How to install openELEC to a HD or USB

[Qasimja]

When you insert your SD Card into a card reader and File Manager opens up, you will see 2 partitions. One is called "System" and the other "Storage". You need to backup/copy the whole "Storage" partition over to the USB and not a particular folder.

thanks for the help

 

[defaultbr]

This is what I did , worked perfectly

Write your image to the usb 3.0 stick ( I used Mark Rich but Tuxens works great as well )
Format a SDcard with minimum 128MB ( or any larger size or speed )as fat label it SYSTEM.
Plug the USB stick and the SDcard into the computer.
Now copy all the 10 files from the USB stick and onto the SDcard:
Code:
bootcode.bin, cmdline.txt, config.txt,
fixup.dat, kernel.img, LICENCE.broadcom,
openelec.ico, README.md, start.elf, SYSTEM
After that pull the USB stick out from the computer to avoid editing the wrong files just set it a side.
On the sdcard open the file cmdline.txt in notepad and change the following line:
Code:
boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 disk=/dev/mmcblk0p2 ssh quiet
Into:
Code:
boot=/dev/mmcblk0 disk=/dev/sda2 ssh quiet
but do this instead
boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 instead of mmcblk0 in cmdline.txt since two partitions where created on the sdcard by the image

then hit dev update grab the latest nightly for all the updates

Thanks to Tuxen for this

tryed this =

**** Error in mount_flash: mount_common: could not mount /dev/mmcblk0 ***
System Halted




=(

 

[tuxen]

@defaultbr: Change in your cmdline.txt: boot=/dev/mmcblk0 to boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 that should work.

-
You guys are mixing 2 different methods hence the confusion. The above method is from the thread with my image and based on image writing which can be confusing because you end up with double partitions.

I recommend doing the 10 steps in this threads first post. It reads a lot harder than it is and takes max 30mins if you follow it step by step.
-

@Qasimja:
If you prepare the usbstick as of the 1st post (first 5steps) and have a written sdcard that works and you want to copy the settings simply change the cmdline.txt so boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 and disk=/dev/sda1 then boot and copy everything including hidden files and folders (enable in XBMC) from the old SDCARD STORAGE to the USB STORAGE using the file manager. After that you can remove the old sdcard STORAGE partition with windows disk manager so only 1 appears.

 

[tuxen]

Hi , im running windows 8 and really struggle with all the editing Is there a USB image somewhere I can download ?

No because all you need is a empty USB stick formatted as ext4: the first 5 steps in the first post does this.
Then when you point cmdline.txt to the empty device afterwards openELEC takes care of the rest.

 

[defaultbr]

No because all you need is a empty USB stick formatted as ext4: the first 5 steps in the first post does this.
Then when you point cmdline.txt to the empty device afterwards openELEC takes care of the rest.

i will try again...


i tryed many ways, using the minitool partition to format the 16gb usb stick too... tryed to change in the sdcard cmdline.txt to point to sda1 sda or sda2, nothing else... still get the system halted even only changing to /dev/sda1 or sda2


the difference i saw, you say to change to STORAGE the label, but others say to SYSTEM, maybe this is the problem hmmm





EDIT: I think it worked nowww!!


it booted now, i have 2 STORAGE in the XBMC now.... it worked correctly? but how can i know that?

 

[tuxen]

@defaultbr: No only change in your cmdline.txt: boot=/dev/mmcblk0 to boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1
If you written the image to the USB stick then disk=/dev/sda2

You need to explain what you have done. I have no idea what you mean by formatting the stick with the mini tool.

Edit: if you mean you have used win32imager to write the image to the USB stick and also your SD card.
Then boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 and disk=/dev/sda2

Otherwise follow the 10 steps 1 by one in the first post of THIS thread it works 100% and will give you a clean install.

 

[defaultbr]

@defaultbr: No only change in your cmdline.txt: boot=/dev/mmcblk0 to boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1
If you written the image to the USB stick then disk=/dev/sda2

You need to explain what you have done. I have no idea what you mean by formatting the stick with the mini tool.

Edit: if you mean you have used win32imager to write the image to the USB stick and also your SD card.
Then boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 and disk=/dev/sda2

Otherwise follow the 10 steps 1 by one in the first post of THIS thread it works 100% and will give you a clean install.

i did all ute said, and changed what you said here "Change in your cmdline.txt: boot=/dev/mmcblk0 to boot=/dev/mmcblk0p1 that should work."


but look this image, i used the sda1, its wrong?

looking the image, i think im using the wrong partition in the USB STICK..... the xbmc is fast, but im scared if its wrong and in the future will freeze ;x

i will change to sda2 like you said and see what i get!!




edit:

yep i was using the wrong partition at usb stick, i saw in the file manager the Sytem folder, and the system folder has the music/pictures/screenshots tvshows videos etc...

lol, i think its correct now, i changed to sda2 ^^!!

thx so much TUXEN and UTE

 

[tuxen]

I can't see the image but yes I think so to.

