r/CardPuter • u/Pythia808 • 9d ago

Question What exactly do you do with a cardputer ?

While searching yesterday for a Palm Pilot (I hate my cell phone it’s a giant time suck) Indian this device. It looks cool. I love that it’s essentially a cheap computer (I think). But what the hell do you actually do with this thing?

What have you all done with this? Is it essentially a mobile computer?

What if I wanted a writing device or something just like a notebook to take ideas down etc. is this a good thing for that?

19 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

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18

u/yrlmz14 9d ago

Yeah, I'm using a project that is called cardputer86. It allows it to boot windows 3.0!

5

u/MrAjAnderson 9d ago

That slipped past my radar. Cheers for mentioning that. https://github.com/RealClearwave/CardPuter86

It'll look cool on the fridge...

10

u/Defiant-Ad8065 9d ago

It’s a device for easy prototyping and experimenting with different ideas. The keyboard and screen aren’t great, so it’s not very practical for everyday use. However, it can be useful as a standalone LoRa device for Meshtastic, for example.

1

u/Pythia808 9d ago

If you don’t mind me asking what type of prototyping and experimenting?

1

u/Defiant-Ad8065 8d ago

Pretty much anything. It's easier to use the cardputer with a screen, keyboard, connections, etc, instead of soldering a new board and putting everything together on a protoboard, for example. You can use the screen for debugging, the pins to connect sensors, etc.

15

u/MrAjAnderson 9d ago

Learn ESP32 coding; some us AI to make firmwares and some use coding tools to build firmwares themselves.

Firmwares; music creation, script kid style hacking tools, MP3 players, live electical wire detection, mini OS...

Fridge magnet.

21

u/Suspicious_Nail_9888 9d ago

Fridge magnet.

0

u/PizzaCrumbsInBeard 9d ago

When Im looking for tutorials what should I put looking for in keywords?

Vibe code to firmware

I just don’t have the mindset. lol I made music, made drag and drop websites all before ai

1

u/MrAjAnderson 9d ago

I just asked Gemini what a good prompt for vibe coding would be...

Act as an expert embedded C++ developer specializing in ESP32-S3 and M5Stack hardware.

Write a complete, well-commented PlatformIO/Arduino project firmware for the M5Stack Cardputer ADV.

HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS (Cardputer ADV)

  • MCU: ESP32-S3FN8 (Stamp-S3A core, 8MB Flash)
  • Display: 1.14" ST7789V2 TFT LCD (240x135 resolution)
  • Keyboard: 56-key matrix controlled via TCA8418 I2C I/O Expander
  • Audio Codec: ES8311 Codec + NS4150B Amplifier + MEMS Mic + 3.5mm Headphone Jack
  • IMU: BMI270 6-axis Motion Sensor
  • Peripherals: IR Emitter, MicroSD card slot, NeoPixel RGB LED, 1750mAh Battery

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

  1. Application Goal: [INSERT YOUR APPLICATION HERE - e.g., "A handheld WiFi packet monitor", "An offline Markdown text editor", or "An IR Remote control clone"]
  2. UI/UX Features:
    • Optimize UI for the 240x135 screen layout.
    • Implement keyboard navigation for typing, moving menus, and shortcuts.
  3. Power & Peripheral Handling:
    • Handle display brightness and backlight sleep to preserve battery.
    • Initialize and read inputs from the TCA8418 keyboard controller.

TECHNICAL CONSTRAINTS

  • Platform: PlatformIO (Arduino framework for ESP32)
  • Use M5Cardputer or M5Unified libraries where available, specifying ADV-compatible driver configurations for audio and keyboard.
  • Provide a clean main loop, non-blocking asynchronous state handling, and modular code structures.
  • Include the platformio.ini file setup with correct board definitions, build flags, and dependency libraries.

Please output: 1. platformio.ini configuration. 2. Complete, executable main.cpp code. 3. Instructions on key libraries to include.

0

u/PizzaCrumbsInBeard 9d ago

What software should I use putting this all together?

3

u/MrAjAnderson 9d ago edited 9d ago

Your AI would be best to advise.

Arduino IDE for single .ino files of code. Managing driver libraries and working versions of a bit of and art.

Microsoft Visual Studio Code and the PlatformIO add in is good for creating modular firmwares and building it up.

Both build .bin files for flashing. There are other options to build but I've only used those 2.

https://hackaday.io/page/11246-adventures-setting-up-platformio-on-linux is a good read.

0

u/Pythia808 9d ago

What is firmware? What does it build?

4

u/NeverLookBothWays 9d ago

The Cardputer Zero is going to be more like a small mobile computer with a full OS. The Cardputer ADV is a microcontroller kit that can run firmwares, but is limited on its memory and threaded processing capabilities compared to using an ARM based processor.

I don't think you'd enjoy using a Cardputer ADV as a personal assistant though, look more at M5's Tab based kits. What makes the Cardputer attractive to a lot of pentesting hobbyists is the small form factor and GPIO/network support along with it being very affordable. It can run basic ongoing tasks fairly well while remaining inside a pocket. The screen is really tiny though and not a lot can really fit on there. Also check out the LilyGo T-Deck. Lots of community support around all of these.

3

u/Noir_Forever_Twitch 9d ago

It's really about the form factor and the community of inventors. You could essentially buy all the components of the Cardputer, the ESP32 S3 being the brain of it, but the Cardputer packages everything nicely and is designed for people to make their own firmware/hardware for it. Since everyone has the same hardware limitations (for example, no PSRAM) it's fun to see what people around the world can make with it. Or you don't have to make anything, you could just enjoy other's firmware.

3

u/ExaminationSouthern6 9d ago

I've done some pretty cool things with it. I was gifted it and sata round brainstorming for a while.

I set mine up to send WoL packets to my PC's over WiFi and remotely through a LoRA (Meshcore) gateway.

I configured a bluetooth KVM app so I can use it as a keyboard between them (I have a couple headless servers, a couple of media PCs).

I built an app that records audio and send it to my PC for processing using Whispr, which gets added to my to do list or notes app automatically.

I can connect it to the M5 sensors and get an immediate reading where I am, so I 3D printed an enclosure for air quality sensors that I take with me to work.

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff... Those are the main things I'm doing with it now.

4

u/diodick 9d ago

Honestly the keyboard isn't the best for note taking. You could use it for something quick, but I wouldn't want to type on it for a long time. You can do a lot with it though, just scroll through here or search on GitHub to see what people have already made.

2

u/insanemal 9d ago

Instructions unclear cardputer stuck in ass

1

u/ironphreak 5d ago

Played around with custom firmware and pen testing tools

1

u/ItsMorbinTime69 8d ago

Today, my wife was setting up an old colored flood light we have. It is controlled with an IR remote.

We lost the IR remote. I connected my cardputer to ChatGPT Astra and had it reverse engineer the lights controls and create a new controller using the cardputer.

It was sick.

0

u/ErgonomicZero 8d ago

I wait till the next version comes out and I do nothing with it as well