Set up a Raspberry Pi for Fractal Remote

From a Mac

You put the system on the memory card with your Mac, then see and use the Pi’s desktop in a web browser on your Mac. Nothing plugs into the Pi but its power, and later your unit. Have the card reader and your wifi’s name and password ready.

Your Mac needs macOS 13 Ventura or newer: the Apple menu, then About This Mac, shows which it has. On an older Mac, Raspberry Pi Imager won’t open, so take With a keyboard, mouse and screen on the Pi instead, with a card bought already loaded with Raspberry Pi OS, or, on a Pi 4 or Pi 5, with no other computer at all.

1. Put Raspberry Pi OS on the memory card

1. On your Mac, go to raspberrypi.com/software and click Download for macOS.
2. Open the file you downloaded (its name starts with imager and ends in .dmg), and drag Raspberry Pi Imager into the Applications folder.
3. Open Raspberry Pi Imager from Applications. If your Mac asks whether you are sure you want to open it, click Open.
4. Put the memory card in the card reader, and plug the reader into your Mac.
5. On the Device screen, choose your Pi: Raspberry Pi 5 (also the one for a Pi 500 or 500+), Raspberry Pi 4 (also the one for a Pi 400) or Raspberry Pi 3. Click Next.
6. On the OS screen, choose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), the first one, marked Recommended. Not Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) just under it, and nothing under Raspberry Pi OS (other): the Lite system there has no desktop, and the app needs one. Click Next.
7. On the Storage screen, choose your memory card (check its size, so you know it is the card), leave Exclude system drives ticked, and click Next.
8. Hostname: type a name for the Pi, using only letters, numbers and hyphens, such as pedalboard. Click Next.
9. Localisation: choose your capital city. That sets the time zone, the keyboard and the wifi country. Click Next.
10. User: choose a username (small letters and numbers only) and a password, and write both down. Click Next.
11. Wi-Fi: Imager may fill in the network your Mac is on. If it asks whether to fill in the wifi password from your Mac’s keychain, say yes and type your Mac’s password. Fill in whatever it left empty: leave Secure network chosen, type your wifi’s name in the SSID box exactly as it appears (capitals and spaces count), and type the wifi password in both password boxes. Leave Hidden SSID unticked. The Pi has to join this network by itself the first time it starts, so check every letter. Click Next. On a Pi 3: choose a 2.4 GHz network. A Pi 3 Model B can’t see 5 GHz ones, and if your router shows two names, the 5 GHz one often ends in 5G.
12. Remote access: leave Enable SSH off, and click Next.
13. Raspberry Pi Connect: switch on Enable Raspberry Pi Connect, then click Open Raspberry Pi Connect. Your web browser opens.
14. In the browser, sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID, or sign up for one. It’s free, and it is an account with Raspberry Pi, not your Fractal Remote one.
15. On the New auth key page, click Create auth key and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. If the browser asks whether to open Raspberry Pi Imager, say yes.
16. Back in Imager, the Authentication token box has filled itself in with a long code, and the Open Raspberry Pi Connect button has gone. Click Next. (If the box is still empty after half a minute, open Having trouble? on that web page, copy the key, and paste it into the box.)
17. If Imager shows any other screen, leave it as it is and click Next.
18. Click Write, then I understand, erase and write. Type your Mac’s password if it asks.
19. Wait while it writes the card and then checks it. That takes several minutes. When Imager says Write complete!, wait until it says the storage device (the card) was ejected (if it shows an Eject button instead, click Eject), then click Finish. If your Mac says the disk isn’t readable, now or while it writes, click Ignore. Never Initialize: that wipes what was just written.
20. Take the card out. Start the Pi with it within six hours: the Connect key Imager put on the card stops working after that. If you miss it, write the card again.

