Upgrading FPP 9.5 to FPP 10: Is It Worth It?

Already have your light show running on FPP 9.5 (or prior)? Here’s what to consider before upgrading—and how to make the move.

Quick Pros and Cons

Pros

New 64-bit images for compatible boards
Updated audio/video engine with multi-zone audio
Calendar scheduling, dark mode, and a redesigned playlist editor
Performance improvements and security fixes
Improved User Interface (UI)
Conditional automation (If / then logic)

Cons

Most plugins need updating or reinstalling
Some older USB Wi-Fi adapters lose support
Legacy “Remote XXXX” commands and FPD/PixelNet output are removed
Might need to revisit audio settings for external USB sound card (e.g. Soundblaster)
Plug-in manager no longer allows you to point to a GitHub URL for unsanctioned plug-ins not in the official FPP plug-in repository — they will need to be re-installed manually

These changes are detailed in the official FPP 10 release notes.

My recommendation: Upgrade while you have time to test. FPP 10 is a huge improvement over previous versions but it may take a little time on your part to get everything working the way you want. I know I spent roughly 4-6 hours including fixing the audio, getting my custom plug-ins working and testing everything (most of this was re-building the plugins). If you have a less complicated setup with fewer plug-ins, it will probably not take nearly as long. If opening night is close and 9.5 is working reliably, schedule the change for a quieter period (like January).

Before You Start

Save a configuration backup to your computer, and separately copy your sequences, music, videos, and custom scripts. Don’t assume a configuration backup includes your show files.

Take screenshots of your network settings, outputs, audio selection, and plugins. For an SD-card installation, using a spare card lets you keep the working 9.5 card as a fallback — just flash FPP 10 onto a new card.

Option 1: Upgrade Your Existing Installation

Use this route when keeping the same architecture—32-bit only

Fully update FPP 9.x first
Save your configuration settings to your computer
Open About → Upgrade OS
Select the FPP 10.0 image matching your board and current architecture
Let installation and reboot finish
Delete the upgrade’s fppos file from File Manager → Uploads
Restore your configuration settings
Re-install any plugins that need to be refreshed to the FPP 10 version

Option 2: Start With a Fresh Image

Switching from 32-bit to 64-bit requires a fresh installation.

Save your configuration settings to your computer
Download the matching image from the FPP 10 release page
Flash it to your chosen storage (MicroSD card) — For a spare SD card, use your imaging application’s custom-image option and carefully select the destination card: flashing erases it
Shut down the player before swapping cards
Reconnect to the player after booting. If the old IP address doesn’t respond, check your router’s connected-device list (you probably should be using a static IP address or binding that device to a particular IP address using your router firmware)
Boot FPP and restore your configuration
Re-install plugins
Re-upload you sequence and audio files from xLights (using FPP connect)
Thoroughly test to make sure everything is working (see below) — in my case, my audio settings didn’t restore, and no audio was playing through my SoundBlaster — so needed to fix that

It is HIGHLY recommended that you image FPP 10 to a fresh MicroSD card, keeping the FPP 9.5 card as a known working fallback!

Test Before Show Night

Update or reinstall plugins, then check:

Network access and controller destinations.
Pixel colors, channel mapping, and string lengths.
Audio output, volume, and synchronization.
Playlists, schedules, time zone, and remote players.
Viewer requests and custom automation.

Run a complete playlist, then reboot and test again. Keep your backup until the upgraded player has passed a full rehearsal.

Custom or unsupported plug-ins

Some plug-ins are not directly supported in the official FPP plug-in library. You will not be able to install these via the normal FPP plug-in UI (in previous versions you could just copy the URL to the GitHub repository). These will need to be installed manually per the author’s directions, assuming they have been upgraded to work with FPP 10. In my case, I maintain 3 FPP plug-ins to make home automation hardware from Insteon, Leviton Decora and Meross work via FPP commands — in all cases I created a fork in each GitHub repository containing the FPP 10 version, while still maintaining the FPP 9.5 version (FPP 10 fork for each plug-in available via the links above).