How Do I Set Up Home Assistant Yellow?

Problem Description

You are setting up Home Assistant Yellow for the first time. Unbox the Yellow, connect the included Ethernet cable to your router (port on the back), and plug in the USB-C power supply. The Yellow comes with a Compute Module and optional SSD. Wait for the LED to turn solid green (about 5-10 minutes on first boot), then access the web interface.

Why This Happens in Real Homes

Setting up a Home Assistant Yellow is mostly hardware assembly then onboarding: seat the Raspberry Pi Compute Module, add storage (NVMe or onboard eMMC), power it (PoE+ or the proper PSU), and connect Ethernet. Most first-boot snags are an unseated module, inadequate power, or no network.

Once assembled and powered, reach the onboarding page at homeassistant.local:8123 (or its IP) to finish setup. If it won't come online, check the Compute Module seating and power first, then that Ethernet is live and the router isn't blocking discovery; the LEDs help confirm it's actually booting.

Symptoms

• Yellow will not power on/boot
• Will not come online in setup
• Compute Module questions
• No network
• Storage not detected
• Cannot reach the onboarding page
• LEDs unclear
• Setup stalls

Recognize these? Here's what usually causes it.

Common Causes

• Compute Module not installed/seated
• Power (PoE+ or PSU) inadequate
• Ethernet not connected
• No storage (NVMe) installed or detected
• Wrong onboarding URL/network
• OS not flashed (if required)
• Firmware/bootloader step skipped
• Router blocking discovery

Tools & Requirements

Step-by-Step Solution

1

Unbox and assemble the Yellow hardware

The Home Assistant Yellow kit includes the main board, a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4), heatsink, case, and 12V power supply. The CM4 may come pre-installed or need to be attached to the carrier board. Align the CM4 connectors with the board sockets and press down firmly until it clicks. Attach the heatsink to the CM4 using the included thermal pad. If you purchased the NVMe bundle, install the M.2 SSD into the slot on the underside of the board and secure with the screw.

2

Connect Ethernet and power on

Connect an Ethernet cable from your router to the Yellow's Ethernet port. The Yellow supports Gigabit Ethernet — use a Cat 5e or better cable. Connect the 12V power supply. The Yellow has no power button — it starts automatically when power is connected. The green LED blinks during boot. First boot takes 5-10 minutes as Home Assistant OS initializes and installs. Wait until the green LED is solid or check your router for a new device named 'homeassistant.'

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3

Access the Home Assistant web interface

From a computer or phone on the same network, open a browser and go to http://homeassistant.local:8123 (or the IP address assigned by your router, visible in your router admin page). The onboarding wizard appears: create your admin account, set your home location and time zone, and configure basic settings. The location is used for sunrise/sunset automations and weather data.

4

Set up the built-in Zigbee and Thread radios

The Home Assistant Yellow has a Silicon Labs EFR32 radio that supports both Zigbee and Thread. During setup, Home Assistant detects the radio and offers to configure it. For Zigbee: set up the ZHA (Zigbee Home Automation) integration or Zigbee2MQTT. For Thread: set up the Thread integration. You can run either Zigbee or Thread on the built-in radio, but not both simultaneously. To run both, use the built-in radio for one protocol and add a USB dongle (like Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 or SkyConnect) for the other.

5

Move data to the NVMe drive

By default, Home Assistant OS runs from the CM4's eMMC storage (8-32GB depending on the CM4 variant). For more space and faster performance, move the data partition to the NVMe SSD. Go to Settings > System > Storage > Move Data Disk. Select the NVMe drive. The system migrates all data (configurations, add-ons, backups, database) to the SSD. This takes a few minutes and requires a restart. After migration, the eMMC stores only the boot partition while all data lives on the faster NVMe.

Quick Solutions

Still having issues? This is usually the deeper cause below.

Need More Help? Home Assistant Support

Note: The contact information below connects you directly to Home Assistant's official customer support team, not Trunetto. They can help with warranty claims, device replacements, and advanced technical issues.