Well... not a USB drive in the traditional sense of the phrase, but rather our goal here is to connect the popular mini computer in a way similar to pen drives and dongles. One of the several drawbacks users face when managing a Raspberry Pi is the need to use the keyboard-mouse-monitor combo for even the smallest change, which is very inconvenient on the Raspberry Pi Zero. But with a slight hardware modification and editing a couple of files in its operating system, the Zero becomes a computer completely managed via USB.
Have you managed to buy a Raspberry Pi Zero? If so, we have something very interesting. The Zero may be economical by itself, but it requires several additional accessories to compensate for its lack of ports. Depending on the region, this detail could turn it into a more expensive option than its bigger brothers, no matter how ridiculous that sounds. Setting aside its cost, the Zero’s great advantage is its size. It could almost behave like a dongle if it weren’t for the absence of a full-size USB port. That said... why not add it? The USB port can be recovered from any other accessory (a dead pen drive, for example), and the rest comes down to soldering four wires: two for the data channels (under the main micro USB), one for 5 volts, and one for ground (taken from the other micro USB, or through GPIO).
The Hardware Modification
So, how do you add a full-size USB port? The USB port can be recovered from any other accessory (a dead pen drive, for example), and the rest comes down to soldering four wires: two for the data channels (under the main micro USB), one for 5 volts, and one for ground (taken from the other micro USB, or through GPIO).
Software Configuration
Before connecting the Zero with that new port, you need to modify two files on the microSD card that contains the operating system image PIXEL or Raspbian: config.txt and cmdline.txt. The video explains precisely which commands to enter, and once the changes are done, move the card from the computer to the Raspberry Pi, connect it to the computer’s USB, and let it boot. Remote access to the Zero is done through PuTTY or similar, using the hostname “raspberrypi.local” on port 22, username “pi”, and password “raspberry”. At this point, the Zero has no internet access, but sharing the active connection from Windows is enough.
Personally, I think the most important adjustment is enabling the VNC server. With the help of this function, we have the possibility to access the Zero’s desktop without needing extra keyboards, mice, or monitors. In summary, two computers in one, Windows and Linux at the same time, without virtualization.
