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Hyperion(-NG) vs HyperHDR

You might be asking, why HyperHDR instead of Hyperion or Hyperion-NG?

Personally I find HyperHDR to be more stable; in addition, HyperHDR makes using the Pi's GPIO pins directly much simpler. We do NOT necessarily need the HDR functionality - I just prefer this particular Hyperion fork...

If you choose to instead use a different fork, such as -NG, my instructions will not work. You will need to install additional software (and hardware!) in order to make this work with the Hyperion-NG project. So...

Update: March 10, 2025 HyperHDR 21.0.0.0 has been released. This tutorial reflects the new update, and other than the changes to the link, the process remains exactly the same!

If you already have HyperHDR 19 or 20 installed, and wish to update, you can do so within the HyperHDR interface, right there on the first page you'll see an option to upgrade with a single click.

Install HyperHDR

First we need to install HyperHDR. You should be looking at a command prompt, that should look something like this:

your_username@raspberrypi:~ $ 

Some of the commands can be very long lines, but using the 📋 COPY shortcut reduces errors and makes it much faster. Linux commands are Case Sensitive and must be typed EXACTLY as shown. I encourage you to utilize the Copy & Paste options provided.

So let's get started!

By default, the Pi OS is set up so that you can use sudo without a password. sudo runs code as root, and should ONLY be used when necessary.

Since we are installing software, we need to do so as root. So let's start with the following command to ensure our software catalog is up-to-date:

sudo apt update
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

This may take a few moments, and may ask for confirmations; simply type 'y' and press Enter.

Next we're going to make sure that a couple of libraries we may need are installed. They may already be installed, but to be sure, enter the following commands.

We're going to start with the curl library:

sudo apt -y install curl
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

And now we'll install some networking utilities that may be needed later on:

sudo apt -y install netcat-openbsd
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

Installing HyperHDR:
To download HyperHDR 21.0.0.0, simply paste the following.

Note that the 32-Bit Pi Zero is not recommended as it can barely handle the load of HyperHDR; I have since removed the links for the 32-Bit version to avoid confusion.

Download HyperHDR:
wget https://github.com/awawa-dev/HyperHDR/releases/download/v21.0.0.0/HyperHDR-21.0.0.0-Linux-aarch64.deb
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

This will download HyperHDR 21.0.0.0. Now let's install it:

Install HyperHDR:
sudo apt -y install ./HyperHDR-21.0.0.0-Linux-aarch64.deb
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

After a minute or so, it should complete.

Note: You may see what appears to be an error message at the end of this; this message can be safely ignored -- and the next step fixes the perceived issue.

Configuration Edit

There is one minor file edit we need to make in order to allow HyperHDR access to the GPIO pins. This is an IMPORTANT STEP as it allows HyperHDR to run as ROOT, giving it access to the GPIO pins.

Execute the following command:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/hyperhdr@.service
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

Now arrow down to the line that says User=%i. Press CTRL+K to DELETE this line. Then press CTRL+S to save, and CTRL+X to exit.

Restart & Install

To make all of these changes take effect, let's restart the Pi OS:

sudo reboot
📋 COPY - then PASTE, then press ENTER

PuTTY will immediately disconnect; simply click OK -- but don't close the PuTTy window just yet; we'll come back to it a bit later.

In either case it will take a couple minutes for the Pi to boot back up.

Configure HyperHDR

At this point, I recommend using a Laptop, Tablet or Phone (Laptop preferred) so that you can be in the same room as the Television.

Open a browser, and type the following into the Address bar (NOT the Search Box!) using your Pi's hostname or IP address:

http://hostname.local:8090

Or:

http://192.168.0.XXX:8090

The :8090 is required, as this specifies the Port that HyperHDR runs on. DO NOT type https -- this is not a "Secure Server". Once loaded, you may want to go ahead and bookmark that page in your browser for future configuration.

When prompted, click Change Password and choose a password you'll remember. Don't alter the Username in this dialog, simply leave it as 'hyperhdr'. Alternatively, you can click on "Do Not Prompt Again" and simply access this configuration without a password.

Now, if you followed the ▶ YouTube Video and installed the hardware in the manner I showed, the next step will walk you through configuring your hardware setup.

▶ Next: Configre HyperHDR

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