How to Update

Three steps: back up, flash the new image, restore. Plan on about 15 minutes start to finish.

You’ll need a card reader, the new image, and Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9.6.

1. Back up first

Flashing wipes the SD card. Always back up before you flash. One tap in the Web UI — see Backup & Restore.

If your Magic Box is brand new and there’s nothing on it yet — skip this.

2. Download the image

Grab the .img (or .img.xz) file for your version from OS Images.

3. Install Raspberry Pi Imager 1.9.6

Use version 1.9.6 specifically.

• Mac (Apple Silicon) — download AppImage
• Mac (Intel) — download AppImage
• Windows — download installer

4. Flash the SD card

1. Power off Magic Box. Pull the SD card. Pop it into a card reader.
2. Open Raspberry Pi Imager.
3. Operating System → Use custom → pick the .img file you downloaded.
4. Storage → pick your SD card.
5. Hit Next. When it asks if you want to apply image personalization (Wi-Fi, hostname, SSH) — answer NO.

Don’t customize the image

The image ships ready to fly. If you tweak Wi-Fi or hostname through Imager, you’ll boot into a Magic Box that doesn’t work right. Just say no and let it flash plain.

6. Confirm and let it run. Takes a few minutes.

5. Restore your backup, then fly

Put the freshly flashed SD card back in. Power up. Wait about a minute for first boot. Restore your backup — see Backup & Restore. Power-cycle once. Check the version under Diagnostics → System Info.

Now go fly.

What if it fails?

• Imager errors out or doesn’t see the SD card? Try a different card reader, a different USB port, or a different SD card. Some readers are flaky — a known-good reader fixes most “Imager failed” cases.
• Flashed fine, but Magic Box doesn’t boot to the home screen? Flash the card again from scratch. If a second flash still won’t boot, try a different SD card.
• Power died mid-flash? The card may be half-written and won’t boot. Re-flash from scratch. Your config is safe — it’s in the backup from step 1.
• Still stuck after two tries? Drop us a line via the SilverFox RC Facebook group. Tell us which version, what happened, and which step you got to.

Keep a spare SD card

A second SD card (32 GB or larger) costs a few bucks and turns “my Magic Box won’t boot” into “swap card, fly anyway, debug later.” Flash the new image onto the spare — your original card stays untouched as instant fallback.

Coming from firmware v1.x?

Different procedure — see Migrating from v1 to v2.