DeskPi Pro Assembling Guide

Please assemble the DeskPi Pro case with your Raspberry Pi 4B according to this Guide
carefully.

STEP1

Unboxing DeskPi Pro accessories and insert TF card adapter board into your Raspberry Pi and
Insert the T-Type cotton into the gap of USB port on Raspberry Pi 4B.

STEP2:

Fix the bracket onto the heatsink with M2.5 screws, please pay attention to the direction of
the bracket as following figure.

STEP3:

Placed the thermal tape onto the Raspberry Pi 4B’s CPU, do remember to peel off the
protection film on both sides of thermal tape. and then fix the heat sink with copper pillars.
and install the M2.5x19 copper pillar to the bracket.
NOTE:
1. M2.5x4+4 copper pillar must be installed in the screw hole with TF card Adapter.
2. M2.5x5+3 copper pillar must be installed in the screw hole near by the Ethernet Port
and Audio Port.
STEP4:

Insert GPIO extension board into GPIO on Raspberry Pi and connect the FPC cable to GPIO
extension board.
NOTE:
Please release the buckle gently and insert the FPC cable into the slot and make sure the blue
side is towards to the buckle side, insert the FPC cable straightly and then pull back the buckle
upwards to secure the FPC cable.

STEP5:

Then Turn the Raspberry Pi over and combine it with the motherboard of DeskPi Pro. Please
align all the interfaces and insert them tightly.
After that, connect the small FPC cable from motherboard to TF card adapter, and insert the
fan cable to the motherboard as following figures.

Finally, do remember screw M2.5x5 flat head screw on top of DeskPi Pro PCB. It will make the
Raspberry Pi and PCB more stable, it will connect to M2.5x19 copper pillar.

STEP8:

Insert the motherboard back into DeskPi Pro aluminum case and fix it with M2.5x4 screws.
and fix the acrylic panel with screws too.
[Optional]

How to install M.2 SATA SSD drive?

Unloose the screws on top of the motherboard, and pull out the adapter board, unloose the
screws and insert M.2 SATA SSD drive into the slot as following steps:
⚫ Insert the SSD into the M.2 slot at a 45° angle.
⚫ Carefully press the SSD down to the horizontal position.
⚫ Install the SSD mounting screw.

and then insert it back into the DeskPi Pro motherboard.

The same way to the 2.5 inch SATA drive. just remove the adapter board and insert the drive
instead.
How to switch my DeskPi Pro to Always-ON mode?

DeskPi Pro has been adding a toggle switch behind the power switch,
Just toggle the switch from DISABLE to ENABLE.
DeskPi Pro Software Configuration Guide

1. Operating system selection

Please refer to following chart to select which kind of OS do you want to use.

NOTE：
The systems listed in this table have been tested and can be used on DeskPi Pro. Other
systems are not well supported at present. If necessary, you can try to develop them
yourself.

Supported OS List：

Raspberry Pi OS 32/64bit
Ubuntu OS 64bit
Manjaro OS 32/64bit
Kali-linux-arm OS 32/64bit
Twister OS V2.0.2 32bit
DietPi OS 64bit
Volumio OS Version 2021-04-24-Pi 32bit
RetroPie OS 32bit

2. Install Drivers and services

2.1 Install the automatic speed-adjusting fan driver,

background service script and safe shutdown script

By default, if you buy a kit with a Raspberry Pi, we will provide a

TF card with the driver installed by default, and use the official

system of the Raspberry Pi OS 64bit with Desktop (bullseye)

If it is a kit that does not include Raspberry Pi, you need to install

the driver yourself.

2.2 Requirement

First of all, you need to make sure that the system you burn can start normally and can connect
to the Internet, and please download the driver from GitHub repository:

https://github.com/DeskPi-Team/deskpi
You can configure it according to the Readme information on GitHub, or refer to this manual
for installation and configuration.

Please make sure you have download “deskpi” repository to your Raspberry Pi properly by
typing following command in a terminal:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/DeskPi-Team/deskpi.git
cd ~/deskpi/
chmod +x install.sh
sudo ./install.sh

NOTE:
The installation package resource contains automatic installation scripts written for different
system architectures and different system types. Please select the installation script suitable
for the current system type, otherwise the installation may fail.

