Raspberry Pi
A Raspberry Pi 4 or newer makes an excellent dedicated digital signage player — it is cheap (around SEK 800 for a Pi 4 with 4 GB RAM), silent, energy-efficient, and can be mounted directly behind the screen. This guide shows you how to configure a Pi to start Chromium in kiosk mode straight at boot, without showing a desktop.
Note: In 2024 Raspberry Pi OS changed its desktop system from X11/LXDE to Wayland/labwc. Many older guides online are out of date. This guide is up to date for Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm/Trixie with Wayland.
What you need
- Raspberry Pi 4 with at least 2 GB RAM (4 GB or more recommended for video playback)
- microSD card of at least 16 GB (Class 10 or better)
- HDMI cable
- Power supply (official Raspberry Pi adapter recommended)
- A computer to prepare the SD card
Step 1
Install Raspberry Pi OS
Download Raspberry Pi Imager
Go to raspberrypi.com/software and download Imager for your computer (Windows, Mac or Linux). It is the official tool for flashing SD cards.
Flash the SD card
Open Imager. Select "Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit)" under "CHOOSE OS". Select your SD card under "CHOOSE STORAGE". Click "NEXT".
In the settings dialog: set the hostname to "webtv-kiosk", create a user (e.g. "kiosk"), configure Wi-Fi if you are not using Ethernet, enable SSH, and set the time zone to Europe/Stockholm.
Click "YES" to write. It takes 3-5 minutes.
Boot the Pi
Insert the SD card into the Pi, then connect HDMI and power. The first time, it boots and configures itself — wait 2-3 minutes until you see the desktop.
From another computer, SSH in: ssh [email protected] (replace "kiosk" with your username if you chose something else).
Step 2
Install Chromium and dependencies
# Update the system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
# Install Chromium and unclutter (hides the mouse pointer)
sudo apt install -y chromium-browser unclutterchromium-browser is
the package name on older Pi OS. On Pi OS Trixie the package may be called just chromium. If the first command
fails, try sudo apt install -y chromium unclutter.
Step 3
Configure automatic start
On modern Raspberry Pi OS we use labwc as the window manager. We add an autostart script that runs when labwc starts and which in turn launches Chromium in kiosk mode.
Create the configuration folder
mkdir -p ~/.config/labwcCreate the autostart script
nano ~/.config/labwc/autostartEnter the following content:
#!/bin/bash
# Hide the mouse pointer after 0.5 seconds of inactivity
unclutter -idle 0.5 -root &
# Wait briefly so the display has time to initialise
sleep 2
# Start Chromium in kiosk mode
chromium \
--ozone-platform=wayland \
--kiosk \
--noerrdialogs \
--disable-infobars \
--no-first-run \
--no-default-browser-check \
--disable-session-crashed-bubble \
--disable-features=TranslateUI \
--check-for-update-interval=31536000 \
--password-store=basic \
https://displayflow.app/play &Make the script executable
chmod +x ~/.config/labwc/autostartEnable automatic login
Run sudo raspi-config and navigate to:
- System Options → Boot / Auto Login → Desktop Autologin
This makes the Pi log in automatically without a password at boot.
Restart
sudo rebootStep 4
Pair your screen
- 1 Chromium starts automatically and loads https://displayflow.app/play. You will see a 6-digit code on the screen.
- 2 Go to your DisplayFlow dashboard on a computer or phone.
- 3 Click "Add screen" and enter the code.
- 4 Give the screen a name and choose a location. Done.
Extra: Disable the screensaver and power management
To make sure the screen never goes to sleep, add the following to the autostart script or create a separate configuration:
# Disable the screensaver (if X11 is used)
xset s off
xset -dpms
xset s noblankAlternatively, in /boot/firmware/config.txt,
add disable_splash=1 to skip the boot splash screen.
Common problems
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