Install the Raspberry Pi OS image (easy)

Turn a Raspberry Pi into a dedicated Lumicast player by writing our OS image to an SD card. The Pi starts straight into the Lumicast player and keeps itself up to date.

What you need

• A Raspberry Pi 4 or Raspberry Pi 5 with its power supply. One image works on both.
• A microSD card of 16 GB or more. We test on SanDisk Extreme cards. The SD card is critical for Raspberry Pi performance and Lumicast playback.
• A way to connect the microSD card to your computer, such as an SD adapter or a USB adapter.
• A network cable, or a USB keyboard or phone to set up Wi-Fi.

Write the image to the SD card

1. On the Lumicast downloads page, go to Lumicast OS for Raspberry Pi and click Download image. You'll get a .img.xz file. Don't unpack it.
2. Install Raspberry Pi Imager and open it.
3. As the operating system, choose Use custom and select the downloaded .img.xz file.
4. Select your SD card as the storage and write the image.
5. If Imager offers OS customisation (hostname, user, Wi-Fi, SSH), skip it. The Lumicast image doesn't use these settings. You set up Wi-Fi on the Pi itself.

WARNING

Use Raspberry Pi Imager, not balenaEtcher. Etcher can write a card that doesn't boot: the Pi then shows a firmware diagnostic screen and looks broken.

First start

1. Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.
2. Connect the display with an HDMI cable. On a Raspberry Pi 4, use the HDMI port next to the USB-C power port.
3. Connect a network cable if you have one.
4. Power on the Pi. It shows the Lumicast logo and then starts the player. Once it's online, the player shows a pairing code.
5. In Lumicast, connect the display with that code.

There's no desktop, terminal or SSH access on the image. Everything is done from the player, the support console or Lumicast.

Connect to Wi-Fi

On first start

If the Pi has no network cable and has never been online, the display shows Connect this display to a network. You can set it up in two ways:

• With a keyboard. Connect a USB keyboard, use the arrow keys to pick your network, type the password and choose Connect. Is your network not in the list? Choose Join a hidden network… and enter the network name and password.
• With your phone. The display also shows Or set this display up from your phone, with a Wi-Fi network called Lumicast Setup followed by a code, and its password. Join that network on your phone and open the address shown on the display in your browser. Choose your Wi-Fi network and enter its password. The display joins your network and the setup network disappears.

TIP

The password of the setup network changes every 30 minutes. Always use the one the display shows right now.

Later on

To connect to Wi-Fi or switch networks once the player is running, connect a USB keyboard and press M to open the service menu. Select Configure Wi-Fi, use the arrow keys to find your network under Available networks, press Enter, enter the password and confirm with Enter or Connect. Once connected, the panel shows Wi-Fi: followed by your network name.

Press Esc to close the service menu and return to the player.

TIP

Network not in the list? Choose Hidden network and enter the Network name (SSID) and Password.

Check the connection

Press M to open the service menu. When both Internet connection and Websocket connection have a green dot, the Pi is connected to Lumicast. The service menu also shows the Pi's IP address and MAC address.

Orientation and resolution

• Portrait or upside down? Set Orientation in the display's General settings in Lumicast. The content turns with it.
• Resolution. The player uses the resolution the display reports as its preferred one. If a 4K display only gets 1080p, turn on the enhanced or UHD colour mode for that HDMI input in the display's own settings (for example HDMI UHD Color on Samsung or HDMI Ultra HD Deep Colour on LG), then restart the Pi.

Updates

The image keeps itself up to date, including the Lumicast player app. Updates install by themselves at night or at the next restart. While an update installs, the display briefly shows an update screen with a progress bar and then returns to your content.

On the display's Overview page in Lumicast, the Software section shows the installed versions and whether an update is waiting. To install a waiting update sooner, click Reboot on the display page.

Support console

The image has a support console that works even without a network or when the player doesn't start. Connect a USB keyboard and press Ctrl + Alt + F2. Here you can:

• Set up Wi-Fi under Network and Wi-Fi
• Pick the HDMI port and turn sound or HDMI-CEC on or off under Display
• Change the time zone and language, or reboot, under Maintenance

You can look around freely. Changes ask for the support PIN, which is 0000 until you change it under Maintenance. Press Ctrl + Alt + F1 to return to the player.

INFO

If the player stops showing content, the display switches to a screen with a support code. Give that code to Lumicast support so they can identify the device.