accessing sd card from usb

Having trouble with your GBZ build? Ask your questions here!
Post Reply
User avatar
antonym
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 12:33 am
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 1 time

accessing sd card from usb

Post by antonym » Tue Jan 08, 2019 10:42 pm

Okay, so I have no idea if this is a dumb question or not, but could it be possible to access the sd card from a usb port on a raspberry pi?

I think it would be so convenient to be able to turn off the pi and access the sd card via usb without having to open up the build and get the sd card out.

thoughts? :?

User avatar
ekilla
Posts: 171
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:04 am
Has thanked: 49 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by ekilla » Wed Jan 09, 2019 12:34 pm

Hi. Am I right if I assume you have no experience at all with retropie or other os on the PI?

Since usually you would Access the SD Card via network.
You can use a USB Stick to transfer Roms to retropie.

User avatar
antonym
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 12:33 am
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by antonym » Wed Jan 09, 2019 4:13 pm

I understand that. I've very scarcely used raspbian on the pi before, so I have very little experience with these things, which is why I haven't much of a clue about this stuff :?

But I was just wondering because if I ever wanted to access the information on the sd card without opening a project up, it would be incredibly helpful to have a way to access it through an instilled usb to sd card adapter. I don't know what specific case I would need to do that in, but if I ever had to replace the operating system or something like that, I wouldn't want to have to open up the build.

User avatar
ekilla
Posts: 171
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:04 am
Has thanked: 49 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by ekilla » Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:10 am

You can have access the contend of the SD Card using WiFi if you use an PI 0 W (build in wifi) or if you install an USB WIFI Dongle inside you PI 0 build.

You can have access to the SD Card itself if you either mount the PI in a way that you can use a Slot that you cut in your build to reach the card

Or you use a sd card cartridge Extension like they are sold in this forum. Your SD Card sits in the gb cardridge which you can remove.
I need to see who sells them.
I have one at home to, but I'm not going to use it, since its not very likely you need to remove the SD Card.

If you need to do it once, opening the case should be no problem.

McGyver
Posts: 226
Joined: Tue Jan 31, 2017 11:06 am
Location: Tianjin / China
Has thanked: 25 times
Been thanked: 53 times

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by McGyver » Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:50 am

For sd card extension: there are exiting adapter cables for sd extension on aliexpress and maybe ebay.
Be aware: if you read the sd card direct by your computer and not via wifi you will see no real usefull contend on windows or mac by default because of linux file format (ext4). This is for the most user another reason to prefer wifi access.

User avatar
moosepr
Posts: 524
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:18 am
Has thanked: 69 times
Been thanked: 241 times
Contact:

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by moosepr » Fri Jan 11, 2019 8:27 am

There are 'Gadget' modes you can enable on the zero, they let it pretend to be various things like a network device, or even a storage device. They are not the perfect system though. You have to create a dummy file system within the pi filesystem which will then get used as what the usb port can see. You could technically use that to copy files then use ssh to then move those files to where they need to be. It would be simpler to actually just use the ssh connection to transfer the files directly using something like winscp.

https://gist.github.com/gbaman/50b6cca61dd1c3f88f41
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919

User avatar
antonym
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2017 12:33 am
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by antonym » Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:33 pm

McGyver wrote:
Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:50 am
For sd card extension: there are exiting adapter cables for sd extension on aliexpress and maybe ebay.
Be aware: if you read the sd card direct by your computer and not via wifi you will see no real usefull contend on windows or mac by default because of linux file format (ext4). This is for the most user another reason to prefer wifi access.
I really like this idea of using an adapter cable to make the card easily accessible. I, however, was unaware that some files would be unreadable because of the linux file format. That's some good knowledge to know! :) In the meantime, I think I might just use the adapter cable for my builds to make the sd card easily accessible, but I'll probably use wifi to be able to access it if need be. Thanks! :D

Effin Enjeffin
Posts: 10
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2019 12:22 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: accessing sd card from usb

Post by Effin Enjeffin » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:50 am

You could also boot a windows computer into a version of linux on a thumb drive. This is a useful skill to have anyway in case windows crashes or gets infected. Once in linux you will be able to read your SD card
https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-mult ... b-creator/

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest