Tinker Board Forum

[HOWTO] Running tinkerboard from usb.

Tested on Tinker-OS 2.0.5.

Download tinker-os and flash to your SD card with etcher program.
Do the same with your desired usb-memory or usb-SSD or usb-HD that you want host tinker-os.
Shutdown your tinkerboard.
Turn on your tinkerboard booting only from SD card and no conected usb-disk.

Now on tinker-os...

Code:
sudo pcmanfm

Goto.../boot/ and create old-extlinux folder and copy your current /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf inside.

Open with leafpad /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf

Edit extlinux.conf this way...

label kernel-4.4
kernel /zImage
fdt /rk3288-miniarm.dtb

# booting from SD...
# append earlyprintk quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles console=tty1 rw init=/sbin/init

# booting from usb...
append earlyprintk quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles root=/dev/sda2 console=tty1 rw init=/sbin/init

Save and exit.
Shutdown your tinkerboard.
Plug in on your tinkerboard your usb-SSD and turn on your tinkerboard with the SD-card in SD slot.
SD is mandatory to booting tinkerboard.
Now you are booting from SD-card and running tinker-os from usb-SSD or usb-HD or usb-memory.

***

If you need access to your SD card from usb tinker-os running from usb...

Code:
sudo mkdir /mnt/mmcblk0p1

Code:
sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/mmcblk0p1

Code:
sudo mkdir /mnt/mmcblk0p2

Code:
sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 /mnt/mmcblk0p2

/mnt/mmcblk0p1/...is your first partition on SD card with /boot tinker-os.
In /mnt/mmcblk0p1/ is the /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf to boot tinkerboard.

/mnt/mmcblk0p2/...is your second partition on SD card with all / tinker-os from first boot SD-card.
But nothing is saved on SD-card with usb boot.TinkerOS now runs from /dev/sda2 on your usb-SSD.

Code:
sudo umount /mnt/mmcblk0p1

Code:
sudo umount /mnt/mmcblk0p2

To see your SD-card and usb-disk partitions...

Code:
lsblk

Code:
sudo apt-get install -y gparted

***

Now you are running tinker-os from usb and you have a backup of your first booting tinker-os in SD-card.

Testing write speed tinker-os running from usb...You need at least 3Gb free space on /

Code:
df -h

Code:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/testfile bs=16M count=128 oflag=direct && sync ; sudo rm -f /tmp/testfile

***

(04-11-2018, 01:29 PM)tinkerboy Wrote: [ -> ][HOWTO] Running tinkerboard from usb.

Tested on Tinker-OS 2.0.5.

Download tinker-os and flash to your SD card with etcher program.
Do the same with your desired usb-memory or usb-SSD or usb-HD that you want host tinker-os.
Shutdown your tinkerboard.
Turn on your tinkerboard booting only from SD card and no conected usb-disk.

Now on tinker-os...

Code:
sudo pcmanfm

Goto.../boot/ and create old-extlinux folder and copy your current /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf inside.

Open with leafpad /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf

Edit extlinux.conf this way...

label kernel-4.4
kernel /zImage
fdt /rk3288-miniarm.dtb

# booting from SD...
# append earlyprintk quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles console=tty1 rw init=/sbin/init

# booting from usb...
append earlyprintk quiet splash plymouth.ignore-serial-consoles root=/dev/sda2 console=tty1 rw init=/sbin/init

Save and exit.
Shutdown your tinkerboard.
Plug in on your tinkerboard your usb-SSD and turn on your tinkerboard with the SD-card in SD slot.
SD is mandatory to booting tinkerboard.
Now you are booting from SD-card and running tinker-os from usb-SSD or usb-HD or usb-memory.

***

If you need access to your SD card from usb tinker-os running from usb...

Code:
sudo mkdir /mnt/mmcblk0p1
Code:
sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /mnt/mmcblk0p1

Code:
sudo mkdir /mnt/mmcblk0p2
Code:
sudo mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 /mnt/mmcblk0p2

/mnt/mmcblk0p1/...is your first partition on SD card with /boot tinker-os.
In /mnt/mmcblk0p1/ is the /boot/extlinux/extlinux.conf to boot tinkerboard.

/mnt/mmcblk0p2/...is your second partition on SD card with all / tinker-os from first boot SD-card.
But nothing is saved on SD-card with usb boot.TinkerOS now runs from /dev/sda2 on your usb-SSD.

Code:
sudo umount /mnt/mmcblk0p1
Code:
sudo umount /mnt/mmcblk0p2

To see your SD-card and usb-disk partitions...

Code:
lsblk

Code:
sudo apt-get install -y gparted

***

Now you are running tinker-os from usb and you have a backup of your first booting tinker-os in SD-card.

Testing write speed tinker-os running from usb...You need at least 3Gb free space on /

Code:
df -h

Code:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/tmp/testfile bs=16M count=128 oflag=direct && sync ; sudo rm -f /tmp/testfile

***

I bought a sandisk 64gb usb, the little button size usb that doesn't stick out 3 inches. I notice that it doesn't get hot so I leave it plugged in all the time.
Good idea to clonezilla both drives to prevent having to reconfigure everything if something goes wrong.

https://tinkerboarding.co.uk/forum/threa...ight=clone

tinkerboy

Jay Smith