Found a solution for extra SSD in ROCK 5 ITX

#1

Hi,

As I am using the M.2 Key B+M for a 10GbE NIC with my ROCK 5 ITX, and SATA for data, I was left with only the eMMC for the OS. I’m quite used to Slackware, that I’m still using on my current file server, and wanted to use it as well here. Unfortunately that distro has gone totally nuts in terms of dependencies (vim requires libruby, objdump requires libbrotli, gdb requires python3 etc)… in the end you have no option but to install the full distro to get most basic binaries to just work… long gone are the days where Slackware was for small machines. And the full install takes approx 7.5 GB, or the whole eMMC.

Given that for now there’s no other eMMC option available (32GB would be really great, but I was offered the board so I will certainly not complain about what I have though I’m still free to criticize some design choices :slight_smile: ), I had to find another solution to install the OS (including using another distro).

After digging a bit on Aliexpress I found exactly what I needed, and I thought it could be of interest to a number of other users. It’s a A+E -> B+M M.2 adapter board, which cost me around 10 EUR. I’ve also ordered a cheap Intel Optane 16GB NVME SSD in 2242 format, these are fast enough for an OS (400 MB/s through the adapter) and can be found for 5-6 EUR. I preliminary measured that it would fit into my slim enclosure. This is the resulting assembly:

IMG_0422se
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IMG_0424se
IMG_0424se.JPG1024×768 83.9 KB

The SSD heats quite a bit in idle (around 45 deg C) but that’s OK, it doesn’t heat much more in activity. I finally mount the eMMC into /boot, u-boot looks for extlinux in both / and /boot, so this preserves previous ordering. It allows me to keep extlinux, the kernel, DTB and initrd on the eMMC (that’s quite rich) and the rest of the OS on the SSD.

I had also ordered a larger SSD (128G) in parallel for ~15 EUR but it still hasn’t arrived and in the end that one works as expected.

Thus in the end for ~15 EUR I got an extra 16GB storage option, or 128GB for 25 EUR, that turn the whole solution from really good to almost excellent.

There are also other options available for those with 2280 SSDs, I found extenders that connect into an A+E slot and provide a 2280 B+M one via a 20cm cable. I also found a PCIe x1 slot in this format. I got them as well but finally didn’t need to use them.

Hoping this can help someone work around the eMMC size limits.

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#2

I think that this guy should also work:

and it’a about same speed as nvme on pcie 2 on this slot. The main problem with it is that You also need to wire up power for sata drive and it’s something that needs more cabling when all nvme get everything from slot.

#3

yeah, the extra cabling plus larger devices and also the need to change the DTB is also why I didn’t go SATA. I even bought a dual-SATA M2 A+E adapter as a last resort but didn’t use it. I went the lazy route in the end :slight_smile:

#4

I think that You don’t need dtb for dual sata card because it’s connected as pcie device :slight_smile:
For most regular sata ssd drives they are much smaller than the case, especially for consumer drives, You can just remove case and probably they are about the size of mSata card. Still power and data connectors are big so it’s good choice only when You already have some sata ssds.

There is also such adapter:

image
image.jpg600×567 70.9 KB

same as Your, but not 90degree. The problem with that one is You need some space after 2230 screw. For example this one will not fit into ROCK 5A, because there is gpio near a+e slot, even at smallest size: 2230 it will make collision with pins. Same thing probably is ok on 5B, but only at 2230.

#5

For the dual SATA indeed, no need for DTB changes since it’s PCIe. The long adapter you found, I also considered it initially, but it will need to be cut since it’s too long.

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#6

They are designed with that in mind, You just brake this card for needed length, there are prepared holes for that.

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#7

Ah you’re right, I looked on the zoomed image and it’s indeed “cutable”. I was not sure about this initially, and it’s much cheaper :slight_smile:

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