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Turn your Raspberry Pi into a TRMNL

a theme is emerging. it's called "you asked, we listened."

this year more than 10,000 people made the decision to stay informed (but not distracted) with TRMNL. and these creators have a few requests:

  • use their own server, check
  • build their own plugins, check check
  • use their own firmware, check
  • build their own hardware, <<you are here>>

context

since launching our Bring-Your-Own-Device license (docs, shop) last month, we've been blown away by early implementations.
BYOD - 1st build in TRMNL history
BYOD + Waveshare (ruohki)
BYOD on a small screen
BYOD + IKEA frame
BYOD + Bambu Lab (JackR)
OK not BYOD, just TRMNL inside a Macintosh (Jerrod Hofferth)
with poor documentation, a handful of DIY tinkerers created their own TRMNL.

but therein lies the wrinkle -- BYOD was only accessible to experienced hackers.

until now.

introducing trmnl-display

designed and implemented by Marcus, this is a simple utility that converts any Raspberry Pi device into a TRMNL. just add water screen.

quickstart
connect to your RPi via SSH, or open the on-board command prompt, then:
# install
sudo \curl -sSL https://usetrmnl.com/byod/install-trmnl-display.sh | bash -s

# run
sudo trmnl-display
sudo trmnl-display -d # dark mode
... and you're done. this installer will auto detect architecture and return the appropriate build for your device.

when you run the `sudo trmnl-display` command you'll be asked to input an API Key, accessible from TRMNL > Device > Edit.

enjoy
your RPi will render content just like other TRMNL devices.
TRMNL on Raspberry Pi (Dark Mode)

read the code
https://github.com/usetrmnl/trmnl-display

with over 60 million Raspberry Pi in circulation, we hope this build will encourage at least a few of them to discover a new use case.

and for the 7.9 billion non-developers in circulation (probably accurate?), we hope this build can help you stay focused, without needing to learn to code.

Ryan Kulp

Founder