Installation

What you need

  • A supported Raspberry Pi with at least 1 GB of RAM
  • A microSD card of at least 8 GB
  • A wired ethernet connection (required during installation)

Download

Download the Sonik image for your Raspberry Pi model from the download page.

Two variants are available for each model: a regular image and a compressed (.xz) image. The compressed image is smaller — useful on slower connections. Balena Etcher can flash the compressed image directly without decompressing it first.

Tip

Not sure which variant to choose? Download the uncompressed image.

Important

Download the image that matches your specific Raspberry Pi hardware.

Network Installer

The Sonik Network Installer is a small, generic image that works across all Raspberry Pi models. It detects your hardware automatically and downloads the correct release during installation.

Download the Network Installer from the download page.

Important

The Network Installer requires a wired internet connection and does not work on the Orchard Audio PecanPi+.

Prepare the microSD card

Use Balena Etcher or Raspberry Pi Imager to write the image to the microSD card.

Tip

There is no need to format the microSD card beforehand.

Install

  1. Insert the microSD card into your Raspberry Pi
  2. Attach an ethernet cable
  3. Power on the unit

Sonik will start its installation process automatically. There’s nothing to do — grab a coffee. ☕

The green LED will blink rapidly during installation. After 15 minutes or so it will switch to a steady heartbeat (once per second), which means installation is complete.

You can now reach Sonik’s web interface at http://sonik.local.

Tip

If http://sonik.local doesn’t work, find the IP address of your Raspberry Pi via your router’s DHCP table or a network scanner like Fing, and connect directly by IP.

WiFi setup (if no ethernet is available)

If no ethernet connection is found — for example on a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W — Sonik sets up a temporary WiFi access point called Sonik-AP-[unique_id].

  1. Connect your computer to the Sonik-AP-[unique_id] network using the password gosonik
  2. Open http://192.168.250.1 in your browser
  3. Select your wireless network and enter the password
  4. Sonik will reboot, connect to your network, and continue the installation

Tip

Even if your permanent setup will use WiFi, it’s faster and easier to use ethernet during installation. Build your Sonik unit close to your router first, then move it to its final location.

Supported USB WiFi dongles

Sonik supports the onboard wireless interface on all WiFi-capable Raspberry Pi models, as well as external USB WiFi dongles. The following are confirmed to work:

Manufacturer Model
Brostrend AX9L
Realtek RTL8811AU 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN Adapter
TP-Link Archer T4U
TP-Link Archer T2U PLUS
Mediatek MT7612U 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless Adapter
Edimax AC600 USB

Tip

Although wired vs. wireless is a long-running debate in audio circles, ethernet is the recommended connection type. Its advantages outweigh any disadvantages by a large margin.