How to Install Raspberry Pi OS & Node-RED on KinCony Pi5

• Raspberry Pi CM5 installed on a KinCony Pi5 series carrier board
• A microSD card (16 GB or larger) or an SSD for OS installation
• A computer with a microSD card reader (or USB-to-SSD adapter)
• Raspberry Pi Imager installed on your computer (Download here)

1. Insert the microSD card or connect the SSD to your computer.
2. Open Raspberry Pi Imager.
3. Click Choose Device and select Raspberry Pi 5 / CM5.
4. Click Choose OS and select Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) — Bookworm or later.
5. Click Choose Storage and select your microSD card or SSD.
6. Click Next, then Edit Settings to preconfigure (Hostname, SSH, username/password, Wi-Fi).
7. Click Save, then Write to flash the OS.
8. After flashing, safely eject the card/SSD and insert it into the Pi5 board.

1. Power on the Pi5 board and log in (via SSH or local terminal).
2. Run the Raspberry Pi configuration tool:

   sudo raspi-config

3. Navigate to Interface Options:
   • Enable I2C
   • Enable Serial Port
     • When asked "Would you like a login shell to be accessible over serial?" → select No
     • When asked "Would you like the serial port hardware to be enabled?" → select Yes
4. Exit raspi-config and reboot:

   sudo reboot

By default, only /dev/ttyAMA0 (RS232) is enabled. To use RS485 on /dev/ttyAMA2, you must enable UART2 and UART3 overlays.

1. Open the boot configuration file:

   sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

2. Add the following lines at the end of the file:

   dtoverlay=uart2
   dtoverlay=uart3

3. Save and exit (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter).
4. Reboot:

   sudo reboot

After reboot, the serial port mapping will be:

If Node-RED is not already installed, run the official install script:

bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

Start Node-RED and enable it to run at boot:

sudo systemctl enable nodered.service
sudo systemctl start nodered.service

Node-RED will be available at: http://<your-pi-ip>:1880

1. Download the Node-RED flow for your specific Pi5 model from the FeedCurrent GitHub repository:
   • Pi5R8 / Pi5M8: node_red_flows/Pi5M8/flows.json
   • Pi5R16: node_red_flows/Pi5R16/flows.json
   • Pi5M16: node_red_flows/Pi5M16/flows.json
   • Pi5R32 / Pi5M32: node_red_flows/Pi5M32/flows.json
2. Open Node-RED in your browser.
3. Click the hamburger menu (top-right) → Import.
4. Choose either Clipboard (paste JSON) or File (upload flows.json).
5. Click Import, then Deploy.

After deploying the flow, your Node-RED interface should look like this:

• The OLED should display basic status information.
• Use the ONx / OFFx inject nodes to toggle relays or MOSFET outputs.
• Use the read Analog Input inject node to read AI1–AI4 values.
• Use the RS232 test and RS485 test inject nodes to verify serial communication.
• Check the Node-RED debug sidebar for sensor data and input changes.

• Pi5 Series Pin Definitions: FeedCurrent GitHub – pin_definitions
• Node-RED Flows for All Pi5 Models: FeedCurrent GitHub – node_red_flows
• FeedCurrent Product Documentation: https://www.feedcurrent.com/pages/product-documentation