New Hardware

Lilygo T-Deck pro, Lilygo T-Watch S3, T-Dongle S3. Elegoo UNO R3 Super Starter Kit, Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, and WaveShare 2.13inch V4 e-Paper HAT.

Recently I splurged on various hardware, and here is what I found…

Lilygo T-Deck pro:

The Lilygo T-Deck Plus:

The Lilygo T-Deck Plus, is a cyberdeck with the following specs:

• ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 wireless module
  • SoC –  ESP32-S3FN16R8 dual-core Tensilica LX7 microcontroller @ up to 240 MHz with
    • 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity
    • Memory – 8MB PSRAM
    • Storage – 16MB SPI flash
  • PCB antenna
• Storage – MicroSD card slot
• Display – 2.8-inch IPS display with 320×240 resolution; ST7789 SPI display controller
• Audio
  • A built-in speaker using MAX98357A amplifier
  • 2x MSM381A3729H9CP MEMS microphones
  • Both the speaker amp and microphones are controlled by the ES7210 Audio DAC.
• Wireless
  • 2.4 GHz 802.11n WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE connectivity (ESP32-S3)
  • SX1262 LoRa module @ 433, 868, or 915 MHz; up to +22 dBm Tx power (built-in internal antenna and option for external antenna support)
  • GPS module
• USB – 1x USB Type-C port for power and programming
• User input
  • LILYGO T-Keyboard with QWERTY design, ESP32-C3 microcontroller
  • Trackball also acts as the BOOT button
  • Reset button
• Misc
  • 4x AN48841B Hall Effect sensor
  • On/off switch
• Power Supply
  • 5V via USB Type-C port
  • 2,000 mAh battery; IO04 ADC pin for battery voltage; TP4065B battery charger chip (based on schematics)
• Dimensions – 115 x 72 x 20 mm

Lilygo provides a Git Repository for the T-Deck and T-Deck Plus which leaves a lot to be desired. Poor documentation and the code uses outdated libraries, and I haven’t been able to get anything worthwhile to compile. Actually, my T-Deck came preloaded with Meshtastic, which is “An open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices”. Here are a list of projects that I have been able to successfully compiled/flashed.

• Acid Drop: Acid Drop is a basic IRC Client.
• Micro-Python: A small repository of Micro-Python examples.
• Meshtastic: Meshtastic is an off the grid communication device.
• T-Deck-CLI: Is a faux Linux shell that sports a wifi scan/connect , bluetooth scanner , device discover on same network with ping scan , matrix , Expermintal port scanner using ping scan.
• M5Stick-Launcher: Install and Launch binaries from M5Burner repository (yes, online, without the need of a USB Cable)
• Bruce: “Bruce is meant to be a versatile ESP32 firmware that supports a ton of offensive features focusing on facilitating Red Team operations. It also supports m5stack products and works great with Cardputer, Sticks and M5Cores.”

Lilygo T-Watch S3:

The Lilygo T-Watch S3:

The Lilygo T-Watch S3 is a programmable smart watch with the following specs:

• ESP32-S3 Dual-core 32-bit LX7 microprocessor
• 16 MB Flash memory
• 8 MB PSRAM
• 1.549 inch ST7789 LCD display
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, BLE 5.0 + BT mesh
• RTC
• Microphone
• MAX98357A I2S Audio
• Power Detection
• BMA423 3-axis acceleration sensor
• DRV2605 Haptic Driver Motor for ERM and LRA
• AXP2101 Highly Integrated Power Management Unit
• SX1262 Low Power LoRa Transceiver Supports 433Mhz, 868Mhz, 915Mhz
• 3.8v 470 mAh LiPo battery

Lilygo’s official Git repository for the T-Watch S3 (make sure you download the S3 version of the code, There are 5 different versions of the watch) compiles and uploads fine. Unfortunately the watch example, is just that, an example. It only has 3 watch faces, runs a wifi scanner and LoRa examples which drain the battery quite quickly. I got about 12 hours before the battery ran dead. Meshtastic also has firmware for the S3, but the battery life is even worse. Micropython is supposed to work on this, but I wasn’t able to work. I really haven’t found any other projects for the S3, which is unfortunate, because there is real potential here.

Lilygo T-Dongle S3:

The Lilygo T-Dongle S3:

The Lilygo T-Dongle is a self contained ESP32-S3 Development Board With Screen 0.96 inch ST7735 LCD Display with the following specs:

• MCU: ESP32-53 Xtensa LX7 Dual-core microprocessor
• Wireless Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n & Bluetooth 5.0
• Display: 0.96 inch ST7735 IPS LCD with a resolution of 80 x 160 pixels
• Onboard Flash Memory: 16MB
• Interface Options: TF card slot, boot button
• Development Platforms: Compatible with Arduino IDE, PlatformIO IDE, and Micropython
• Power Supply: 3.3V working power

Lilygo’s Official Git repository has the same problems as the T-Deck, code uses outdated libraries and poor documentation. I was only able to compile the basic ‘Hello World’, which is unfortunate, because the ‘Factory’ example that comes preloaded is pretty cool, and I would love to modify it. I haven’t found any other projects using the T-Dongle S3. There are a few posts here and there showing of what people did with it, but no code or binaries so to speak. Again, this thing has serious potential.