2. Start the Pi, and see its desktop on your Mac

1. Put the Pi in its case, following the leaflet that comes with the case (a Pi 400, 500 or 500+ is its own case, so skip this). In the official Raspberry Pi 5 case, plug the fan’s small cable into the little socket marked FAN on the Pi before you put the lid on.
2. Push the memory card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board. On a Pi 5, 4 or 3 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports.
3. Plug the power supply into the Pi and into the wall. The Pi starts by itself. The first start takes several minutes while it sets itself up and joins your wifi, and longer on a Pi 3.
4. On your Mac, go to connect.raspberrypi.com in the web browser and sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID. If the browser asks to find devices on your local network, allow it.
5. Open the Devices tab. Your Pi is listed there, with a Screen sharing badge under its name. If it isn’t there after ten minutes, see If something goes wrong.
6. Click Connect via, then Screen sharing. The Pi’s desktop opens in your browser, and your Mac’s mouse and keyboard work it. On a Pi 3: screen sharing should work on today’s Raspberry Pi OS, but nobody has tried it with this app on a Pi 3 yet. If your Pi still shows no Screen sharing badge after you unplug its power and plug it back in, plug a TV or monitor (with an ordinary HDMI cable), a USB keyboard and a USB mouse into the Pi. Unplug the Pi’s power and plug it back in, then do parts 3 and 4 below on the TV instead of in your browser. In part 4, unplug the keyboard, mouse and TV before you plug the power back in.

3. Put the Fractal Remote app on the Pi

1. On the Pi’s own desktop (in the screen sharing window, or on the TV if part 2 sent a Pi 3 there), open the web browser: click the Raspberry Pi menu at the top left, then Internet, then Chromium (or Firefox).
2. In the Pi’s web browser, click its address bar. On screen sharing, that is the one inside the picture of the Pi’s desktop, not your own browser’s at the very top. Type fractal.newbold.cloud/downloads there and press Enter. Type it on the Pi: clicking it on this page would open it on whatever you are reading this on.
3. Click Raspberry Pi and other ARM — AppImage (it may start with “Download for”). Not the Linux PC one, and not the .deb. If the browser asks whether to keep the file, choose Keep.
4. If the download page asks you to check the Pi’s system first, you can skip that: you chose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) in Imager.
5. When it has downloaded, close the Pi’s web browser with the × at its top right. On screen sharing, close only that one, inside the picture, and leave your own browser open. The Pi’s browser is the heaviest thing a Pi runs, most of all a Pi 3.
6. Open the file manager: Raspberry Pi menu, then Accessories, then File Manager. Open the Downloads folder.
7. Right-click the file whose name ends in arm64.AppImage (with a Mac trackpad, click with two fingers), choose Properties, and on the Permissions tab set Execute to Anyone. Click OK.
8. Double-click the file. If it asks whether to execute it, choose Execute. The Fractal Remote app opens. Leave the file where it is from now on: it is the app itself. On a Pi 3: the app can take a minute or more to open the first time.
9. The app opens on its welcome screen. (If it doesn’t, open Settings with the gear ⚙ at the top right and choose Show the walkthrough.) Choose I already have an account, type the email and password of your Fractal Remote account, the same one as on your phone, and click Turn on. No account yet? Choose Create account there instead.
10. Open Settings (the gear ⚙ at the top right), choose About, and tick Start when this computer turns on.
11. Plug your unit into one of the Pi’s USB ports with its USB cable, and switch the unit on.
12. On your phone, open Fractal Remote, signed in to that same account. It finds the Pi and shows your unit. If it says there is no computer, tap Look for the computer again.

4. Test it the way it will be used

1. On the Pi’s desktop, click the Raspberry Pi menu, then Shutdown, then Shutdown. The screen sharing ends.
2. Wait half a minute, unplug the Pi’s power, and plug it back in.
3. Give it a few minutes, longer on a Pi 3. With nobody there, the Pi starts, the app starts by itself with no window, and your phone finds your unit again.
4. That’s it. From now on, switch the Pi on and your phone finds your unit. Whenever you want the Pi’s desktop again, connect.raspberrypi.com shows it while the Pi is online, from any web browser, your phone’s included.

Setting it up another way? Back to the four choices

From a Windows PC

You put the system on the memory card with your PC, then see and use the Pi’s desktop in a web browser on your PC. Nothing plugs into the Pi but its power, and later your unit. Have the card reader and your wifi’s name and password ready.

