I’d like to install OpenWrt on my Pi4 but instead of « burning » the image on a µSD card I would like to proceed the installation on a bootable SSD configuration, no µSD card.
Is suspect it is probably a trivial procedure but I have no idea how to proceed.
Should I just utilize balenaEtcher and burn the image on the SSD drive and boot the thing?
The main reason behind the change is that I was reading about µSD cards are not as durable as an SSD drive. Since SSD drive prices have dropped significantly, I figured, why not the little extra expense and go for a durable solution.
I guess one question remain to be answered: Is the µSD card on the Pi4 extensively utilzed? I mean, many IO/second written on the card, or is it just used for booting the OS and then go dormant ? If so, It may not be worth the trouble.
What's your opinion?
There are some tables and logs that will write to the SSD sd card if you want them preserved beyond a reboot but the... ... all routers boot from flash (in a pi sd or ssd) then run in ram.
They are not part of the 'normal' install.
So, do you want a ton of features and logs you will never look at?
If you want to resize the partition to use the full card, you need to use the ext4 format.
Give me a second I'll send you a link of the best install with common features.
Do you have any ethernet dongles or wi-fi dongles you want to use?
Yes, thanks, I already did all this. My installation works great. The µSD card has been extended to release the whole 32gig. I have a USB3-to-Ethernet adapter and my R6200 NETGEAR router is connected to the Pi4 Ethernet port. Which is great for now I have full WiFi and 4 Ethernet ports fully functional through my VPN subscription.
I just thought about the SSD as a second possibility.
It is and some of these people have x86 machines with all kinds of stuff running and they write to the drive.
But the only time I see my Pi read the sd card is at boot.
If longevity is precious you can buy an industrial grade sd card but they just got to Amazon recently and they were close to $40.00 for 4GB cards before.
rotflmao..!!!! i let autocorrect make precious precocious.
At the current price of regular µSD card, I will stick to the current one and have a backup ready to plug in. If any problems occurs the the one I'm using, I'll just have to quickly replace it and continue. $40 for a 4GB is not worth it. A cheap card will be fine for a long time. I'll just assume it as a consumable.
Oh! Well, sorry I couldn't tell you about mine, for the Pi4 is in its enclosure.
I would have to dismantle the installation to look inside.
But, as far as I remember, I do not remember any LED flashing on the Pi4.
If you pick SquashFS image, then the write to the flash is limited, unless you make collectd to store data permanently.
I also own a few Pi, I know the frustration when there is bad SD card, but you don't need SSD, probably a USB memory stick can do a lot better and cheaper here. I have ancient 1GB-4GB size USB memory stick which were abandon from those Juniper routers installation, boot OpenWrt on it and it's amazing,