BOOT PI INTO GPARTED LIVE USB INSTALL
BOOT PI INTO GPARTED LIVE USB PLUS

BOOT PI INTO GPARTED LIVE USB INSTALL

Of course if you prefer a GUI package manager you could also go to the panel menu, Preferences, Add / Remove Software, then search and install it from there I prefer gparted for this, but it is not included in the base Raspbian installation so I have to install it first. There are a number of Linux GUI and CLI utilities for disk management. To do this you will have to partition and format the SSD. The simplest possible way to use the SSD is just as an additional disk drive alongside the standard Raspberry Pi micro-SD card. Here you can see that the SD card is mmcblk0, and has the boot and root partitions on it, and the SSD has been recognized as sda and has no partitions on it yet. You can confirm that the SSD has been recognized, and find out what name it has been given, using the lsblk command. When you boot the Raspberry Pi with the SSD installed, you probably won't see any difference in the Raspbian desktop. Slip the connector into place (it only goes one way), and secure the module with the two screws that came with the Pi-Desktop kit. Make sure the Raspberry Pi is powered off (no, don't try to 'hot swap' it). Installing the SSD is pretty much a no-brainer. It is important to note that it will only accept an mSATA module like the one also shown above both physically and logically it is not possible to use the newer M.2 SATA devices. The Pi-Desktop add-on board, shown above, includes an mSATA connector and standoff/screw posts to connect and secure an SSD. In fact I got an unexpected benefit from it - I learned a few more things about the Raspberry Pi itself.

BOOT PI INTO GPARTED LIVE USB PLUS

My own motivation was a combination of these, plus the fact that this just seemed like a cool and fun thing to do. So, consider these carefully when you decide whether you want to do this or not.

This might not be a high priority for the average Raspberry Pi home user, but in commercial and embedded uses the reliability and durability of micro-SD cards can be an issue.

Get rid of the micro-SD card altogether.

The problem is that the Pi-Desktop add-on board connects to the Raspberry Pi via USB 2.0, which has a maximum data rate of 60MB/sec. This might seem strange at first glance, because mSATA speeds (~500MB/sec) are roughly five times faster than micro-SD (~100MBps). This is probably the worst reason, and if it is your goal you are going to be disappointed.

Improve performance of the Raspberry Pi.

Prices for equal capacity are consistently lower for mSATA than microSD. The largest microSD card I have seen so far is 400GB, while mSATA drives up to 1TB are available, at a price that is only about 25% higher than the 400GB microSD. This is probably the best reason, and it really does pay off.

Increase disk space, at a better cost than comparable micro-SD cards.

The first thing to consider, though, is why you would want to do this.

Now I am going to look at one of the optional expansion possibilities of that kit, adding an mSATA SSD (Solid State Disk).

I limited that post to the basic installation, configuration and use of the Pi-Desktop enclosure itself. In my previous post, I wrote about assembling and using the Farnell element 14 Pi-Desktop kit. Video: A guide to Raspberry Pi in 60 seconds

Boot pi into gparted live usb