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Merge pull request #4 from l5yth/codex/add-blog-post-for-meshtastic-setup
Add Meshtastic daemon setup blog post
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‎2025-09-meshtastic-daemon.html‎

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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta charset="UTF-8">
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<title>2025-09 Running Meshtastic Daemon on Raspberry Pi 4B</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<header class="page-top">
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<h1>2025-09 Running Meshtastic Daemon on Raspberry Pi 4B</h1>
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<p><a class="back-home" href="./index.html">&larr; Return to the homepage</a></p>
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</header>
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<article class="post">
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<p class="lede">
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This is a minimal, no-frills write-up of how I built and ran the Linux-native Meshtastic daemon
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(<code>meshtasticd</code>) on a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B running <strong>ArchLinuxARM</strong>, using a
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<strong>Waveshare SX1268 (433/443&nbsp;MHz) LoRa HAT</strong> mounted on the 40-pin header (SPI). It captures exactly what
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worked for me, with the versions I used.
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</p>
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<hr />
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<h2>Hardware</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>Raspberry Pi 4 Model B</li>
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<li>Waveshare SX1268 LoRa HAT (433/443&nbsp;MHz), connected via SPI</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Assumptions</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>Fresh-ish ArchLinuxARM userspace with sudo/root access</li>
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<li>SPI enabled via Raspberry Pi boot firmware (<code>/boot/config.txt</code>)</li>
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</ul>
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<hr />
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<h2>1) Install dependencies</h2>
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<pre><code>pacman -S --needed git vim base-devel python python-pipx bluez bluez-libs bluez-utils libgpiod yaml-cpp fmt clang openssl cmake pkgconf
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</code></pre>
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<h2>2) Install PlatformIO and Meshtastic Python CLI</h2>
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<pre><code>pipx install platformio meshtastic
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</code></pre>
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<h2>3) Clone firmware and build the native target</h2>
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<p>I pinned to the tag I tested:</p>
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<pre><code>git clone https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware
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cd firmware
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git checkout v2.7.11.ee68575
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pio run -e native
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</code></pre>
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<h2>4) Check and install the binary</h2>
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<pre><code>cd .pio/build/native
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./program --version
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install -m 0755 program /usr/local/bin/meshtasticd
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meshtasticd --version
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</code></pre>
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<h2>5) Configure Meshtastic daemon for the Waveshare HAT</h2>
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<p>Create the config directory and file:</p>
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<pre><code>mkdir -p /etc/meshtasticd
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vim /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
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</code></pre>
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<p>My working <code>/etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml</code> (GPIOs are BCM numbers):</p>
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<pre><code>Module: Radio
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Lora:
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Module: SX126x
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Region: EU_433
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SPI:
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Device: /dev/spidev0.0
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Pins:
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NSS: 8
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RESET: 25
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DIO1: 24
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BUSY: 23
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</code></pre>
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<h2>6) Enable SPI in the boot firmware</h2>
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<p>Edit the Pi’s boot config:</p>
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<pre><code>vim /boot/config.txt
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</code></pre>
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<p>Add:</p>
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<pre><code>dtparam=spi=on
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dtoverlay=spi0-0cs
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</code></pre>
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<p><em>Note:</em> some notes used <code>idtoverlay</code> by typo; the correct key is <code>dtoverlay</code>.</p>
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<h2>7) Load SPI module and reboot</h2>
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<pre><code>echo spi_bcm2835 | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/spi.conf
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reboot
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ls -l /dev/spidev0.0
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</code></pre>
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<h2>8) Create a systemd service</h2>
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<pre><code>vim /etc/systemd/system/meshtasticd.service
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</code></pre>
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<p>Service file contents:</p>
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<pre><code># /etc/systemd/system/meshtasticd.service
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[Unit]
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Description=Meshtastic Daemon (Linux-native)
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After=network.target
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[Service]
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ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/meshtasticd -c /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
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Restart=always
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# Start as root unless you've set udev rules for /dev/spidev0.0 and gpio
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User=root
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Group=root
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[Install]
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WantedBy=multi-user.target
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</code></pre>
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<p>Enable and start:</p>
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<pre><code>systemctl enable --now meshtasticd
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</code></pre>
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<h2>9) Verify</h2>
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<p>Use the Meshtastic CLI to confirm the daemon is up and reachable:</p>
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<pre><code>meshtastic --info
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</code></pre>
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<hr />
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<h2>Notes / Pin mapping</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>SPI device:</strong> <code>/dev/spidev0.0</code></li>
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<li><strong>NSS/CS (CE0):</strong> BCM 8</li>
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<li><strong>RESET:</strong> BCM 25</li>
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<li><strong>DIO1:</strong> BCM 24</li>
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<li><strong>BUSY:</strong> BCM 23</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Different Waveshare revisions may wire RESET/DIO/BUSY differently; adjust the YAML if initialization fails.</p>
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<h2>Optional: run non-root</h2>
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<p>If you want to drop root, add udev rules for <code>/dev/gpiochip*</code> and <code>/dev/spidev0.0</code>, put your service user in the corresponding group(s), and switch <code>User=</code>/<code>Group=</code> in the service file.</p>
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<hr />
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<h2>Appendix: Full command list (copy-paste)</h2>
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<pre><code># install dependencies
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pacman -S --needed git vim base-devel python python-pipx bluez bluez-libs bluez-utils libgpiod yaml-cpp fmt clang openssl cmake pkgconf
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# install platformio and meshtastic python lib
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pipx install platformio meshtastic
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# install native firmware on latest available tag
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git clone https://github.com/meshtastic/firmware
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cd firmware
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git checkout v2.7.11.ee68575
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pio run -e native
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# check and install binaries
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cd .pio/build/native
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./program --version
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install -m 0755 program /usr/local/bin/meshtasticd
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meshtasticd --version
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# configure meshtastic daemon for waveshare hat
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mkdir -p /etc/meshtasticd
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vim /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
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# /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
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Module: Radio
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Lora:
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Module: SX126x
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Region: EU_433
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SPI:
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Device: /dev/spidev0.0
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Pins:
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NSS: 8
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RESET: 25
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DIO1: 24
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BUSY: 23
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# configure boot config to enable spi
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vim /boot/config.txt
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# /boot/config.txt
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dtparam=spi=on
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dtoverlay=spi0-0cs
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# enable spi module and reboot
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echo spi_bcm2835 | sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/spi.conf
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reboot
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ls -l /dev/spidev0.0
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# create systemd service and enable
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vim /etc/systemd/system/meshtasticd.service
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# /etc/systemd/system/meshtasticd.service
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[Unit]
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Description=Meshtastic Daemon (Linux-native)
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After=network.target
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[Service]
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ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/meshtasticd -c /etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
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Restart=always
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User=root
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Group=root
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[Install]
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WantedBy=multi-user.target
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systemctl enable --now meshtasticd
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# check daemon
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meshtastic --info
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</code></pre>
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</article>
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<footer class="page-foot">
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<img src="./animated-mail-image-0311.gif" alt="Animated Mailboxes" />
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<div><a href="./index.html">Back to COM0 on the Web</a></div>
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</footer>
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</body>
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</html>

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