IronOS VS stm32_soldering_iron_controller

So apparently the Pinecil is a BLE-enabled soldering iron with a 108 MHz RISC-V processor running a custom real-time operating system [0]. The author wanted to access the UART logs, so they repurposed a Raspberry Pi Pico (a dual-core microcontroller system running a real-time OS) for the task.

That's a staggering amount of hardware, sortware and computing power devoted to decoding one of the simplest and oldest serial protocols from a device whose sole purpose is to essentially melt tin. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I think I'll stick to my thermostat-controlled Weller soldering station and FTDI UART converters. I apologize if this post comes across as snarky, my point is that these are solved problems and have been for half a century.

[0] https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS

I got a TS101 and wanted to switch to IronOS straight away as it seems like an improvement to stock firmware. On the website it says that TS101s are supported, but there is no file for it. I figured it must be the TS100 .hex file, but flashing it just gives me an error (a .NOT file). Is the TS101 really supported and how do I flash the firmware in that case?

but the pinecil can also use IronOS https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS

Look at this ticket in Ralim's IronOS, all 4 people same issue and all they had to do was clean their Cartridges with IPA 90-99% Alcohol. https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS/issues/1601

I'm very happy with the Pinecil. The $25 price is very reasonable for a reliable soldering iron that is open source hardware[1] and runs on free and open source firmware.[2]

[1] Schematics: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil:_How_to_Repair#Schemati...

[2] IronOS: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS

Also, I'm not sure what exactly is happening with the OS on the irons, because I thought the pinecils shipped with IronOS but it may be an old or cut down version because when I loaded the latest https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS on my pinecils I just ordered two weeks ago, I definitely got a ton of options I didn't have before.

There's also an open-source firmware for STM32 based soldering irons like the T12 soldering stations that are pretty commonly cloned.

https://github.com/deividAlfa/stm32_soldering_iron_controlle...

I've had one of the KSGER units for a few years now that I absolutely love. Uses Hakko style tips, heats quickly, holds temp well.

•Has anybody been able to flash the custom firmware?

I googled and found https://github.com/deividAlfa/stm32_soldering_iron_controller.

This file (https://github.com/deividAlfa/stm32_soldering_iron_controller/blob/master/Drivers/graphics/gui/screens/boot_screen.c) has an image in it, I'd like to replace it with one a little more appealing. I have the original image, and my replacement, I've been using CPP image converters (like https://javl.github.io/image2cpp/) and re-flashing the device but the image contains artifacts. Is there a way to identify how the original image is displayed and replace it?