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THE SPOTIFY CAR THING THAT WAS REMOTELY BRICKED BECOMES A WALL PANEL FOR HOME ASSISTANT

Spotify remotely killed every Car Thing in December 2024, but the hardware is an ARM computer with a touchscreen and a rotary wheel — this project turns it into a wall-mounted Home Assistant dashboard.

by bishopdynamics

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

HomeAutomation

Built withRaspberry Pi3D printing

difficulty
●●●●○
time
a weekend
license
MIT
repo
repo ACTIVE269 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

This is upcycling done right. The Car Thing is capable hardware, with an 800x480 touchscreen, a quad-core ARM chip, a rotary dial and four buttons, and Spotify switched it off. Wall Thing replaces the operating system with Debian 11 and runs Chromium in fullscreen kiosk mode pointed at your Home Assistant dashboard, while the buttons and dial control a light and recall scenes, automations or scripts. The catch is that you are replacing the whole operating system: you hold two buttons while plugging it in to enter burn mode, flash the image with superbird-tool, and a bad flash can leave the device hard to recover, so make a full backup first. The second catch is networking: Wi-Fi does not work, so the Car Thing runs over USB RNDIS through a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, now the only supported host, and the repo includes a 3D-printable wall case. If you have a Car Thing in a drawer, this is one of the best uses for it. If you would be buying one just for this, a tablet is simpler.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —MIT licence. Commercial use is allowed if the licence notice is preserved.
  • —The repository contains Debian 11 image scripts, a Home Assistant configuration template, and STL files for mounting a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W behind the Car Thing.
  • —Networking runs over USB RNDIS, so the Car Thing is not standalone — it needs a host device connected by USB.
  • —The README warns that flashing can permanently brick the unit and that the original Spotify firmware should be backed up first using superbird-tool.
  • —The Car Thing itself must be sourced secondhand — Spotify stopped production in 2022 and remotely disabled all units on 9 December 2024.
  • —No official video walkthrough exists; documentation is text and screenshots in the README and related issues.

Parts to buy

5 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • Spotify Car ThingFind
  • Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W or similar USB hostFind
  • MicroSD cardFind
  • USB-C cableFind
  • USB-A to USB-C adapter if neededFind

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Can I build this?

PrintSTL case for mounting a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W behind the Car Thing (optional but recommended for a clean install)
BuyA Spotify Car Thing (sourced secondhand, production ended 2022), Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W or similar USB host, microSD card, USB-C cable, USB-A to USB-C adapter if needed
ToolsA desktop or laptop to run superbird-tool, a MicroUSB-to-USB-C cable (no hub), a microSD card reader, and optionally a USB-UART adapter for the console the author recommends
SkillsComfortable with command-line Linux and Python tools, following a flashing procedure exactly, and setting up a Raspberry Pi as a USB network host — the steps are not complex, but a mistake can leave the device hard to recover
TimeA weekend, assuming the flash succeeds on the first attempt and you already have a working Home Assistant instance to point it at
CostMid band: a second-hand Car Thing plus a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, a microSD card and cables; prices vary on the second-hand market.
SafetyNo mains voltage or batteries; everything runs on USB power. The real risk is to the device, so back up the original firmware first, and change the default login (user and password are both 'superbird') because SSH and VNC are reachable through the host.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

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Gallery

github.com
github.com
github.com
github.com

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Back up the original Spotify firmware (Use superbird-tool to make a full backup before flashing; a failed flash can be difficult to recover from without it.)
  2. 2.Read the flashing guide in the main README (Hold buttons 1 and 4 while plugging in to enter burn mode, avoid USB hubs, then flash the release image with superbird-tool)
  3. 3.Prepare the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W as the USB host (The Car Thing depends on the Pi for networking; this step configures RNDIS and routes traffic to your network)
  4. 4.Flash the Debian image and configure the Home Assistant URL (The README includes a template config — point Chromium at your dashboard URL and map the rotary and buttons)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

KNOWN ISSUES

  • The Car Thing must be sourced secondhand — Spotify stopped selling them in 2022 and remotely disabled every unit in December 2024, so availability and condition vary.
  • Flashing replaces the whole system and can leave the device hard to recover. Make a full backup with superbird-tool first, enter burn mode by holding buttons 1 and 4 while plugging in, and do not flash through a USB hub.
  • The Car Thing has no standalone networking — it must be tethered to a USB host like a Raspberry Pi, so budget for that hardware and know that it is not wireless.
  • Debian 11 is the base, not the latest release — expect to manage updates and security patches manually if you leave this running long-term.
  • The buttons and dial are set up to control a light and trigger scenes, automations or scripts in Home Assistant; plan which entities you want before mounting it on the wall.
  • No official video guide exists — if you are not comfortable working from text documentation and GitHub issues, this will be harder than it needs to be.

Can I use this without a Raspberry Pi?

No. Wi-Fi is disabled by the stock bootloader and kernel, so networking runs over USB RNDIS through a host. The only supported host is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W — the install scripts enforce it.

What happens if the flash fails?

It can be hard to recover. The device has a USB burn mode you enter with the buttons, and the author provides backup and recovery scripts, but only if you made a full backup first — which is why the README insists on it.

Does the original Spotify firmware still work?

No. Spotify remotely disabled every Car Thing on 9 December 2024. Even if you restore the backup, the device will not connect to Spotify's servers.

Can I run other dashboards besides Home Assistant?

Yes. The Chromium kiosk can point at any URL — Grafana, Node-RED, a static page, or a custom dashboard. You configure the URL in the setup script.

Is this legal?

The project's code is MIT licensed, and modifying hardware you own is what it is for. The author gives no warranty, so you take responsibility for the outcome; check local rules if you plan anything beyond personal use.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Spotify switched these off in December 2024 — the hardware still works, but this build needs a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W as a host and a careful flash. Would you spend a weekend on this, or just buy a tablet?

CompareeTEAM2mo agoedited

Practical notes from our verification: the repository provides a prebuilt Debian image that turns the Car Thing into a fullscreen Chromium kiosk for Home Assistant, flashed with the separate superbird-tool, and it includes a 3D-printable wall case. The latest release dates from late September 2025. There is no official video guide — everything is text and pictures in the README. Getting into flashing mode is just holding buttons 1 and 4 while plugging it into USB, but the README is blunt that you can mess up the device in ways that are difficult to recover, so make a full backup first. The bigger catch is the host: Wi-Fi does not work in this image and networking runs over USB, so you also need a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W next to it, which is now the only supported host. If you already have a Car Thing in a drawer from before the December 2024 shutdown, this is a good second life for it. If you would be buying one just for this, a cheap Android tablet will be simpler. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.

bishopdynamics

bishopdynamics started Wall Thing in late 2023, a year before Spotify switched off every Car Thing, to turn the device into a Chromium kiosk for Home Assistant. He also maintains superbird-tool for backing up and flashing the device, and the repo includes a 3D-printable wall mount.

GitHub

Star the project on GitHub

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