---
title: "A robot from a blank microSD card · OpenVibe.Bot"
canonical: "https://openvibe.bot/setup/sd-card"
updated: null
---

# A robot from a blank microSD card · OpenVibe.Bot

HTML: [A robot from a blank microSD card · OpenVibe.Bot](https://openvibe.bot/setup/sd-card)

[Robots](/robots) · [Add a robot](/robots/new)

# A robot from a blank microSD card

No screen, no keyboard, nothing to type on the robot. This page makes the card's setup files: on its first boot your Raspberry Pi joins your Wi-Fi, turns on SSH, installs OpenVibe and adds itself to your robots.

## What you need

- The robot's Raspberry Pi (3B+, 4, 5 or Zero 2 W)
- A microSD card, 16 GB or more: everything on it is erased
- A computer with a card reader
- Your Wi-Fi name and password (2.4 GHz works on every Pi)

1. ## Describe the robot and your Wi-Fi

    

   [Sign in](/auth/login?next=%2Fsetup%2Fsd-card) to make your card's files: they add the robot to your account.
2. ## Write Raspberry Pi OS to the card

    

   1. Install [Raspberry Pi Imager](https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/) on your computer (version 2.0 or newer) and put the card in.
   2. **Device**: your Pi (e.g. Raspberry Pi 4). **Operating system**: Raspberry Pi OS (other) → **Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)**. **Storage**: your microSD card.
   3. When Imager offers to customise the OS, **skip it** (choose No): your two files do that.
   4. Write, and wait until Imager says it is done and verified.
3. ## Add your two files to the card

     

   1. Take the card out of the computer and put it back in. A drive called **bootfs** opens.
   2. Copy `user-data` and `network-config` there, replacing the files with the same names.
   3. The names must be exactly `user-data` and `network-config`, with no `.txt` (on Windows, turn on File name extensions to check).
   4. Eject the card.
4. ## Switch the robot on

    

   Put the card in the robot's Pi and switch it on. The first start takes 3 to 10 minutes: it sets itself up, restarts once, joins your Wi-Fi and installs OpenVibe and the robot's driver.

    

   Sign in and make your card files: this shows your robot arriving.

## If it does not arrive

- **Check the Wi-Fi name and password.** Both are exact (capitals matter). Some older Pis see only 2.4 GHz networks.
- **Log in and look.** From a computer on the same Wi-Fi: `ssh robot@your-hostname.local` with the login you chose, then `journalctl -u openvibe-setup` shows what it did. With a screen and keyboard on the Pi, log in there.
- **Each set of files adds one robot** and works for 7 days. To start again, make new files here.
- **Raspberry Pi OS already running on it?** Skip the card: run `curl -fsSL https://openvibe.bot/install | sh` on it and approve its code at [openvibe.bot/link](/link).