A pre-built Debian 12 image for the Spotify Car Thing.
How To Use • Download • Troubleshooting • Credits • Related • License
Unless receiving power through a Linux computer, running Nocturne on your Car Thing requires a host device such as a Raspberry Pi, a microSD card, a microUSB to USB-C cable, a microUSB/your power source's connector, as well as a Spotify Premium account. You will also need superbird-tool to flash the image regardless of your computer's operating system.
Download and open Raspberry Pi Imager, select Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit), select "Edit Settings", check "Set hostname", check "Set username and password" (set a password), check "Configure wireless LAN", (enter your network's SSID and password), check "Set local settings". Open the Services tab, enable SSH, and use password authentication. Write the configured OS to your microSD card and insert it into your Raspberry Pi.
If you haven't already, download superbird-tool and run the setup process detailed here.
Download and unzip the latest image from Releases, connect Car Thing to your computer in USB Mode (hold preset buttons 1 and 4 while connecting), and run the following from your command line:
# Go into the superbird-tool repository
$ cd C:\path\to\superbird-tool-main
# Find device
$ python superbird_tool.py --find_device
# Flash Nocturne image, without resetting the data partition
$ python superbird_tool.py --dont_reset --restore_device C:\path\to\nocturne-image\image After the flashing completes, connect your Raspberry Pi to your computer, and change directories to the scripts folder.
# Go into the setup-scripts folder
$ cd \path\to\nocturne-image\setup-scriptsThere are two different ways to use Nocturne. You can either use it at your desk, or in your car.
Using Nocturne at your desk
Connect your Car Thing to the Raspberry Pi and run the following from your command line:
# Transfer setup_host_rpi.sh to Raspberry Pi
$ scp \path\to\nocturne-image\setup-scripts\setup_host_rpi.sh [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Make setup_host_rpi.sh executable
$ chmod +x /home/pi/setup_host_rpi.sh
# Execute setup_host_rpi.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_rpi.sh
# Reboot Raspberry Pi
$ sudo rebootUsing Nocturne in your car
Connect your Car Thing to the Raspberry Pi and run the following from your command line:
# Transfer setup_host_rpi.sh to Raspberry Pi
$ scp \path\to\nocturne-image\setup-scripts\setup_host_rpi.sh [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Make setup_host_rpi.sh executable
$ chmod +x /home/pi/setup_host_rpi.sh
# Execute setup_host_rpi.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_rpi.sh
# Reboot Raspberry Pi
$ sudo rebootAfter, you will need to run the setup_hotspot.py script:
# Transfer setup_hotspot.py to Raspberry Pi
$ scp \path\to\nocturne-image\setup-scripts\setup_hotspot.py [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Execute setup_hotspot.py
$ sudo python3 ./setup_hotspot.pyThe script will ask you to input the name of your hotspot, as well as the password for the hotspot.
After the script completes, Nocturne is almost ready to be used in your car!
Connect Car Thing to your Raspberry Pi, download and install VNC Viewer, open the app and create a new connection with the VNC Server Address of raspberrypi.local and the port 5900. This should look like raspberrypi.local:5900. Input superbird as the password.
Right click the connection, navigate to Properties, then Expert, and set Quality to High, and ensure that RelativePtr is set to False.
Login to Spotify on the Car Thing using VNC Viewer.
Download and open Raspberry Pi Imager, select Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit), select "Edit Settings", check "Set hostname", check "Set username and password" (set a password), check "Configure wireless LAN", (enter your network's SSID and password), check "Set local settings". Open the Services tab, enable SSH, and use password authentication. Write the configured OS to your microSD card and insert it into your Raspberry Pi.
If you haven't already, download superbird-tool and run the setup process detailed here.
Download and unzip the latest image from Releases, connect Car Thing to your computer in USB Mode (hold preset buttons 1 and 4 while connecting), and run the following from your command line:
# Go into the superbird-tool repository
$ cd /path/to/superbird-tool-main
# Find device
$ /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 superbird_tool.py --find_device
# Flash Nocturne image, without resetting the data partition
$ /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 superbird_tool.py --dont_reset --restore_device /path/to/nocturne-image/image After the flashing completes, connect your Raspberry Pi to your computer, and change directories to the scripts folder.
# Go into the setup-scripts folder
$ cd /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scriptsThere are two different ways to use Nocturne. You can either use it at your desk, or in your car.
Using Nocturne at your desk
Connect your Car Thing to the Raspberry Pi and run the following from your command line:
# Transfer setup_host_rpi.sh to Raspberry Pi
$ scp /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scripts/setup_host_rpi.sh [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Make setup_host_rpi.sh executable
$ chmod +x /home/pi/setup_host_rpi.sh
# Execute setup_host_rpi.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_rpi.sh
# Reboot Raspberry Pi
$ sudo rebootUsing Nocturne in your car
Connect your Car Thing to the Raspberry Pi and run the following from your command line:
# Transfer setup_host_rpi.sh to Raspberry Pi
$ scp /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scripts/setup_host_rpi.sh [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Make setup_host_rpi.sh executable
$ chmod +x /home/pi/setup_host_rpi.sh
# Execute setup_host_rpi.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_rpi.sh
# Reboot Raspberry Pi
$ sudo rebootAfter, you will need to run the setup_hotspot.py script:
# Transfer setup_hotspot.py to Raspberry Pi
$ scp /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scripts/setup_hotspot.py [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Execute setup_hotspot.py
$ sudo python3 ./setup_hotspot.pyThe script will ask you to input the name of your hotspot, as well as the password for the hotspot.
