OpenMediaVault Boot from USB/SSD without SD Card | Raspberry Pi 4

In this segment, we are going to show you “OpenMediaVault Boot from USB/SSD without using SD card on Raspberry Pi 4

What is OpenMediaVault?

openmediavault

OpenMediaVault (OMV) is a free Linux distribution designed for network-attached storage (NAS). The project’s lead developer is Volker Theile, who instituted it in 2009. OMV is based on the Debian operating system and is licensed through the GNU General Public License v3.

Source//Wikipedia

Software Required :

For this Practical, we need a Raspberry pi 4 board with Raspberry Pi OS Desktop version installed.

Equipment Required Optional
Raspberry Pi Raspberry Pi 4 Case
SD_Card SD Card
Raspberry Pi Keyboard
Ethernet Ethernet Cable Mouse
Charger Power Adapter
HDD External HDD
Shop now


  • To start the practical first, we need to update and upgrade the system. Followed by RPI-update to get the latest Firmware updates as well.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo rpi-update
sudo reboot
  • Once the process complete then we can go ahead and reboot the system.
  • After the system reboot completes, we can go ahead and start installing RPI-EEPROM and edit its file and replace critical updates to beta updates.
sudo apt install rpi-eeprom
sudo nano /etc/default/rpi-eeprom-update
  • Now we can use crtl-x and Y, to save the file configuration.
sudo rpi-eeprom-update -d -f 
sudo rpi-eeprom-update -d -f /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/beta/pieeprom-2020-05-15.bin
  • Once the file saved successfully, then we can go ahead and update the RPI-EEPROM to beta updates by using the above commands. Then we can reboot the system again.
  • Now we are ready to check out the latest BootLoader version by using below given command.
vcgencmd bootloader_version

Result:

Bootloader_version

  • Once we are on the latest boot version i.e of the latest month, then we can check the BootLoader config.
vcgencmd bootloader_config

Result:

Bootloader_config

  • Here we need to check for BOOTORDER=0xF41. Here, 4 stands for booting from USB, and 1 is booting from the SD Card.
  • Once all the above processes completed successfully then we can go ahead and connect a USB/SSD to our Raspberry Pi 4 to copy the SD Card into the USB drive.

SD_Card_Copier

  • To initiate this process we need to navigate on to Raspberry Pi icon and move to Accessibility then open SD Card Copier. Here we need to select our SD Card in Copy From Device and then Copy To Device will be our USB drive.
  • And then we need to hit start it will take around 5 minutes to complete the process.

SD_Card_Copier

  • Now, we need to turn off the Raspberry Pi either from Terminal or from Pi icon. Then wait for the Pi to completely turn off and then remove the SD Card and leave the USB drive in the Pi.
  • At this stage, we are ready to boot our system from the USB drive. Now you can turn on the Pi and it will boot into Raspberry OS from the USB drive.
  • Note: If the system fails to boot from USB/SSD we can go ahead and copy all .elf and .dat files from our SD card into the boot directory of our new USB/SSD.

OpenMediaVault Installation

  • Finally, we are all set to install OpenMediaVault to our Raspberry Pi OS which is right now working from the USB drive. To install the OpenMediaVault we need to run the below-given command and follow the on-screen instructions.
wget -O - https://github.com/OpenMediaVault-Plugin-Developers/installScript/raw/master/install | sudo bash
  • If the download process halt in between press q to quit that particular page.
  • At last, we need to reboot the system, after the successful download of OpenMediaVault.
sudo reboot

Access OpenMediaVault Web Interface

  • To access the OpenMediaVault Web Interface we need to use the same IP Address of our Raspberry Pi after 2-3 minutes.

OpenMediaVault Address = Your Raspberry Pi IP Address

  • After that, we need to enter the Username & Password and login to our OpenMediaVault.
Default Username: admin 
Default Password: openmediavault

OpenMediaVault 5 on Raspberry Pi

OpenMediaVault Configuration

  • Firstly, you need to change Auto logout to Disabled.
  • Secondly, change the Web Administrative Password to a strong password of your choice.
  • Thirdly, navigate to system > Network and add an Ethernet interface.
  • Under General Settings, we need to select our eth0 Ethernet Interface.
  • After that under IPv4, we need to select DHCP and save the configuration.

openmediavault 5

  • Finally, we need to navigate to services to SSH enable Permit root login.
Default Username: pi 
Default Password: use the password that you have changed.

OpenMediaVault SSH Login

  • After that, open Putty uses the Raspberry Pi address to log in as root.
  • Further, It will prompt you to change the password on the first login.

OpenMediaVault Update & Upgrade

  • Further, we need to Update & Upgrade our Openmediavault Packages.
sudo su 
apt-get update 
apt-get upgrade

Please check out my other articles:

In conclusion

  • You are all set to Boot your OpenMediaVault on Raspberry pi 4 from a USB/SSD drive for better performance.
  • Enjoy using OpenMediaVault, share your thoughts about the article.

Did you find us helpful?

Subscribe our YouTube Channel YouTube
Support us on Patreon Patreon
Like us on Facebook facebook
Share This Article with others

Harish Kumar

As a founder of the PcMac YouTube channel and website, Our goal is to provide Free Technical help to people and spread knowledge to everyone.
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
7 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
aab
aab
4 years ago

Latest stable firmware 2020-06-15

sudo rpi-eeprom-update -d -f /lib/firmware/raspberrypi/bootloader/stable/pieeprom-2020-06-15.bin

Thanks,

aab
aab
Reply to  aab
4 years ago

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ vcgencmd bootloader_version
Jun 15 2020 14:36:19
version c302dea096cc79f102cec12aeeb51abf392bd781 (release)
timestamp 1592228179

chest069
chest069
4 years ago

Hello,
I am new to all of this and I just installed Raspbian Lite and OMV 5 to my SD card and saw this afterwards. Is there a way that I can move my Raspbian install and my OMV 5 install to my SSD all at once and have it boot from that instead of the SD card in the Raspberry Pi? In the end I would like to run and install future programs to my SSD and be able to always boot from the SSD not the SD card.
Hopefully my question makes sense.

Brian
Brian
3 years ago

Thank you for the write up!
Can I do this with two or more SSDs?
I am thinking to have the OS on one SSD and then two more dedicated to storage.
Would I plug all three into a powered hub?
Or would I plug the SSD with the OS on it to one of the USB 3.0 ports and then the other two to a powered hub (and into the other USB 3.0 on the pi)?

Gabe
Gabe
3 years ago

Will this procedure work on a Raspberry Pi 3?

Andy
Andy
3 years ago

Is raspian required in order to boot from USB?