[arm-allstar] Boot from Raspberry Pi 3B+ USB Stick

Fri Jan 1 18:39:52 EST 2021

Ah yes - I've seen these buck converters before! I watch a guy on YouTube
that speaks very highly of them.

Awesome idea!!!

Thanks again!

***************************************************
Georgia Digital: http://dmr.georgiadigital.net/ipsc
GeorgiaDMR.net on Groups.io: https://groups.io/g/GeorgiaDMR
Appalachian Trail Golden Packet: https://atgp.groups.io/g/main
***************************************************

Jeff Hochberg
W4JEW
Atlanta, GA
404-304-4575
jeff at w4jew.com

On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 6:34 PM David McGough <kb4fxc at inttek.net> wrote:

>
> Hi Jeff,
>
> Okay about the stability issues with the existing installation.  Yes, the
> Repeater Builder USB audio fobs should work great.
>
> I've gone through several iterations of installation methods, over the
> years.  My current best practice is to power the RPi boards directly from
> the repeater 13.8VDC power supply, which are high-quality switchers
> with full-time battery backup.  I use 5V3A DC-DC converters for the RPi
> boards, with 13.8VDC input.  These are the DC-DC converters I'm using.
> They have also operated flawlessly. I purchase 10 at the time.
>
> https://www.ebay.com/itm/382800473521
>
> ....There is a caveat with these converters---make sure to set them to
> 5VDC output before attaching to the RPi!
>
>
> 73, David KB4FXC
>
>
>
> On Fri, 1 Jan 2021, Jeff Hochberg wrote:
>
> > Hi David,
> >
> > Thanks for your reply. That's a valid point about the power supply. We
> > currently have a RPi 3B at our primary repeater site running Raspberry Pi
> > OS and svxlink - as our EchoLink server.
> >
> > It's been horribly unstable and I've questioned if it was the SD card or
> > the power supply. We've replaced the SD card 3 times, yet we still
> continue
> > to have stability issues. I applied updates to the Pi yesterday, rebooted
> > it, and it will not come back online. We have an APC remote
> > manageable power strip at the site, so I can power cycle the Pi remotely.
> > I've tried power cycling it several times to no avail.
> >
> > Right before you replied, I decided to abandon the USB stick boot effort
> > and went back to using a SanDisk Ultra SD card.
> >
> > Sorry to go sideways on the thread.... I'm new to AllStar and under the
> gun
> > to get things going.
> >
> > At this point, I've decided to build a new RPi (3B+) running the Hamvoip
> > image, then enabling the EchoLink module. We do have an AllStar Node ID
> but
> > have never used it before.
> >
> > For what it's worth - we have a USB audio card from Repeater Builder -
> IRRC
> > (C-Media chipset) that's connected to the svxlink box, then that goes to
> > our RLC controller.
> >
> > I have a USB sound card here (also with a C-Media chipset - I believe the
> > exact same chipset), so I'm going through the setup process hoping that
> > when I remove the USB sound card I'm using temporarily and replace it
> with
> > the production USB sound card, that all will work well.
> >
> > Does this sound like an OK approach? Are others using the Hamvoip image
> to
> > connect into a controller as opposed to directly to a radio?
> >
> > At this point, we're mostly concerned with getting EchoLink back online
> but
> > would love to start offering AllStar as well, hence the switch from
> svxlink.
> >
> > Thanks so much for responding on New Years Day!!!
> >
> > Best Regards,
> >
> > -JeffH
> >
> >
> > ***************************************************
> > Georgia Digital: http://dmr.georgiadigital.net/ipsc
> > GeorgiaDMR.net on Groups.io: https://groups.io/g/GeorgiaDMR
> > Appalachian Trail Golden Packet: https://atgp.groups.io/g/main
> > ***************************************************
> >
> > Jeff Hochberg
> > W4JEW
> > Atlanta, GA
> > 404-304-4575
> > jeff at w4jew.com
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 5:52 PM David McGough <kb4fxc at inttek.net> wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > Jeff,
> > >
> > > I don't recommend trying to use a USB storage device for booting and
> daily
> > > operations for a RPi3B+.  If you're having SD card reliability issues
> and
> > > you're using high quality SD cards, you've got a weak power supply
> > > problem.
> > >
> > > I've got a whole fleet of RPi systems installed, all with Sandisk SD
> > > cards, and zero issues. Many of these systems have been installed for
> > > years.  Here are uptimes right this minute for 2 RPi3B+ boards sitting
> > > 1700 feet up a tall TV tower; both using Sandisk 16GB SD cards:
> > >
> > > [root at repeater-146820 ~]# uptime
> > >  17:47:22 up 337 days,  1:51,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
> > >
> > > [root at repeater-444850 ~]# uptime
> > >  17:47:51 up 337 days,  1:45,  1 user,  load average: 0.00, 0.02, 0.00
> > >
> > > Here are the cards I'm using:
> > >
> > > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MR6K8PD/
> > >
> > >
> > > 73, David KB4FXC
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, 1 Jan 2021, "Jeff Hochberg via ARM-allstar" wrote:
> > >
> > > > I'd much rather run the Pi off USB storage as I've found it to be
> much
> > > more
> > > > reliable than running off an SD card.
> > > >
> > > > Has anyone been able to install the RPI image then boot from a USB
> stick
> > > > instead of SD card?
> > > >
> > > > I installed the 1.6 image (via dd) to both an SD card and a USB
> stick.
> > > >
> > > > I also installed Raspberry Pi OS to a DIFFERENT SD card and
> DIFFERENT USB
> > > > stick. I was able to confirm that the Pi 3B+ will boot from the USB
> stick
> > > > running Raspberry Pi OS.
> > > >
> > > > I found some articles that cover making a couple of changes to
> > > cmdline.txt
> > > > (change root to root=/devsda2) and /etc/fstab (change boot to
> /dev/sda1),
> > > > but the Pi simply won't boot.
> > > >
> > > > I do see a flurry of disk activity on the USB stick at first, then
> the
> > > > green LED on the Pi flashes 2 or 3 times in rapid succession,
> followed
> > > by a
> > > > delay, followed by flashing 2 or 3 times in rapid succession (and so
> on).
> > > >
> > > > Any thoughts?
> > > >
> > > > ***************************************************
> > > > Georgia Digital: http://dmr.georgiadigital.net/ipsc
> > > > GeorgiaDMR.net on Groups.io: https://groups.io/g/GeorgiaDMR
> > > > Appalachian Trail Golden Packet: https://atgp.groups.io/g/main
> > > > ***************************************************
> > > >
> > > > Jeff Hochberg
> > > > W4JEW
> > > > Atlanta, GA
> > > > 404-304-4575
> > > > jeff at w4jew.com
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > >
> > > > ARM-allstar mailing list
> > > > ARM-allstar at hamvoip.org
> > > > http://lists.hamvoip.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/arm-allstar
> > > >
> > > > Visit the BBB and RPi2/3/4 web page - http://hamvoip.org
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>