Setting Up a Display Screen

A MasjidConnect display is any screen — a TV, monitor, or commercial display — connected to a small computer running the MasjidConnect Display App. Once paired with your masjid account, the screen automatically shows prayer times, Jamaat countdowns, announcements, and any other content you configure from the admin dashboard.

The display operates offline-first: prayer times and content are cached locally, so the screen keeps working correctly even if your internet goes down.

What you will need

• A MasjidConnect account (sign up free)
• A TV or monitor with an HDMI input
• Either a MasjidConnect Display Unit (recommended) or your own Raspberry Pi hardware
• Access to your masjid’s Wi-Fi network credentials

There are two ways to set up a MasjidConnect display. Choose the option that suits your situation:

The MasjidConnect Display Unit ships pre-configured with our custom OS. Everything is installed and ready — you just need to connect it to power, a screen, and your Wi-Fi.

What is in the box

• Raspberry Pi 5 in aluminium case (MasjidConnect OS pre-installed)
• 32GB MicroSD card
• Official 27W USB-C power supply (UK plug)
• Micro HDMI to HDMI cable (1.5m)
• Quick start card

Setup steps

1. 1

   Connect the display unit to your screen

   Plug one end of the Micro HDMI cable into the HDMI0 port on the Raspberry Pi (the port closest to the USB-C power port) and the other end into an HDMI port on your TV or monitor.
2. 2

   Connect power

   Plug the USB-C power supply into the display unit. The unit will power on automatically — you will see the MasjidConnect loading screen within 30 seconds.
3. 3

   Connect to Wi-Fi

   On first boot, the unit displays a Wi-Fi Setup screen with a temporary hotspot name (e.g. MasjidConnect-Setup). On your phone or laptop, connect to this hotspot, then open a browser and go to 192.168.4.1. Enter your masjid’s Wi-Fi network name and password, then click Connect.
4. 4

   Wait for connection

   The unit will disconnect from the setup hotspot and join your Wi-Fi. The screen will update to show a pairing code within about 30 seconds.
5. 5

   Pair with your account

   Follow the Pairing Your Display section below to link the screen to your masjid account.

If you already have a Raspberry Pi or prefer to set things up yourself, you can download the MasjidConnect display image and flash it to a MicroSD card. The process takes 20–30 minutes.

Hardware requirements

• Raspberry Pi 4 (2GB+) or Raspberry Pi 5 — earlier models are not supported
• MicroSD card — 16GB minimum, 32GB recommended (Class 10 / UHS-I or faster)
• Micro HDMI to HDMI cable (Raspberry Pi 4/5 use Micro HDMI)
• Official Raspberry Pi power supply — underpowered supplies cause instability
• TV or monitor with HDMI input
• A laptop or PC to flash the SD card

Step 1 — Download the MasjidConnect OS image

Contact us at support@masjidconnect.co.uk to request the latest display image. We will send you a download link. The image file will be a .img.gz or .img.xz file.

Step 2 — Flash the image to your SD card

We recommend using Raspberry Pi Imager (free, available for Windows, macOS, and Linux).

1. 1

   Open Raspberry Pi Imager

   Download and install Raspberry Pi Imager from the official Raspberry Pi website, then open it.
2. 2

   Choose the OS

   Click Choose OS → scroll to the bottom and select Use custom. Browse to the MasjidConnect image file you downloaded.
3. 3

   Choose your SD card

   Insert your MicroSD card. Click Choose Storage and select your card. Be careful to select the correct drive.
4. 4

   Write the image

   Click Write and confirm. Flashing typically takes 5–10 minutes depending on your SD card speed.

Step 3 — Insert the SD card and power on

Insert the flashed SD card into your Raspberry Pi, connect the HDMI cable to your screen, and then plug in the power supply. The first boot may take up to 2 minutes while the system expands the filesystem. You will see the MasjidConnect loading screen.

Step 4 — Connect to Wi-Fi

Follow the same Wi-Fi setup process as the plug-and-play option: the unit broadcasts a MasjidConnect-Setup hotspot on first boot. Connect from your phone or laptop, visit 192.168.4.1, and enter your Wi-Fi credentials.

Once the display unit is connected to the internet, the screen will show a pairing code — a 6-character alphanumeric code displayed prominently on screen. You use this code to link the display to your masjid account.

1. 1

   Log in to the admin portal

   Go to portal.masjidconnect.co.uk and sign in with your admin account.
2. 2

   Navigate to Screens

   In the left sidebar, click Screens. You will see a list of all currently paired displays.
3. 3

   Add a new screen

   Click the Add Screen button in the top-right corner of the Screens page.
4. 4

   Enter the pairing code

   Type the 6-character code shown on your display screen into the pairing code field, then click Pair Screen. You can also scan the QR code shown on the display using your phone camera.
5. 5

   Give the screen a name

   Enter a descriptive name for this screen (e.g. 'Main Hall', 'Brothers' Entrance', 'Reception') so you can identify it in the dashboard.
6. 6

   Done!

   The screen will refresh within a few seconds and begin displaying prayer times, announcements, and your configured content automatically.

Once paired, you can configure your screen from the admin portal under Screens.

Setting the orientation

Each screen can be set to landscape (horizontal) or portrait (vertical) orientation. Portrait is particularly effective when mounting screens in corridors or entrances. Set this in the screen settings by clicking the screen name and choosing Orientation.

Choosing what to display

Your display automatically shows the information relevant to your current prayer schedule. You can additionally configure:

• Content carousels — rotating slides with announcements, community messages, or images
• Schedule overrides — temporarily change what a specific screen shows (e.g. event notices)
• Jamaat countdown display — shows a prominent countdown in the final minutes before Jamaat
• In-prayer screen — a simple, calm screen shown during the prayer itself

Managing multiple screens

Each paired screen appears in your Screens list. You can configure them individually or apply the same settings to multiple screens at once. The Essentials plan supports up to 3 screens; Professional and Enterprise support unlimited screens.

Display not connecting to Wi-Fi

1. Check that you entered the correct Wi-Fi password (passwords are case-sensitive).
2. Make sure your Wi-Fi network is 2.4GHz or 5GHz — both are supported. Very long SSIDs or special characters in the network name can occasionally cause issues.
3. Move the display unit closer to your router and try again.
4. As an alternative, connect via Ethernet cable directly to your router — the unit will connect automatically without Wi-Fi setup.

Pairing code not being accepted

1. Check that you have typed the code exactly as shown — it is case-sensitive.
2. Pairing codes expire after 15 minutes. Restart the display unit (unplug power, wait 10 seconds, plug back in) to generate a new code.
3. Make sure you are logged into the correct masjid account in the admin portal.

Screen showing a blank or loading screen

1. Wait 2 minutes after first boot — the system needs time to initialise on its first run.
2. Check that the HDMI cable is firmly plugged into the correct port (HDMI0 — the port closest to the USB-C power port on Raspberry Pi 4/5).
3. On your TV, ensure the input is set to the HDMI port you connected the unit to.
4. If the screen stays blank after 5 minutes, unplug the power and re-plug it to restart.

Offline mode — what happens without internet

MasjidConnect displays are offline-first. Prayer times and content are cached locally. If the internet connection drops:

• Prayer times continue displaying correctly
• Previously cached content continues to rotate
• New announcements pushed from the admin portal will not appear until the connection is restored
• The display reconnects automatically when internet is restored — no manual action needed