01 — Raspberry Pi 5 Setup

Setup
Raspberry Pi
Hardware
Install Raspberry Pi OS on a Raspberry Pi 5, complete first boot, and configure the desktop, panel, and menu for the lab.

What You'll Need

  • Raspberry Pi 5 board (4 GB or 8 GB RAM)
  • Official 27W USB-C power supply — the Pi 5 draws more power than earlier boards, and an underpowered supply causes throttling and random crashes
  • microSD card, 32 GB or larger (A2-rated recommended), or an NVMe SSD on the M.2 HAT+ for better performance
  • A computer with an SD card reader/slot, used only to flash the OS image
  • Micro-HDMI to HDMI cable, a monitor, and a USB keyboard/mouse — or skip these and set up headless over SSH
  • An active cooler or a case with a fan — the Pi 5 runs hot under sustained computer-vision workloads
  • Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 (or a USB webcam) for the vision labs
  • Wi-Fi or a wired Ethernet connection

1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS

Download Raspberry Pi Imager for your computer's operating system:

https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/

Insert the microSD card into your computer, then open Raspberry Pi Imager:

  1. Choose Device → Raspberry Pi 5
  2. Choose OS → Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) — the current Bookworm release
  3. Choose Storage → your microSD card (double-check this — it will be erased)

Click Next. When asked whether to apply OS customisation settings, choose Edit Settings and configure:

  • General tab: hostname (e.g. cv-pi01), username and password, wireless LAN (SSID, password, country), locale/timezone/keyboard layout
  • Services tab: enable SSH (password authentication is fine to start with)

Save the settings, confirm, and click Write. Imager downloads, writes, and verifies the image — this takes several minutes.

Tip

Setting the hostname and enabling SSH in advance lets you boot the Pi headless (no monitor/keyboard) and connect immediately with ssh username@hostname.local.

When writing finishes, insert the microSD card into the Pi 5 (slot is on the underside of the board). Connect peripherals first, then power last.

2. First Boot

Power on the Pi. The first boot takes longer than normal because the filesystem is being resized to fill the card.

If a monitor is connected, the Welcome wizard appears (skip any step already configured in Imager):

  1. Set Country / Language / Timezone / Keyboard
  2. Create a user (if not already set)
  3. Select a Wi-Fi network
  4. Check for updates
  5. Restart

If you set up SSH in Imager and are going headless, find the Pi on the network from another computer:

ssh username@cv-pi01.local

Replace username and cv-pi01 with the values you set in Imager. If .local resolution does not work on your network, check your router's connected-devices list for the Pi's IP address instead.

3. Configure the Desktop, Panel & Menu

Raspberry Pi OS uses a desktop environment built around three things: the Panel (taskbar) at the top, the Main Menu, and the Preferences tools.

The Panel (Taskbar)

The bar across the top of the screen contains, from left to right:

  • The raspberry Main Menu button
  • Pinned application shortcuts (web browser, file manager, terminal)
  • A space showing open windows
  • A system tray on the right: network status, volume, Bluetooth, and the clock

The Main Menu

Click the raspberry icon to open the Main Menu, organized into categories:

Category Contains
Programming Thonny (Python IDE), Geany, other dev tools
Internet Web browser, email client
Accessories File manager, text editor, terminal
Preferences Raspberry Pi Configuration, Appearance Settings, Recommended Software
System Tools Task manager, disk usage, log viewer

Raspberry Pi Configuration (Preferences)

Main Menu → Preferences → Raspberry Pi Configuration is the graphical settings tool for the board. It has four tabs:

  • System: hostname, boot behaviour (desktop vs. CLI, auto-login), splash screen
  • Display: resolution, headless resolution, overscan
  • Interfaces: Camera, SSH, VNC, SPI, I2C, Serial Port, 1-Wire, Remote GPIO
  • Performance: GPU memory split, overclocking

The same settings are available from the terminal:

sudo raspi-config

Customizing the Panel & Appearance

  • Add/remove panel items: right-click an empty part of the panel → Add / Remove Panel Items
  • Reorder items: right-click an item → Move Left / Move Right, or drag it
  • Change the wallpaper: right-click the desktop → Desktop Preferences
  • Change fonts, icon size, and theme: Main Menu → Preferences → Appearance Settings

Increasing icon and font size is worth doing before lab sessions if you will be presenting the Pi's screen on a projector.

4. Enable the Camera & Interfaces

Open Raspberry Pi Configuration → Interfaces and enable:

  • Camera — required for the Camera Module
  • SSH — if not already enabled
  • I2C / SPI — only if a lab uses additional sensors

Reboot if prompted. Connect the Camera Module's ribbon cable to the CSI port, matching the orientation shown by the arrows printed next to the connector.

Test the camera from a terminal:

rpicam-hello

A 5-second preview window should appear. If you are using a USB webcam instead, check that it is detected with:

ls /dev/video*

5. Update the System

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

Check the installed OS version:

cat /etc/os-release

Check for bootloader/EEPROM updates:

sudo rpi-eeprom-update

Troubleshooting

No display output

The Pi 5 has two micro-HDMI ports. Use the one closest to the USB-C power port (HDMI0), or try the other port if nothing appears.

Undervoltage warning

A lightning-bolt icon in the corner of the screen (or a yellow square on early boot) means the power supply is not delivering enough current. Use the official 27W USB-C supply — phone chargers and older Raspberry Pi power supplies are often insufficient.

Can't find the Pi on the network

Check your router's list of connected devices for the hostname you set in Imager. If hostname.local does not resolve from your computer, connect a monitor temporarily and check the IP address with hostname -I.

Next steps

With Raspberry Pi OS installed and the desktop configured, continue to Tutorial 03 — Linux, Python & AI-Ready Raspberry Pi OS to learn the terminal commands, Python workflow, and computer-vision packages used throughout the labs.