[Tutorial] Install recalbox to your internal drive with only a pc and 2 usbs/sd cards

[Myshy]

I didn't see a lot of tutorials about this and those tutorials are pretty old so i'm going to tell you how i installed recalbox to my pc's internal ssd with only one pc and two sd cards/usbs

1- If you still have an os installed on your pc, use rufus or balena etcher to flash a live linux os to your sd card/usb stick. In my case, i used a kubuntu live sd i had lying around. If there's no os installed, you have to use another pc.

2. After creating your live usb/sd, power off your pc and boot into the bios (search up the corresponding key for your pc on google). Change the boot order so your live usb/sd is on top then save the settings and exit the bios.

3. Once you've booted on your live usb/sd, click on "Try (os name)" then connect to the internet and go to the recalbox download page. Download rpi imager and the recalbox image. Install rpi imager with discover and open it. Select a custom image in the OS selection menu and select your recalbox image. Insert your second sd card/usb (i recommend using a 8gb one for step 4) and click flash.

4. Once your recalbox sd card/usb is ready, close rpi imager and open a terminal. Type 'lsblk' and find your internal drive and your recalbox sd card/usb in the list. If you don't see them, make sure they're both mounted. You then want to clone the recalbox drive to your internal drive. Enter 'sudo dd if=/dev/(recalbox drive) of=/dev/(internal drive) status=progress' (WARNING : THIS WILL DELETE ALL THE DATA ON YOUR INTERNAL DRIVE). Once it's finished cloning, power off your pc and remove your live usb/sd card. Recalbox should be installing !

If i'm not clear enough with the dd command, here's an useful link : https://linuxhint.com/clone-disk-using-dd-linux/

[CrownedMartyr]

@Myshy I banged my head against the wall for a while trying to figure this out and your procedure worked perfectly. I just want to say thank you for taking the time to document and share this!

[FreakDev]

Hey thanks for your quick tutorial, It helps!

Just wanted to add that I used GParted as the live linux : with it, it's easier to copy the recalbox usb drive volume onto the hard drive (less chance of making a typo )

Thanks again for the initial tutorial!

[JAcob]

Thanks for sharing the detailed guide! This is a great step-by-step process for installing Recalbox on a PC’s internal SSD using just two SD cards/USBs. It’s especially useful for users without a second PC available. The cloning step with the dd command is crucial, but definitely a good reminder to double-check drive selections since it will overwrite data. Hopefully, this helps others set up Recalbox more easily!