cvhviz/CAIRN cairn-v125

Cairn 125

on GitHub

Cairn 125 brings the LilyGO T-LoRa Pager into the release, with online updates from here on, and fixes what its first testers found: the microSD card and maps, and a side wheel that was too sensitive. It also uses the Heltec V4 Kit V1's PSRAM from start-up, and the Heltec T096 stops showing "Storage low" when there is room.

Highlights:

• LilyGO T-LoRa Pager (✅ beta): Cairn's own interface on the Pager's 2.33" wide screen, run from the keyboard and the side wheel. LoRa messages and channels, Bluetooth to any MeshCore app, GPS, maps and media from the microSD card, the speaker and recorder, vibration, Lift to wake, NFC contact sharing and online updates. Two files, one per radio: SX1262 (most units) or LR1121. Its page lists the controls. A Pager on the Cairn 124 test build finds 125 in Settings › System › Firmware update.
• Pager: microSD and Maps (#34): the mesh and the interface (about 140 KB) went into internal memory instead of the PSRAM, leaving about 15 KB. The card then never mounted and Maps said low memory. They now go into the PSRAM, and about 140 KB of internal memory is free at start-up.
• Pager: the side wheel is calm at a slow turn: the first click moves one item, then one every two clicks, and a click back under the thumb is ignored. Spin it and it moves on every click and speeds up in long lists, as before. Scrolling pages fling, and the map pans faster.
• Heltec V4 + Expansion Kit V1: the same memory fix as the Pager: its PSRAM is the same kind.
• Heltec T096: "Storage low" (#32) now shows only when a contacts save really failed for lack of room. It used to show from about 150 contacts with a third of the space free, though those saves still went through.

Checked on a device: the Pager (SX1262) runs the release build, with the memory fix (about 140 KB internal free at start-up), the side wheel slow and spun, and Lift to wake. Not yet checked: the Pager's microSD card and Maps since the fix, the LR1121 file, the Kit V1's memory fix, and the T096's "Storage low" change. Every board built cleanly and the 1,843 native unit tests pass.

Update

• On Cairn 108 to 124 (L2 Pro, Heltec V4 touch, Heltec V4 Kit V1, ThinkNode M9, T-Deck, T-Display SF32), and a T-LoRa Pager on the Cairn 124 test build: Settings › System › Firmware update: Check, Download, Install. The new build starts on trial and goes back to the old one by itself if it fails to start. On the T-Display SF32, dock the core on the keyboard board first (it carries the Wi-Fi chip).
• T-Deck started from an SD-card launcher: don't use Update on 121 or earlier (122 and later are fine). Their updater is the one that crashes under a launcher. Instead, copy MeshCore-TDeckPlus-Cairn125-2026-10-29-update.bin to the card and install it from the launcher, as you installed Cairn. From 122 on, the device says "Started by a launcher: update from its SD card" instead of crashing. If you'd rather update over Wi-Fi, write the -full.bin at 0x0 over USB once. This removes the launcher and erases the device, so export your key and contacts first.
• Over USB on an ESP32 board: the -full.bin goes at 0x0, after Erase Flash, and erases everything. The -update.bin goes at 0x10000 and keeps your data. If the board last updated over Wi-Fi, it may be running from its second slot and keep starting the old build: clear the boot selector first, as in the ESP32 install guide.
• Wio Tracker L1 Pro, DV1, L1 e-ink, the room server and the T096: double-tap Reset and copy the board's .uf2 onto the drive that appears (UF2 guide). Updating keeps your identity, contacts, channels and settings.
• Compact repeaters: write the -repeater-update.bin at 0x10000, or copy the -repeater.uf2. They don't update over Wi-Fi.
• Going back to 124: 125 saves the same files as 124, so 124 reads them as they are.
• T-LoRa Pager: pick the file for your radio (it's on the box and the back label). SX1262 units take TLoraPager, LR1121 units take TLoraPagerLR1121; the wrong one runs but has no radio. The online update keeps to the radio you installed.
• A board without Cairn: write the board's -full.bin (ESP32 install guide), copy the .uf2 (UF2 guide), or run the SF32 installer (SF32 install guide).

Downloads

The compact repeater files (-repeater in the name) are rebuilt from the same tree: Heltec T096 and T114 (.uf2), and the Heltec Wireless Tracker, Tracker V2, V2, V3, V4 and V4-R8 (-repeater-full.bin and -repeater-update.bin). Cairn 125 runs on MeshCore 1.18.0, as 118 to 124 did. SHA256SUMS.txt covers every file: shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt.

Not in this release: the SenseCAP MeshPager X2 has its own experimental pre-releases (what experimental builds are). The 🧪 preview boards (RAK, XIAO, T-Beam and others) are in Cairn 107 preview.

Added

• LilyGO T-LoRa Pager in the release (ESP32-S3, 480×222 screen, 31-key keyboard, side wheel; SX1262 or LR1121), after its Cairn 124 test build. Status ✅ beta. Online updates from this build on: Settings › System › Firmware update fetches MeshCore-TLoraPager-…-update.bin (or TLoraPagerLR1121) from the latest release. The release builds no longer print the bring-up log (each key and wheel click) on USB; a short start-up summary stays.

Fixed

• T-LoRa Pager and Heltec V4 Kit V1: memory (#34). These boards' PSRAM (the QSPI kind) joined the memory pool only after the mesh and the interface had been made, so both went into internal memory: about 15 KB was left, the card was never mounted (it needs 20 KB) and Maps said low memory. The PSRAM now comes up first. Checked on a Pager: 140 KB internal free at start-up.
• T-LoRa Pager: the side wheel was too sensitive. A slow turn moved an item every click, and quick clicks sped lists up to 2 and 4 rows a move. Now a turn's first click moves one item, then one every two clicks, and a click back against the turn within 120 ms is ignored. A fast spin (about 30 clicks a second) moves every click and speeds up as before (lists, the Battery and Spectrum cursors). Steps that came in while a page scrolled were dropped; they are kept now, and a spin flings the page and pans the map faster. Checked on a Pager.
• Heltec T096: "Storage low" (#32) showed whenever the 100 KB contacts volume had no room for a second, safe copy of the list, which happens from about 150 contacts with a third of it free. Those saves went through in place, as stock MeshCore saves. It now shows only when a save failed and the changes were not stored.