user136250: I am trying to solo mine bitcoin but the blockchain has been downloaded to an external hard drive.

user121614: You don't need to store the full blockchain in order to solo mine. A pruned node works just fine and requires only a few gigabytes of storage.
If you join what's called a "solo mining pool", you don't need to run a node at all, provided that you're okay with a small level of trust towards the mining pool and with a small percentage fee taken from your reward in the highly unlikely event that you actually manage to find a block.

136250: <p>I am trying to solo mine bitcoin but the blockchain has been downloaded to an external hard drive.</p>
 121614: <p>You don't need to store the full blockchain in order to solo mine. A pruned node works just fine and requires only a few gigabytes of storage.</p>
<p>If you join what's called a &quot;solo mining pool&quot;, you don't need to run a node at all, provided that you're okay with a small level of trust towards the mining pool and with a small percentage fee taken from your reward in the highly unlikely event that you actually manage to find a block.</p>
