umbrelOS on the MicroSD card like normal, try the NVMe in the adapter if you want, don’t ditch the MicroSD card on the Pi, and use the NVMe elsewhere in another build to salvage it, umbrelOS on the MicroSD card helps on Pi because a lot can go wrong with Pi, if only your NVMe fails or corrupts due to not even using an official Pi 4 power supply can cause an interruption, and when troubleshooting Pi 4 it’s much easier to swap out and reflash MicroSD cards to fix problems since all data is on the drive, and if they drive fails we have to debug or are SOL because aforementioned power issue on Pi and instability and if we didn’t backup properly on a schedule or didn’t play for backup-recoveries.

Lots of things to consider here! Trying to provide best experience! :slight_smile: