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Supported Devices

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Ethan edited this page Sep 1, 2024 · 1 revision

Currently, MicroHydra supports 2 devices (the Cardputer and the TDeck), with the intention to add more in the future.


Cardputer

The M5Stack Cardputer is the device MicroHydra was first designed for.

Pros:

  • Because it was the first device supported by MicroHydra, most of the features are heavily geared towards this form-factor, and feel very comfortable on the Cardputer, specifically.

Cons:

  • The 512kb of RAM on the Cardputer can sometimes feel very limiting in MicroHydra.

TDeck

Important note: The keyboard that comes with the TDeck has a separate ESP32-C3 which communicates with the main ESP32-S3 through I²C. *The firmware that comes on the keyboard does not allow many features MicroHydra requires,
(Keys can't be held, modifier keys do nothing, not many symbols can be typed etc).
I have made an updated firmware, which adds several key features, including the ability to enable a 'raw' output to the main MCU, while maintaining backwards-compatibility with the old firmware. In order to flash this firmware, you must solder pins, and connect a USB to TTL converter onto the TDeck, which I found very annoying to do.

The _keys module for the TDeck does also have a backwards-compatibility mode for when it doesn't detect the new firmware. However, the experience is sub-par.

The Lilygo T-Deck was chosen as the second device to support because it had the same ESP32-S3 MCU, and ST7789 display as the Cardputer.
(Also, I just thought it looked neat.)

Pros:

  • The 8MB of octal SPI-RAM means you practically never have to worry about memory usage in TDeck apps.
  • Touch support for the built-in apps was added for the T-Deck, and works fairly well.

Cons:

  • The trackball on the T-Deck is not very accurate, and is slightly hard to control on some menus.
  • The default keyboard firmware is bad, and must be updated to get all the features. This involves soldering and using a USB to TTL adapter.
  • The keyboard has fewer keys than the Cardputer, and the legend on the keyboard varies randomly between units, so you need to memorize certain key-combos to get full use out of it.
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