Experimental: first build for the LilyGO T-LoRa Pager. Not yet run on the board. Please send a log.
What's in it: Cairn's own interface on the Pager's 480x222 screen, run from the keyboard and the side wheel, as on the ThinkNode M9 and T-Deck. LoRa messages and channels, Bluetooth to the phone app, GPS, the microSD card (and USB drive), the speaker with message tones, the audio player and recorder, the vibration motor, Lift to wake, NFC contact sharing, Battery saver, and power off and on. There are two files, one per radio: SX1262 (LilyGO's default) and LR1121. It is a first bring-up build, made before a Pager has been on the bench. The screen, the keys and the wheel are the parts most likely to need a fix, so the log matters most.
Cairn 124 for the LilyGO T-LoRa Pager -- first test build (2026-10-29)
This is the first Cairn build for the T-LoRa Pager, made before one has been on the bench. It may not
work at all: the screen may stay dark, come up upside down, or a key may do the wrong thing. Nothing in
it can damage the Pager, and you can always flash LilyGO's firmware back.
Pick the file for your radio (it's on the box and the back label; the log also says):
SX1262 (LilyGO's default) MeshCore-TLoraPager-Cairn124-2026-10-29-full.bin
LR1121 MeshCore-TLoraPagerLR1121-Cairn124-2026-10-29-full.bin
The wrong one runs but has no radio: the log's "PGBOOT radio" line says FAILED.
FLASH IT (Chrome or Edge on a computer)
1. Open https://espressif.github.io/esptool-js/
2. Plug the Pager in with a USB-C data cable. Click Connect and pick its port.
No port, or it won't connect: hold BOOT (the small key on the top edge, beside RST), press and let go
of RST, let go of BOOT, then Connect again.
3. Flash Address 0x0, the -full.bin for your radio, then Program.
4. When it says done, press Disconnect, then press RST (or unplug and plug it back in).
THE CONTROLS
Side wheel turn: moves through the sidebar, then a page's items. Press: OK. Hold: long press.
Space OK when no text field is open; types a space in one. Hold Space + a key: the orange
symbol printed on that key.
<- (top right, under the wheel) Back; in a text field it deletes.
Orange key (bottom left) the quick panel (brightness, keyboard light, Bluetooth...).
Cap next letter capital; twice: caps lock.
Enter sends / finishes a text field.
BOOT tap: lock. Hold: "Power off?". Unlock: press the wheel twice.
PWR turns the Pager on after a power off.
WHAT TO TRY (with the console open: Connect in esptool-js, then the Console tab, 115200 baud; press RST
so the log starts from power-up)
1. Does the screen come up the right way up (keyboard below), with the right colours (the Cairn logo
teal, not orange)? A photo helps.
2. Press every key once, then turn the wheel one click each way and press it. The console prints a
"PGKEY key N" or "PGENC" line for each. Does each key do what it says above? Does the wheel scroll
the right way?
3. Battery: is the percentage about right? Plug and unplug USB: does it show Charging and go back?
4. Radio: send a message to another MeshCore node, and have it send one back.
5. GPS: outside, Settings > GNSS > GPS, on. Does it get a fix (it can take a few minutes the first
time)?
6. microSD card (FAT32): Settings > Hardware > Storage. Is it found?
7. Sound: does a message play a tone? Audio > Recorder: record a few seconds and play it back.
8. Vibration: Settings > Hardware > Sound > Vibrate (a tap steps Off / Messages / Keys / both). Do new messages buzz?
9. Lift to wake: Settings > Hardware > Lock > Lift to wake on. Let the screen go dark, put the Pager down
for a few seconds, then pick it up. Does the screen light?
10. NFC: Settings > LoRa > Profile > Tap to share, then hold a phone's NFC area to the back of the Pager. Does
the phone show a meshcore:// link? If you have a blank NFC sticker (NTAG213/215/216), try
Settings > LoRa > Contacts > NFC > Write tag, then Read tag.
11. Battery saver: Settings > Hardware > Display > Battery saver on, Bluetooth off, USB unplugged. Leave it dark
for 10 minutes, then press a key: does it wake at once, and did that key count?
12. Power off: on battery (USB unplugged), hold BOOT, choose Power off. Is it off? Press PWR for a
second: does it come back?
13. Copy everything in the console and send it (a GitHub issue, Bug report, with the build's tag),
saying what happened at each step. "It works" is a useful report too.
NOT IN THIS BUILD YET
A compass (the Pager has no magnetometer) and a saved-NFC-tags library. Wi-Fi updates won't offer this build or any
later one: flash the next test build by hand.
SHA-256 (also in SHA256SUMS.txt):
ebc47f8220a338530ffd230eb3881a6e63106c7e4f2f4942fca1669bc1d134e5 MeshCore-TLoraPager-Cairn124-2026-10-29-full.bin
d26e70e8eb535c931d1ff3c1b135e1fea6d0e48d8f72dd15796a8aebababa697 MeshCore-TLoraPagerLR1121-Cairn124-2026-10-29-full.bin
This is an experimental pre-release: the online updater never offers it, and a device on it is never
offered an update. What experimental builds are: https://github.com/cvhviz/Cairn/blob/main/docs/experimental.md
Send the log in a Bug report issue, with the tag experimental-tlora-pager-124.