LilyGo T-Deck & Spec5 Ranger Setup

Both the LilyGo T-Deck and Spec5 Ranger are great standalone devices! In fact, the Spec5 Ranger is just a T-Deck with a different case on it. They both have an integrated keyboard so you don’t need your phone to send a message out.

We’ve GREATLY simplified the initial setup process for all the recommended devices, including the T-Deck and Spec5 Ranger. Follow the steps below carefully to get your device setup.

Updating your device

The first thing we’re going to do is update your device to a more recent version of the software using a version that we’ve pre-configured with a lot of the settings you’ll need. That means a lot less fiddling around for you!

Downloading the software

You’ll need a copy of the file that we’ll use to update your device. Click here to open our shared drive, and select the T-Deck folder (Spec5 Ranger and T-Deck are the same, so the T-Deck folder works for the Spec5 Ranger as well). There should only be one file in there named “firmware.factory.bin”. Download that somewhere you’ll be able to access it later, like your Downloads or Desktop folder. We’ll come back to using this file in a few steps.

There are two options for the next step in the process:

Option 1: You can utilize the desktop software for OSX or Windows. This software is easier to use, but it is very new and may have bugs. Scroll to “Flashing your device – Option 1” for this option.

Option 2: You can use the officially supported Web Flasher. It is a little more complicated to understand, but probably more reliable. Scroll to “Flashing your device – Option 2” for this option.

Flashing your device – Option 1

You’re going to need a USB cable to connect your device to your computer. Once connected, power on your device and let it boot up.

Head over to https://github.com/medentem/electron-flasher/releases to download the latest flasher software for your desktop/laptop computer. Because this is still an early preview release, you may run into security warnings when you install the software.

Once installed, open the software and click the Scan For Device button.

If your device is powered on, and connected via USB, it should be detected. If you can’t get this step working, go to the Option 2 method of updating for now.

At this point, your device should be detected and connected as pictured below.

Before you click the “Update Device” button, you need to do two things. First, click the trash can icon. You should see the this warning.

Next, click the folder with the plus sign so that you can select the custom firmware that you downloaded from our shared drive for your device. You should see a new custom firmware selected in the Available Updates pane.

Lastly, click the Update Device button and let it rip! If you see this success message, your device has been updated. If something goes wrong, you can always fall back to using the Option 2 method of updating.

Simply unplug and reboot your device and you should be good to go!

Flashing your device – Option 2

You’re going to need a USB cable to connect your device to your computer. Once connected, power on your device and let it boot up. Once that’s all set, you need to open a website that is used to facilitate the update process for Meshtastic devices. Click this link to open the flasher website: https://flasher.meshtastic.org. You should see the screen in the image below.

Click the “Select Target Device” button and scroll down to choose the T-Deck device in the list of devices. You should see T-Deck as pictured below and the next green button should be unlocked.

You will NOT be using the green “Select Firmware Version” button for this step. Instead, click the little folder icon to the right of that button, and find the “firmware.factory.bin” file that you downloaded earlier to your computer. After you’ve selected that file, the final “Flash” button will turn green. Go ahead and click the green Flash button.

After you click the green “Flash” button, you’ll see the popup pictured below. We’re going to complete these steps one at a time, and if you keep reading (before you start clicking buttons) there is an explanation for each step below in language that is easier to understand.

Ensure device is plugged in via USB – this step will put your device in update mode. Click the green button that says “1200bps Reset”. Once you click that, you’ll see another little popup where you’ll find and select your T-Deck device. Once you have it selected, click the “Connect” button.

Choose Baud Rate – skip this and leave it at 115200.

Flash Firmware – make sure the option for “Full Erase & Install” is turned on.

And then click the large “Erase Flash and Install” button. You’ll see the little device list popup again. Find and select your device, then click the “Connect” button.

Allow the update process to run. You’ll see update text appear in the black box below the “Erase Flash and Install” button. Once it finishes and says “waiting to download”, you can unplug the USB cable, turn off your device and turn it back on again.

While it boots up, you should see “catholicresilience.com” on the screen. If you see that, you’re golden!

Changing your first channel

At this point you can connect to your device using the Android App, iOS App or you can stick with your web browser. I’m going to show the web browser for the rest of this guide, but the concepts are the same no matter how you connect to your device.

First, go to https://client.meshtastic.org. You’ll land on a page that looks like this:

Click the “New Connection” button. You can connect to your device using Bluetooth or, using the USB cable which is the “Serial” option you see below.

Click the “New device” button and then select your Nano G2 from the list of devices. Click Connect.

After you click “Connect” that little popup will close, and you can click the new button for your device. It will look something like what you see below.

Once you click that button, the main page will load and you’ll be able to customize the name of your device as well as setup your Primary (special) channel. On the left hand side you should see something that looks like this:

To change the name of your device, you click the pencil icon and set a Long Name and Short Name (4 characters max). This should be something that helps others recognize your device, but keep in mind that this is visible publicly. Below the name, you should see three channels. REPLACEME, LongFast and CRN Public. Let’s go through their purpose one by one.

1. REPLACEME – we added this placeholder channel in the (very special) first channel slot. You’ll want this to be a channel for your innermost circle because it is the only channel that sends automatic location updates. You probably want that for your innermost circle in an emergency situation.
2. LongFast – this is the default public channel that comes on every single meshtastic device. We’ve simply moved it down one slot so its not in the valuable first channel slot.
3. CRN Public – this it the public channel for the Catholic Resilience Network.

Replacing the REPLACEME channel

On the left hand side, click the “Channels” button that is between “Config” and “Nodes”. You should see a screen like this below:

There are only three things you need to update in here.

1. pre-Shared Key – if someone in your innermost circle already created a channel for you to use in the first channel slot, you want to paste the pre-Shared key that they provided to you in this field. If not, click the green “Generate” button to create a new key. Then click the little eye icon to show the key instead of having it hidden. Copy this key somewhere secure so you can use it on other devices, or share it with your innermost circle. Keep in mind that this key is all that’s necessary for someone to be able to join your inner channel, so protect it!
2. Name – if someone in your innermost circle already created a channel for you to use in the first channel slot, you want to paste the Name that they provided to you in this field. If not, choose a name (12 characters or less) that is unique to your inner circle. Something not too revealing, but unique enough that you’ll all remember what it is. For anyone joining this channel, the Name and pre-Shared Key must match exactly on all the devices.
3. Precise Location – since this is your innermost circle’s channel, you may want to allow your device to automatically provide your precise location over this channel. This will allow your family/close friends to see where you are. If you turn this off, they will see your general location, not your precise location.