Installing aarch64 on an external SSD on a Raspberry Pi 4

[CaptainRage]

Hi,
Is it possible to install aarch64 on an external SSD on a Raspberry Pi 4 (8 Gb model) by following the official installation instructions without using a SD card at all? Following these instructions, https://archlinuxarm.org/platforms/armv ... berry-pi-4 , and substituting the SD card for an external SSD, that is.

I've been reading up on different articles and I still don't understand whether it would be possible or not. I want to order a Raspberry Pi 4 and run an Arch Linux ARM system off an external SSD and use it to host a Nextcloud instance, preferably without having to involve any SD card whatsoever.

[Czar]

It requires manual tweaking: viewtopic.php?f=65&t=14672#p64313
Additionally, if you remove SD card then dmesg is constantly spammed with errors about missing mmc interface, which AFAIK cannot be disabled/muted so far.

I used 32-bit arch and sd card boot + root on SSD and it worked flawlessly.
Using aarch64 for a while I encountered ethernet issues (NO PHY in dmesg after booting - fixed after enabling dhcpcd.service) so I gave up for now.

[CaptainRage]

Thanks a lot for the info, Czar! You probably saved me a bucketload of stress and wasted hours. Then I will simply avoid aach64 in favor of the 32-bit version. I was hoping it would be possible to install a system exclusively on an external SSD while utilizing the 64-bit architecture without any hassle, but this time reliability and a streamlined experience where ease of use is preferred will have to win.

My only experience of Raspberry Pi comes from the using the first B+ model to host another cloud storage solution. It was also using a SD card for its /boot partition and a mechanical external drive for its /root partition. At the beginning it worked remarkably well, although that was years ago, but eventually it became nigh to impossible to maintain given how long compiling the cloud program took as well as the constant breaking between updates, together with my lack of knowledge of setting up and configuring web servers.

This time I will use the 32-bit version for the Raspberry Pi 4 B and hopefully it will be fast enough anyway to run Nextcloud (which has precompiled packages available) and boot it from a micro SD card.

Thank you once again. Additional comments are welcome.

[Czar]

Glad I could help.

Im running Raspberry OS Beta x64 (SSD only) at the moment, but there are three serious drawbacks:
- its not Arch
- using Wireguard is not possible (without tinkering)
- reboot sometimes fails - probably due to my usb->sata interface

I'm gonna test aarch64 some more (boot MicroSD + root on SSD), which hopefully should solve all three issues.

[Czar]

Missing eth0 interface fixed by setting start delay in systemd-networkd
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
#/etc/systemd/system/systemd-networkd.service.d/override.conf
[Service]
ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 10
')

[riku]

I spent last weekend struggling and solved the issue by uninstalling both uboot and mainline kernel and replacing them with this: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/linu ... 4-aarch64/. Now been running and booting for a week nicely from external enclosure + NVME SSD with no issues with SDHC messages or ethernet issues or uboot failure to initialize SSD. Also as this is Raspberry's own kernel all more exotic things work too.

Frankly I do not see what's the point with the mainline kernel and uboot - it would be much nicer if Arch provided Raspberry's own kernel by default on aarch64 too.

[CaptainRage]

@Czar: I ended up installing the arm7 version and was really happy that everything worked and went smoothly (having the /boot partition on a microSD card while keeping the /root partition on an external SSD). I even managed to set up a web server and fire up Nextcloud! Then, of course, only to find out after a few hours of struggles that ~ 3 GB is the technical hard limit for file uploads on 32 bit php, which basically defeated the whole purpose.(.............................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Now I've been trying to install aarch64, with u-boot, according to the instructions written on the Arch Linux ARM page, for over a day and haven't even managed to get the USB devices to work at boot. Adding pcie_brcmstb to MODULES=() in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and rebuilding (mkinitcpio -P) does absolutely nothing. Installing and replacing the kernal to linux-aarch64-rc doesn't make any difference whatsoever and overall tiny problems appear and are waiting around every corner.

I guess my best course of action is to swallow my pride, stick to the 32 bit version and try to hold out until the 64 bit Arch Linux ARM system actually becomes usable. It is beyond comprehension how there is no official 64 bit support for the Raspberry Pi 4 at this point.

Thank you for all the information! Hopefully people will get around to make this work better, or at all.

I also don't understand why aarch64 is used with a mainline kernel with u-boot in the official instructions instead of a 64 bit kernel for the Raspberry Pi 4 from the AUR that is pointed out above and apparently is working with the official firmware.

[Czar]

@CaptainRage

I used https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-4-usb-boot-config-guide-for-ssd-flash-drives/ when setting up root on SSD.

I don't understand the case with mainline/RPI kernel either.