[VIDEO GUIDE] Install Openelec To USB In Under 5 Minutes!

[strangeANDabusive]

edit by tuxen: I will rewrite this with new files and screenshots during today!

Ok guys I have a tried and tested method for you. Surely there can't be a much easier and quicker way of installing a fresh build to openelec when using Windows...

Step 1: mediafire link)
Step 2: Install Mini Tool Partition Wizard
Step 3: Delete ALL PARTITIONS on both SD and USB Stick
Step 4: Format SD Card to FAT32 with the label "SYSTEM"
Step 5: Format USB Stick to ext4, set as primary and label it "STORAGE"
Step 6: Copy the contents of the SD Card folder (from download) onto your SD Card.
Step 7: Insert SD & USB into the raspberry pi, boot up and Eureka you're done!

"How To..." Video below.

 

[strangeANDabusive]

[video=youtube;E_uHc6MIpTM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_uHc6MIpTM[/video]

 

[technological]

Method looks great. Is there a way to use a custom image though instead of the 3.1.7 that is provided in the download?

 

[strangeANDabusive]

Depends on what you mean by a custom image? If you mean the likes of the MarkRich or Mettlekettle images then no that would kind of defeat the object as they are complete system images which are designed to make it much simpler for the end user to install (just one click in Win32DiskImager).

This method will give you a nice fresh build in a couple of minutes and from that you can add things like my whufclee release or any other xbmc backup you may have. If someone has done something similar to my whufclee release where it's just the xbmc folder that needs copying over and not an actual image file then yes this would be the easiest way to install.

You can also easily revert to an older build if you wanted to by copying the 4 update files over to your "update" folder but I see no reason why as 3.1.7 seems to be working perfect, for me it's the best release yet.

 

[ironfist2013]

Hi Thanks for this guide got openelec running super fast in no time

 

[captain_planet]

Oooooh. Now I feel like a right dummy! Mine isn't working. I found that my first issue was that my SD card wasn't set to a primary volume, so when I booted it didn't do anything! I only noticed that because the partition bar in your video was blue and mine was grey. Anyway, my issue now is that it gets to the OpenElec screen but then says:

Error in mount_storage: mount_common: Could not mount LABEL=STORAGE
Starting debugging shell... type exit to quit
sh: can't access tty: job control turned off

Yes, my USB device is called upper-case STORAGE. And set to primary, ext4. So I'm stumped!! Any help appreciated!!!

 

[strangeANDabusive]

Well it certainly sounds as though there's something not quite right with the USB stick. Did you definitely click "apply" once you changed it to ext4? I'd try formatting it once more just incase something went slightly wrong in the process. Make sure you delete all partitions and click apply before formatting to ext4.

Out of curiosity what port do you have the USB stick in (when in the r-pi, not on PC)? I've not tried this with a USB hub yet but in theory it should work as it uses the "STORAGE" label. So far I've tried this method on a 1gb, 4gb, 8gb, 16gb and 32gb USB stick and they have all worked so other than what I've just mentioned I can't think what else it could be sorry. Let us know how you get on.

 

[captain_planet]

Ahhhh. Sorted it. I think it may have been due to using old (I'm talking 5 years plus...) USB sticks (USB 2.0?). I've since used a newer 16GB stick and it's worked like a charm.

Out of interest (I'm a newbie....) is a 16GB stick overkill? What sort of things will be stored on it? Add-ins etc?

Great work btw...

 

[strangeANDabusive]

Even though the USB stick was old it shouldn't really have been a problem but maybe it had some corrupt sectors? the 1gb one I tested on was a similar age and only one of the sticks I tested (8gb) was a USB3.0. Whatever the problem was I'm glad you got it sorted.

Overkill... Well I suppose it depends on what you want to store on there. You might want to store photos on there, I sometimes stream some music and watch a random photo slideshow - it's a good way of seeing photos you'd completely forgotten about. 16gb is a good size for that. It may be that you want to download movies or tv shows directly to the device, this can be particularly useful at peak times so you won't encounter any buffering - a movie is usually about 700mb (depending on the quality you choose).

