• Home Assistant Yellow installation with NVMe SSD drive and CM4
• Ethernet cable

Additionally, make sure you have the following items which are not part of the Kit

• Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 (CM5)
• USB-C cable
• Heat sink: You can use the heat sink shipped with Yellow.
  • If you want, you can also use the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Passive Cooler.
  • Note: the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 Active Cooler is not supported on Home Assistant Yellow.
    • There is no fan plug providing the required 5V and PWM signals.
• If you are using PoE, make sure your router or switch provides PoE on that port
• Optional: Power supply (12 V / 2 A, if PoE is not used)
• Flat nose pliers

1. Remove the 4 screws on the bottom of the Home Assistant Yellow Kit.
2. Keep the thumb screws close by; you will need them again later.

1. Make sure the interfaces are facing towards your left.
2. Flip the case over.
3. Slightly lift off the enclosure on your left.
4. Slide the enclosure off towards your right.

• Use the pliers and squeeze the front of the pin so that it fits through the hole.
• Repeat the procedure for the other pin.

• Remove the Raspberry Pi Compute Module.
  • The image shows a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4. The steps are the same for the Compute Module 5.

1. Place the board in front of you, the connectors facing to the right.
2. Orient the CM5: the Raspberry Pi text needs to be on the right hand side.
3. Carefully place the CM5 without force.
   • The CM5 should fall into place slightly when correctly aligned.

• Press the CM5 board onto the board-to-board connectors until it clicks into place.

  1. Make sure you press on both sides (the two long edges).

     • This requires quite a bit of force.
     • If you don't hear a loud click, it is most likely not fully seated.
     • Note: It has been reported that on some boards, there is no click sound when pressing the module onto the board. It can still be seated correctly.

  2. Do a visual check to make sure the CM5 is installed correctly.

     • It needs to run parallel to the Home Assistant Yellow board.
     • You can also pull a bit on the sides to make sure it is not loose.

1. If your Yellow came with a plastic bag labelled CM5, containing screws and heat pads, place those heat pads on the CM5.
2. Align the pads as shown in the image.
3. Make sure that the pad with the cut off corner is placed so that there is room for the screw.

1. If the packaging included a plastic bag labelled CM5 with screws and heat pads, you have the option to screw the CM5 module in place.
2. Screws are optional and can help keep the Compute Module in place during transportation.
3. Use a No 1 crosshead screwdriver.
4. Be careful not to overtighten the screws.

1. Push the 2 plastic push pins into the dedicated hole on the heat sink.
2. Start by first aligning the right plastic push pins into the dedicated hole on the carrier board.
3. Then, place the heat sink onto the module.

1. Take the entire board off your workplace and push the pins firmly through the carrier board.
2. Ensure that the module is still fully seated after securing the heat sink.

1. rpiboot is a command line utility for booting a Raspberry Pi in USB device mode. This is needed because the CM5 cannot boot from the USB 2.0 ports of the Yellow.
2. Install rpiboot on your PC.
   • Windows: Download and run the Windows Installer from Raspberry Pi GitHub.
   • macOS or Linux: Install from source code.
3. Install rpiboot, but do not run it yet!

1. On the Yellow board, make sure the JP1 jumper is set to USB.
   • It may be there by default, but it is worth to double-check.
2. Plug-in a USB-C cable to Home Assistant Yellow and connect it to your PC.
   • Make sure the cable supports USB 2.0 data.

1. On the Yellow board, press and hold the recovery button.
   • Older Home Assistant Yellow versions: Bridge JP2 (USB-C Rcvry).
2. Power up the board.
   • Plug in the 12 V DC connector or Ethernet cable (if PoE is used).
   • Only the red LED should be on at this point (solid, not blinking).
3. Release the recovery push button.
   • Older Home Assistant Yellow versions: Un-bridge JP2.

1. On your PC, run rpiboot and let it run through.

   • If you are using Windows, run "rpiboot-CM4-CM5 - Mass Storage Gadget" from the start menu. It might ask you if you want to reformat the disk. Select Cancel each time.

   • If you are running an Apple Silicon mac, before running rpiboot, make sure you open the terminal using the “Rosetta” compatibility mode.

   • If you are using Linux or macOS, use the following command to run the tool.

     sudo ./rpiboot -d mass-storage-gadget64
     

2. After a few seconds, the yellow LED on the Yellow board should start blinking.

3. Afterwards, only the green LED should be on.

4. The module is now ready to have the Home Assistant Operating System installed on it (next steps).

5. Troubleshooting: If this step didn't work, remove power from the system and repeat step 3.

• Install the Raspberry Pi Imager on your computer as described under https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/
• Info: If your platform doesn't support the Raspberry Pi Imager, you can use another imager (for example, balenaEtcher) and flash the Home Assistant OS Installer for Yellow directly from GitHub releases.

• Under Raspberry Pi Device, select Raspberry Pi 5.

Choose the operating system:

• Select Choose OS.
• Choose Other specific-purpose OS.
• Choose Home assistants and home automation.
• Choose Home Assistant.
• Choose Home Assistant OS x.y (Yellow).

• Select Choose storage and from the dropdown menu, select your Raspberry Pi module.

1. Select the Next button to start the process.
2. Wait for the Home Assistant OS Installer to be written to the internal eMMC storage on your module.
3. Follow the wizard.
4. When the steps are complete, close the rpi-installer.

1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Unplug the power cable.
3. Set the JP1 jumper to UART.

1. Place the translucent bottom part of the case onto the table.
2. Make sure the two round notches form a line pointing towards the top right corner.

1. Place the board onto the bottom part of the case.
2. Make sure the USB connectors are facing upwards, away from you.

1. Turn the enclosure upside down.
2. Then, slide the push buttons into the openings of the case.

• Insert the 4 thumb screws.

• Plug in your Ethernet cable and make sure it is locked into place.
• The other end of the Ethernet cable will need to be connected to your router or switch and connected to the internet.
• If you are not using PoE, connect the power to the wall and then to the Home Assistant Yellow.

Notice: Initial startup may take a while, depending on your internet connection.

1. Open Home Assistant.

   Mobile: Confirm the IP address detected by the app. For example http://192.168.1.196:8123

   Desktop: Visit http://homeassistant.local:8123 to access the Home Assistant user interface.

2. As your data is stored on the NVMe, your dashboard comes up as usual. No additional steps required.