Questions and answers

Can I send messages over the mesh?

Not yet. The LoRa Scanner listens to Meshtastic traffic and shows what it hears, but nothing is transmitted. A mesh messenger is the goal and is planned in two milestones, one for receiving and one for transmitting; it waits for a second node to test against.

Is this Meshtastic?

No. roro9stack is its own firmware, written from scratch, which aims to be compatible with Meshtastic on the air. Today that means the Scanner can read a Meshtastic packet's header. The project isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Meshtastic or M5Stack.

Does it ever transmit on LoRa?

No. The radio is receive-only in the current firmware. Nothing will transmit until you have confirmed your region in Settings, and the region's limits (frequencies, power, duty cycle) will bound anything that does.

What do I need?

• an M5Stack Cardputer ADV: that is the device the firmware is built and tested for;
• the Cap LoRa-1262, for the LoRa Scanner and GNSS only: the other Apps do not need it;
• a microSD card, for notes, logs, tracks, captures and saved pages;
• Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) for IRC, Gemini and updates.

Which regions are supported?

EU868 only, today. Setup asks for your region once, and the radio does not transmit until you confirm it.

Why do I need Chrome or Edge to install it?

The browser flasher uses Web Serial, which Chrome and Edge have on desktop and Firefox and Safari don't. Without it, the esptool steps on the Install page flash the same file from a terminal.

How do I update it?

Three ways, all with the same signed update file: from the project's releases on the device itself (Settings → Firmware), from the SD card, or pushed over Wi-Fi from a PC. See Updates and Install an update from the SD card.

Is it safe to update? What if it goes wrong?

A new firmware runs on Probation: if it crashes, restarts, or cannot get Wi-Fi back within 3 minutes, the device returns to the previous version by itself. If a confirmed firmware crashes 3 times in a row, it starts in Safe Mode with only Wi-Fi and updates, so a fix can be installed without a cable. And an update that is not signed with the project's key is refused before anything is written.

Can I run my own build?

Yes: it is open source (GPL-3.0). The device only accepts updates signed with the key that its firmware was built with, so a build of your own, signed with your own key, is flashed once over USB (the README explains it); after that, your own updates go over Wi-Fi or the card. Releases from this project are signed with the project's key.

Does it phone home? What about privacy?

The firmware contacts the project's server once a day, to see whether a new release exists: Settings → Check for updates, on by default, only when Wi-Fi is up and the clock is set. It installs nothing by itself, and you can switch it off. Besides that, the device talks to what you ask it to: the IRC server and Gemini capsules you open, DNS servers (9.9.9.9 and 1.1.1.1 by default) and time servers (pool.ntp.org and time.cloudflare.com by default), all of which you can change. There is no account, no analytics and no telemetry.

This website sets no cookies and has no analytics, loads nothing from other sites, and its server logs keep only a masked part of visitors' addresses. The Install page asks the project's own server for the latest release.

Why does IRC disconnect when I update, or when I open a Gemini page?

A secure connection takes about 52 KB of the 107 KB the device has, and IRC's takes about 40 KB. Both together do not always fit. See When a connection says "not enough memory".

Do I need an SD card?

For the radio, GNSS position, Wi-Fi tools, IRC chat and Gemini browsing, no. For anything that is kept, yes: notes, IRC logs, Wi-Fi scan logs, GNSS Tracks, LoRa captures, saved Gemini pages and update files. See Find your files on the SD card.

How big can a note be?

Up to 16 KB while it is edited. A larger text file opens read-only in the Storage App. Editing a text file of any size is planned.

Why can't I rename or delete some folders?

The firmware keeps its files in the top-level folders of the card, and /gemini/cache and any file being written right now are protected. What is inside the top-level folders can be changed. The Storage App says why when it refuses.

The upload can't connect, or the port is missing

Try a data cable, put the Cardputer in download mode (hold G0 while plugging in USB), and see When flashing fails.

Something is wrong, or missing from this site

Write to the issue tracker or to contact@roro9stack.net. Security problems: the address in the site's security.txt, and please not in the public tracker.