RNode_Firmware_CE/Documentation/BUILDING.md

Building

Prerequisites

The build system of this repository is based on GNU Make. The Makefile is in the base of the repository. Please ensure you have arduino-cli, python3 and make installed before proceeding.

Firstly, figure out which MCU platform your supported board is based on. The table below can help you.

Board name	Link	Transceiver	MCU	Description
Handheld v2.x RNodes	Buy here	SX1276	ESP32
RAK4631	Buy here	SX1262	nRF52
LilyGO LoRa32 v1.0	Buy here	SX1276/8	ESP32
LilyGO T-BEAM v1.1	Buy here	SX1276/8	ESP32
LilyGO LoRa32 v2.0	No link	SX1276/8	ESP32	Discontinued?
LilyGO LoRa32 v2.1	Buy here	SX1276/8	ESP32	With and without TCXO
Heltec LoRa32 v2	No link	SX1276/8	ESP32	Discontinued?
Heltec LoRa32 v3	Buy here	SX1262	ESP32
Homebrew ESP32 boards		Any supported	ESP32	This can be any board with an Adafruit Feather (or generic) ESP32 chip

ESP32

If your board is ESP32-based, please run make prep-esp32 to install the required BSP and libraries for that target.

nRF52

If your board is nRF52-based, please run make prep-nrf to install the required BSP and libraries for that target.

Compiling

Next, you need to find the name of the target for your board. Please reference the table below to do so:

Board name	Target
Handheld v2.x RNodes	rnode_ng_20
RAK4631	rak4631
LilyGO T-BEAM v1.1	tbeam
LilyGO T-BEAM v1.1 (SX1262)	tbeam_sx126x
LilyGO LoRa32 v1.0	lora32_v10
LilyGO LoRa32 v2.0	lora32_v20
LilyGO LoRa32 v2.1	lora32_v21
Heltec LoRa32 v2	heltec32_v2
Heltec LoRa32 v3	heltec32_v3
Homebrew ESP32 boards	genericesp32

After you've ascertained the target for the board simply run the following to compile for the board:

make firmware-[target]

Ensure you replace [target] with the target you selected. For example:

make firmware-rak4631

Flashing

To flash the chosen board (if you have one), simply connect it to your computer over USB, and then run the following:

make upload-[target]

Ensure you replace [target] with the target you selected. For example:

make upload-rak4631

If you are flashing a custom board, you will need to generate a signing key in rnodeconf prior to flashing if you do not already have one by running:

rnodeconf -k

After flashing a custom board, you will also need to provision the EEPROM before use:

rnodeconf /dev/ttyACM0 -r --platform ESP32 --model a9 --product f0 --hwrev 3

• platform must either be AVR, ESP32 or NRF52
• hwrev is required (any integer between 1 and 255)
• model should be something from the list below without the leading 0x and in lowercase (example e8):

0x11: [430000000, 510000000, 22, "430 - 510 MHz", "rnode_firmware_rak4631.zip", "SX1262"],
0x12: [779000000, 928000000, 22, "779 - 928 MHz", "rnode_firmware_rak4631.zip", "SX1262"],
0xA4: [410000000, 525000000, 14, "410 - 525 MHz", "rnode_firmware.hex", "SX1278"],
0xA9: [820000000, 1020000000, 17, "820 - 1020 MHz", "rnode_firmware.hex", "SX1276"],
0xA1: [410000000, 525000000, 22, "410 - 525 MHz", "rnode_firmware_t3s3.zip", "SX1268"],
0xA6: [820000000, 1020000000, 22, "820 - 960 MHz", "rnode_firmware_t3s3.zip", "SX1262"],
0xA2: [410000000, 525000000, 17, "410 - 525 MHz", "rnode_firmware_ng21.zip", "SX1278"],
0xA7: [820000000, 1020000000, 17, "820 - 1020 MHz", "rnode_firmware_ng21.zip", "SX1276"],
0xA3: [410000000, 525000000, 17, "410 - 525 MHz", "rnode_firmware_ng20.zip", "SX1278"],
0xA8: [820000000, 1020000000, 17, "820 - 1020 MHz", "rnode_firmware_ng20.zip", "SX1276"],
0xB3: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v20.zip", "SX1278"],
0xB8: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v20.zip", "SX1276"],
0xB4: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v21.zip", "SX1278"],
0xB9: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v21.zip", "SX1276"],
0x04: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v21_tcxo.zip", "SX1278"],
0x09: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v21_tcxo.zip", "SX1276"],
0xBA: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v10.zip", "SX1278"],
0xBB: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_lora32v10.zip", "SX1276"],
0xC4: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_heltec32v2.zip", "SX1278"],
0xC9: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_heltec32v2.zip", "SX1276"],
0xC5: [470000000, 510000000, 21, "470 - 510 MHz", "rnode_firmware_heltec32v3.zip", "SX1262"],
0xCA: [863000000, 928000000, 21, "863 - 928 MHz", "rnode_firmware_heltec32v3.zip", "SX1262"],
0xE4: [420000000, 520000000, 17, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_tbeam.zip", "SX1278"],
0xE9: [850000000, 950000000, 17, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_tbeam.zip", "SX1276"],
0xE3: [420000000, 520000000, 22, "420 - 520 MHz", "rnode_firmware_tbeam_sx1262.zip", "SX1268"],
0xE8: [850000000, 950000000, 22, "850 - 950 MHz", "rnode_firmware_tbeam_sx1262.zip", "SX1262"],
0xFE: [100000000, 1100000000, 17, "(Band capabilities unknown)", None, "Unknown"],
0xFF: [100000000, 1100000000, 14, "(Band capabilities unknown)", None, "Unknown"],

• product should be a code from the following list below without the leading 0x and in lowercase (example f0):

PRODUCT_RAK4631 = 0x10
PRODUCT_RNODE  = 0x03
PRODUCT_T32_10 = 0xB2
PRODUCT_T32_20 = 0xB0
PRODUCT_T32_21 = 0xB1
PRODUCT_H32_V2 = 0xC0
PRODUCT_H32_V3 = 0xC1
PRODUCT_TBEAM  = 0xE0
PRODUCT_HMBRW  = 0xF0

Please note, you must re-compile the firmware each time you make changes before you flash it, else you will just be flashing the previous version of the firmware without the new changes!

These commands can also be run as a one liner. For example:

make firmware-[target] && make upload-[target]

This is especially helpful when making continuous changes to the firmware and testing them out.