Is it possible to boot LibreELEC on RPi4 using SD card for system and USB for storage?

1st Official Post

    I asked this question on another thread but didn't want to highjack that thread so deleted and created a new thread...

    I am looking for best and/or recommended way to boot LibreELEC on RPi4 from SDcard for system and use USB for storage.

    I remember a few years ago I managed to boot LibreELEC on original RPi and RPi2 using using both SD card for system and USB for storage

    I followed the instruction on the Kode wiki page... HOW-TO:Install XBMC on Raspberry Pi with USB drive - Official Kodi Wiki

    I then edited the "cmdline.txt" file with following text...

    boot=LABEL=SYSTEM disk=LABEL=STORAGE ssh quiet

    This method worked successfully for several setups. But I understand this method may not work properly on the new RPi4.

    I have found some help online, but there are a few different methods and I'm not sure which best.

    Q1. Is it still recommended to use both SD card for boot and USB for storage to improve the preformance of the system and/or save wear and tear on the SD card.?

    Q1. If so, is it best to now use UUID instead of partition label?

    Q2. If I use my previous method (but use UUID instead of partition label), is it true that future updates could revert the setup back to SD card for both system and storage unless you change the partion label names (now called LIBREELEC and STORAGE)?.

    Is there a recommend best and/or safe method to do this, any good links I can use?

    Any help would be appreciated, as my memory/computer skills are not a good as they used to be. Thanks for any help you can provide.

    • Official Post

    On the RPi4 it is hoped in the future to be able to boot directly from USB rather than SD/USB. When this will happen, there is no timeline.

    Q1 - Yes, USB is much faster than SD - (especially with USB3), so storage on an external USB/SSD is far better (a SSD is even better). Then there is little I/O on the SD card.

    Q2 - I always use UUID as it's safer.

    Q3 - I'm not aware of anything that would cause that.

    Hi, sorry I forgot to say thank you for your reply and advice, much appreciated. I was distracted by other projects and forgot to check forum, but will now try a fresh install using SD card for boot and USB for storage similar to my previous method for RPi and RPi2.

    Quote from hughparker1

    Hi, sorry I forgot to say thank you for your reply and advice, much appreciated. I was distracted by other projects and forgot to check forum, but will now try a fresh install using SD card for boot and USB for storage similar to my previous method for RPi and RPi2.

    if you have working this could you let us know?

    Hi there, I would like to do exactly so, boot from sd card and configure storage on an usb device. Unfortunately I’m lost on this. I checked the wiki and tried to find out how to do this but I don’t have enough knowledge yet to understand it. May I ask for a detailed description about the single steps to follow to get this setup?. Thanks for your support!.

    • Official Post
    Quote from Icue

    Hi there, I would like to do exactly so, boot from sd card and configure storage on an usb device.

    Here is one of the tutorials: Raspberry Pi 4 USB Boot Config Guide for SSD / Flash Drives

    Don't be fooled by its title, that article is not literally about 'usb booting'.

    Booting directly from USB is possible on the RPi3B+ and now on the RPi 4 as well, but things are still in a beta/testing phase on the latter.