USB 3 drives and RISC OS on Rpi 4B

I note that on the ROOL download pages it talks of RISC OS Pi SD card images . Now my Rpi4B no longer uses an SD card. It only boots from an SD card if one is inserted. Otherwise it boots from the first USB 3 drive it finds. I have two available, a 250 GB Manx Data SSD drive and a 320 GB Lyntex 2.5" hard drive SATA hard drive, which at present hold Raspberry Pi OS and Manjaro-ARM respectively.

Can such USB 3 drives be used for installing RISC OS?
If so should the ROOL download pages be amended to indicate that other media beside SD cards can be used?

should the ROOL download pages be amended to indicate that other media beside SD cards can be used?

It’s mentioned here – is that good enough?

Note the three problems listed on the page. The “not recommended” label is there because I am not sure those are the only three problems you will have.

is that good enough?

Yes. Many thanks.

I have a 128 Gb micro-SD card which has been in a mobile phone. Inserted into a card-reader nothing happens in Linux when inserted into a USB slot. For the bin? Or is there a way of rescuing it?

I have a 128 Gb micro-SD card which has been in a mobile phone. Inserted into a card-reader nothing happens in Linux when inserted into a USB slot.

Many mobile phones encrypt their storage, including storage on SD cards. You may not be able to mount the encrypted partition under Linux, but a partition manager utility should be able to “see” the card, allowing you to remove the encrypted partition.

Thanks. Yes Gparted could see it, but not read its contents. When I tried to reformat it the whole desktop went pale, as if in shock, and Gparted appeared to crash. However I managed to shut down and reboot, but Gparted no longer recognizes it. Quite nasty behaviour.