Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- store_games_on_a_second_usb_sata_drive [2022/03/20 01:18] – [Using External Storage with Batocera] removed dead link atari
+++ store_games_on_a_second_usb_sata_drive [2024/02/23 01:30] (current) – fix broken link cs
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ====== Using External Storage with Batocera ======
-To enable external storage, follow these steps:
+To change the storage device from INTERNAL (the drive Batocera has been flashed to) to EXTERNAL (another drive connected to the machine), follow these steps:
-  - Open the **Main Menu** with ''[START]'' and navigate to **SYSTEM SETTINGS** > **STORAGE DEVICE**. {{ install2.jpg?nolink&500 }} {{ external-storage1.jpg?nolink&500 }}
+  - Open the **Main Menu** with ''[START]'' and navigate to **SYSTEM SETTINGS** -> **STORAGE DEVICE**.\\ {{install2.jpg?nolink&500}} {{external-storage1.jpg?nolink&500}}
-  - Select your storage device. Selecting "AnyExternal" will use the first external storage device that connects. How does your system decide what the first external storage device is when there is more than one connected? [[https://access.redhat.com/solutions/67778|I'd like]] to [[https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition-Mass-Storage-Definitions-Naming-HOWTO/x99.html|know too]]. {{ external-storage2.jpg?nolink&500 }}
+  - Select the storage device. Selecting "AnyExternal" will use the first external storage device that connects. How does your system decide what the first external storage device is when there is more than one connected? [[https://access.redhat.com/solutions/67778|I'd like]] to [[https://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition-Mass-Storage-Definitions-Naming-HOWTO/x99.html|know too]].\\ {{external-storage2.jpg?nolink&500}}
-In most cases, using a second USB hard drive to host your ROMs separately from the Batocera system should be completely transparent when this method is used to enable it. According to Batocera, it will just appear as if though the ''roms'' folder on your external drive is actually on your ''/userdata'' partition. [[https://linux-term.com/what-is-symlink-linux/|Here's more info on what symlinks are, in case you're curious.]]
+In most cases, using a second USB hard drive to host your ROMs separately from the Batocera system should be completely transparent when this method is used to enable it. According to Batocera, it will just appear as if though the ''roms'' folder on your external drive is actually on your ''/userdata'' partition.
-<WRAP center round info 60%>
+<WRAP center round info>
-Batocera will automatically create the folder structure it needs on the drive you select.
+Batocera will automatically create the folder structure it needs on the drive you select after rebooting.
 </WRAP>
-Batocera has a built-in tools to format drives. <wrap em>BE ULTRA CAREFUL WHEN USING THIS, AS YOU CAN DESTROY ALL DATA WITH IT!</wrap> You can prepare the drive in [[batocera.linux_architecture#user_data_file_system|the right format]] by using **Main Menu** > **System Settings** > **Developer** > **Format a Disk**.
+Batocera will only show drives it supports reading the filesystem of (with that said, [[batocera.linux_architecture#user_data_file_system|it supports a lot of them]]).
-However, when tinkering with the systems, things can go wrong. The following is here to help you troubleshoot and fix those cases.
+===== Manual configuration with batocera-boot.conf (advanced) =====
-===== Manual external storage configuration with batocera-boot.conf =====
+In case the above isn't sufficient, or you'd like to use individual folders for each part of userdata, the "DEVICES" storage type can offer extended functionality.
+<WRAP center round tip>
+The [[:store_games_on_a_nas|NAS]] page contains more information on the syntax.
+</WRAP>
+  - [[:edit_boot_partition|Open]] ''/boot/batocera-boot.conf''
+  - Set ''sharedevice'' to ''DEVICES''
+  - Add a new line containing ''sharedevice_part1=''
+  - Add the appropriate keyword followed by an @ character (eg. ''SHARE@'' or ''ROMS@'', [[:store_games_on_a_nas#syntax|full list of keywords here]])
+  - Add the UUID of the drive containing the folder (eg. ''sharedevice_part1=SHARE@12e46ca9-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx'')
+  - If not using the root of the drive, append a : and then add the folder path (eg. ''sharedevice_part1=ROMS@2efa1068-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyy:/Documents/roms'')
+  - Add up to ten parts as needed.
+These can also be combined to have individual keywords bound to individual folders. For example:
+<code>
+sharedevice=DEVICES
+sharedevice_part1=SHARE@12e46ca9-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx
+sharedevice_part2=ROMS@2efa1068-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyy:/Documents/roms
+</code>
+===== DEV MODE =====
 If the above steps aren't sufficient for your purposes, you can set up the external drive manually. This will be done by editing the ''/boot/batocera-boot.conf'' file in the [[:edit_boot_partition|boot partition]] and providing the information of the partition that hosts the ROMs.
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 If you are using an external hard drive and it is not recognized correctly after doing this, then it might be that your external hard drive needs more time to spin up while Batocera boots. In those cases you have to edit the ''/boot/batocera-boot.conf'' file and add the line: ''sharewait=15'' underneath the aforementioned line (if it still does not work, try with a higher number like ''sharewait=20'' for example).