As for the actual XBMC install... if you're not going to be using the library function and you don't want to store anything apart from addons on the stick then yes I suppose it is a bit overkill as realistically you're not ever going to use over 500mb. If you enable metadata on addons then this can use a fair bit of space, especially if you like to have fanart too. Last year I cleared out my xbmc folder and done a complete fresh install (on PC) and the metadata folder was up to about 16gb! Realistically even with a large metadata folder it shouldn't use up much more than 4gb

 

[captain_planet]

Fantastic work. Ahhhh. Just in time for a Friday night movie.

 

[DannyBiker]

This is a really easy method indeed. A few newbie questions :
- How can I check that OpenElec is actually running from the SD Card, just to verify that all went well ?
- Will OpenElec's autoupdate feature still work with no extra work needed ?

Thanks !

 

[strangeANDabusive]

Autoupdate will work perfectly, or as perfect as the autoupdate feature is!

I did originally have a section on the end of that video which explained how to check it's running off usb but took it off as I didn't think anyone would be interested. Basically using this method it is running off USB, you'd have an error if it wasn't. If you want to check just go to filemanager and create a folder in the profile directory, just call it "test" or somthing like that. The profile directory always points to where the xbmc install is located so now navigate to STORAGE and find your userdata folder, if you can see your test folder then you know it's running off USB.

 

[DannyBiker]

Cool thanks !

Works very well by me.

 

[lowridin_guy]

Couple of questions, once up and running can I restore an OpenElec backup that I made from within the OE settings menu?

Also, can I save this setup on my PC using win32imager or something similar in case something messes up in the future I can easily reload the image back on?

 

[Luddite]

Really helpful guide. Wondered would a similar install be possible for ATV1?.

 

[lowridin_guy]

Ahhhh. Sorted it. I think it may have been due to using old (I'm talking 5 years plus...) USB sticks (USB 2.0?). I've since used a newer 16GB stick and it's worked like a charm.

Out of interest (I'm a newbie....) is a 16GB stick overkill? What sort of things will be stored on it? Add-ins etc?

Great work btw...

I am getting the same error message.

First thing I noticed is that the video guide doesn't say to make the SD card as primary as well. Only the USB drive. Another issue is that my unit only boots if the USB stick is in the bottom USB port.

Now this is the furthest I've got and I have the same error message as you. Could not mount LABEL=STORAGE.

I am using a Transcend Jetflash700 USB 3.0 stick....

Any suggestions as to what I've done wrong? Followed the instructions and repeated numerous times in case I missed a step.

 

[tuxen]

Fantastic Whufclee.. Totally newbie-proof

Thanks a lot.. I don't think you all would have understood a grumpy old half p... Dane in that video lol.

Finally I/we can clean out in the sticky's. thumbs up!

 

[Norsemon]

Fantastic Whufclee.. Totally newbie-proof

Thanks a lot.. I don't think you all would have understood a grumpy old half p... Dane in that video lol.

Finally I/we can clean out in the sticky's. thumbs up!

but if you put 2grumpy old Danes in the pot
what would you get?

 

[strangeANDabusive]

First thing I noticed is that the video guide doesn't say to make the SD card as primary as well. Only the USB drive.

Making the SD Card primary wasn't an option for me but if you do have the option maybe your card was previously formatted differently somehow. Yes make it primary if that's an option.

Another issue is that my unit only boots if the USB stick is in the bottom USB port.

Out of all the r-pi's I've tested I've not come across this problem. I can only guess that your top port is faulty? Sorry other than that I really don't know why it wouldn't boot as it should boot from the label and not actual device port.

Now this is the furthest I've got and I have the same error message as you. Could not mount LABEL=STORAGE.

I can't reproduce this error on any of my USB sticks and 2 of them are the same as yours. It could be that you missed a step... YOU MUST click apply when deleting all partitions. Once that's complete you can format to FAT32 and label as STORAGE. If that still doesn't work for you try using the SD Formatter tool to format to FAT32 - that has also never let me down with USB sticks. Just make sure you click on FULL ERASE.

 

[lowridin_guy]

Ok thanks....i'll try again tonight. My top port isn't faulty because that is where I usually have the dongle for my K400.