This TerraPi Dual SSD “case” or “assembly” for the Raspberry Pi 4 is different, to say the least. Available in red, black or blue, this vertical case is also available in single and dual SSD versions.
I can best describe this beast in pictures – so I will. I just finished putting it together. For a Raspberry Pi 4 you might think the Argon ONE case which I’ve blogged already is the obvious choice – that is until you start using SSDs. I understand Argon40 are working on a new case but right now this TerraPi seems to be a very reasonable choice.
Made in the EU, the TerraPi is 3D-printed, feels solid to me, unlike some perspex cases I’ve used in the past – and basically you get the plastic parts, a large fan, some nuts, bolts and screws and an instruction sheet. All very easy, inexpensive and as you’ll see in the pictures, not bad looking.
Now, you might say, but what about the temperature control in the Argon ONE? What about it? the Argon ONE fan just packed in on me – so much for temperature control. Ok, I replaced the fan but the original lasted no more than a few months and I like the large fan that comes with the TerraPi.
In general, if we’re looking to reduce fan noise, one can always experiment with powering the fan from 3v3 or using a series resistor. Indeed I often run fans from 3v3 to reduce noise and hopefully increase life, but that all depends on the load you are planning to put on your installation.
Obviously the Raspberry Pi 4 and SSDs are NOT included in this kit, neither are USB-SATA adaptors. Everything else is. Enough for one night – tomorrow I’ll turn it on with one SSD connected – I’m still using a separate USB3 hub for multiple SSDs but at least now the SSDs are not just lying around on the bench.
Update October 11 2020: I turned on the TerraPi cased RPI4 using one SSD, everything worked and the fan is effectively silent. Of interest I plugged in my new RaspiKey and made a quick clone to the latter before removing it to ensure any future reboot will target the SSD. Some day I’ll get to the bottom of how to ensure reboot from a particular SSD even with the SD socket occupied.
I’m hoping the RasPi 5 supports M.2 SSDs. I don’t trust using USB for the OS drive. Am I off base?
As I’ve recently discovered, fan reliability is FAR more important than temperature control.. and 2 stage control is easy by just selecting 3v3 or 5v. Flat out this fan makes no noise. Sadly when I got my TerraPi they were out of stock of the 90 degree connectors, I will have one soon.
Explaining Computers had a video recently with the TerraPi, and he got with it a usb sata adapter with a right angle connector, for a tidier install. He was less impressed with the fan/lack of heatsink. (I’m surprised so few of these fans are temperature controlled…)
I’ll probably end up doing a diy Terra pi style case with a VESA mount or something once I finally get a pi 4
forget about choosing from which usb drive to boot, simply raspy can’t do that… instead you can setup a RAID1 between 2 disks, and have them automatically mirrored between themselves… you can even boot from them in such fashion… THIS is a usual scenario in these kind of setups… info:
https://kroslink.net/boot-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-thumbdrive-raid1-array/
https://gist.github.com/leandrofilipe/f9636be272f97d414652ce1f21e6b1f4
At a quick glance, these “solutions” make assumptions of user knowledge and also seem to imply new installations.