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Quick start

Work through this list in order. Each step finishes with a check, so if something goes wrong you know which step it was.

What you need

  • [ ] The controller, with a PocketBeagle 2, BeagleBone Black or Raspberry Pi fitted (see PocketBeagle 2, BeagleBone Black or Raspberry Pi)
  • [ ] A microSD card with FPP, unless you have a PB2 Industrial with FPP on eMMC
  • [ ] A 5–24 V DC LED power supply matched to your pixels (5 V only for the PocketScrollers, K40D-PB, K64D-B, K128D-B and OctoPlus; 18 V at most for the K8-PB, K4-PB, K8-B, K8-B-Scroller and K8-Pi)
  • [ ] An Ethernet cable to your router or show switch. The K8-PB, K4-PB, K40D-PB and PocketScroller v2 have no Ethernet jack, so they also need a USB Ethernet adapter (or a USB Wi-Fi adapter).
  • [ ] Pixels with a pigtail wired to a 3-pin plug (or LED panels for the PocketScrollers and OctoPlus)
  • [ ] A small flat screwdriver

1. Bench test with one string

On the K40D-PB, K64D-B and K128D-B, which have no pixel ports, wire the string to a differential receiver on the 1-4 jack instead, and power the board from a 5 V supply.

  1. [ ] Read Safety.
  2. [ ] Insert the SD card into the PocketBeagle 2, BeagleBone or Pi, unless you are using eMMC.
  3. [ ] Wire one pixel string to P1: ground in G, data in D, +V in V. Check the pixel voltage matches your supply.
  4. [ ] Check the supply before connecting it: set its 115V/230V input switch (if it has one) to match your mains, then plug it in and measure the DC output with a multimeter. Unplug it again before wiring. See Check the supply.
  5. [ ] Wire the supply to the terminal that powers the controller. That's the terminal for ports 1–4 on the K16 and K32, and the right-hand terminal on the K8 boards. On the K8 boards, P1 is fed from the left terminal, so for this test wire both K8 terminals, or use P5 instead. The K8-PB, K4-PB, K8-B, K8-B-Scroller, K8-Pi and K2-Pi0 have a single terminal for everything; on the K2-Pi-Servo, use the top (pixel) terminal. See Power.
  6. [ ] Plug in the Ethernet cable (on the K8-PB, K4-PB, K40D-PB or PocketScroller v2, through the USB Ethernet adapter).
  7. [ ] Plug the supply into the mains.

Check: the power LEDs light (on the K8-B and K8-B-Scroller, the green LED above each fuse), and within a minute or two the OLED shows the FPP logo and then the status page with an IP address. The first boot of a new SD card can take a few minutes longer.

2. Connect to FPP

  1. [ ] On a computer on the same network, open a browser to the IP address on the OLED, or to http://fpp.local.
  2. [ ] Work through FPP's first-time setup: hostname, time zone and so on. See Initial configuration.

Check: the FPP status page shows your board under the cape name, and the header shows the input voltage(s).

3. Light the string

  1. [ ] Press Test on the controller.

Check: the string on P1 cycles red, green and blue. Press Test until the OLED shows Off.

If nothing lights, see Troubleshooting → No pixels light.

4. Configure your show

  1. [ ] In xLights, add the controller as an FPP controller with your board as the model, map your props to its ports, and use Upload Outputs to send the port configuration. See Configuring outputs.
  2. [ ] Upload sequences and audio with FPP Connect, then build a playlist and a schedule in FPP.

5. Install

  1. [ ] Main Menu → Shutdown (or shut down from FPP), then remove power.
  2. [ ] Mount the controller in its enclosure. Wire the remaining banks and ports, then the differential receivers.
  3. [ ] Power up and run the Test patterns again to check every port.

Back up

Once it's working, save a backup from FPP (Status/Control → FPP Backup). See Backup.