1. Put Raspberry Pi OS on the memory card

1. On your PC, go to raspberrypi.com/software and click Download for Windows.
2. Open the file you downloaded (its name starts with imager and ends in .exe). If Windows asks Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?, click Yes. If a blue box says Windows protected your PC, click More info, then Run anyway. Follow the installer to the end.
3. Open Raspberry Pi Imager from the Start menu. If Windows asks again whether to allow it to make changes, click Yes.
4. Put the memory card in the card reader, and plug the reader into your PC.
5. On the Device screen, choose your Pi: Raspberry Pi 5 (also the one for a Pi 500 or 500+), Raspberry Pi 4 (also the one for a Pi 400) or Raspberry Pi 3. Click Next.
6. On the OS screen, choose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), the first one, marked Recommended. Not Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) just under it, and nothing under Raspberry Pi OS (other): the Lite system there has no desktop, and the app needs one. Click Next.
7. On the Storage screen, choose your memory card (check its size, so you know it is the card), leave Exclude system drives ticked, and click Next.
8. Hostname: type a name for the Pi, using only letters, numbers and hyphens, such as pedalboard. Click Next.
9. Localisation: choose your capital city. That sets the time zone, the keyboard and the wifi country. Click Next.
10. User: choose a username (small letters and numbers only) and a password, and write both down. Click Next.
11. Wi-Fi: Imager may fill in the network your PC is on. Fill in whatever it left empty: leave Secure network chosen, type your wifi’s name in the SSID box exactly as it appears (capitals and spaces count), and type the wifi password in both password boxes. Leave Hidden SSID unticked. The Pi has to join this network by itself the first time it starts, so check every letter. Click Next. On a Pi 3: choose a 2.4 GHz network. A Pi 3 Model B can’t see 5 GHz ones, and if your router shows two names, the 5 GHz one often ends in 5G.
12. Remote access: leave Enable SSH off, and click Next.
13. Raspberry Pi Connect: switch on Enable Raspberry Pi Connect, then click Open Raspberry Pi Connect. Your web browser opens.
14. In the browser, sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID, or sign up for one. It’s free, and it is an account with Raspberry Pi, not your Fractal Remote one.
15. On the New auth key page, click Create auth key and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. If the browser asks whether to open Raspberry Pi Imager, say yes.
16. Back in Imager, the Authentication token box has filled itself in with a long code, and the Open Raspberry Pi Connect button has gone. Click Next. (If the box is still empty after half a minute, open Having trouble? on that web page, copy the key, and paste it into the box.)
17. If Imager shows any other screen, leave it as it is and click Next.
18. Click Write, then I understand, erase and write. If Windows asks whether to allow it, click Yes.
19. Wait while it writes the card and then checks it. That takes several minutes. When Imager says Write complete!, wait until it says the storage device (the card) was ejected (if it shows an Eject button instead, click Eject), then click Finish. If Windows says you need to format the disk, now or while it writes, click Cancel. Never Format: that wipes what was just written. Leave the small drive called bootfs alone too.
20. Take the card out. Start the Pi with it within six hours: the Connect key Imager put on the card stops working after that. If you miss it, write the card again.

2. Start the Pi, and see its desktop on your PC

1. Put the Pi in its case, following the leaflet that comes with the case (a Pi 400, 500 or 500+ is its own case, so skip this). In the official Raspberry Pi 5 case, plug the fan’s small cable into the little socket marked FAN on the Pi before you put the lid on.
2. Push the memory card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board. On a Pi 5, 4 or 3 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports.
3. Plug the power supply into the Pi and into the wall. The Pi starts by itself. The first start takes several minutes while it sets itself up and joins your wifi, and longer on a Pi 3.
4. On your PC, go to connect.raspberrypi.com in the web browser and sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID. If the browser asks to find devices on your local network, allow it.
5. Open the Devices tab. Your Pi is listed there, with a Screen sharing badge under its name. If it isn’t there after ten minutes, see If something goes wrong.
6. Click Connect via, then Screen sharing. The Pi’s desktop opens in your browser, and your PC’s mouse and keyboard work it. On a Pi 3: screen sharing should work on today’s Raspberry Pi OS, but nobody has tried it with this app on a Pi 3 yet. If your Pi still shows no Screen sharing badge after you unplug its power and plug it back in, plug a TV or monitor (with an ordinary HDMI cable), a USB keyboard and a USB mouse into the Pi. Unplug the Pi’s power and plug it back in, then do parts 3 and 4 below on the TV instead of in your browser. In part 4, unplug the keyboard, mouse and TV before you plug the power back in.

