Set up a Raspberry Pi kiosk in 10 minutes

A Raspberry Pi is a practical way to run a dotBlast dashboard on a permanent screen. It is inexpensive, easy to replace, and reliable once the browser launches automatically after restart. This guide walks through the fastest supported path: install Raspberry Pi OS, open dotBlast in a full-screen browser, pair the device, and configure the Pi so the dashboard returns after a reboot.

Target audience: operators, office managers, IT generalists, and technical founders setting up one to ten shared displays. Goal: get a stable dashboard kiosk running without custom code. Key assumption: you have administrator access to the dotBlast workspace and can connect the Pi to the same network used by the display.

<screenshot: finished dotBlast dashboard running full-screen on a Raspberry Pi-connected display>

What you need

Use a current Raspberry Pi model with Wi-Fi or Ethernet. A Raspberry Pi 4 or newer is a good default for most dashboards. Use a quality power supply, a microSD card, an HDMI cable, and a display with an available HDMI input. If the screen is mounted in a public area, keep a keyboard nearby for initial setup, then remove it after the dashboard is paired.

Hardware checklist:

Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 5, or equivalent supported model.
Official or high-quality USB-C power supply.
16 GB or larger microSD card.
HDMI or micro-HDMI cable for your Pi model.
Keyboard and mouse for setup.
Wired Ethernet, or Wi-Fi credentials.
A dotBlast account with permission to pair display devices.

<screenshot: hardware laid out before setup>

1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS

Install Raspberry Pi Imager on your computer and flash Raspberry Pi OS to the microSD card. For most dashboard kiosks, the standard desktop image is the simplest choice because it includes Chromium and a graphical environment.

During imaging, set a hostname that identifies the screen location, such as lobby-display or sales-floor-kiosk. Configure Wi-Fi if the device will not use Ethernet. Set a strong password, especially if SSH is enabled.

After the image is written, insert the microSD card into the Pi, connect the display, keyboard, mouse, network, and power. Let the Pi finish the first boot setup. Confirm the display resolution looks correct before pairing dotBlast.

<screenshot: Raspberry Pi Imager settings with hostname and Wi-Fi configured>

2. Open dotBlast in the browser

Open Chromium on the Pi and sign in to dotBlast. Go to the dashboard you want to show on the screen and use the device or display pairing flow from the dashboard controls.

Pairing links the physical screen to the dashboard, so the device can render the right content without someone signing in every time. If dotBlast shows a pairing code, enter it from your admin device. If dotBlast uses a magic link, complete the link from an account with the right workspace permissions.

Once the dashboard appears, check it from several feet away. A dashboard that looks clear on a laptop can feel crowded on a wall-mounted screen. Increase spacing, remove small text, and keep only the widgets people need at a glance.

<screenshot: dotBlast device pairing screen with pairing code>

3. Launch Chromium in kiosk mode

Kiosk mode hides browser controls and makes the dashboard feel like a dedicated display. On Raspberry Pi OS, you can configure Chromium to open full-screen after the desktop starts.

Create or edit the desktop autostart entry for the Pi user and add a Chromium launch command for the paired display URL. Replace <display-url> with the display URL shown in dotBlast after pairing:

chromium-browser --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars "<display-url>"

Use the paired display URL from dotBlast, not a regular dashboard editing URL. The display URL should render the dashboard view intended for the screen.

Restart the Pi and confirm Chromium opens by itself. If the desktop appears but the browser does not start, check the autostart file path and the command. If the browser opens but the dashboard does not load, verify network access and the paired URL.

<screenshot: terminal or settings file showing kiosk autostart command>

4. Prevent sleep and blank screens

Shared dashboards should stay awake. Disable screen blanking and power-saving behavior in Raspberry Pi settings. If your display has its own sleep timer, turn that off too. Some TVs have eco modes that dim or power down the panel even when the Pi is still running.

After changing power settings, leave the screen running for at least 20 minutes. Confirm the display stays awake and the dashboard continues updating. If the screen turns black, check both the Pi power settings and the physical monitor settings.

<screenshot: Raspberry Pi display power management settings>

5. Test restart recovery

Unattended kiosks must recover after power loss. Reboot the Pi from the menu or terminal. Watch the startup sequence and confirm four things:

The Pi joins the network.
Chromium launches automatically.
The dashboard appears full-screen.
Widgets refresh without manual sign-in.

If any step fails, fix it before mounting the screen. Restart recovery is more important than a perfect first launch because public displays are often power-cycled by facilities teams, cleaning crews, or building outages.

<screenshot: dashboard after reboot with timestamp or live widget visible>

Common setup problems

If the dashboard does not show, first confirm the Pi has internet access. Open a regular website in Chromium. If that works, open dotBlast and confirm the display is still paired.

If the pairing code is rejected, check that you are in the right workspace and have permission to manage display devices. If the screen shows the wrong dashboard, remove the device from the old dashboard and pair it again with the correct one.

If an embedded page is blank, the issue is usually iframe permissions or the page blocking embedded display. Use the iframe troubleshooting article linked from the troubleshooting decision tree.

If performance feels slow, simplify the dashboard before buying new hardware. Remove unnecessary widgets, avoid heavy embedded pages, and test on a wired connection. For large rollouts, standardize on one Pi model and one OS image so support is predictable.

Recommended next action

After the Pi is stable, document the screen location, device hostname, paired dashboard, owner, and restart steps. Store that information where your team tracks office hardware. For more than a few displays, compare Raspberry Pi with dotKiosk or managed browser kiosk options before scaling the same setup everywhere.