I managed to bust off the card slot on the pi lite. Can it be booted from USB or is this board done?

I managed to bust off the card slot on the pi lite. Can it be booted from USB or is this board done?

 

It can be booted through USB but not in the usual way: http://linux-sunxi.org/FEL/USBBoot

 

Another variant the might be possible in the future is http://linux-sunxi.org/Bootable_SPI_flash (should be possible to use a cheap SPI NOR flash connected to GPIO headers from where u-boot is loaded and then continue to boot from USB media).

 

In other words: Yes, it's done.

Another variant the might be possible in the future is http://linux-sunxi.org/Bootable_SPI_flash (should be possible to use a cheap SPI NOR flash connected to GPIO headers from where u-boot is loaded and then continue to boot from USB media).

It is already possible with a small patch to u-boot, but connecting SPI flash requires wiring and/or soldering in any case.

I'll probably try to solder some wires to the PCB were the socket was and see if I have any luck. I did get it to boot once by pressing the socket back down on the board and shorting out the card detect pins...