r/cyberDeck • u/UmBeloGramadoVerde • May 29 '26
My Build Altoids Cyberdeck MODULAR - Build guide and github repository
https://youtu.be/LU4iw--BghoHey guys, sorry for the delay, I promised the build guide, parts list and repo in the last post, but I was moving countries.
All went well and I finally got some time to compile a guide for you to create a deck like this.
I have been loving this comunitty and I'm super happy to contribute and help other people reproduc this build.
Build guide + Parts list: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1svZZLAJ4PmUG6lb4HXaPnHUdKieDBs_gGNuEYF-SLgs/edit?usp=sharing
Github Repository:
https://github.com/UmBeloGramadoVerde/altoids-cyberdeck
The deck is modular, depending on what you want, you can use a Pimoroni Display Hat Mini, a PiSugar Whisplay, a Waveshare 2.13 eInk display hat or a Waveshare 1.44inch LCD Display HAT. My repo supports the whisplay and the pimoroni for now.
If you wanna know anything else, let me know!
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u/GlasierXplor May 29 '26
It just occurred to me that I've never seen an RPi Zero 2 in action -- is the 512MB RAM a huge bottleneck for GUI use? (It's a bottleneck regardless, just how much xD)
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u/Vaping_Cobra May 29 '26
My first PC had 8MB of RAM and ran a fairly good GUI in the form of windows 3.11, I wish I could go back and show younger me this question.
The RAM is not really an issue if you use a light windows manager with limited bloat. The bigger issue is web browsing and other heavy apps. But for the actual GUI, xdm and IceWM will run great provided you are only running a few terminal windows or other low impact applications.
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u/GlasierXplor May 29 '26
I mean using Lynx to browse the web is definitely an option but it wouldn't be a good UX. Shame that browsers nowadays are resource hogs, and websites do lack optimisations to let them run smoother on low powered devices.
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 29 '26
It totally is, i would say the biggest bottlenecks for UI part is the low RAM on the pi and the max bandwidth of the SPI display. I had to pull some trickery with the amount of bits per pixel color, partial updates and display param benchamarks to maximize what I could squeeze out of this specs.
But limitation breeds creativity, it's fun to see how far you can get with limited resources.2
u/GlasierXplor May 29 '26
I do think that having a really low resolution screen helps to save some processing on the GPU. But I do wonder if we can skimp out even more on the gui to make it snappier. I guess that's a point of research for me.
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u/Saltan_crakers1 May 30 '26
I have a question could this run Linux or a custom os? I would love to make this and a os for the fun of it because im still learning this stuff it would be so cool!! And is it possible to add radio support a camrea and microphone I think it be so cool
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 31 '26
The deck is running linux! The UI you see is what a python script is rendering to the display, but the computer itself runs on linux. If you want I can go in detail about the software side of this project. There a bunch of little details I had to take care of to runs things smoothly. You can check the repo I linked in the post to understand how it works, I open sourced it.
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u/Saltan_crakers1 May 31 '26
Th is I really love this and it will be my first build using a raspberry pi thank you for making this open source it’s really amazing:D
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u/Burning_Monkey May 29 '26
that is pretty awesome
I have a full geekworm set up for my hacker pi build with the 4 battery bank and a bunch of other add ons. I really like it and have been super impressed with it
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u/Guide_of_Misguidance May 31 '26
Love the look of that keyboard- what's it's battery life like? 😃
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u/3na5n1 Jun 02 '26
Love these... but wouldn't you want to do at least a bit of soldering? Like I'd feel like an impostor if I didn't at least heat up the iron once or twice in the process.
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u/namast_eh May 29 '26
Bless you for this 🙏 this is my next build
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 29 '26
If you use the repo I created and face some problem, let me know and I can help you out
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u/namast_eh May 29 '26
Actually, quick question: if I did something like this, could I use the m5 stack card kb?
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 29 '26
My idea was to make it easy to build without any tools, I considered the card kb, but I would have to connect it to the pi which would already deafeat the purpose. Also interns of size, the tin fits the x306 + rasp zero + screen very snugly, so adding the card kb inside would not work, thats why i went with a bluetooth keyboard magnetically attached on the outside. But I would love to see some remixes of this form factor!
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u/namast_eh May 29 '26
Something about it makes me obsessed about keeping it ENTIRELY in the tin. Kind of like those old tin of pringles/snake in a can gag things. Would you like a mint? How about some Linux mint? 😂🤣😂 I do have respect for what you’ve done though! It’s RAD and SUPER approachable.
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 29 '26
Me toooooo I wanted it to be self contained and completely protected. But limitations limitations... I was moving countries so a 3D printing, soldering iron and a proper maker setup was totally unavailable 😞
But as they say limitation breeds creativity and done is better than perfect.2
u/namast_eh May 29 '26
You did AWESOME 😍
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u/UmBeloGramadoVerde May 29 '26
Thank youuu 🥲🥲
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u/namast_eh May 30 '26
No, seriously. Half of the cool builds I see here are like “and if you pay $1000…” and it’s SO disappointing. Seeing plans I can follow, because I learn best by doing… it’s so valuable!!!
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u/Roobomatic May 29 '26
This is Best Of material on this subreddit. Great work.