3. Put the Fractal Remote app on the Pi

1. On the Pi’s own desktop (in the screen sharing window, or on the TV if part 2 sent a Pi 3 there), open the web browser: click the Raspberry Pi menu at the top left, then Internet, then Chromium (or Firefox).
2. In the Pi’s web browser, click its address bar. On screen sharing, that is the one inside the picture of the Pi’s desktop, not your own browser’s at the very top. Type fractal.newbold.cloud/downloads there and press Enter. Type it on the Pi: clicking it on this page would open it on whatever you are reading this on.
3. Click Raspberry Pi and other ARM — AppImage (it may start with “Download for”). Not the Linux PC one, and not the .deb. If the browser asks whether to keep the file, choose Keep.
4. If the download page asks you to check the Pi’s system first, you can skip that: you chose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) in Imager.
5. When it has downloaded, close the Pi’s web browser with the × at its top right. On screen sharing, close only that one, inside the picture, and leave your own browser open. The Pi’s browser is the heaviest thing a Pi runs, most of all a Pi 3.
6. Open the file manager: Raspberry Pi menu, then Accessories, then File Manager. Open the Downloads folder.
7. Right-click the file whose name ends in arm64.AppImage (on a laptop touchpad, tap with two fingers), choose Properties, and on the Permissions tab set Execute to Anyone. Click OK.
8. Double-click the file. If it asks whether to execute it, choose Execute. The Fractal Remote app opens. Leave the file where it is from now on: it is the app itself. On a Pi 3: the app can take a minute or more to open the first time.
9. The app opens on its welcome screen. (If it doesn’t, open Settings with the gear ⚙ at the top right and choose Show the walkthrough.) Choose I already have an account, type the email and password of your Fractal Remote account, the same one as on your phone, and click Turn on. No account yet? Choose Create account there instead.
10. Open Settings (the gear ⚙ at the top right), choose About, and tick Start when this computer turns on.
11. Plug your unit into one of the Pi’s USB ports with its USB cable, and switch the unit on.
12. On your phone, open Fractal Remote, signed in to that same account. It finds the Pi and shows your unit. If it says there is no computer, tap Look for the computer again.

4. Test it the way it will be used

1. On the Pi’s desktop, click the Raspberry Pi menu, then Shutdown, then Shutdown. The screen sharing ends.
2. Wait half a minute, unplug the Pi’s power, and plug it back in.
3. Give it a few minutes, longer on a Pi 3. With nobody there, the Pi starts, the app starts by itself with no window, and your phone finds your unit again.
4. That’s it. From now on, switch the Pi on and your phone finds your unit. Whenever you want the Pi’s desktop again, connect.raspberrypi.com shows it while the Pi is online, from any web browser, your phone’s included.

Setting it up another way? Back to the four choices

From a Linux computer

You put the system on the memory card with your Linux computer, then see and use the Pi’s desktop in a web browser on that computer. Nothing plugs into the Pi but its power, and later your unit. Have the card reader and your wifi’s name and password ready.

1. Put Raspberry Pi OS on the memory card

Is your Linux computer itself a Raspberry Pi? Then, instead of the first four steps, open Terminal, type sudo apt install rpi-imager and press Enter (it may say it is already installed), then open Imager from the Raspberry Pi menu → Accessories → Imager. Use a USB card reader for the new card, because the Pi’s own card slot holds its system.

