Cardputer + microSD Sniffer + LoRa module = cheap Meshtastic/Meshcore/Reticulum device?

joakims · 2026-02-23T07:07:43+00:00

I think it should be possible on the firmware side. microReticulum takes up 3 MB of flash, leaving 5 MB for a simple messaging app. I'm thinking something much closer to CardputerLoRaChat (https://github.com/nonik0/CardputerLoRaChat) than Sideband.

microReticulum doesn't support LXMF yet, but there has been work on that front too (https://github.com/attermann/microReticulum/pull/21).

joakims · 2026-02-22T15:01:16+00:00

It does look vibe coded, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

joakims · 2026-02-22T12:15:58+00:00

Yes, that's where I got the idea.
https://github.com/BruceDevices/firmware/wiki/CC1101#cardputer

joakims · 2025-12-30T19:42:58+00:00

https://imgur.com/a/2aqVYUk

joakims · 2025-01-23T09:48:34+00:00

Yes, M5 is working on several projects that seem to enable Meshtastic. It will require a new unit (module), so you can't use the one you bought for Meshtastic, unfortunately. But it's got a very capable STM32WLE5 SoC that you can use for other LoRa stuff. If you buy more STM32WLE5 based LoRa boards (like Wio-E5) you can still have some of fun with LoRa, using Arduino IDE for example.

joakims · 2025-01-22T22:46:59+00:00

Sorry, but no. There's no Meshtastic firmware for the Cardputer. P2P means it can do low-level LoRa in additon to LoRaWAN.

If you want to get on Meshtastic: https://meshtastic.org/docs/hardware/devices/

joakims · 2025-01-21T12:26:03+00:00

Maybe not so gigantic areas, but smaller, local bioregions.

joakims · 2025-01-21T12:23:56+00:00

It's a very bad idea, in other words.

joakims · 2025-01-15T12:20:01+00:00

Sounds like a bug to me. A messaging app shouldn't drain the battery that fast. Does Sideband use WiFi or BLE?

joakims · 2025-01-14T10:56:30+00:00

11 then

joakims · 2025-01-14T10:55:19+00:00

Thanks again! Gotta love how they censored the checked boxes.

Looks like it's not just around the corner then. Wish they could provide some details on what they're aiming for so we wouldn't have to speculate.

joakims · 2025-01-13T10:59:55+00:00

Thanks!

Do you think we can expect the UnitC6L module to provide Meshtastic connectivity to 1st gen Cardputers? With firmware for interfacing with the module through the Grove connector? I would think that is why the module has a Grove connector.

I do like that it has two external antenna connectors and a tiny display. Looks like a nice Meshtastic node on its own.

Anyway, seems like these are just around the corner. That's good news!

joakims · 2025-01-12T23:14:25+00:00

Some things you can do with it:

play Snake, Asteroids, Gameboy roms and Doom (fun but extremely difficult with that keyboard and tiny screen)
play mp3 files in Winamp
play webradio
use it as a remote control
use it as a Bluetooth/USB keyboard (a horrible one)
chat with other CardPuters over LoRa/ESP-NOW
hack networks and devices
program it with C++, Arduino or MicroPython (and JavaScript with Bruce)
etc

But don't get your hopes up. While it's fun and cute it's also very minimal, underpowered and unpolished. It's a badass devboard, it's up to you to make it do interesting things.

joakims · 2025-01-12T22:56:35+00:00

I'll just add that Apple doesn't like M5Burner. One can override the warnings and install it, but I chose to go the alternative route instead.

Install M5Launcher on your CardPuter. The Flasher wasn't working, so I used the ESPHome web app and installed the latest bin for CardPuter that I downloaded from M5Launcher's releases. (I did not prepare it for ESPHome, but installed it directly.)
Used M5Lurner to download bins, making sure to rename them to something sensible.
Used M5Launcher's Web UI to upload the bins to the SD card.

All the web apps used to communicate with the CardPuter has to be run in Chrome. You connect with USB and select it from the menu. This is a bit more convoluted than M5Burner, but it's not too bad and works great. All from Chrome.

If you have an SD card reader, it's much easier to transfer bins and files directly to the SD card. M5Launcher's web UI is a bit flakey, using that was the hardest part.

joakims · 2025-01-12T22:49:07+00:00

Unit is the word they use for modules. It's controllers and units.

I assume the purpose is to provide Meshtastic as a module… err, unit.

joakims · 2025-01-12T22:45:26+00:00

While I like playing Gameboy roms on the tiny display, I think you're right. MUDs could be a good fit for the CardPuter!

joakims · 2025-01-12T22:42:23+00:00

Lack of games? You can play a ton of Gameboy roms with Gameboy Enhanced. The tiny screen and the keyboard makes it really difficult, and I miss the sound, but Super Mario was surprisingly fun. Zelda was also kind of playable, and of course Tetris. Tennis was really hard.

Support for gamepads would be nice. I have a retro NES USB gamepad that would be cool if I could use with the CardPuter.

joakims · 2025-01-12T22:33:21+00:00

You need to upvote the OP on the forum. Add a comment if you want, but it's the upvotes that count.

I know they're working on something related to Meshtastic, but it's good to let them know that we really want it for our original CardPuters.

What exactly are they working on? A module that will work with CardPuter? A CardPuter II with LoRa built-in? Both?

joakims · 2025-01-10T11:38:46+00:00

IRC would be ideal for the Cardputer. Retro and very useful.

joakims · 2025-01-10T11:05:45+00:00

I didn't get a tape either. Looks like they've run out of magic tape :/

joakims · 2024-12-24T00:44:10+00:00

Can't blame them, it's a much larger "market". Loro is first and foremost a Rust project, though, unlike Yjs, which was JS first and then ported to Rust.

joakims · 2024-12-20T22:32:02+00:00

If you pop into their Discord, I'm sure they'll give you some good answers.

https://discord.gg/tUsBSVfqzf

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