MiSTer FPGA Forum

I can't seem to find a current, comprehensive tutorial on using the external drive. I've found a number of tutorials going back to 2019. Some of the details have changed over time (how to modify the update_all script), but I haven't found one that covers everything, nor have I found one that worked for me. Trying to find answers online has been frustrating and I haven't been able to solve some of the issues I still have:

1. I have the arcade and Coleco cores/roms on the SSD, and the rest on the SDCard. The instructions state that the Mister will look on the SSD first, then the SDCard, and the tutorials I've seen show that all of the cores on both the SSD and the SDCard should show up. When I start my Mister, only those on the SSD show up.
2. I'm still trying to figure out how to use the update_all script for the external drive. The https://github.com/theypsilon/Update_All_MiSTer page, under Alternative Setups, has a link to the "usb0 ZIP" with the instructions: "You will be able to run this script from there and install all cores, roms, and MRAs on /media/usb0" Run it from "there?" Where's "there?" Do I put it in the SDCard Scripts directory or on the external drive? When I put it on the external drive, it gives me a permissions error in that the external drive is mounted with the noexec option. Nowhere on the tutorials does it say anything about permissions or changing the mounting options. When I put the script on the SDCard, none of the scripts show up when the external drive is being used. When I tried the usb0 ZIP script with the external drive turned off (so I have access to the script), it doesn't put any files onto the external drive.

I get the impression that there is something small I'm getting wrong, but the tutorials don't give any explanation. The answers I've found through searches are either outdated, or complex or require major changes that I would expect would be included in the tutorials. Somebody must have encountered these issues before, and I apologize if this has been asked before, but I just can't seem to find any answers.

Hey there, sorry I can't help with a guide exactly, but been doing some googlin'. There are a lot of ways for HDD to not work haha. Maybe you can try these fixes? and the more info you post the better, thanks.

#1 Do you have enough power to run your drive? Make sure, this can cause hard to diagnose problems. You might need a bigger PSU. If yes, just look on here for PSU reviews.

#2 Linux cares about case sensitivity but Windows does not, heads up.

#3 Try booting MiSTer and then manually mounting the drive after. I've just heard anecdotally this works, sounds maybe power related?

#4 IMHO you need to get the drive working reliably and next worry about update-all. It goes in your scripts directory, with your other scripts. That's on your SD card if I'm understanding you.

Good luck

Thanks for the input. Starting my responses with the last point:

#4: Thanks for verifying that the scripts should all be on the SDCard. That made the most sense, but I just needed to verify.

#1: I am using a 12V 2A wall power supply, powering a PicoPSU-80-WI-32V ATX 80W power supply unit, which is installed in a Mini-ITX Ironclad Plus motherboard. The SSD is connected to the USB 6 header using a Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD Adapter. The wall power supply unit can't supply the full power capability of the PSU, but I have read that the 24W should be enough to power the MiSTer with an external SSD.

The drive appears to work fine. I am able to copy files from the SDCard to the SSD using the command line, connecting through ssh. I have also been able to copy files using the Samba shared folders. If I copy the /media/fat/games/mame folder contents to /media/usb0/games/mame, and the /media/fat/_Arcade folder contents to /media/usb0/_Arcade, and select the "Use USB" option on the F12 menu, the Arcade cores will show up and I can load the cores without any issues. I would need to hook up a kill-a-watt or something to measure the actual power, but I haven't seen any anomalous behavior that would suggest the SSD isn't being powered properly.

#3: I've started up the MiSTer with the SSD connected and connected to a ssh terminal. The SSD is automatically mounted on startup to /media/usb0, even when the system is configured to "Use SD Card" on the F12 menu. I un-mounted and re-mounted the SSD and it didn't seem to change anything.

In my latest testing, I have reformatted the SSD from NTFS to exFAT, and started by copying over just the "games" directory. It contained the mame, hbmame, Coleco, NeoGeo, Gameboy, and several other rom sets. When I select the external drive on the F12 menu, none of the cores are listed. Again, it was my understanding that the .rbf and .mra files could remain on the SDCard, and that you could put only the ROMS on the SSD? In doing that, the system would go through the path priority (https://mister-devel.github.io/MkDocs_M ... res/paths/), displaying a mix of files on the SDCard and the external drive? Can anyone verify this?

If I then copy the /media/fat/_Arcade files to /media/usb0/_Arcade, the arcade cores now display on the main window and I can run any of the arcade games. But none of the other cores show up. (they are all on the SDCard)

Any idea why this is happening?

Are you meaning you are using the Switch to USB option ?

If so dont its not what you think and is basically outdated.

Yes, I was using the Switch to USB option.

If that's outdated, what is the current up-to-date method? Where is that documented?

Why is that still an option, and what does it really do?

Thanks.

So it was the "Switch to USB" option that was causing my problems. It now works. I moved only the /media/fat/games moved over to the external drive, and I deselected the "Switch to USB" option so that it is set to use the SDCard. Everything is working as it should now. The cores are on the SDCard and the ROMS are on the external drive, and everything shows up and runs properly from the main menu.

Its for a full switch to USB which you dont want. The scripts dont work with that option. Essentially you have reachewd the solution I use. Games on the SSD and everything else on the SD card.

Over the years I have been using a USB drive with various configurations,starting with "Switch to USB" and ending with removing this option and using symlinks. I made many posts about that but here is a short explanation.
You can move almost any folder from the SD card to the USB drive as long as you create symlinks from SD to USB for these directories
Directories which you should keep on the SD card: config, linux, Scripts.
You also have to be very careful with ini files:

In downloader.ini:
base_path = '/media/fat/'
storage_priority = 'prefer_sd'
base_system_path = '/media/fat/'

If you placed Arcade stuff on the USB drive you have to create 2 ini files in the Script folder.

update_mame-getter.ini:
ROMMAME="/media/usb0/games/mame"
MRADIR="/media/usb0/_Arcade"

update_hbmame-getter.ini:
ROMHBMAME="/media/usb0/games/hbmame"
MRADIR="/media/usb0/_Arcade"

IMPORTANT: these 2 ini files are for my own settings, you may have to modify them according to your own setup.

I have been using this for many many months without any problem but there is a little annoyance if your USB drive takes time to startup:
when you boot MISTer the drive may not have been mounted yet and the Menu will display No Files! Wait a little for the drive to be mounted and press F12 twice to switch the menu back and forth, the menu should display the usual stuff.

The "Switch to USB" option seems to exist mostly to confuse new users. I lost hours of my life troubleshooting this, in addition to the youtube tutorial I was watching using incorrect case for creating folder names.

Thats why ExFat is a good thing to format the drive. its case insensitive

I'm pretty sure the firmware on the DE-10 requires that you boot from SD. You'll probably need at least u-boot and the Linux kernel there.

At least hypothetically, the kernel could be coerced into booting from a hard drive, probably via u-boot arguments giving it a new root UUID. But you'd have to build something like that yourself.