M.2 Install

M.2 Install

This flow stores the OS as a single .img file on the internal NVMe SSD inside a data partition, rather than as a raw root partition. Keeping the OS as a file is more resilient to the PS5 touching the drive, and lets the initramfs loop-mount it at boot.

⚠️ Coexistence caveat. The official guide treats the M.2 as Linux-exclusive. A PS5 soft format is expected to leave the Linux data partition (and therefore the .img) intact, but a repair / hard format will erase it. Back up your image. Format the M.2 in the PS5 before creating the Linux partition.

Tools

Build them from the repo's tools/ directory (or copy the prebuilt scripts onto a running Linux):

Tool	Purpose
m2_init	Writes the hidden GPT (--device, --size-gb).
ps5-osinstall	Creates the data partition and copies the .img onto it (--target m2, --img, --label).
ps5-osexec	kexec into a Linux root partition/label (raw-partition installs).

Steps

1. Boot Linux from the USB image (see Installation).

2. Copy the tools to a writable path (e.g. /tmp), make them executable.

3. Create the hidden GPT and partition:

   sudo ./m2_init --device /dev/nvme0n1 --size-gb 128

4. Install the image as a file:

   sudo PATH=$PWD:$PATH ./ps5-osinstall --img /mnt/usb/ps5-arch.img \
        --target m2 --device /dev/nvme0n1 --size-gb 128 --label PS5M2 --yes

   ps5-osinstall writes a ps5-os-image marker recording the target, partition label, source image, root label and install time. If the partition already exists it skips m2_init and reuses it.

5. Reboot and send the payload. On boot the initramfs:

   • scans the M.2 (NVMe) first, then USB, for a *.img;
   • loop-mounts the image;
   • hands off to systemd, which mounts the image's own root filesystem.

   Boot files (bzImage / initrd.img / cmdline.txt) still come from the USB root.

Verifying

From the booted system:

findmnt /            # should show the loop device / image root
lsblk                # nvme0n1p1 is the data partition holding the .img

USB-free boot (no USB at all)

Once the OS is on the M.2, the only thing still needing a USB was the boot files (bzImage, initrd.img, cmdline.txt, vram.txt). You can move those onto the M.2 too:

1. Download ps5-<distro>-boot.tar.gz from the release (or extract them from an OS image's boot partition).
2. Upload them to /mnt/ext1/ via the WebUI file manager or FTP (port 21).
3. Upload your .img to /mnt/ext1/ the same way (or run ps5-osinstall).

The payload adds /mnt/ext1 to its search paths and tries to mount the M.2 automatically at startup, so the console boots with no USB attached.