If you are using a 64-bit system, please select a 64-bit script file during installation

Before you modify the configuration, the front USB port cannot work normally. You need to
edit the system's config.txt file or other configuration files (depending on the type of your
system) to enable the dwc2 function. Generally, the Raspberry Pi is enabled and made to work
through overlay.
For example:

In Raspberry Pi OS, you need to modify /boot/config.txt file to adding following line:

dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=host

and then save it and reboot your Raspberry Pi to take effect.

How to control fan speed manually?

Open a terminal and typing following command:

deskpi-config
You can follow the instructions to setup fan speed level by typing numbers as following
example:

Selection explain

The number from 1 to 4 is to setting your fan speed to a static level.

Number 5 is just turn off the fan.
Number 6 is to guide you to create a file located to /etc/deskpi.conf and you can specify the
threshold of temperature and fan speed level according to your idea, once the file has been
created, the program will according to the configuration file to setup your fan.
Number 7 is to enable automatic fan control by default paramaters.

** Defaults

If you want to change it, just typing :

deskpi-config
Select 6 and then input 45 and enter, and then input 50 means setup the fan speed level to
50% when CPU temp is above 45 degree it has 4 level to setup.

NOTE:
50% Speed level means you have already send PWM50 to /dev/ttyUSB0 port, and this port
will available when you add “dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=host” to /boot/config.txt file and
reboot your device.

How to boot from USB SSD/HDD?

NOTE:
If the type of hard disk used is SSD (Solid State Drive), please confirm that its type is M.2 SATA
SSD uses SATA protocol instead of NVME protocol, this device does not support disks with
NVME protocol.

1. Prepare OS:

Open a Terminal / Console and run the following commands:

When it complete, run:

After rebooting, Open a terminal and typing:

Navigate to “Advanced Options”

Select A7 Bootloader Version:

Select E1 Latest and select OK.

select YES

Select OK by just press enter.

Navigate to Finish and press Enter.

Reboot now.
After rebooting, open a terminal and typing following command:

sudo rpi-eeprom-update

you would see following status:

Ok, you can move to next step.

2. Transfer OS from TF card to SSD drive

To create a copy of OS from TF card to SSD drive, please make sure you have already backup
your SSD’s data, this will destroy all data which is on the SSD drive.

Recommend Software:

SD Card Copier

Select Copy from Device to your TF card which is running the Raspberry Pi OS.
and then Select “Copy to Device” to your SSD drive, and check on the “New partition UUIDs
box as well, Press Start to Transfer the OS to your SSD Drive.

waiting for it’s done and remove your TF card from front card slot, and then restart your
device.

For more products and accessories, please visit: www.deskpi.com

FAQ List:
Q: After DeskPi Pro front USB ports does not working.

A: Please enable dwc2 function before you use. for Raspberry Pi OS, just modify
/boot/config.txt file and adding following line:
dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=host
save it and reboot your device.

Q: Unable to fix aluminum alloy shell and the internal PCB copper pillar.
A:
⚫ Install every component at designated position.
⚫ Connect connectors tightly
⚫ Keep correct installation direction.
⚫ First fix the diagonal screws lightly, then screw all screws into the copper column, tighten
all screws.

Q: The fan doesn’t spin.

A:
⚫ Ensure your operating system is compatible with the tested systems listed on the DeskPi
 website.
⚫ Connect RPi to the internet and install the driver correctly.
⚫ Keep the fan cable connected to the PCB properly.

Q: My SSD does not list on my system when I run command: lsblk

A:
⚫ Please make sure your SSD drive is M.2 SATA SSD but not NVME SSD.
⚫ Please check if the USB adapter is connected from Raspberry Pi to DeskPi motherboard
on USB3.0 port.
⚫ Please disassemble the SSD adapter board and reinstall the SSD drive and make sure it
has been installed properly.
⚫ Reboot Raspberry Pi and try this command in a terminal:
⚫ dmesg |grep sda