 

[jerryr88]

im usually good with all this but i wont be trying this. i feel like im gonna mess something up.

i wish there was a easier way to do it like there is with raspmbc

the setup i did for my parents was easy, but the ones i have at my place are all openelec builds and i love them. i just wish i could setup openelec how i did with raspbmc which was an easy process, but oh well. i'll stick to runnin openelec from my sd cards

 

[defaultbr]

I can't see the image but yes I think so to.

Sorry ->

700mb i download 2 skins and it used 17% of the space --'

i will change the partition size with minitool partition !!

 

[tuxen]

Yes you are using the wrong partition. boot=mmcblk0p1 and disk=/dev/sda2
Write the image with win32imager to the USB stick again because switching the partitions seems to have screwed something up.

Edit: the reason a lot of space is used is because mark or I has put a lot of metadata on the pre made image. The sizes still look screwed up though so yeah try write it again.

 

[tuxen]

im usually good with all this but i wont be trying this. i feel like im gonna mess something up.

i wish there was a easier way to do it like there is with raspmbc

the setup i did for my parents was easy, but the ones i have at my place are all openelec builds and i love them. i just wish i could setup openelec how i did with raspbmc which was an easy process, but oh well. i'll stick to runnin openelec from my sd cards

You should try following the 10 steps in the first post of THIS thread it's really not hard I promise it just read hard but before you know it you are done.
Ask anyone who tried it you really do not have to have much knowledge just take it easy one step by one and if you are stuck on a step ask. After you have done it once you can do it in 30mins max.

Problem is actually the image writing method reads much easier so they choose that but it is really what leads to all this confusion with multiple identical fixed sized partitions.

 

[jerryr88]

You should try following the 10 steps in the first post of THIS thread it's really not hard I promise it just read hard but before you know it you are done.
Ask anyone who tried it you really do not have to have much knowledge just take it easy one step by one and if you are stuck on a step ask. After you have done it once you can do it in 30mins max.

Problem is actually the image writing method reads much easier so they choose that but it is really what leads to all this confusion with multiple identical fixed sized partitions.

maybe i'll try it this weekend

im sure it will run smoother ) thanks again tuxen

 

[defaultbr]

when i changed the STORAGE space to 10gb i messed everything...

so i did whats tuxen said in first post, and now everything is working fine and i have a 13gb storage ^^

thx tuxen

 

[tuxen]

As always no problem. that's why I'm here. To help give people the best XBMC experience possible.

 

[jas0npc]

As always no problem. that's why I'm here. To help give people the best XBMC experience possible.

under your team xbmc hub mod, it should say RaspberryPI EXPERT

 

[tuxen]

Lol yeah right until I find something else to throw me over.. (;

 

[johnny]

Christ, I had an absolute nightmare sorting this all out - I followed the steps in the first post, but it didn't work at all. Then I tried again, but instead of using PUTTY to SSH into the Pi, I plugged in a keyboard and manually typed it all out. That at least got me to the mounting error, which I fixed from reading a reply to someone with the same issue.

All done now, and working beautifully - thanks guys, without this thread I wouldn't have had any idea at all. The thread on the OpenElec forums is confusing as hell, but even though I screwed it up a little bit, this way worked in the end.

I have a question, though: do updates work as usual? I usually temporarily remove the overclock settings, connect to the Pi in windows (//192.168.0.xxx) and drag the target files into the update folder.

 

[tuxen]

Yes updates work as usual.. Something must have been wrong with the special chars over putty I've seen this before BUT nowhere in the guide it says to use putty (; (I have added notes now) And if you read at the bottom of the post you would have figured out your mounting error, why and how to fix it - no need to search. (;
Hopefully pointing this out to will prevent others to run into those 2 mistakes.

Glad you got it working mate.. ..And thanks for the feedback!

If you use the latest nightly builds in the configuration tool is a option to reset the whole system without all this. There is also options for backup and restore so life will be a little easier. I'm thinking of a way to exploit this or write a install script to make it a breeze.

 

[johnny]

Oh dear, for some reason it can't seem to handle the high overclock setting - it'll work for a bit, and then reboot. Will this be a power supply issue? I am using a BlackBerry charger.

edit: yep, it's the power supply - I have never been able to get above medium overclock without resetting, but I just thought that this was normal. Peeping in the power supplies thread tells me that I was wrong. Thanks again for all of your help, this is an ace community