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52c0db David Marsh 2026-04-17 00:11:57
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# Linux
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a0d7da David Marsh 2026-04-23 00:27:24
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This is written for debian, raspian or ubuntu. You'll have to make the usual adjustments if you're using something else.
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b33fbf David Marsh 2026-04-17 01:05:03
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## Update your OS
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a0d7da David Marsh 2026-04-23 00:27:24
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First, update and upgrade your OS
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52c0db David Marsh 2026-04-17 00:11:57
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```
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sudo apt update
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sudo apt upgrade -y
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```
e921be David Marsh 2026-04-17 00:24:16
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b33fbf David Marsh 2026-04-17 01:05:03
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## Access to USB Serial
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72069a David Marsh 2026-04-17 01:00:29
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Add your user to the dialout group, change `$USER` to your user name. This allows your user to access the USB serial device.
e921be David Marsh 2026-04-17 00:24:16
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```
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sudo usermod -a -G dialout $USER
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```
686c59 David Marsh 2026-04-17 01:05:45
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a367b3 David Marsh 2026-04-22 12:24:24
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You'll need to logout and back in again.
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## Flash the companion
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243f38 David Marsh 2026-04-22 12:26:02
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> [!NOTE]
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> If you've already flashed your companion with the MeshCore firmware you can skip this step.
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a367b3 David Marsh 2026-04-22 12:24:24
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> [!IMPORTANT]
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> Make sure you flash with "Companion USB" not "Companion Bluetooth"
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6cba14 David Marsh 2026-04-23 00:28:21
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> [!NOTE]
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> TODO find out how to do this on the CLI
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## Install needed software
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4f8f05 David Marsh 2026-04-30 23:20:44
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Install pipx, make sure the bin dir is in the path, then install [[Meshcore-Cli|Meshcore/Meshcore-Cli]]
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```
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sudo apt install pipx
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pipx ensurepath
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pipx install meshcore-cli
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or
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sudo pipx install meshcore-cli --global
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```
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Logout and back in again.
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## Find the USB device
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```
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meshcli -l
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```
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Output probably looks like this, you'll want to use the USB one:
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```
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BLE devices:
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No BLE HW
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Serial ports:
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/dev/ttyS0 n/a [n/a]
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/dev/ttyUSB0 CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller - CP2102 USB to UART Bridge Controller [USB VID:PID=10C4:EA60 SER=0001 LOCATION=1-1]
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```
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1c4a8e David Marsh 2026-04-27 13:31:27
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## Create serial based symlink
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This creates `/dev/meshcore0` using your devices serial number, which is much more reliable than `ttyUSB0` or `ttyACM0` which can change.
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If you want to change to a different board, you'll have to create `meshcore1` or update these values.
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```
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sudo udevadm info -a -n /dev/ttyUSB0 | vi -
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```
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Look for ATTRS{serial} and ATTRS{idVendor}:
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```
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ATTRS{idVendor}=="303a"
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ATTRS{serial}=="332AC33C8CDC"
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```
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Then open this file:
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```
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sudo vi /etc/udev/rules.d/99-meshcore.rules
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```
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put a line in similar to this:
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```
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SUBSYSTEM=="tty", ATTRS{idVendor}=="303a", ATTRS{serial}=="332AC33C8CDC", SYMLINK+="meshcore0"
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```
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run the following:
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```
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sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
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sudo udevadm trigger
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```
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## Start MeshCLI
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```
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meshcli -s /dev/meshcore0
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```
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### Configure node
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Do basic companion configuration. You should only need to do this once, unless you want to change these settings:
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```
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meshcore-cli -s /dev/meshcore0 set radio 915.800,250,11,5
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or
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meshcore-cli -s /dev/meshcore0 set radio 915.075,125,9,5
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meshcore-cli -s /dev/meshcore0 set name "🦷 rdm cli 0"
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meshcore-cli -s /dev/meshcore0 advert
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```