Before you start — what you need

Hardware, network and accounts to have ready before flashing the SD card. The get started page says what to buy and in what order, and the supported devices finder shows whether gear you already own will work.

Mains safety. The four Sonoff plugs switch mains-powered appliances (heater, heat mat, humidifier, dehumidifier). Mains wiring must follow your local rules and be done by a licensed electrician where the law requires it. Never open a plug, or work on its wiring, while it is connected to mains.

• Raspberry Pi 4 (4 GB or more, 64-bit; Pi 5 has not been tested yet), a microSD card of 32 GB or more, and its power supply. That is all you need to start.
• A computer with a microSD card slot or reader, to run Raspberry Pi Imager (next page), and a phone or laptop to open the dashboard.
• Ethernet cable to your router. Strongly preferred for first boot: it unlocks the dashboard at the kit's .local name (mDNS), catalog refresh and software updates.
• The kit devices you add: the optional hub (hub build guide; it adds wired fan speed, lamp dimming and a hardware failsafe that keeps the room in range if the Pi stops), the optional DSC-Control panel, probes 1 and 2 (probe build guide), and the four Sonoff plugs (heater, heat mat, humidifier, dehumidifier).
• A USB data cable for each device you will flash from the Pi's USB ports.
• The SkyConnect Zigbee coordinator (USB). The setup wizard's last step, Commission kit, refuses to finish while the Zigbee radio is down, so plug it in even if you pair no Zigbee devices yet (see Setup wizard).
• Optional: a USB webcam or IP camera, SmartLife Wi-Fi plugs, a water tester, Zigbee or Tuya smoke, gas and CO alarms, and Bluetooth LE sensors (thermometers, CO₂ monitors, plant sensors) within range of the Pi.

• A 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network for the fleet, ideally on a fixed channel. Mesh systems that hop channels break the ESP-NOW link between hub and panel.
• Or run the fleet with no home Wi-Fi at all. The four Sonoff plugs always join the Pi's own Wi-Fi network, DSC-Brain-XXXX (XXXX is unique to your card; setup shows the full name. Cards made before 9.9.0 use DSC-Brain). The name and password are compiled into their firmware, so the Pi's hotspot must be running whichever you choose.
• Internet is optional. With it: NTP time, update checks, the online CannaLib catalog and product library (DSC-KitLib, DSC-NuteLib) updates. Without it: the kit runs on the baked stack and says so.

• The SD image is hosted on this site, not as a repository download. Alpha testers get a download link by email after they join the alpha; released images are listed on the Firmware page.
• The kit card: it carries the dashboard address, the hub hotspot password and the Pi hotspot password. Keep it.

Next: have everything on this page? Then go to Flash the SD image and first boot.

Guide contents  ·  Setup  ·  Troubleshooting  ·  Digital Stealth Care

DSC-Brain user guide · Before you start — what you need · this page is edited on the site; the Notion original was retired after the mirror