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Ratspeak for Cardputer Adv

Ratspeak Handheld includes Cardputer Adv alongside T-Deck Plus, T-Pager and ThinkNode M9. This page describes Ratspeak Handheld 2.3.3 beta.

Hardware​

Use the M5Stack Cardputer Adv with a Cap LoRa-1262 for LoRa. The Cap supplies the SX1262 radio; the handheld alone has no LoRa transceiver. Match the antenna and operating band to the radio hardware.

The Cardputer Adv has an ESP32-S3, 240×135 display, compact keyboard, battery and microSD slot. An SD card is optional for normal messaging. Its interface uses compact pages; full message content remains available through the reader.

Install and modes​

The unified full package is cardputer-full.zip. It includes the launcher, Standalone messenger and RNode radio mode. Single-mode ZIPs install one mode. cardputer-standalone.bin and cardputer-rnode.bin are the same complete images, for esptool or bmorcelli's Launcher. Launcher gives Ratspeak's internal storage a 448 KB partition; resizing it keeps its data, and a larger partition keeps more message history.

Use a package from the selected Ratspeak Handheld release or a local build with DEVICE=cardputer. Select Cardputer on the web flasher, or upload a complete ZIP through Build your own. Check that the selected firmware is Ratspeak Handheld 2.3.3.

Back up internal flash and the SD card first. Compatible web flasher updates keep your data; a factory installation erases it. See Flashing firmware for the 8 MB backup size, download mode and installation limits.

In the full launcher, select Standalone for on-device LXMF messaging over LoRa or Wi-Fi, or RNode to use the device as a radio for a host client over USB serial or BLE. Standalone does not provide BLE messaging. RNode radio settings are managed by its host client.

Controls​

  • Fn+arrows moves through lists; left/right changes tabs where the current screen does not consume it. Tab / Shift+Tab also changes tabs outside chat.
  • Enter opens or confirms. Backspace goes back outside text entry; in an editor it deletes text first, then a fresh tap on an empty field goes back. Fn+Backspace is forward Delete.
  • Ctrl+H opens Help; Ctrl+M opens Messages, Ctrl+N starts a new message, and Ctrl+S opens Settings.
  • In a chat, Fn+up/down selects messages. Enter opens a text message or plays/pauses selected audio; M opens message actions. Backspace dismisses selection before leaving the chat. Ctrl+V opens the voice-message recorder.

The Messages footer uses first / previous / next / last arrows. Move down past the last conversation to focus the footer, choose an enabled arrow with left/right and press Enter. Fn+Left/Right changes pages directly; adding Shift jumps to either end. Unavailable arrows stay visible and disabled.

Screen dimming or blanking does not power off the Cardputer. Use the side power switch for hardware power-off, and wait for pending saves or maintenance first.

Radio and storage​

Settings → LoRa offers the shared presets and custom frequency, spreading factor, bandwidth, coding rate, TX power and preamble. Match the radio tuple with your peers. Cardputer exposes these fields directly; it does not use the Deck/Pager developer-unlock screen. Follow your local radio regulations for frequency, transmit power and duty cycle; presets do not limit power or airtime for your region.

Cardputer keeps messages on an inserted SD card automatically, and the card holds the full history. Without a card, internal storage keeps the newest messages and removes the oldest when it runs low. Settings → Storage shows which applies.

The handheld guide explains message phases, save errors, voice messages, propagation, history, SD-copy scope, and reset recovery. The compact editor retains a draft across a pending send; it does not promise a separate saved draft for every conversation.

Legacy rsCardputer​

Earlier firmware and its instructions remain in ratspeak/rsCardputer. Current unified packages use the cardputer- prefix; older releases used rscardputer-. Do not mix legacy and unified partition layouts.

License​

Unified Standalone firmware and the launcher are AGPL-3.0-or-later. Bundled RNode firmware retains GPLv3. See the third-party notices.