Hard drive with a Pi-top V1

pi-top [1] + pi-topCEED
#1

Just in case anyone else is thinking of doing this, it is possible to install a 2.5" SSD or HDD using a USB A to SATA connector with a left angled USB A extension.

Be warned it isn’t easy and there isn’t a lot of room left!

You have to heavily modify a 2.5" to 3.5" drive bay adapter and use M2 or M2.5 nuts and bolts (cut down to size) as stand offs. The drive bay is installed at an angle following the line of the laptop shell and it is wedged in using the semi transparent black cover.

thumbnail_20201102_144921|375x500

This is with an RPI 3B+. I may attempt with a 4GB RPI 4B but it will be harder because the USB ports are moved around.

#2

@Dawilson123 This looks amazing! What sort of read/write speeds are you getting from this? Do you also have the OS stored on the SATA drive?

Here’s the image that @Dawilson123 posted
thumbnail_20201102_144921

#3

Hi,

I just put in a cheap 2.5" 250gb generic HDD (bought from CEX for £6) to confirm proof of concept.

The write / read speeds seemed on a par with my laptop with a USB 3 external drive, however I’m sure it can be massively improved with a better sata drive, such as a Samsung SSD.

The OS is installed on a microsd, so wouldn’t be affected by the drive/ USB speed.