raspberrypi/usbboot
Raspberry Pi USB device provisioning tool (RPIBOOT) observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
86/100
- Activity 98
- Release rhythm 62
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 129
- age_days: 3621
- days_rel: 93
- days_push: 16
- n_releases_24m: 2
Adoption not part of the score
1337 stars · 312 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
rpiboot is the official Raspberry Pi USB device boot tool that loads firmware onto a Raspberry Pi over USB to expose its storage as a mass-storage device for provisioning. It also updates the bootloader SPI EEPROM on Compute Module 4 and newer devices and provides a console login via the Linux-based mass-storage gadget.
Use cases
- flash an OS image to a Raspberry Pi Compute Module's eMMC over USB
- recover a Raspberry Pi whose SD card slot or bootloader is broken
- update the bootloader EEPROM on a Compute Module 4 or 5
- access a Pi's filesystem from a host as a USB mass-storage drive
- provision many Raspberry Pi devices in bulk on a factory line
- get a UART console login to a headless Pi over USB
When to choose
- you need to write an OS image to a Compute Module or a Pi with no bootable storage
- you must update the bootloader EEPROM on CM4 or newer hardware
- you want low-level USB boot access to Raspberry Pi hardware from Linux, Windows, or macOS
When to avoid
- you just want to flash an SD card on a standard Raspberry Pi - use Raspberry Pi Imager directly
- you need a general-purpose disk imaging tool unrelated to Raspberry Pi boot
- you want a graphical flashing experience rather than a command-line tool
Facets
cli-tool · maturity active
developer-tools file-system embedded embedded-systems hardware developer-tools windows cli embedded raspberry-pi rpiboot usb-boot provisioning compute-module mass-storage-gadget firmware libusb command-line linux macos
1 source
- readme: https://github.com/raspberrypi/usbboot · fetched 2026-08-28 · 9d5b8c1b8e7b
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| raspberrypi/usbboot | main | 86 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="raspberrypi/usbboot")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem