#Upgrading SD to SSD

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

buoyant remnant
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Hey, I’m upgrading Home Assistant on a Pi 4 (4GB) and want to move from microSD to SSD as my 16gb sd card is not enough to keep it going and updating. I’ve got an old micron SSD from 2013 (128GB, SATA, says 5V 2A, 6Gbps).

I’m not sure about a few things:

  1. Can the Pi 4 actually power this SSD directly? USB 3.0 only gives ~1.2A total across all ports if im correct? Or do I need a powered USB hub / self-powered enclosure?

  2. What SSDs + enclosures actually work well on a Pi 4? UASP support, no random disconnects, etc.

  3. Is it reccomended to maybe just upgrade the SD card instead? If so what should i look out for?

Basically just want a solid, stable HA setup without random disconnects or power issues. Thanks!

hexed cradle
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If your budget allows, you might be better off upgrading to a mini PC with a proper SATA interface

fair wedge
fair wedge
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That said, I have a RPi 4 4Gb with a 512GB SSD, and it works perfect

unreal egret
fair wedge
buoyant remnant
buoyant remnant
buoyant remnant
hexed cradle
hexed cradle
buoyant remnant
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On amazon adapters r usually < 20 bucks

buoyant remnant
hexed cradle
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Yes

unreal egret
unreal egret
buoyant remnant
unreal egret
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ok, then by all means go SSD on Pi - use HA OS

fair wedge
fair wedge
unreal egret
# buoyant remnant Hey, I’m upgrading Home Assistant on a Pi 4 (4GB) and want to move from microSD ...

Answers to your original questions:

1). Yes the Pi 4 can power a SSD via a USB to SATA cable. You should use a psu that supplies the Pi with at least 2A.
2). Any enclosure you like providing it is for a single drive only. If multiple drives then need to check power.
3). No - SD cards are not suitable for a large number of write operations - ha writes to logs and database a lot

Most Sata SSD's will use around 2-3 watts so up to 1.5a. As you have already said the Pi4 has a power budget of 1.2A combined. So if you use an SSD you shouldn't use any other power hungry devices.

A zigbee dongle will draw between 20mA and 60mA so should be fine to run alongside an SSD - just use an extension lead to reduce interference.

buoyant remnant
# unreal egret Answers to your original questions: 1). Yes the Pi 4 can power a SSD via a USB ...

Its been running on a smaller 16gb for a pretty long time without issues, just no more space anymore, cant do updates and history is wiped after just 3 days. The pi currently has no attached devices, it uses the official charger and the ssd would be the only attached peripheral, but will a better psu make it able to provide more to the usb ports then? (We may want to add other peripherals in the far future but i dont think near future)

coral orchid
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I wouldn't recommend using an USB SSD and a zigbee USB dongle as there are interferences between them but if the SSD is the only USB device it should run stable.

unreal egret
buoyant remnant
coral orchid
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A Raspberry pi is totally fine. I run HA on a PI 5 with an NVMe SSD hat.

buoyant remnant
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Mine says 3 amps ~15w

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The charger

unreal egret
# buoyant remnant The charger

That would be fine and maybe they changed them since I got mine when the pi4 first came out.

Funny as they are worth more now than when i bought them.

buoyant remnant
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So since mine is a 3A power supply it is certainly able to power any ssd in any enclosure?