222 SSD Installs on Raspberry Pi Computers

by David@ColeCanada.com

on 2025CMar01 at 23:55

Installing an NVMe SSD on an RPi 5 PCIe 2.0 interface V02

(This draft is in text format, but final should be an html web page)

Introduction:

Installing an NVMe SSD on an RPi 5 PCIe 2.0 interface V02

(This draft is in text format, but the final should be an html web page)

Notes:

-Either a 256 GB or 512 GB NVMe SSD can be used

-You will need

...RPi 5B (8GB or 16GB)

...5V USB-C power supply for the RPi5

...keyboard

...mouse

...TV and micro HDMI cable

...an empty 32GB microSD card

...a live Ethernet cable

...an optional 110v switch is desireable

...a live router

-Remove all power before connecting any components

-The SSD arrives empty and must be formatted

-An NVMe SSD can be used either with a USB interface board (on any Pi) or with the RPi5 PCIe 2.0 interface but once formatted for USB, it cannot the used with the PCIe interface connector.

-This procedure describes installing an NVMe SSD and the M.2 HAT+ board to the PCIe

-Only install the Bookworm OS 64 bit

-Be sure to install the 40 pin expander to allow room for a future cooling device

-A fan is not necessary for the RPi 5 for this procedure to succeed

-Avoid using the PineBoard, NVPI5-2280B or WaveShare HAT as your first try

-This install is very complicated and is fraught with issues and potholes

-Put tiny labels on the RPi 5, the SSD, the microSD card and the M.2 HAT+ board

Figures:

Y close up of the printed circuit flat cable

Y the M.2 HAT+ board

Y the RPi SSD drive

Y the tools used

. . the imager screens

. . the firmware date report

. . the (new) Raspberry Pi User fields

Tools Needed:

Scissors and Labels

small Phillips screwdriver

small blade for printed flat cable connector adjustments

Issues:

1 No icon appears immediately after correctly mounting the hardware

2 The SSD from Raspberry is made by Samsung and has an unmarked SN

3 When first powered up the M.2 HAT+ board lights an orange led constantly and

a tiny green led blinks when it is first turned on and then when it is accessed

4 Completely remove the printed flat cable, then insert both ends

5 Completely remove the SSD, then re-install it. It did not work upon arrival.

Overall Steps (more details are needed):

A Buy the M.2 HAT+ board and 256GB SSD from Raspberry Pi or a distributor (PiShop.ca)

B Follow the RPi M.2 HAT+ Installation Instructions

C Use imager SW to install the OS on the microSD card

D Mount the M.2 and SSD onto the RPi 5

E Boot the microSD with the SSD also installed, look for dev/nme01

F ensure that the RPi 5 firmware is recent enough

G Use imager SW to install the OS on the SSD. it will list the SN of the SSD

H Use advanced config to tell the OS to use boot order: SSD then microSD

. . CLI is sudo raspi-config

. . A config menu will appear including "advanced"

I Boot up the RPi 5, it should boot from the SSD

. . and show the 2 partition icons for the microSD

. . but nothing else on the Desktop

J Run the OS speed test on both (usually tests the microSD card speed)

K Install the Desktop folders from a previous clean install

The /home/pi/IX_assets folder is very useful.

The PineBoard company was originally called PineBerry.

Questions:

1 How to format an NVMe SSD: Source 05 writes an empty FAT table???

2 Why does plymouth-reboot.service sometimes hang???

3 Why does PineBoard say "No storage device"???

PostScript:

-The WaveShare HAT+ works fine (put the align triangle near the Power LED)

It was tested using the SSD that worked with the Raspberry RPi HAT+

The WaveShare may be easier to install due to it having an eprom

The NVPI5-2280B board also works fine.

Sources:

Source 01: RPi5_SSD_Info.txt by D.Cole 2025Bfeb15

Source 02: Imager_Defs.txt

Source 03: nvmessd.zip (images)

Source 04: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CUU8Ad7VI8 (youtube video)

Source 05: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/using-m-2-hat-with-raspberry-pi-5/

(format NVMe SSD)

Source 06: https://www.raspberrypi.com/documentation/computers/configuration.html

(set device boot order codes)

Source 07: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/how-to-use-chatgpt-a-beginners-guide/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

(Unrelated chatGPT 101 article)

stored on Novo PC in D:\RPi\NVMe_SSD_RPi_Install_02.txt

and on RPi OS _B09 Desktop/d/NVMe_SSD_RPi_Install_02.txt

/NVMe_SSD_RPi_Install_02.txt

Document Creation:

Note: this document is created in 4 steps

. .NVMe_SSD_RPi_Install_02.txt using an Rpi text editor

. .222A.odt using LibreOffice

. .222.html using LibreOffice

in Novo D:/Rpi/222A.odt

/222A.odt