Content over USB

You can take content to a screen with a USB drive, with no network and without touching the panel. So nobody can plug in just any drive and change what's on air, RDS signs the drives you generate: the screen only plays the ones carrying your company's signature.

Requires the RDS app 2.4.0 or newer on the screen. Older versions ignore USB security and play any drive you connect. Check the version in Devices → Version, and update from Downloads if needed.

How it works

You enable USB security in your account and RDS generates a private signing key for your company.
You download a signed drive from the panel. The ZIP contains an rds-content folder with a signed manifest.json.
You copy it to the root of the USB and plug it into the screen.
The screen checks the signature before using anything: if the drive belongs to your company and hasn't been tampered with, it plays it; if not, it rejects it and logs the reason.

Enabling USB security

Profile → USB → USB content security

Tick Allow content over USB (signed drives only).
Click Save. The first time, your company's signing key is generated (you'll see Signing key active: v1).

While it's off, screens behave as before: they play any USB drive. Once it's on, they only accept signed ones.

Generating the USB drive

In Profile → USB → Generate signed USB you have two options:

General key (any content) — downloads a signed drive with no fixed content. You copy whatever images and videos you want yourself and the screen plays them. This is the usual option.
Restrict to a playlist — the drive is downloaded already loaded with the files of the playlist you choose.

In both cases: unzip the ZIP and copy the rds-content folder to the root of the USB drive. Don't rename or edit manifest.json: that's the signature.

Automatic enrolment of new screens (first use)

Every drive includes your company's signing key, so a screen that doesn't have a key yet enrols itself the first time you plug one in: it stores the key, becomes associated with your company and from then on verifies every drive as normal.

Screens that already have a key ignore that data, so a drive can never change the key of an already configured screen.

This lets you prepare screens with no connection: there's no need to link them beforehand.

For this reason, treat drives like a password: anyone holding one can sign content for your screens. If you lose one, regenerate the key (see below).

Playing and copying

Play from the USB — in Offline mode, the screen plays the content straight from the drive as long as it stays connected.
Copy to internal storage — the Copy USB content to the local folder option (the app's admin menu) keeps the content when you remove the drive. Copying always requires a signed drive and a key, even if USB security is disabled, because the files stay on the device.

Regenerating the key

Profile → USB → Regenerate key

Use this if you lose a drive or believe the key has leaked. Bear in mind that:

Drives created beforehand stop being valid: download them again.
Screens that held the previous key will reject the new drives until they enrol again. To do that, on the screen: admin menu (2016) → USB security → Remove key. The next drive you plug in will enrol it again.

If a drive doesn't play

The screen logs the reason (visible in the device logs and in the panel):

Reason	What it means	What to do
`unsigned`	The drive has no `rds-content/manifest.json`	Generate the drive from the panel and copy the whole folder
`bad_sig`	The signature doesn't match: the file has been edited or damaged	Copy the `rds-content` folder again without modifying it
`key_mismatch`	The drive is signed with a key newer than the screen's (you've regenerated the key)	On the screen: USB security → Remove key and plug it in again
`foreign_empresa`	The drive belongs to another company	Use a drive generated from your own account
`disabled`	The screen doesn't have a key yet	Plug in a drive generated from the panel: it will enrol itself

If the content is on the drive but nothing shows up, also check that the files are in a supported format. The screen displays a warning when it skips a file it can't decode (for example .avif on older devices).