Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Just got a MiSTer and need some help? Join the forum and post your questions here!
User avatar
Longtime4321
Posts: 97
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2022 5:17 am
Has thanked: 8 times
Been thanked: 15 times

Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by Longtime4321 »

I already have all of my games on a flash drive, I was wondering if I could store saves there as well. I'm currently using an accrylic case that wasn't designed with taking the sd card out in mind. Thanks!
jca
Top Contributor
Posts: 1911
Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 1:59 pm
Has thanked: 145 times
Been thanked: 454 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by jca »

Yes you can, both for saves and savestates.
1. Make a backup of /media/fat/saves and /media/fat/savestates to be sure.
2. Copy /media/fat/saves to /media/usb0/saves. Same thing for savestates.
3. Delete /media/fat/saves. Same for savestates.
4. Create a symbolic link /media/fat/saves -> /media/usb0/saves. Same for savestates.
You are set.
Psygho
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:46 pm
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by Psygho »

You could consider, to use the built in FTP server on Mister ? (if you sd card has plenty of space, to hold everything)
jca
Top Contributor
Posts: 1911
Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 1:59 pm
Has thanked: 145 times
Been thanked: 454 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by jca »

I think he want to put the saves on the USB drive, not the games on the SD card.
I forgot to mention that the procedure I mentioned can be done without having to remove the SD card. Use WinSCP for example to proceed with the 4 steps I mentioned.
Psygho
Posts: 28
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:46 pm
Has thanked: 1 time

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by Psygho »

Maybee...

I read this post, as: ,

I have an accrylic case, and can not, move sd card out easy.
Put games on USB, so I can put games on it, on easy ...
If this is the case, ftp, would work for him.


If its the case, that poster has not enough room on sd, or can not use ftp, or poster want everything on USB,then yes ....
jca
Top Contributor
Posts: 1911
Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 1:59 pm
Has thanked: 145 times
Been thanked: 454 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by jca »

Hopefully Longtimr4321 will give more details on what he wants to accomplish and regardless of what he wants to do he does not have to remove the SD card.
mist-rich
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2022 8:30 am
Has thanked: 102 times
Been thanked: 9 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by mist-rich »

Whilst slightly on topic, and apologies for the lack of knowledge (i am new to the FPGA). I notice it seems quite popular for use of external HDD drives hooked up to the Mister. With the speed of SD, size, low cost and general ease of use (multiple slots on the mister) I would have thought anything other then SD would be seen as a compromise rather then preferred. Just wondering if there are disadvantages to SD that I do not know of?
jca
Top Contributor
Posts: 1911
Joined: Wed May 27, 2020 1:59 pm
Has thanked: 145 times
Been thanked: 454 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by jca »

Wear and the fuller your SD card the faster it will wear out. Regarding the multiple SD card slots on MISTer only the one on the DE10 nano is really useful, first you need an I/O board to have the second one and only very few cores can make use of it but these cores can also use the main SD card instead (this is also more convenient).
Malor
Top Contributor
Posts: 860
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:50 pm
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 194 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by Malor »

As jca says, SD cards wear out, in terms of total bytes written. They will also lose their data after a year or so of being disconnected from power. Further, SD cards are often low quality, and fail prematurely. I just had to toss a 32G Samsung card because it failed, for instance, and it didn't have much actual wear on it.

SSDs are super robust, and are usually the best overall choice for most people, unless you think you might not have power for a long time. They have the same problem of needing to stay on to retain their data for long periods. Keep them running, and they'll outlast almost any spinning drive.

Hard drives are a little slower, and don't like to be moved when powered up. Their physical platters will usually fail long before an SSD that's been connected to power the whole time, but still offer solid data reliability, typically 5 years or more. And they're completely insensitive to power status; you can unplug one, leave it unplugged for a decade, and it should still read its data just fine.
mist-rich
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2022 8:30 am
Has thanked: 102 times
Been thanked: 9 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by mist-rich »

I didn't realise (i actually thought SD was kind of a mini SSD), i'll remember that and plan to hopefully do a backup of my cards soon.
Malor
Top Contributor
Posts: 860
Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2022 11:50 pm
Has thanked: 64 times
Been thanked: 194 times

Re: Can I put saves on a flash drive?

Unread post by Malor »

That's actually kinda true, because they're using the same underlying technology, but SDs just aren't made as well.
Post Reply