1. On your computer, go to raspberrypi.com/software and click Download for Linux (x86_64). That one is for an ordinary Intel or AMD computer. Take it from there rather than from your computer’s software store, which can have an older Imager without the Raspberry Pi Connect step.
2. Let the file run as a program: right-click it, choose Properties, and on the Permissions tab tick the box (or switch) that lets it run as a program. Each computer words it a little differently. Or, in Terminal, type cd Downloads and press Enter, then type chmod +x followed by a space and the file’s name (it starts with imager_ and ends in .AppImage), and press Enter.
3. Double-click the file to open Raspberry Pi Imager. It may ask for your computer’s password, so that it can write to the card.
4. If Imager can’t see or write the card, close it, open Terminal, type cd Downloads and press Enter, then type sudo ./ followed by the file’s name, and press Enter. Type your computer’s password when it asks.
5. Put the memory card in the card reader, and plug the reader into your computer.
6. On the Device screen, choose your Pi: Raspberry Pi 5 (also the one for a Pi 500 or 500+), Raspberry Pi 4 (also the one for a Pi 400) or Raspberry Pi 3. Click Next.
7. On the OS screen, choose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), the first one, marked Recommended. Not Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) just under it, and nothing under Raspberry Pi OS (other): the Lite system there has no desktop, and the app needs one. Click Next.
8. On the Storage screen, choose your memory card (check its size, so you know it is the card), leave Exclude system drives ticked, and click Next.
9. Hostname: type a name for the Pi, using only letters, numbers and hyphens, such as pedalboard. Click Next.
10. Localisation: choose your capital city. That sets the time zone, the keyboard and the wifi country. Click Next.
11. User: choose a username (small letters and numbers only) and a password, and write both down. Click Next.
12. Wi-Fi: Imager may fill in the network your computer is on. Fill in whatever it left empty: leave Secure network chosen, type your wifi’s name in the SSID box exactly as it appears (capitals and spaces count), and type the wifi password in both password boxes. Leave Hidden SSID unticked. The Pi has to join this network by itself the first time it starts, so check every letter. Click Next. On a Pi 3: choose a 2.4 GHz network. A Pi 3 Model B can’t see 5 GHz ones, and if your router shows two names, the 5 GHz one often ends in 5G.
13. Remote access: leave Enable SSH off, and click Next.
14. Raspberry Pi Connect: switch on Enable Raspberry Pi Connect, then click Open Raspberry Pi Connect. Your web browser opens.
15. In the browser, sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID, or sign up for one. It’s free, and it is an account with Raspberry Pi, not your Fractal Remote one.
16. On the New auth key page, click Create auth key and launch Raspberry Pi Imager. If the browser asks whether to open Raspberry Pi Imager, say yes.
17. Back in Imager, the Authentication token box has filled itself in with a long code, and the Open Raspberry Pi Connect button has gone. Click Next. (If the box is still empty after half a minute, open Having trouble? on that web page, copy the key, and paste it into the box.)
18. If Imager shows any other screen, leave it as it is and click Next.
19. Click Write, then I understand, erase and write. Type your computer’s password if it asks.
20. Wait while it writes the card and then checks it. That takes several minutes. When Imager says Write complete!, wait until it says the storage device (the card) was ejected (if it shows an Eject button instead, click Eject), then click Finish.
21. Take the card out. Start the Pi with it within six hours: the Connect key Imager put on the card stops working after that. If you miss it, write the card again.

2. Start the Pi, and see its desktop on your computer

1. Put the Pi in its case, following the leaflet that comes with the case (a Pi 400, 500 or 500+ is its own case, so skip this). In the official Raspberry Pi 5 case, plug the fan’s small cable into the little socket marked FAN on the Pi before you put the lid on.
2. Push the memory card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board. On a Pi 5, 4 or 3 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports.
3. Plug the power supply into the Pi and into the wall. The Pi starts by itself. The first start takes several minutes while it sets itself up and joins your wifi, and longer on a Pi 3.
4. On your computer, go to connect.raspberrypi.com in the web browser and sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID. If the browser asks to find devices on your local network, allow it.
5. Open the Devices tab. Your Pi is listed there, with a Screen sharing badge under its name. If it isn’t there after ten minutes, see If something goes wrong.
6. Click Connect via, then Screen sharing. The Pi’s desktop opens in your browser, and your computer’s mouse and keyboard work it. On a Pi 3: screen sharing should work on today’s Raspberry Pi OS, but nobody has tried it with this app on a Pi 3 yet. If your Pi still shows no Screen sharing badge after you unplug its power and plug it back in, plug a TV or monitor (with an ordinary HDMI cable), a USB keyboard and a USB mouse into the Pi. Unplug the Pi’s power and plug it back in, then do parts 3 and 4 below on the TV instead of in your browser. In part 4, unplug the keyboard, mouse and TV before you plug the power back in.

