I have just unpacked and flashed my new t-deck and I’m very excited! Sadly, i had to use some google drive provided old firmware (2.5) since I can not figure out how to find(, build) and upload the firmware.

Having worked with esp32s in the past, i know of the many different ways to flash them (platform.io, webflashers, esptool, etc) but I’m missing something.

Where is the “fancy ui” actually from and how do you build it? I was just told to clone, build and upload the latest from github. (https://meshtastic.org/docs/development/firmware/build/) but that just flashes the crappy ui which I have no idea how to use.

Very thankful for any help! Thanks!

(alt text: picture shows t-deck with “fancy ui” and a chat of two people sending test messages, indicating that it works)

  • andyburke@fedia.io
    7·
    2 days ago

    Grab the firmware from github.

    Check out the tft branch.

    pio run -e t-deck-tft run -t buildfs

    There are other steps, but the -e t-deck-tft is the main thing to not miss if you want the fancy ui right now.

  • ch00f@lemmy.world
    4·
    2 days ago

    So jealous!

    I dropped a ton on the Armachat communicator because there weren’t any sleek phoneless models out there.

    Glad to see things are progressing.

    What kind of range do you get?

    • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOP
      5·
      2 days ago

      I just got the thing. We’ll give it a try tomorrow when my wife drives through the city. we have barely any other meshtastic devices in the vicinity it seems. maybe the range is really crappy. we’ll see. Its also europe so we use 800something mhz and no antenna. Will update.

      • Ulrich@feddit.orgEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        The range is great line-of-sight but it won’t penetrate much of anything so you need relays placed as high up as possible.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
        11·
        2 days ago

        You’re going to want a better antenna. Look for a local ham radio store or one of those online ham radio stores in your area that sells better antennas because the one that comes with it by default is shit from everything I hear from people. A full wavelength is something like 13 inches, so the longer the antenna is, the better it’s going to be, at least up to that point. Once it gets longer than that point, then it will start becoming directional and could cause you problems.

    • haui@lemmy.giftedmc.comOP
      2·
      1 day ago

      If you‘re okay with flashing, it works well. So far communicating wasnt really possible unless sitting directly adjacent. Will perform further tests.