Flash Your Raspberry Pi — Step-by-Step

What you'll need

• Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5 (2 GB RAM or more)
• A microSD card, 16 GB or larger. An A2-rated card lasts longest; the card only holds the system, so a modest size is fine
• An external USB drive (SSD or hard drive) — this is where your music and media will live
• A computer with an SD card reader
• Your home Wi-Fi, or an Ethernet cable

Step 1 · Download the image

Download the latest Raspberry Pi image (a single .img.xz file — no need to unzip it).

For the security-minded, verify your download against the checksums file: SHA256SUMS

Step 2 · Flash the image to the SD card

We recommend Raspberry Pi Imager (free, official, Windows/macOS/Linux):

1. Install it from raspberrypi.com/software and open it.
2. Click Choose Device and select your Pi model.
3. Click Choose OS, scroll down to Use custom, and select the .img.xz you downloaded (no need to extract it).
4. Click Choose Storage and select your microSD card.
5. Click Next. If asked whether to apply OS customisation settings, choose No — the device runs its own setup on first boot.
6. Before confirming, look once more: this erases everything on the card, so double-check you picked the right one.
7. Wait for it to finish (typically 5–15 minutes), then remove the card.

balenaEtcher works too: Flash from file → select the .img.xz → Select target → Flash!

Step 3 · First start

1. Insert the microSD card into your Pi.
2. Plug in your external USB drive — this is where your media library will live.
3. Connect Ethernet (simplest), or plan to set up Wi-Fi in the next step.
4. Connect the power supply.

The first start takes 2–4 minutes. During this time the device prepares its storage and generates its own unique identity key — that key is created on the device and never leaves it.

Step 4 · Set it up in your browser

On a phone or computer connected to the same network, open:

Then follow the on-screen steps: connect to Wi-Fi (skip if you're on Ethernet), scan the QR code with the app to link the device to your account, and choose the drive for your library.

If that address doesn't open

• Wait another minute — the device may still be starting.
• Some Android phones and older Windows versions don't support .local addresses. Open your router's device list, find the device's IP address, and use http://<that-address> instead.
• Make sure your phone or computer is on the same network as the Pi (guest Wi-Fi is often isolated).

Step 5 · Add your media

Copy your music and videos onto the external drive. The device indexes them automatically and they show up in the app.

Good to know

The SD card is a consumable part. SD cards wear out — often within 6–24 months when used as a system disk. The system runs mostly read-only to extend the card's life, and your media is never stored on the SD card — it lives on your external drive. If a card ever fails, flash a new one, link the device again, and your library is untouched.

Updates install themselves. The device applies signed updates automatically and keeps a second copy of the system to fall back on if an update ever fails. You never need to re-flash to stay current.

It keeps working without us. On your own network, playback doesn't depend on our servers. Linking your account adds remote access and sync — but if our service is unreachable, or you stop using it, the device keeps serving your library locally.

If something goes wrong

Still stuck? Email us: contact@cedarkeel.com