Install OpenDMD#

Put OpenDMD on your display straight from this page. It takes about a minute, your SD card and its GIFs are left alone, and the installer gets the board onto your WiFi before you unplug it.

OpenDMD replaces the DMDoS firmware on the same ESP32 board: nothing to rewire or swap. Want the original firmware back later? Install it again from the Software section of dmdos.net.

Works in: Chrome, Edge, Opera or Firefox (version 151 or later) on a computer: Windows, macOS, Linux or ChromeOS. Not Safari, and not phones or tablets: they can't talk to USB boards from a web page.

Before you start#

• A computer with one of those browsers.
• A USB data cable. Some cables only carry power; if the installer can't find the board, try another cable.
• The display's ESP32 board: the ESP32 DevKit V1 (the small board with the USB socket that sits on the DMDoS Board). It can stay in the display. Don't have a display yet? See What you need.

Step by step#

1. Plug in the board. Connect the ESP32 to your computer with the USB cable.
2. Click the Install button above and pick its port from the list. It is often called "USB Serial", "CH340", "CH343" or "CP210x".
3. Choose whether to erase. On a first install (the board still runs DMDoS or anything else) the installer asks whether to Erase device: tick it. This clears the board completely before installing.
4. Wait for it to finish. It takes about a minute, and the board restarts by itself.

5. Connect it to your WiFi. When it says Installation complete, click Next. The installer lists the WiFi networks the board can see: pick yours, type its password and click Connect. Once the board is on, Visit device opens the web app. That's it. (OpenDMD joins 2.4 GHz networks that are open or take one password, WPA2 or WPA3; not "enterprise" networks that ask for a username too.)

   No GIFs on your card yet? Format it FAT32 and copy your DMDoS card, or the DMDoS GIF pack, onto it as it is: see The SD card.

Connection problems?

• If the installer can't connect, hold down the board's BOOT button while it says "Connecting", and let go once it starts writing. Unplugging the board and trying again helps too.
• If the board doesn't show up in the list at all, try another cable, then install the driver for the board's USB chip (its name is printed on the small chip next to the USB socket) and plug the board in again: CH340/CH341, CP210x or FTDI. Windows and older versions of macOS are the ones that need it.

A board that already runs OpenDMD#

Plug it in and click the Install button: the installer recognises it and shows its name and the version it runs. From there:

• Update OpenDMD puts this page's version on it. Your WiFi and settings stay. It only shows up when the versions differ.
• Change Wi-Fi moves it to another network (or Connect to Wi-Fi if it isn't on one).
• Visit device opens its web app.
• Logs & Console shows what the board is up to, handy when asking for help.
• Erase User Data reinstalls from scratch and forgets every setting.

Boards on older OpenDMD versions don't introduce themselves yet, so the installer just offers Install and asks about erasing: leave Erase unticked and your WiFi and settings stay.

WiFi without the installer#

If you skipped the WiFi step, or the installer couldn't reach the board afterwards, the player makes its own network for you to join instead:

1. Join the setup network. On your phone or computer, join the WiFi network OpenDMD-Setup. After a fresh install it can take a minute or two to appear.

2. Enter your WiFi details. Open http://192.168.71.1/setup in a browser. Pick your WiFi network (or type its name), enter its password, then press Connect.

   Display name is the display's address on your network: opendmd becomes http://opendmd.local/. If you have more than one display, give each its own name (opendmd-cab, opendmd-desk): lowercase letters, digits and hyphens, up to 32.

   If the OpenDMD web app pops up by itself when you join, you can do the same there under Settings → Device → Network. The board restarts every ten minutes while it waits; if the setup network vanishes, wait a moment and join it again.

3. Open the web app. Rejoin your usual WiFi and open http://opendmd.local/ (or the name you gave it). That's the web app, where you manage everything from now on.

With your card in, the panel starts playing straight away. A card that worked with DMDoS works as it is. See The SD card for setting up a new one.

Firmware update file#

Once you're set up, Check for updates in the web app keeps the player current over WiFi (Updating). If you'd rather install the firmware from a file, here it is:

The firmware update file for OpenDMD 1.0.0-beta.11, one per board:

• ESP32 DevKit V1: opendmd-1.0.0-beta.11-4mb.odfw

Going back to DMDoS#

OpenDMD doesn't lock you in. To put the original DMDoS firmware back, use the browser installer in the Software section of dmdos.net the same way. Your SD card works with either.

Next#

• The web app: what each part of it does.
• Updating: getting newer versions later.
• Troubleshooting: if something doesn't work.