I consider myself fairly knowledgeable around both MS Windows, Linux/Unix and even mainframe systems having worked in the IT industry since 1980. Yes, I am old, retired since 2000 but still try to stay active in computer systems.
But… This little Raspberry has given me fits since the day I decided I wanted to run a Bitcoin node after seeing a YouTube video setting up an Umbrel system. How simple this seemed, at least it was with the guy on the YouTube. For me, not so much. My first Raspberry PI 4B came with 8 blinking green light, SDRAM fault. Sent it back and got another one. Umbrel failed to find my external storage. I started off with a SSD, M.2 PCIe installed in an adapter to convert to USBC. Won’t work! Then, I tried a 1TB SansDisk “Extreme”. Won’t work either! Then, I tried a 4TB mechanical disk. This seemed to work until I shut it down twice, and it mysteriously stopped working with an Umbrel “failed to start” message. I have reimaged the microsd several times. I have formated these drives in both EXT4 and FATex. Never could get the mechanical drive back work when it was seemingly working for awhile.
THIS WORKS without fail. I have a Samsung thumb drive, 128GB that works perfectly, but too small. What the crap is wrong here? What I would like to know is: What are the drive specs? What are the format specs? Surely if all these drives work elsewhere, something is amiss that Raspberry PI and Umbrel needs.
If anyone can give me the drive specs, I would appreciate it. Or, tell me what brand/type of 1TB drive I should buy.
Hi. The official Umbrel hardware recommendations can be found here. Use EXT4.
(click on How to install —>)
Some Umbrel users would recommend the Samsung T7 Portable SSD over the officially recommended Crucial MX500 1TB 3D NAND SATA 2.5 Inch Internal SSD. The Samsung T7 comes in 1TB and 2TB sizes, is fast, runs cool and comes with both USB-C or USB-A cables.
Before purchasing a new drive, you should first check the power adapter, cabling and temperature of your system. Ideally you want the Pi and disk running < 45C. Use only the official Pi power adapter. If your system runs hot, look to change cases, add heat sink or fan.
You don’t say if the external drives you tried had their own power supply. Problems with external drives on the PI are almost always power issues. You don’t need to use the recommended hardware, but you do need either a drive with its its own power supply or a powered USB hub.
Thanks for the information. I was NOT using separate power supply or powered hub. But, find it interesting that the drive shows its power LED on, indicating the PI was providing power just in the same way a Windows system powered the same device, and working properly. It would be nice to know why the Samsung T7 is working without a powered hub. Electronically, there is an answer. It would be very revealing if the Raspberry providers would provide an answer to this issue.
Good to hear that the Samsung T7 is working for you. Did the sync complete?
Re the reasons why the other drives did not work for you, it could be multiple reasons as you had different types of drives, interfaces and partition formats. Most likely it was a power issue that caused the other drives to fail, because the drives required more power than your Pi could reliably transfer to the other drives. The average SSD consumes 2.7W in use, and 0.05 when idle. HDDs require much more power. The T7 uses proprietary multidimensional RAND memory and consumes only 1.5W in use.
Another solution might have been to put a powered USB hub in between your Pi and the other drive.
Thanks for the info on SSD! Yes, after 5 days it finished the block chain sync. I’m ready to dive deeper in Umbrel now the hardware issue has been solved.
The light coming on means nothing. It may even work fine for several hours, mine did. Power issues with USB devices on PI will occur intermittently, probably during heavy activity/load. Since switching to a powered USB hub for my drive I have had zero problems.
