Adding storage to AtariOS

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I have heard that "Atari 50" is something like 8Gb in size..   That would make it a tight fit on the eMMC for many of us.

 

I haven't really seen much discussion about adding storage.   In the Atari OS I've seen that you can select available partitions.    I'm just wondering if they should be prepped in any way..  like formatting, or will AtariOS take care of that?

 

[+MrZarniwoop]

You can partition/format an entire drive for AtariOS right from the VCS.

 

If you want to have multiple partitions, AtariOS seems to recognize and use an ext4-formatted partition on a drive with something else, such as Windows.

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22 minutes ago, MrZarniwoop said:

You can partition/format an entire drive for AtariOS right from the VCS.

 

If you want to have multiple partitions, AtariOS seems to recognize and use an ext4-formatted partition on a drive with something else, such as Windows.

I don't want AtariOS to manage the whole disk since it's already partially partitioned.   I have an m.2. with ubuntu on it filled with emulations and retro PC games.  But  I left half of it unpartitioned for future use..   I didn't know if I'd need it for more AtariOS space or maybe install something like batocera

 

So I can just add a new partition of 32-64gb easily,  but I don't know what the partition type should be or if it should be formatted.   Maybe it doesn't matter and AtariOS will just take care of that when I select the drive.   I just didn't see any documentation or discussion around this.

[+MrZarniwoop]

Format the unpartitioned part as an ext4 drive and AtariOS will automatically use it. Name it obviously so you can select the right partition from the VCS.

[leech]

You can tell AtariOS to save your games on your Ubuntu drive.  The bonus is, you can now also launch the games from Ubuntu.  I have done this from Debian.

[THX-1138]

16 hours ago, zzip said:

I have heard that "Atari 50" is something like 8Gb in size..   That would make it a tight fit on the eMMC for many of us.

 

I haven't really seen much discussion about adding storage.   In the Atari OS I've seen that you can select available partitions.    I'm just wondering if they should be prepped in any way..  like formatting, or will AtariOS take care of that?

 

Yeah AtariOS can and will do that for you.

What I would NOT do is use a SSD or M.2 drive already used for another OS such as Windows or Linux.  You never know what you may want to do in the future, you may want to reinstall or swap out the drive for something else.

I would go and buy a one of those physically small USB drives and stick it at the back of the VCS out of sight.  I bought a 256GB Sandisk very cheaply off Amazon.  Then go into AtariOS, into the system tab and find the new drive, format it and move over any VCS games you want.  When you buy new stuff or re-download things, you can then select what drive you want to install to, ie. the internal VCS 32GB eMMC, or your new USB drive.

Nice and simple. 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by THX-1138

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3 hours ago, THX-1138 said:

What I would NOT do is use a SSD or M.2 drive already used for another OS such as Windows or Linux.  You never know what you may want to do in the future, you may want to reinstall or swap out the drive for something else.

Yeah that's why half of it is still unpartitioned     It's a 1TB SSD.   My enitre emulator and retrogame library easily fits into the first 512GB.   I knew that down the road I may or may not want space for AtariOS, depending on what games release.   But now I'm weighing how much to give to AtariOS,  I'm thinking 64Gb, in case that homebrew app comes out.

 

If I ever need to redo the disk, I can just back up the contents

 

[THX-1138]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

Yeah that's why half of it is still unpartitioned     It's a 1TB SSD.   My enitre emulator and retrogame library easily fits into the first 512GB.   I knew that down the road I may or may not want space for AtariOS, depending on what games release.   But now I'm weighing how much to give to AtariOS,  I'm thinking 64Gb, in case that homebrew app comes out.

 

If I ever need to redo the disk, I can just back up the contents

 

Cool, if you're comfortable partitioning and backing up stuff, go for it.  64-128GB should be enough, depending on if you're wanting to move stuff already on the 32GB eMMC.  

 

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2 minutes ago, THX-1138 said:

Cool, if you're comfortable partitioning and backing up stuff, go for it.  64-128GB should be enough, depending on if you're wanting to move stuff already on the 32GB eMMC.  

 

Adding partitions is easy,  it's just when you want to resize partitions and move them around..  then it gets scary

 

[leech]

1 hour ago, zzip said:

Adding partitions is easy,  it's just when you want to resize partitions and move them around..  then it gets scary

 

This is what LiveUSB sticks and gparted are for.  Ha, what is scary is when an lvm container is nuked.  You can restore even that, as long as others haven't been created.

[justclaws]

Also, plugging in a USB flash drive (aka usb stick/"thumb drive") offers that for formatting as a external storage very easily.
Locally, for me, a good fast 128GB USB 3 stick is easily found at a good price, and is good enough for game storage also.

[mario64]

If I may tag into this conversation, what is the best/easiest method to expand VCS storage if only using it with Atari Shop games (no PC mode stuff)? Thanks

[Goochman]

This is what I got for external storage for my VCS - havent used it, but its a good price and fast USB stick:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7Q41PM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

 

[T.A.P.]

I'm starting to encounter a happy problem: I have so many VCS games now that I can't keep them all installed on the system at the same time.

 

Can I just plug a flashdrive in to use for extra storage? Will it let me play the games installed on it? Is there a way to transfer all my games to a flashdrive, to keep everything in one place?

[THX-1138]

No problem.  Get a USB drive of your choice and plug it in.  In the AtariOS Dashboard go to the System tab and in there you can find your drives.  You can then move games over and when you download games in the future, you can choose what drive to install them on.

[zzip]

AtariOS actually makes this easy to do,  you could use a flashdrive or part of an internal SSD,  you can easily move games from one storage device to another from the AtariOS dashboard