3. Put the Fractal Remote app on the Pi

1. On the Pi’s own desktop (in the screen sharing window, or on the TV if part 2 sent a Pi 3 there), open the web browser: click the Raspberry Pi menu at the top left, then Internet, then Chromium (or Firefox).
2. In the Pi’s web browser, click its address bar. On screen sharing, that is the one inside the picture of the Pi’s desktop, not your own browser’s at the very top. Type fractal.newbold.cloud/downloads there and press Enter. Type it on the Pi: clicking it on this page would open it on whatever you are reading this on.
3. Click Raspberry Pi and other ARM — AppImage (it may start with “Download for”). Not the Linux PC one, and not the .deb. If the browser asks whether to keep the file, choose Keep.
4. If the download page asks you to check the Pi’s system first, you can skip that: you chose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) in Imager.
5. When it has downloaded, close the Pi’s web browser with the × at its top right. On screen sharing, close only that one, inside the picture, and leave your own browser open. The Pi’s browser is the heaviest thing a Pi runs, most of all a Pi 3.
6. Open the file manager: Raspberry Pi menu, then Accessories, then File Manager. Open the Downloads folder.
7. Right-click the file whose name ends in arm64.AppImage (on a touchpad, tap or click with two fingers), choose Properties, and on the Permissions tab set Execute to Anyone. Click OK.
8. Double-click the file. If it asks whether to execute it, choose Execute. The Fractal Remote app opens. Leave the file where it is from now on: it is the app itself. On a Pi 3: the app can take a minute or more to open the first time.
9. The app opens on its welcome screen. (If it doesn’t, open Settings with the gear ⚙ at the top right and choose Show the walkthrough.) Choose I already have an account, type the email and password of your Fractal Remote account, the same one as on your phone, and click Turn on. No account yet? Choose Create account there instead.
10. Open Settings (the gear ⚙ at the top right), choose About, and tick Start when this computer turns on.
11. Plug your unit into one of the Pi’s USB ports with its USB cable, and switch the unit on.
12. On your phone, open Fractal Remote, signed in to that same account. It finds the Pi and shows your unit. If it says there is no computer, tap Look for the computer again.

4. Test it the way it will be used

1. On the Pi’s desktop, click the Raspberry Pi menu, then Shutdown, then Shutdown. The screen sharing ends.
2. Wait half a minute, unplug the Pi’s power, and plug it back in.
3. Give it a few minutes, longer on a Pi 3. With nobody there, the Pi starts, the app starts by itself with no window, and your phone finds your unit again.
4. That’s it. From now on, switch the Pi on and your phone finds your unit. Whenever you want the Pi’s desktop again, connect.raspberrypi.com shows it while the Pi is online, from any web browser, your phone’s included.

Setting it up another way? Back to the four choices

With a keyboard, mouse and screen on the Pi

You plug a TV or monitor, a keyboard and a mouse into the Pi and set it up right there, like an ordinary computer. Afterwards you unplug them, and the Pi carries on without them.

1. Put the Pi in its case, and plug in the screen, the keyboard and the mouse

1. Put the Pi in its case, following the leaflet that comes with the case (a Pi 400, 500 or 500+ is its own case, so skip this). In the official Raspberry Pi 5 case, plug the fan’s small cable into the little socket marked FAN on the Pi before you put the lid on.
2. Plug the TV or monitor into the Pi. On a Pi 5 or Pi 4, use the micro-HDMI to HDMI cable, in the port marked HDMI0, next to the power socket. On a Pi 400, use the same kind of cable in the micro-HDMI port next to the memory card slot. On a Pi 500 or 500+, use it in the port marked HDMI0. On a Pi 3, use an ordinary HDMI cable.
3. Switch the TV or monitor on, and choose that HDMI input.
4. Plug the USB keyboard and the USB mouse into the Pi’s USB ports. A Pi 400, 500 or 500+ is the keyboard, so it needs only the mouse.
5. Don’t plug in the Pi’s power yet.

