Setup Raspberry PI B+ without Display and Keyboard [Complete Guide]

Headless Raspberry Pi Setup Using NOOBS and Ethernet Only #

Ten days after I placed an order on eBay, my first Raspberry Pi arrived—and I was excited to get started. I had already downloaded the NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software) installer from the official website. Everything seemed ready…

Then I realized:
I had no HDMI cable, no USB keyboard, and no USB mouse.

The only thing I had was a 16GB microSD card preloaded with NOOBS. I wanted to install Raspbian (now known as Raspberry Pi OS)—without connecting a display, keyboard, or mouse. And yes, I pulled it off.

If you’re in a similar situation, here’s exactly how I did it:

What You Need #

• A Raspberry Pi (any model that supports NOOBS)
• A microSD card (4GB or larger)
• A laptop or desktop with an SD card reader
• NOOBS (latest version): https://www.raspberrypi.org/software/

Step-by-Step Installation #

1. Format the SD Card Properly #

Use SDFormatter and set:

• FORMAT SIZE ADJUSTMENT → ON

This ensures the entire card is formatted as FAT32.

2. Copy NOOBS Files to the SD Card #

• Unzip the NOOBS archive.
• Copy all files to the freshly formatted SD card.

3. Keep Only the Raspbian OS Folder #

Navigate to the os/ folder inside the SD card.
Delete all other folders except Raspbian.

For example (depending on NOOBS version):

• For NOOBS 1.3.7 → Delete: Arch, RaspBMC, Pidora, OpenELEC, RISC_OS, and data_partition
• For NOOBS 1.3.10 → Delete: data_partition only

4. Edit flavours.json #

Open: /os/Raspbian/flavours.json

Make sure it contains only the following:

{
  "flavours": [
    {
      "name": "Raspbian",
      "description": "A Debian wheezy port, optimised for the Raspberry Pi"
    }
  ]
}

Tip: Delete any .bak or temporary files your text editor may create.

5. Enable Silent Installation #

Open the file:
recovery.cmdline (in the root of the SD card)

Append silentinstall to the end of the line so it looks like this:

runinstaller quiet vt.cur_default=1 coherent_pool=6M elevator=deadline silentinstall

Again, remove any backup or temp files after editing.

6. Plug It In and Let It Install #

• Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.
• Connect an Ethernet cable that provides internet access (via DHCP).
• Power it on.
• Leave it running for about 1 hour.

NOOBS will silently install Raspbian without any user input.

7. Find the Raspberry Pi on Your Network #

Once installed, check your router’s LAN interface to find the newly assigned IP address for the Raspberry Pi.

8. Connect via SSH #

If you’re using a newer NOOBS version (SSH enabled by default), connect like this:

ssh pi@<your-pi-ip>

Default credentials:
username: pi
password: raspberry

Example:
ssh [email protected]

That’s It — You’re In! #

Congratulations, you’ve installed Raspberry Pi OS without a screen or input devices. Now it’s time to explore, experiment, and build cool things.

Got questions or ideas? Drop them in the comments below.