Getting your Raspberry Pi ready for openFrameworks

Install Raspberry Pi OS

Use Raspberry Pi Imager and write Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit). The current image is Debian 13 (trixie), released 6 October 2026. The download page is Raspberry Pi OS.

Board	OS	openFrameworks package
Pi 3, Pi 4, Pi 5, Pi Zero 2 W	Raspberry Pi OS 64-bit (trixie)	`linuxaarch64`
Pi 1, Pi Zero, Pi Zero W	Raspberry Pi OS 32-bit	`linuxarmv6l`
Other 64-bit ARM boards (not a Pi)	Debian or Ubuntu arm64	nightly `linux_arm64`, or 0.12.1 `linuxaarch64`

Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm is under Legacy in the Imager. Prefer Trixie for a new card. Pi 5 needs the 64-bit OS.

In the Imager, set the username, Wi-Fi, and SSH before you write the card. The username no longer has to be pi. The paths below use $HOME.

Download openFrameworks

Stable release 0.12.1:

64-bit: of_v0.12.1_linuxaarch64_release.tar.gz
32-bit: of_v0.12.1_linuxarmv6l_release.tar.gz

Nightly builds are at the nightly release. The asset names include the date, for example of_v20261102_linux_aarch64_rpi_gcc10_release.tar.gz and of_v20261102_linux_armv6l_rpi_gcc10_release.tar.gz. There is also linux_arm64 for arm64 boards that are not a Raspberry Pi, and linux_armv7l_rpi on nightly. 0.12.1 does not ship a separate armv7 package.

Unpack the archive in your home directory and rename the folder to openFrameworks if you want the paths below to match.

Configure the Pi

Current Raspberry Pi OS uses the kernel KMS driver. You do not set a memory split, and you do not select the legacy GL driver. Those steps were for Wheezy, Jessie, and the early Bullseye images.

The desktop session is Wayland. openFrameworks opens its window through XWayland. If a built app cannot open a window, install the X11 server:

sudo apt-get install xorg

Update packages after the first boot:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get full-upgrade

Install packages and compile

Raspberry Pi OS uses the Debian script.

cd $HOME/openFrameworks/scripts/linux/debian
sudo ./install_dependencies.sh

Debian 13 and Raspberry Pi OS Trixie removed libgconf-2-4. The script still asks apt for it, so the install stops (#8480). Delete libgconf-2-4 from the apt-get install line in that script and run it again. Current openFrameworks does not need the library. On a tree from before 30 October 2026 the script may also name xorgproto. Replace that with x11proto-dev.

Compile openFrameworks. On a Pi 4 or older, a high job count can run out of memory, so start with two jobs:

cd $HOME/openFrameworks/scripts/linux
./compileOF.sh -j2

Compile an example

cd $HOME/openFrameworks/examples/graphics/polygonExample
make
make run

To start a project, copy the empty example. Keep the app three directories under the openFrameworks folder so the makefile can find the core:

cp -R $HOME/openFrameworks/examples/empty/emptyExample $HOME/openFrameworks/apps/myApps/myRpiApp
cd $HOME/openFrameworks/apps/myApps/myRpiApp
make
make run

VS Code can open the .code-workspace file in that folder. The platform install is the same makefile flow as Linux.

Run without the desktop

A Pi 4 or 5 app can start an X server without the desktop session:

sudo apt-get install xorg
startx ./polygonExample -- -s off

For a headless GL run, use a virtual framebuffer:

sudo apt-get install xvfb
xvfb-run ./polygonExample

Other boards

A 64-bit ARM board running Debian uses scripts/linux/debian. One running Ubuntu uses scripts/linux/ubuntu. Pick the arm64 package from the table above. The same libgconf-2-4 note applies to Debian 13.