2. Get Raspberry Pi OS onto the memory card

Three ways to do this. Take whichever fits, and skip the other two.

If the card came already loaded with Raspberry Pi OS (a kit’s card, or the one a Pi 500 comes with):

1. Push the card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board. On a Pi 5, 4 or 3 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports. A Pi 500+ has the system on its own drive, so it needs no card.
2. Then go on to 3. Start the Pi, and answer its questions. Its last step but one checks that the card holds the 64-bit system, because a loaded card doesn’t always say which it has.

If you have another computer to write the card (a Mac, a Windows PC or a Linux computer, with a card reader for it):

1. On that computer, go to raspberrypi.com/software and download Raspberry Pi Imager for it. On a Mac (it needs macOS 13 Ventura or newer), open the file and drag Raspberry Pi Imager into Applications. On Windows, open the file and click Yes when it asks to make changes. On Linux, let the file run as a program (right-click it, Properties, Permissions).
2. Open Raspberry Pi Imager, put the memory card in the card reader, and plug the reader in.
3. On the Device screen, choose your Pi: Raspberry Pi 5 (also the one for a Pi 500 or 500+), Raspberry Pi 4 (also the one for a Pi 400) or Raspberry Pi 3. Click Next.
4. On the OS screen, choose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), the first one, marked Recommended. Not Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) just under it, and nothing under Raspberry Pi OS (other): the Lite system there has no desktop, and the app needs one. Click Next.
5. On the Storage screen, choose your memory card (check its size), leave Exclude system drives ticked, and click Next.
6. Click Skip customisation. The Pi asks the same questions on its own screen.
7. Click Write, then I understand, erase and write, and allow it if the computer asks for permission or its password.
8. Wait while it writes the card and then checks it, which takes several minutes. When Imager says Write complete!, wait until it says the storage device (the card) was ejected (if it shows an Eject button instead, click Eject), then click Finish. Take the card out. If the computer offers to format the card, or says it isn’t readable, say no: Cancel on Windows, Ignore on a Mac.
9. Push the card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board. On a Pi 5, 4 or 3 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports.

With no other computer (a Pi 4, 400, 5, 500 or 500+ only, not a Pi 3):

1. You need a memory card, blank or one you don’t mind wiping, and a network cable from the Pi to your router. This part doesn’t work over wifi.
2. Push the card into the Pi’s card slot, printed side facing away from the board (on a Pi 5 or 4 the slot is underneath, at the end away from the USB ports), and plug in the network cable.
3. Hold down Shift on the keyboard while you plug in the Pi’s power. The Pi downloads Raspberry Pi Imager and opens it on the screen, which can take a few minutes. If nothing like that appears, the Pi’s start-up software may be too old for this: take one of the other two ways instead.
4. If Imager first shows Welcome and asks for a language, choose yours and click Next.
5. On the Device screen, choose your Pi, and click Next.
6. On the OS screen, choose Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), the first one, marked Recommended. Not Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit) just under it, and nothing under Raspberry Pi OS (other): the Lite system there has no desktop, and the app needs one. Click Next.
7. On the Storage screen, choose the memory card in the Pi (check its size, so you know it is the card), and click Next. Then click Skip customisation.
8. Click Write. Here it starts writing at once, with no box asking if you are sure, so be sure you chose the card on the Storage screen. When the writing is done, it moves on to its last screen by itself. Click Reboot there. The Pi starts again from the card. If it doesn’t, unplug its power and plug it back in.

