Installation and Flashing

Installation & Flashing

This page covers getting the software onto a fresh radio. There are two parts:

1. The Pi software — installed on the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W (either from a ready‑made SD‑card image, or by cloning and building).
2. The front‑panel firmware — a .uf2 file flashed onto the Pi Pico that runs the touchscreen.

Already running the software and just want a newer version? See Upgrading the Software instead — it's simpler.

Please refer to these detailed instructions as needed. Flashing the SD Card

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Before you begin — back up your data!

If you have any existing setup on the radio, back it up first. Your logbook, hardware calibration, and user settings all live in the sbitx/data folder, and your macros live in sbitx/web.

Open a terminal on the Pi and run:

cd $HOME && mv sbitx sbitx_orig

This renames your current install to sbitx_orig so nothing is lost. You'll restore from it after installing (see the end of this page).

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Part 1 — The Pi software

Flash the ready‑made SD‑card image

A preconfigured Raspberry Pi image is provided in the project's Releases section. It targets a 32 GB SD card or USB drive and comes with the zBitx software plus other useful ham tools already installed.

1. Download the latest image from the project Releases page.
2. Write it to a 32 GB card using Raspberry Pi Imager or Balena Etcher.
3. Insert the card into the Pi and power up.
4. Copy your hw_settings.ini file over from your backup using EZ Data.

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Part 2 — The front‑panel firmware (the .uf2)

The touchscreen is run by the Pi Pico, which needs its own firmware. You can either download the prebuilt file or build it yourself.

Download the prebuilt UF2 (easiest)

The compiled .uf2 is published in the front‑panel repository's build folder here https://github.com/drexjj/zbitxfrontpanel/tree/main/build . Download the version that matches (or exceeds) what your Pi software requires.

Flash the UF2 to the Pico

Flashing an RP2040 is a drag‑and‑drop operation — no special tools:

1. Enter bootloader mode. With the Pico powered off, depress the dial knob while connecting it to a computer via USB (or while powering it up). It will appear as a USB drive named RPI-RP2.
2. Copy the file. Drag the .uf2 file onto that drive.
3. The Pico reboots automatically and starts running the new firmware. The drive disappears — that's normal and means it worked.

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Part 3 — Match the versions

After installing both parts, confirm they're compatible:

1. Power up the radio.
2. On the front panel, open Menu → SETUP.
3. Read the two version lines:
   • Panel version — the front‑panel firmware (e.g. 5.14f)
   • Software version — the Pi application (e.g. zbitx v5.11s)
4. Check the project's release notes (release_notes.md in the repository): each Pi release lists the minimum panel firmware it needs.

If the panel version is older than required, re‑flash the Pico with a newer .uf2.

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Part 4 — Restore your backup (if you made one)

If you backed up an existing install in the first step, bring your logbook, calibration, settings, and macros back:

cd $HOME && cp -r sbitx_orig/web/*.mc sbitx/web/ && cp -r sbitx_orig/data/* sbitx/data/

Restart the software afterward so it picks up your restored settings.

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First‑time checklist

Once everything is installed:

• Both version numbers show up under Menu → SETUP and are compatible
• Set your callsign and grid (Menu → SETUP) — see Setup Menu
• Connect to WiFi so you can use the web interface and time sync — see WiFi Setup
• Connect an antenna or dummy load before your first transmit
• Do a quick receive test on a busy band (40 m in the evening is reliable)

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Next: Front Panel Operation »