USB to store library content for RPi?

northpole · October 9, 2016 at 7:09 AM

During initial days when we were adopting Openelec in RPi, it was recommended to use a USB stick to store all the library/artwork instead of the SD/uSD card.

Is it still required for RPi2/3 with Libreelec? Would it help improve speed of library list/page changes? I changed to a brand new 32GB class 10 Sandisk card (checked and doesn't looks counterfeit), but it still takes a second or two to load thumbnails once in a while.

I just have one instance of Kodi so there are no plans of installing a MySQL database for library.
Appreciate any help.

**Klojum** · October 9, 2016 at 8:54 AM Official Post

Placing stuff on USB sticks was more due to the inital SD card corruption (which has become much less but is still possible) and the thought that USB sticks were faster.

SD cards are just as fast on a RPi box, or the speed difference is at least hardly noticeable.
If you want more reliable storage, use a HDD or a SSD (which has TRIM functions).
RPi defaults to not immediately create thumbnails (because of the slow-er hardware).
Also, Sandisk cards like others can have good read speeds, but mediocre write speeds.

And basically, don't compare a 35 dollar kid's toy to a genuine Intel pc in terms of speed.

northpole · October 11, 2016 at 8:32 AM

Thanks Klojum. I understand the limitations of RPi (and it's not that bad) and I am ok to live with it. I store all my media on NAS, mounted on LE over NFS. It plays 1080p files fine over wired network.
And I see LE stores only thumbnails & other static content on uSD, so a fraction of second more to load thumbnails is ok.

**chewitt** · October 11, 2016 at 9:20 AM Official Post

"back in the day" when people spent hours in forums debating the merits of class10 cards over class4 etc. there was some value in splitting things over a USB, but if you have content on a NAS and with a decent branded 8GB SD card costing $peanuts, the extra hassle it brings around updates isn't worth it IMHO.

JimmySmith · October 12, 2016 at 7:01 PM

its not needed.. And never was. But I used it a long time, and (mostly due cache images / thumbs) I will continue with that, even with library stored somewhere else inside DB. As was stated, not due speed (USB HDD is better choice), but due to possible corruption. With USB I got literally zero SD card corruption in years.. Just using it for load OS and thats it. Must admit, my Pi's running 24/7 but still, I am happy how stable they are.

Not sure what hassle chewitt refers, its just edit on line in config.txt and copy partition on USB, right? And update (.tar -> ./update) never was a problem to me, everything works just fine (last X updates I even do completelly remotelly from other appartment, just copy and reboot)..