How to enable SPI master driver in Raspbian using raspi-config

Your Raspberry Pi has the ability to communicate with hardware using the Serial Peripheral Interface specification. However, this master driver is disabled by default.

If you want to use the SPI master driver to communicate with devices, then you will need to enable it.

Let's look at how we can enable the SPI master driver using the Raspberry Pi Software Configuration Tool (raspi-config).

If you are using Raspbian (for example Raspbian Buster) with a windowing system, then you will click on the terminal program icon to start a terminal program:
Raspbian Buster 20190710 taskbar with terminal program icon hovered

Once your terminal program had started, type in the following command:

sudo raspi-config

When you do so, the Raspberry Pi Software Configuration Tool will start in your terminal program:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config just started up

Given that, select Interfacing Options:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config with Interfacing Option being selected

Next, select SPI:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config with SPI option being selected

After that, raspi-config prompts for confirmation. Select Yes to confirm your selection:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config with confirmation of SPI selection and Yes selected

When you had done so, raspi-config informs you that SPI is configured:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config confirming that SPI interface had been enabled

After you had chose Ok, raspi-config brings you to the first screen. Select Finish to exit raspi-config:
20191010 screenshot of raspi-config at starting screen with Finish selected

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Clivant a.k.a Chai Heng enjoys composing software and building systems to serve people. He owns techcoil.com and hopes that whatever he had written and built so far had benefited people. All views expressed belongs to him and are not representative of the company that he works/worked for.