3. Start the Pi, and answer its questions

1. Plug in the Pi’s power, if it isn’t on already. It starts by itself, and the first start can take a few minutes.
2. Welcome to Raspberry Pi: click Next.
3. Set Country: choose your country, language and time zone. Click Next.
4. Create User: choose a username (small letters and numbers only) and a password, and write both down. Click Next.
5. Select WiFi Network: click your network, click Next, type its password, and click Next. Do this even if a network cable is plugged in: on the pedalboard the Pi will need the wifi, or your phone’s hotspot (see For gigs). Click Skip only if the Pi will always have a network cable. On a Pi 3: choose a 2.4 GHz network. A Pi 3 Model B can’t see 5 GHz ones.
6. Choose Browser: either is fine. Click Next.
7. Update Software: click Next and let it update. It can take up to half an hour, and it is worth it, most of all on a card that came loaded.
8. Setup Complete: click Restart or Launch, whichever it offers.
9. Check it is the 64-bit system: open the Raspberry Pi menu at the top left, then Accessories, then Terminal. Type dpkg --print-architecture and press Enter. If it says arm64, you’re set. If it says armhf, it is the 32-bit system, which the app can’t run on. If you have another computer, write the card again with it, as above, choosing Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit); that wipes the card. With no other computer, on a Pi 4, 400, 5, 500 or 500+: shut the Pi down (Raspberry Pi menu, Shutdown, Shutdown), unplug its power, and take the way With no other computer above with this same card. Holding Shift, as it says, starts it even on a card that already has a system on it. On a Pi 3 you need another computer to write the card, or a card sold loaded with Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit).
10. Optional, and handy later on a pedalboard: switch on Raspberry Pi Connect, so you can see the Pi’s desktop from any web browser with no screen plugged in. Click the Connect icon at the top right of the screen and choose Turn On Raspberry Pi Connect. In the browser that opens, sign in with your Raspberry Pi ID (or sign up for one; it’s free), give the Pi a name, and click Create device and sign in.

4. Put the Fractal Remote app on the Pi

1. On the Pi’s desktop, on the TV, open the web browser: click the Raspberry Pi menu at the top left, then Internet, then Chromium (or Firefox).
2. In the Pi’s web browser, click its address bar at the top, type fractal.newbold.cloud/downloads there and press Enter. Type it on the Pi: clicking it on this page would open it on whatever you are reading this on.
3. Click Raspberry Pi and other ARM — AppImage (it may start with “Download for”). Not the Linux PC one, and not the .deb. If the browser asks whether to keep the file, choose Keep.
4. If the download page asks you to check the Pi’s system first, you can skip that: you checked it is the 64-bit one in part 3.
5. When it has downloaded, close the Pi’s web browser with the × at its top right. It is the heaviest thing a Pi runs, most of all a Pi 3.
6. Open the file manager: Raspberry Pi menu, then Accessories, then File Manager. Open the Downloads folder.
7. Right-click the file whose name ends in arm64.AppImage (with the right button on the mouse), choose Properties, and on the Permissions tab set Execute to Anyone. Click OK.
8. Double-click the file. If it asks whether to execute it, choose Execute. The Fractal Remote app opens. Leave the file where it is from now on: it is the app itself. On a Pi 3: the app can take a minute or more to open the first time.
9. The app opens on its welcome screen. (If it doesn’t, open Settings with the gear ⚙ at the top right and choose Show the walkthrough.) Choose I already have an account, type the email and password of your Fractal Remote account, the same one as on your phone, and click Turn on. No account yet? Choose Create account there instead.
10. Open Settings (the gear ⚙ at the top right), choose About, and tick Start when this computer turns on.
11. Plug your unit into one of the Pi’s USB ports with its USB cable, and switch the unit on.
12. On your phone, open Fractal Remote, signed in to that same account. It finds the Pi and shows your unit. If it says there is no computer, tap Look for the computer again.

5. Test it the way it will be used

1. Click the Raspberry Pi menu, then Shutdown, then Shutdown.
2. When the screen goes dark, unplug the Pi’s power. Then unplug the keyboard, the mouse and the screen.
3. Plug the power back in, with nothing else plugged into the Pi but your unit (and the network cable, if that is how this Pi always reaches the internet). Give it a few minutes, longer on a Pi 3. With nobody there, the Pi starts, the app starts by itself with no window, and your phone finds your unit again.
4. That’s it. From now on, switch the Pi on and your phone finds your unit. Whenever you want the Pi’s desktop again, plug the screen, keyboard and mouse back in, or, if you switched Connect on, go to connect.raspberrypi.com from any web browser.

Setting it up another way? Back to the four choices