Issues with usb boot on the Orange Pi 5: does only the Sabrent 3.5 inch HDD enclosure work for usb SSD booting?

Last Updated on May 11, 2023 by pg@petergamma.org

  • a 3.5 inch HDD enclose can be used instead of the M2 MVNe to boot from, if we want the MVNE slot to be free for a WIFI and Bluetooth module, but is it a handy storage device for the Orange Pi 5 for mobile use?
  • at 7:18 in the video, the higher score is better, the MVNe drive is 12 times better than the 3.5 inch HDD drive.
  • The HDD is faster and more durable than SD cards, but the 3.5 Sabrent HDD enclosure is also much bigger, but is an option to boot a HDD from usb with the Orange Pi 5.
  • This eventually depend on the exact HDD enclosure type, as we know from Raspberry Pis
  • If you want to reproduce this example be sure to buy exactly the same model as shown in the video.
  • booting from USB with SBCs is tricky, as the example Raspberrry Pi shows:

Issues with booting from usb with the Rasperry Pi 4

  • we failed to boot from usb with a RP4 and an usb-c drive with m2 ssd
  • we failed to boot from usb with a RP4 and an usb3 with 2.5 inch HD enclosure with SSD
  • we manged to boot from usb with a Raspberry P4 and an usb2 with 2.5 inch HD enclosure with SSD
  • leepspvideo has videos where he shows usb adapters and usb enclosures which work with the Raspberry Pi to boot from usb
  • but many of those are expensive or not available in Switzerland
  • Some Raspberry Pi shops offer usb cables which work to boot with with a Raspberry Pi
  • But leepspvideo hat problems with a cable which worked with the Raspberry Pi to boot with the Orange Pi 5, so it cannot be taken over from the example Raspberry Pi

The option shown here with the 3.5 Sabrent HDD enclosure is the only option we know to this date which has shown to be capable of booting a HDD from an usb connector of the Orange Pi 5.