See update below for revised instructions when applying NG 20 builds.
In case others may be interested in the process, the following is how I achieved installing Coreelec to an SSD on the A95X Max, so that you can have dual boot with Android running from the internal eMMC. The best of both worlds, so to speak.
There will be more than one way of achieving the same goal with differing Operating Systems and tools, so you may well have an alternative/better method but this is one way.
This guide assumes that you will be using a Windows PC, that you have some familiarity with creating the necessary environment for using Coreelec (or even Libreelec if you are coming across from that). Generic instructions are available here should you require further reference on the basics.
You will also need to know how to boot from an external flash drive on your PC.
You will require (apart from the HDD/SSD and A95x Max):
- Suitable external caddy/sata to usb cable to connect drive to PC.
- Spare USB flash drive that you can afford to wipe to become a boot device.
- Generic Burning Software (Rufus/Etcher etc). Rufus is used for this guide. Download here
- Generic Partition Wizard Application (MiniTool Partition Wizard Free is used for this guide) Download here
- Gparted ISO (Most likely amd64 version) Download here
- Dummy.zip file (basically an empty zip),Download here
- Latest Coreelec Nightly (NG Generic .img.gz build) Download here
- vfd configuration file (To get the box fascia clock working when Coreelec is in use) Download here
Burn CE to your HDD/SSD just as you usually would when using a USB flash drive or MicroSD card. Rufus will likely not see the external drive at first, so check the box labelled List USB Hard Drives in order to make it visible.
Copy the relevant DTB file for your box model into the root of the Coreelec partition and rename to dtb.img
Copy the Dummy.zip file to the root of the Coreelec partition.
Run the Partition application, select the drive (the whole disk, not just one of the partitions), right click and choose the option Convert MBR disk to GPT Disk . Click the Apply button to carry out the conversion.
Eject the HDD/SSD and remove from your PC.
Burn the downloaded Gparted ISO file to a USB flash drive (again using Rufus) and then boot from it into Gparted (You may need to change BIOS/UEFI boot settings to enable boot from the flash drive). You will be asked to enter a 2 digit code for your chosen language and for how you would like Gparted to present itself, so choose 0 for the GUI.
Once Gparted is loaded, connect your HDD/SSD to your PC and select the menu bar option to update the drive list ( Gparted, Refresh Devices ).
You should be able to see your drive but if there is doubt about which one it is, from the menu bar select GParted, Devices, Select Disk and choose what you think is your drive. If correct you will see the partitions, including one labelled Coreelec .
Right click on the Coreelec Partition and choose Manage Flags and from the pop-up list, select Boot , then the close button when complete.
Close Gparted, choose Exit and take the option to Shutdown .
Remove your drive and install it into the A95X Max, where the first boot will be to Coreelec, taking a little longer than normal to complete and boot in order to set itself up. If your TV screen is off when booting, you may well find that the first boot does not invoke CEC, so you will have to turn it on manually.
Set-up Coreelec as desired.
To use the vfd file, Install the OpenVFD Service in the CoreELEC repository in Kodi and Copy the vfd.conf to /storage/.config, then reboot to apply. More info on configuring vfd files here.
Notes:
When using any partition tool, ensure that you do not modify the wrong disk otherwise you could end up wiping an important boot/data drive or partition(s).
Upon switching on the box, first boot will always be to Coreelec, so to get to Android, choose the option to reboot to internal.
V10 of the box board should enable use of WiFi and Bluetooth but later revisions marked V81 currently have no supporting driver, so compatible external USB dongles would be required should these services be required.
Android cannot see the SSD and Coreelec cannot see the internal eMMC, so local sharing of data would be achieved using storage connected to the USB ports and/or MicroSD card slot.
NG 20 Builds
If you attempt to flash one of the newer builds using the above procedure, you will find that the auto resizing does not work and you will be left with a storage/data partition of around 25Mb.
I tested with 3 different SSD’s and had the same results every time.
But, as luck would have it, the process is actually shorter.
Simply build as you would when writing to an SD card and ignore any change from MBR to GPT or marking the COREELEC partition as being bootable.
Just write, copy the DTB and dummy.zip to root and insert the SSD into the box, where resizing will take place correctly.