Elegoo UNO R3 Super Starter Kit:

The Elegoo UNO R3 Super Starter Kit:

The Elegoo Uno R3 Super Starter kit is a 100% Arduino compatible beginners electronics kit aimed at learning how to program microcontrollers and design circuits. It comes with the following:

• 1pcs UNO R3 Controller Board; 1pcs LCD1602 Module ( with pin header); 1pcs Breadboard Expansion Board; 1pcs Power Supply Module WARNING: Pls. do not use the voltage higher than 9V
• 1pcs Joystick Module; 1pcs IR Receiver; 1pcs Servo Motor (SG90); 1pcs Stepper Motor; 1pcs ULN2003 Stepper Motor Driver Board
• 1pcs Ultrasonic Sensor; 1pcs DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Module; 1pcs 9V Battery with DC; 1pcs 65 Jumper Wire
• 1pcs USB Cable; 1pcs Active Buzzer; 1pcs Passive Buzzer; 1pcs Potentiometer; 1pcs 5V Relay
• 1pcs Breadboard; 1pcs Remote; 1pcs Tilt Switch; 5pcs Button (small); 1pcs 1 digit 7-segment Display; 1pcs 4 digit 7-segment Display
• 5pcs Yellow LED; 5pcs Blue LED; 5pcs Green LED; 5pcs Red LED; 1pcs RGB LED
• 2pcs Photoresistor; 1pcs Thermistor; 2pcs Diode Rectifier (1N4007); 2pcs NPN Transistor (PN2222)
• 1pcs IC 74HC595; 120pcs Resistor; 10pcs Female-to-male Dupont Wire

I really needed a breadboard, and all the extra stuff was icing on the cake. With very little experience, I was able to take a cheap non-addressable RGB strip I bought from Walmart, and was able to control the color and intensity of the LEDs. The Tutorials are well thought out and easy to follow, and the cofe compiled on everything I tried. I would recommend this for anyone just starting out in electronics.

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W:

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W:

The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W is touted as ‘Your tiny, tiny $15 computer’, and it is impressive. It’s specs are:

• 1GHz quad-core 64-bit Arm Cortex-A53 CPU
• 512MB SDRAM
• 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN
• Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), onboard antenna
• Mini HDMI® port and micro USB On-The-Go (OTG) port
• microSD card slot
• CSI-2 camera connector
• HAT-compatible 40-pin header footprint (unpopulated)
• H.264, MPEG-4 decode (1080p30); H.264 encode (1080p30)
• OpenGL ES 1.1, 2.0 graphics
• Micro USB power
• Composite video and reset pins via solder test points
• 65mm x 30mm

This little guy has more power than the first 3 computers I owned (Apple //c CPU 1.023 MHz, 128 kb ram, 486 DX 4 66 MHz 8 mb ram, Pentium II 233 MHz 128 mb ram). For $15 each, I bought 2. If your planning on using the GPIO interface, then spend the extra $1-2 and get them presoldered. I didn’t, and ended up soldering them on. I’ve never soldered anything small before, but low heat solder paste came to the rescue. I was able to setup a headless system using the latest Raspberry Pi OS 64bit (Important note: Zero 2 W does NOT support 5 GHz wifi, save yourself some trouble with preconfigured wifi by using 2.4 GHz wifi). I found it powerful, responsive, and capable. Recommended for projects that need more than just a microcontroller.

WaveShare 2.13inch V4 e-Paper HAT:

The WaveShare 2.13inch V4 E-Paper HAT:

The WaveShare 2.13inch V4 E-Paper HAT is a E-Paper display with the following features:

• No backlight, keeps displaying last content for a long time even when power down
• Ultra low power consumption, basically power is only required for refreshing
• Standard Raspberry Pi 40PIN GPIO extension header, supports Raspberry Pi series boards, Jetson Nano
• SPI interface, for connecting with controller boards like Arduino/STM32, etc.
• Onboard voltage translator, compatible with 3.3V / 5V MCUs
• Comes with online development resources and manual (driver board circuit diagram, examples for Raspberry Pi/Jetson Nano/Arduino/STM32)

I bought one of these to build the awesome Bjorn Cyber Viking project by Ifinition. Bjorn is a « Tamagotchi like » sophisticated, autonomous network scanning, vulnerability assessment, and offensive security tool designed to run on a Raspberry Pi equipped with a 2.13-inch e-Paper HAT. Its a cool little low cost Pen Testing tool.