Flashing the SD card
The device runs from a ready-made image — you write it to an SD card, insert it into the board and power on. Nothing needs to be configured on the board itself.
What you need
- An SD card of 16 GB or more (class 10 / U1 or faster recommended).
- A card reader.
- balenaEtcher (Windows / macOS / Linux).
- The image for your board from the Downloads page.
Step by step
- Download the image for your board (
.img.gz). Do not unpack it. - Open balenaEtcher → Flash from file → pick the downloaded file.
- Select the SD card → Flash! Wait for writing and verification to finish.
- Insert the card into the board and power it on.
Do not format the card after flashing
Windows may offer to "format the disk" — decline. The card is written in a Linux format and looks empty to Windows. That is normal.
First boot
On first boot the device automatically:
- generates a unique name for itself (
sichrtc-XXXXXXXX); - brings up the network (Ethernet with DHCP);
- appears on the local network, ready for activation.
The first boot takes up to 2 minutes. The LED on the board should blink — that means the system has started.
Internet on board
The device needs internet to operate: connect Starlink, an LTE router or an Ethernet cable. For activation the device and the computer running the app must be on the same local network.
Next: device activation →