First run

The first time CabinetOS starts, it walks through four steps. Keep the USB keyboard plugged in until a controller is paired.

On the keyboard: arrows move, Return or Space selects, Escape or Backspace goes back. On a pad: the d-pad moves, A selects, B goes back. A mouse works too.

1. Connect to a network

The console needs a network to reach your RomM server, so Continue stays greyed until it is online.

• Ethernet: plug in the cable and it connects by itself.
• Wi-Fi: pick your network from the list. A secured network opens the on-screen keyboard for the password (the last character typed stays visible; show reveals the rest). Wrong password opens the keyboard again.
• Networks that need a user name as well as a password (802.1X, as used by many offices and schools) show not supported.
• Hidden networks cannot be joined.

2. RomM server

Type the address you open RomM at in a browser, without http://, for example 192.168.0.20:8080 or romm.local:8080. The keyboard has .local and :8080 keys to save typing.

• Type the port if your server uses one. None is added for you.
• Addresses on your own network try http first, others try https first. Type https:// or http:// in front to choose.
• Found RomM 5.3.1 at … means it worked. Nothing answered at that address means the console could not reach it: check the address in a browser on the same network.

3. Pair with RomM

The console never asks for your RomM password. It shows a QR code and a link instead.

1. Scan the code with a phone (or open the link) in a browser that is signed in to RomM, as the person who will play.
2. Approve CabinetOS in RomM.
3. The TV says Approved and moves on.

If the code expires before it is approved, press Start again.

The console asks RomM only for what it needs: to read your games, platforms, covers, collections and firmware, and to write your saves, states, screenshots, play time and favourites. It never asks to change or delete games, platforms, firmware or users.

The first person paired becomes the console’s owner. Add more people later: see Players and accounts.

4. Pair a controller

Optional, and Skip moves on. Put a Bluetooth controller into pairing mode and press its name in the list when it appears. A wired pad, or one that is already paired, completes the step by itself.

Ready

You can unplug the keyboard. Press Start playing and you are on Home.

Switch and Xbox games show greyed, Emulator not installed, for a few minutes: the console downloads those two emulators once it has internet.

If the console was set up before and signed out (Settings, Network, RomM server, Sign out), it starts again at the server step.

Next: Your RomM server.

Something wrong or missing here? See this page on GitHub or open an issue.