Installation guide not matching the current raspberry imager

[Summertanager]

The current installation instructions don’t seem to match the latest version of Raspberry Pi Imager. I was able to figure out most of it, but I’m stuck on one part. When I ssh into it and paste the command it's asking me to enter a SUDO password but I am not in root so not understanding this part

[RonnyCHL]

If it’s really stuck, you can skip the timezone in the Imager entirely and set it after first boot via SSH:

sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York

[Summertanager]

looks like I am in hope everything installed correctly

[RonnyCHL]

Glad it’s running! But heads up, what ChatGPT suggested is removing a safety check from the installer rather than fixing the actual problem. That passwordless sudo check exists for a reason, the installer needs sudo access throughout the process and if it can’t use it reliably, things might fail halfway through.
It may complete fine, but if you run into weird errors later, that’s probably why. In that case I’d suggest starting fresh: re-flash the SD card, and before running the installer, fix sudo properly with the usermod -aG sudo beyondlumen approach. That way the installer runs the way it was designed to.
Fingers crossed it just works though!

The Tools page doesn’t use your system login. Try username birdnet and leave the password field empty.

[Summertanager]

yes sir I am going to redo the install for your suggestions and go from there I also did briefly test out the unit and the strange part to me was if you click on the live audio feed I can hear a lot of birds nearby in other words but yet the bird pie was not picking up those birds for example a tough tit mouse I think there was a Northern Cardinal that clearly you can hear what your ears but the important part was the proximity it wasn't that far off where maybe the microphone should not be picking it up because obviously it was in the live audio feed but nothing was coming up on the analyzer for those two birds so that might be something else that I have to look at is there like a wiki that goes down like all the settings or maybe a YouTube video that you or anyone else could suggest that better explains everything so I can get going or even microphone suggestions I'm all leaders very exciting my 5-year-old is very much looking forward to this even my wife

[RonnyCHL]

That’s great that the whole family is excited about it! Your 5-year-old is going to love checking what birds visited overnight.
For the birds being audible in the live feed but not showing up as detections, that’s almost certainly a settings thing rather than a hardware problem. The fact that you can hear them clearly in the live audio means your mic is working fine. A couple of things to check after your fresh install:
Make sure your latitude and longitude are set correctly in the settings. BirdNET uses your location to determine which species are likely in your area, and if it’s off, it might not even be looking for Tufted Titmouse or Northern Cardinal.
Also check your confidence threshold. The default is usually around 0.7 (70%). If it’s set too high you’ll miss a lot of valid detections. Try lowering it to 0.5 or even 0.4 to start with, you’ll get more false positives but you’ll also catch the real birds. You can always raise it later once you see what works for your location.
For learning the settings, the BirdNET-Pi wiki on the Nachtzuster GitHub page covers most of it. Also worth browsing through the discussions there, tons of practical tips from other users.
For microphones, what are you using now? The built-in ones on USB webcams or cheap USB dongles work to get started, but if you want to level up later, a small lavalier mic like the Clippy EM272 paired with a USB audio interface makes a huge difference in detection range and accuracy.
Good luck with the fresh install and enjoy the birds with the family! And feel free to ask more questions here any time, that’s what this community is for.

Ronny

[Summertanager]

Yes, we’re all very excited. I’m an avid birder lol—I literally just got back from the wildlife refuge, which I visit on average every 2–3 days. I do have a lavalier microphone (I believe it’s a Sennheiser). I haven’t used it in years and it’s been sitting in my camera bag, but I know I’ll need a USB DAC/interface for it. Is there one in particular you’d recommend?

As for my current microphone, it’s basically a $25 Rode knockoff (Neewer Mini Supercardioid Mic) that I found on Amazon. I was actually planning to use it with a parabolic dish since it’s directional.

That said, I’m definitely open to going with something omnidirectional. My original idea was to run two microphones spaced apart—maybe 6 feet on either side of the Pi—but it looks like that idea is on hold until I figure out how to merge the audio cleanly.

Rather than making multiple replies, I do have a few more questions. I’m using a Raspberry Pi 5, and the AC/DC plug is 45 watts, but I’m not sure how much power the Pi is actually drawing. Would I be able to run this portable and offline, like out at the refuge? And if so, how would I interface with it if it’s configured for my home Wi-Fi SSID?

I also have a mini 7-inch display—would there be a way to display Birdnetpi.local on it the same way I can at home? If so, I’d like to master this setup first, then build a second one specifically for portability, and 3D print a new case with the display attached for an easy portable viewing setup.

Also…someone should seriously create a BirdNET-Pi Facebook group. 😄