How to pair "headless" TTGO Lora32 (no display)

Hello, I have uploaded meshtastic to TTGO Lora32 module without display. (2pcs lilygo® ttgo esp32 sx1276 lora 868mhz bluetooth wi-fi lora internet antenna development board Sale - Banggood.com)
Kind of did not think of pairing, for which I need display to show me pairing PIN.
Is there a way to do this using serial port?
Thank you

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Hi and welcome to the forum!
You can use the ‘user’ button to set the code to 123456.

When prompted to enter the code in the phone just double clich the ‘user’ button

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:+1:
Thank you, it works.

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same problem - what IS the “user” button. I’ve never gotten any documentation on the board, and anything I’ve seen hasn’t labeled anyone of the 3 buttons as the “User” button. Is that the silk screened “IO38” button?

And I know that button, when single-pressed, cycles between the screens on a unit with an OLED - so is there a “long” press, or a quick “double” press to change the bluetooth pairing code back and forth?

depends on the device. TBeam is middle button. sounds confusing at first but there’s only one you can use, as the other two are power and reset.

Yes, but what’s the “button code” to perform that on a headless device? Double click the middle button (IO38), single press, long press…

From the link AndreK provided:

double click on the device button

So just click it two times.

Lilygo TTG) Meshtastic T-Beam. All I can see is that it has a “PROGRAM” switch - but haven’t found what function(s) that switch performs, etc.

The middle button is the user button on a tbeam

Hey,
I don’t mean to hijack this thread, but I have a strongly related question, hopefully others will find it useful here.

My use-case is off-grid messaging, with infrastructure as cheap and resilient as possible. I really don’t need screens, as long as the paired App (android via bluetooth) displays all relevant information.
In this perspective, is it still (as of 2022) a good option to buy TTGO Lora V1 modules, which are cheaper and without screen.

Or is there something there that will get obsolete soon wrt meshtastic, pushing us into buying latest modules ?

Thank you

They work fine USB powered, not great with a battery.

Thank you sir. This is unfortunate, since I need them to behave well outside.
Is there any place where I can read more about this issue please ?
Have things improved on more recent versions, such as the “Lora V2.1-1.6”, regarding the issue you have in mind ? This is the model I currently own, and beside the issue of the voltage divider not being correctly defined, it seems at first glance to behave as expected on battery, as well as for charging.

Regards,

The 1.6 seems better, I can’t recommend the 1.1 and heltec for use with a battery as you have to use a multimeter to set it up and often they still get hot.

A multimeter is fine here, I can use one. What do you mean with “they get hot” ?
It looks like it is mostly the same hardware, beside maybe the charging circuit (if there is some on V1 ?) and, maybe, the voltage regulator ? What else can cause more power consumption than newer releases ? Cheers

If you love fighting with bad charging circuits, have at it, I would not use a tlora 1.1 or heltec with a battery, they are essentially the same hardware Full battery test timeline for my Heltec board · Issue #1025 · meshtastic/Meshtastic-device · GitHub

Ok - finally resolved for the time being. The problem is - as some have noted on the other threads - double-click didn’t always work. Sometimes the lights would double-blink, most often times not. Not sure how many resets/retries it took - but finally got it.

Seems VERY twitchy on whether it’s already been paired to the phone’s bluetooth BEFORE going into the Meshtastic app or not. I had to unpair it from the phone, reboot the phone a couple times, turn off the T-BEAM for about 5 minutes, and try again. Then would pop up correctly in the meshtastic app, and allow pairing there.

Earlier FW versions seemed to want the T-BEAM paired with the device first, now it appears (1.2.52.b63802c) that it doesn’t like that - and pair it from the meshtastic app. Problem is - it seems to rarely appear in the app, or takes a long time before it’s “available” to select in the app. This is on the beta iPhone app, as well as Android V11 on a Moto G Play. Seems that BT is acting funny with Android V11, and the iPhone app just isn’t complete yet.

The first pairing in iOS fails with esp32, then it just works. I have never found the double click for the 123456 pin code to be inconsistent you might run a Meshtastic —info and see if you have errors or reboots which often indicates a dying tbeam.

May have found the issue with inconsistency - so far. I haven’t had a lot of time to address these devices, so it’s been rough trying to get back into the mindset.

I found the micro usb connector was a bit loose (powering through usb). Just wasn’t holding the cable in, and when you’d press the button(s) (or double press), it would mess with the power, and power down the device, and restart it. Got the vice grips out, mashed down on the micro USB (JUST KIDDING!)…

Anyway, tightened it up on the connector, and it seems far more consistent now. I’m going to let it run a while, come back and mess again with re-pairing, etc. I’ve got a couple other TBEAMS acting similarly, so I’ll check the power connectors.

Once I can get these consistently operating, I can take them out and do some distance testing, etc. I haven’t even done that. Just played with them on my desk, and in my office.

Hello,
Is there a way for headless configuration of T-BEAM S3-core? I can’t read the code for BT pairing.

It’s “123456” by default if you don’t have a screen: Bluetooth Settings | Meshtastic