StereoPi v2 Quick Start Guide

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Revision as of 17:17, 29 September 2021 by Realizator (talk | contribs)
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How to install RPi Compute Module 4 (CM4)

CM4 installation
  1. Disconnect all external equipment and power.
  2. Put the board upside down so that the USB C port is facing to the left.
  3. Take the CM4 module so that the triangle PCB antenna and the power circuit (a group of 5 black components) are faced to the left.
  4. Put the CM4 module on the connectors and gently press the bottom until you hear a click. After that, do the same with the top part of the CM4.

StereoPi v2 ports and connectors diagram

StereoPi v2 ports and connectors diagram

Power switch

Power switch pins

Install a jumper to the pins near the USB C connector.

To find these pins you can refer to the full ports and connectors diagram.

YouTube video: Power Switch

Note: advanced users can use external buttons or equipment to turn on/off the board.

How to connect power

We recommend using the UCB C power supply unit.

If the power jumper is installed, the board will boot as soon as you connect the power cable.

YouTube video: USB C power

Advanced users: you can use either a USB C cable or the JST-EHR2 cable.

You can also use them at the same time and hot-swap on the go.

YouTube video: Hot Swap Power


How to access eMMC storage

Please note that you can't use the micro SD card if your CM4 is eMMC-equipped!

CM4 eMMC upload jumpers configuration (StereoPi v2)

If you are using CM4 with the onboard storage (eMMC), you need to turn on the usbboot mode.

To do this:

  1. Install the RPIBOOT jumper
  2. Install the USB_CLI jumper
  3. Check the power jumper is installed

After that StereoPi v2 is ready for the eMMC upload. To access your eMMC you can follow the official Raspberry Pi Guide.

Key points from this guide:

  1. Windows: install the usbboot software. After connecting the StereoPi v2 to the PC, please run "rpiboot.exe" using the Search field in the Start menu.
  2. MacOS: Look at the Jeff Geerling guide.
  3. Linux: build rpiboot for your system from source.

How to connect cameras

While connecting camera ribbons, the first step is gently PULLING black the locking tab up 4-5 mm. After that insert camera ribbon by BLUE side to BLACK locking tab. Check that the cable is fully inserted at a 90-degree angle. After that push the black locking tab down to secure the ribbon.

Camera ribbon installation

HDMI monitor connection caution

Do not use a micro HDMI to HDMI adaptor

Do not use the micro HDMI to HDMI adaptor. Using it will increase the possibility of the StereoPi's micro HDMI connector physical damage.

Most of the regular full-size HDMI cables are not flexible, and this adaptor will transmit all external physical load to the micro HDMI connector of StereoPi v2.


Please use a flexible micro HDMI to HDMI cable instead.

Software (RaspiOS)

For the very first boot, we recommend using the pre-configured RaspiOS image with OpenCV. This is a stock Raspbian image with the desktop, designed for the keyboard/mouse/monitor workflow.

Where to download SLP2 and OpenCV images

RaspiOS with the OpenCV

If you have the Camera Kit, you can use the micro SD card with this image. The bag with this card is marked by a green circle sticker. You can also download this OpenCV image here and write it to the micro SD card.

GitHub repo with the tutorial code is here.

SLP v2 RaspiOS image

This SLP2 (StereoPi Livestream Playground v2) image was used for all livestream experiments mentioned on our crowdfunding page and has some additional features. It is not comfortable to use with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. We do it in a consumer-like way to save time. It has an Administration panel (like WiFi routers), and is also accessible via SSH. (detailed guide coming soon).

How to use stock RaspiOS with the StereoPi v2

You can use the stock version of the RaspiOS. To enable all StereoPi features, you need to do two things:

  1. Download, unarchive and put to the /boot partition of RaspiOS this file dt-blob.bin This file explains to the system how to access both cameras.
  2. Open the file /boot/config.txt and add this row:
dtoverlay=dwc2,dr_mode=host

This option will turn on the onboard USB hub and all USB ports on the StereoPi v2.

StereoPi v2 GPIO pinout

StereoPi v2 GPIO pinout