Micro Center’s new Raspberry Pi parts kits and Raspberry Pi starter kits are a great way to get started with Raspberry Pi’s ecosystem. Each kit contains a selection of official Raspberry Pi peripherals as well as an SD card preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS. There are five kits available, which can be divided into two main groups.
First, there’s the Raspberry Pi Parts Kits. These kits include all the cables and components you need to hook up your Pi, but do not include the Raspberry Pi itself. Each kit comes with a preloaded 64GB SD card, power supply, case, and micro-HDMI-to-HDMI cable. The Raspberry Pi 4 Parts Kit includes a case fan. The Raspberry Pi 5 Parts Kit includes a battery for the real time clock as well as a case fan, preinstalled in the case. It’s important to match the kit you buy to the board you plan to use. There are some minor differences that will prevent the Raspberry Pi 4 kit from working with a Raspberry Pi 5 and vice versa.
Next, there’s the Raspberry Pi starter kits. These kits include a Raspberry Pi and a microSD card reader in addition to the parts listed above. They also include a second micro-HDMI-to-HDMI cable, allowing you to connect a second monitor. The Raspberry Pi 4 starter kit comes with a 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 and a 64GB SD card. The Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kit includes a 4GB Raspberry Pi 5 and 128GB SD card, while the Raspberry Pi 5 Ultimate Starter Kit includes a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB and a 256GB SD card.
In addition to your selected kit (and a Raspberry Pi, if you’re using one of the Starter Kits) you’ll need a monitor with an HDMI input, a keyboard, and a mouse. The official Raspberry Pi keyboard and mouse are available from Micro Center, but any USB keyboard and mouse will work.
Raspberry Pi’s official keyboard and mouse are a great option for setting up your Pi, but any USB mouse and keyboard will work.
Use the navigation at the top of this article, on the right-hand side, to quickly navigate to either the Raspberry Pi 4 setup or Raspberry Pi 5 setup. The instructions are the same regardless of which version of the kit you choose, just make sure you’re following the instructions for the correct board version.
Raspberry Pi 4
We’ll start by installing the case fan in the case and heat sink. The heat sink goes on the processor as shown below.
Install the black anodized aluminum heat sink on the processor next to the Raspberry logo.
The case fan comes with a clear mounting bracket that snaps into the white top part of the case.
Snap the case fan’s mounting bracket into the top of the case as shown above.
Next, connect the black wire to ground, the red wire to +5v, and the blue wire to GPIO 14 (header pin 5). Use pins and 4 and 6 for +5v and ground.
Connect the case fan to the GPIOs to provide power and a control signal for the fan.
With the fan connected we’ll install the board in the case. The board sits in the red bottom portion of the case, and the white top snaps into place.
Next, install the SD card in the board. Flip the case over so you’re looking at the bottom, and gently push the card in with the gold contacts facing down.
Install the Micro SD card as with the gold contacts facing towards the top of the board.
After installing the SD card, we can connect our peripherals. Plug your mouse and keyboard into the USB ports. I like to use the USB 2.0 ports, which have black plastic inside, to keep the USB 3.0 ports free for peripherals that can utilize more bandwidth.
Your mouse and keyboard can be connected to any of the USB ports, but I prefer to use the black USB 2.0 ports and reserve the blue USB 3.0 ports for higher bandwidth peripherals.
Plug the HDMI cable into your monitor and the micro-HDMI into the ports on the Pi opposite the GPIOs. If you’re using two monitors, connect the second monitor in the same way.
You can use either or both micro-HDMI ports for the monitor. I’m only using one here.
Finally, plug your power supply into the wall and the USB C port next to the micro-HDMI ports. Your Pi will boot up automatically.
With power connected, your Pi will automatically boot to the Raspberry Pi OS desktop.
You’ll see a rainbow gradient, followed by a debug screen. Once the Pi has finished booting up, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the first-time setup. Once the setup is completed, you’ll see the Raspberry Pi OS desktop. On first boot, the Raspberry Pi may get stuck at the rainbow splash screen for a few minutes. This is okay, and it should go faster on subsequent boots.
Don’t be alarmed if your Pi hangs on this screen during the first boot. This is fairly common and subsequent boots are usually faster.
You may have noticed we didn’t use the microSD card reader included in the Raspberry Pi 4 Starter Kit. Since these kits include an SD card that’s preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS there’s no need to install the OS on the SD card yourself. The SD card reader is handy to have around in case you want to back up your SD card or start fresh with a new installation of Raspberry Pi OS. You can find instructions for reinstalling Raspberry Pi OS here, and instructions on backing up and shrinking images from a Raspberry Pi SD card here.
Though not strictly necessary for setting up a Pi with Micro Center’s new kits, a microSD card reader is a very handy thing to have around.
Raspberry Pi 5
We’ll start by installing the heat sink. It goes on the processor directly above the HDMI logo.
Install the aluminum heat sink on the processor above the HDMI logo.
The case fan is preinstalled, so you just need to connect it to the Raspberry Pi. The fan plugs into the JST connector behind the USB ports. There’s a small cover installed in the JST port you will need to remove.
Connect the case fan to the 3 pin JST connector behind the USB ports.
Next, we’ll connect the RTC battery. This battery provides power to the system’s real time clock when it's not plugged in. Connect the battery to the JST port between the USB-C port and micro-HDMI ports, then use adhesive on the battery to mount it to the case.
Connect the RTC battery to the JST port by the USB-C port, then use the included double-sided tape to hold it to the case. I chose to mount it next to the fan.
With the battery and fan connected we’ll install the board in the case. Place the board in the red bottom section of the case, snap the white middle portion continuing the fan to the bottom, and snap the white top cover on to enclose the fan.
Next, install the SD card in the board. Flip the case over so you’re looking at the bottom, and gently push the card in with the gold contacts facing down.
Install the Micro SD card with the gold contacts facing towards the top of the board.
After installing the SD card, we can connect our peripherals. Plug your mouse and keyboard into the USB ports. I like to use the USB 2.0 ports, which have black plastic inside, to keep the USB 3.0 ports free for peripherals that can utilize more bandwidth.
Your mouse and keyboard can be connected to any of the USB ports, but I prefer to use the black USB 2.0 ports and reserve the blue USB 3.0 ports for higher bandwidth peripherals.
Plug the HDMI cable into your monitor and the micro-HDMI into the ports on the Pi opposite the GPIOs. If you’re using two monitors connect the second monitor in the same way.
You can use either or both micro-HDMI ports for the monitor. I’m only using one here.
Finally, plug your power supply into the wall and the USB C port next to the micro-HDMI ports.
With power connected, your Pi will automatically boot to the Raspberry Pi OS desktop.
Your Pi will boot up automatically. You’ll see a debug screen first, then you’ll see the first-time setup tool. Follow the on-screen instruction to finish setting up your Pi. Once the setup is done, you’ll see the Raspberry Pi OS desktop.
You may have noticed we didn’t use the micro-SD card reader included in the Raspberry Pi 5 Starter Kits. Since these kits include an SD card that’s preloaded with Raspberry Pi OS there’s no need to install the OS on the SD card yourself. The SD card reader is handy to have around in case you want to back up your SD card or start fresh with a new installation of Raspberry Pi OS. You can find instructions for reinstalling Raspberry Pi OS here, and instructions on backing up and shrinking images from a Raspberry Pi SD card here.
Though not strictly necessary for setting up a Pi with Micro Center’s new kits, a micro-SD card reader is a very handy thing to have around.
