Raspberry Pi (Linux)

meshtasticd is supported on all Raspberry Pi models.

armhf 32-bit

Chipset	Models
BCM2835	Pi 1, Pi Zero 1
BCM2836	Pi 2 v1.0, Pi 2 v1.1

arm64 64-bit

Chipset	Models
BCM2837	Pi 3, Pi Zero 2, CM3, Pi 2 v1.2
BCM2711	Pi 4, Pi 400, CM4
BCM2712	Pi 5, Pi 500, CM5

Configuration

This page provides instructions for configuring a Raspberry Pi to work with Meshtastic, including enabling SPI, I²C, and UART interfaces.

SPI

Enable SPI support for LoRa Radio

• This can be done by running the below commands on a Raspberry Pi (2-5)

sudo raspi-config nonint set_config_var dtparam=spi on /boot/firmware/config.txt # Enable SPI

# Ensure dtoverlay=spi0-0cs is set in /boot/firmware/config.txt without altering dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d or dtparam=uart0
sudo sed -i -e '/^\s*#\?\s*dtoverlay\s*=\s*vc4-kms-v3d/! s/^\s*#\?\s*(dtoverlay|dtparam\s*=\s*uart0)\s*=.*/dtoverlay=spi0-0cs/' /boot/firmware/config.txt

# Insert dtoverlay=spi0-0cs after dtparam=spi=on if not already present
if ! sudo grep -q '^\s*dtoverlay=spi0-0cs' /boot/firmware/config.txt; then
    sudo sed -i '/^\s*dtparam=spi=on/a dtoverlay=spi0-0cs' /boot/firmware/config.txt
fi

• Or this can be accomplished by manually enabling SPI support in /boot/firmware/config.txt:

dtparam=spi=on
dtoverlay=spi0-0cs

I²C

Enable I²C support

Enabled with:

sudo raspi-config nonint set_config_var dtparam=i2c_arm on /boot/firmware/config.txt # Enable i2c_arm

Or manually enabled in /boot/firmware/config.txt:

dtparam=i2c_arm=on

UART

Enable UART support for GPS

• You can enable UART by running the below commands (which additionally will disable serial console tty)

sudo raspi-config nonint do_serial_hw 0 # Enable Serial Port (enable_uart=1)
sudo raspi-config nonint do_serial_cons 1 # Disable Serial Console

• Or you can manually enable UART for GPS hats by making modifications in /boot/firmware/config.txt:

# Needed for all Pi device.
enable_uart=1

# Needed for the Pi 5 only.
dtoverlay=uart0

• The correct port for UART GPS on the Pi 5 after a reboot is /dev/ttyAMA0.
• The correct port for UART GPS on earlier Pi versions after a reboot is /dev/ttyS0.
• You may need to disable the serial console on a Pi and then reboot

sudo raspi-config nonint do_serial_cons 1 # Disable Serial Console