After the script completes, Nocturne is almost ready to be used in your car!
Connect Car Thing to your Raspberry Pi, download and install VNC Viewer, open the app and create a new connection with the VNC Server Address of raspberrypi.local and the port 5900. This should look like raspberrypi.local:5900. Input superbird as the password.
Right click the connection, navigate to Properties, then Expert, and set Quality to High, and ensure that RelativePtr is set to False.
Login to Spotify on the Car Thing using VNC Viewer.
A Raspberry Pi is not required on Linux, unless you want to use Nocturne in your car.
Download and open Raspberry Pi Imager, select Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit), select "Edit Settings", check "Set hostname", check "Set username and password" (set a password), check "Configure wireless LAN", (enter your network's SSID and password), check "Set local settings". Open the Services tab, enable SSH, and use password authentication. Write the configured OS to your microSD card and insert it into your Raspberry Pi.
If you haven't already, download superbird-tool and run the setup process detailed here.
Download and unzip the latest image from Releases, connect Car Thing to your computer in USB Mode (hold preset buttons 1 and 4 while connecting), and run the following from your command line:
# Go into the superbird-tool repository
$ cd /path/to/superbird-tool-main
# Find device
$ sudo python3 ./superbird_tool.py --find_device
# Flash Nocturne image, without resetting the data partition
$ sudo python3 ./superbird_tool.py --dont_reset --restore_device /path/to/nocturne-image/imageAfter the flashing completes, unplug and replug your Car Thing, and change directories to the scripts folder.
# Go into the setup-scripts folder
$ cd /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scriptsThere are two different ways to use Nocturne. You can either use it at your desk, or in your car.
Using Nocturne at your desk
At this point, there are two different scripts that you can use. The first one, setup_host_apt.sh, is used on Linux distros that utilize apt as it's package manager. The second one, setup_host_pacman.sh, is used on Linux distros that utilize Pacman as it's package manager. If you use Pacman, replace setup_host_apt.sh in the following commands with setup_host_pacman.sh to continue with setup.
# Make setup_host_apt.sh executable
$ chmod +x setup_host_apt.sh
# Execute setup_host_apt.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_apt.shUsing Nocturne in your car
To use Nocturne in your car, you will need to have a Raspberry Pi to provide network.
Connect your Raspberry Pi to your computer, your Car Thing to the Raspberry Pi, and run the following from your command line:
# Transfer setup_host_rpi.sh to Raspberry Pi
$ scp /path/to/nocturne-image/setup-scripts/setup_host_rpi.sh [email protected]:/home/pi/
# SSH into Raspberry Pi
$ ssh [email protected]
# Make setup_host_rpi.sh executable
$ chmod +x /home/pi/setup_host_rpi.sh
# Execute setup_host_rpi.sh
$ sudo ./setup_host_rpi.sh
# Reboot Raspberry Pi
$ sudo rebootConnect Car Thing to your computer or Raspberry Pi, download and install VNC Viewer, and open the app. Find the IP Address of your device and create a new connection with the VNC Server Address with the port 5900. This should look something like raspberrypi.local:5900. Input superbird as the password.
Right click the connection, navigate to Properties, then Expert, and set Quality to High, and ensure that RelativePtr is set to False.
Login to Spotify on the Car Thing using VNC Viewer.
If you are having issues flashing Nocturne to your Car Thing, check out the guides below.
superbird-tool: USBTimeoutError
If you are running into this error while flashing your Car Thing, you will have to reduce the MULTIPLIER at line 161 in the superbird_device.py file in the superbird-tool folder.
If your flashing is failing at executing bulkcmd: "amlmmc part 1", then try running the following command manually. This may take a few tries to succeed.
$ python ./superbird_tool.py --bulkcmd "amlmmc part 1"python in the above command depends on what OS you are running.
For Windows, it will be python.
For macOS, it will be /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.
For Linux, it will be python3
superbird-tool: BulkcmdException
If you are running into this error while flashing your Car Thing, you must replace the superbird_partitions.py file in the superbird-tool folder with the one provided in this repo.
This error occurs since some devices have a smaller data partition, causing the error when attempting to flash the data partition.
If your issue is not listed here, or if you need help, join our Discord here!
You can download the latest flashable version of Nocturne for Windows, macOS and Linux here.
This software was made possible only through the following individuals and open source programs:
- Benjamin McGill, for giving me a Car Thing to develop with
- shadow, for testing, troubleshooting, and crazy good repo maintainence
- Dominic Frye, for debugging, testing, and marketing
- bbaovanc, for OS development, debugging, and testing
- bishopdynamics, for creating the original superbird-tool, and superbird-debian-kiosk
- Thing Labs' fork of superbird-tool, for their contributions on the original superbird-tool
nocturne - The web application that this Debian image runs
This project is licensed under the MIT license.
brandons.place · GitHub @brandonsaldan · Twitter @brandonsaldan