IronOS - Open Source Flexible Firmware for Soldering Hardware

This repository was formerly known as TS100, it's the same great code. Just with more supported devices.

Originally conceived as an alternative firmware for the TS100, this firmware has evolved into a complex soldering hardware control firmware.

The firmware implements all of the standard features of a smart soldering hardware, with lots of little extras and tweaks. I highly recommend reading the installation guide fully when installing on your device. And after install just explore the settings menu.

For soldering hardware that is designed to be powered by smart power sources such as PD or QC, the firmware supports settings around the negotiated power and voltage. For soldering hardware that is designed to be powered by batteries (TS100 & Pinecil), settings for a cutoff voltage for battery protection are supported.

Currently 31 languages are supported. When downloading the firmware for your soldering hardware, take note of the language code in the file name.

This project is considered feature complete for use on a daily basis, so please suggest any feature improvements you would like!

This firmware does NOT support the USB port while running for changing settings (this is done through the onscreen menu only). Custom logos are edited on a computer and flashed in the same manner as firmware.

Supported Hardware

Tip Sense refers to the device being able to choose between the "regular" TS100 or Hakko T12 style tips and Pine64's custom shorter tips which have lower resistance and allow for more power. This is N/A for TS80(P) as there is only one model of tip for them.

Recommended Purchase is only referring to if you are buying a new device. Of course all the devices listed are supported and will work excellently for years to come.

The TS101 & S60(P) irons and MHP30 & T55 plates feature a higher resolution OLED than other devices. Work is ongoing to support this fully, for now a cropped view is usable.

* PinecilV1 stopped being manufactured a long time ago now, all models for sale online are generally clones (or old stock). Vendors are trying to sell these for more than Pine64 sells the V2 for now. Thus the V1 is no longer recommended.

** Please note that Miniware started shipping TS100's using cloned STM32 chips. While these do work with IronOS, their DFU bootloader works terribly, and it is hard to get it to successfully flash larger firmware images like IronOS without timing out. This is the main reason why the TS100 is no longer recommended.

*** TS80 is replaced by TS80P. Production ramped down a long time ago and it's just existing stock clearing the system. It's marked not recommended being optimistic that people might pause and buy the far superior TS80P instead. This is the main reason why the TS80 is no longer recommended.

Getting Started

To get started with IronOS firmware, please jump to Getting Started Guide.

Installation

For notes on installation for your device, please refer to the flashing guide for your device:

• MHP30
• Pinecil V1
• Pinecil V2
• TS80 / TS80P
• TS100

Builds

The links in the table below allow to download available builds directly.

Current stable release is v2.22.
Devel builds dynamically provide the latest successful build from dev branch.

Key Features

• PID style iron temperature control;
• automatic sleep with selectable sensitivity;
• adjustable & tweakable motion wake support;
• all settings exposed in the intuitive menu;
• (TS100) set a voltage lower limit for Lithium batteries so you don't kill your battery pack;
• (TS80) set 18W or 24W settings for your power bank;
• (TS80P) automatically negotiates appropriate PD and falls back to QC mode like TS80;
• (Pinecil) supports all 3 power modes (PD, QC, DC In);
• (Pinecilv2) supports USB-PD EPR for 28V operation;
• improved readability Fonts, supporting multiple languages;
• use hardware features to improve reliability;
• boost mode lets you temporarily change the temperature when soldering (i.e. raise the temperature for short periods);
• (TS100/Pinecil) battery charge level indicator if power source set to a LiPo cell count;
• (TS80/TS80P/Pinecil) power bank operating voltage is displayed;
• custom boot up logo support[^bootlogo];
• automatic LCD rotation based on the orientation;
• ... and many many other cool & hackable features![^changelog]

[^bootlogo]: BOOTUP LOGO NOTICE: IronOS supports both a bootup logo AND bootup animations. However, they are no longer included in this repo. Please, read the docs for more information.

[^changelog]: See the full changelog here.

Basic Control

Supported device is controlled by two buttons which can be pressed in the following ways:

• short: ~1 second or so;
• long: more than 1 second;
• both (press & hold both of them together).

Available buttons are:

• +/A button: near the front closer to the tip (for irons) or on the left side of the device (for plates);
• -/B button: near the back far from the tip (for irons) or on the right side of the device (for plates).

After powering on the device for the first time with IronOS installed and having the tip/plate plugged in, on the main menu in standby mode the unit shows a pair of prompts for the two most common operations:

• pressing the +/A button enters the soldering mode;
• pressing the -/B button enters the settings menu;
• in soldering mode:
  • short press of +/A / -/B buttons changes the soldering temperature;
  • long press of the +/A button enables boost mode (increasing soldering temperature to the adjustable setting as long as the button is pressed);
  • long press of the -/B button enters standby mode and stops heating;
• in standby mode:
  • long press of the +/A button enters soldering temperature adjust mode (the same as the one in the soldering mode, but allows to adjust the temperature before heating up);
  • long hold of the -/B button enters the debug menu;
• in menu mode (to make it short here):
  • -/B scrolls & cycles through menus and submenus;
  • +/A enters to menu & submenu settings or changes their values if they are activated already.

Additional details are described in the menu information.

Translations

Is your preferred language missing localisation of some of the text? Translations are stored as json files in the Translations folder. Pull requests are loved and accepted to enhance the firmware.

Thanks

If you love this firmware and want to continue my caffeine addiction, you can do so here (or email me for other options). I also want to give a shout out to all of the Fantastic Contributors.

Especially to the following users, who have helped in various ways that are massively appreciated:

• Dhiltonp
• Mrkvozrout
• JonnieZG
• Federck
• Jvitkauskas
• Doegox
• Perillamint
• GeminiServer
• Patrick Horlebein
• Firebie
• Agatti
• Discip
• Paul Fertser

Plus the huge number of people who have contributed translations, your effort is massively appreciated.

License

The code created by the community is covered by the GNU GPLv3 license unless noted elsewhere. Other components such as FreeRTOS and USB-PD have their own licenses.

Commercial Use

This software is provided "AS IS", so I cannot provide any commercial support for the firmware. However, you are more than welcome to distribute links to the firmware or provide hardware with this firmware. Please do not re-host the files, but rather link to this page, so that there are no old versions of the firmware scattered around.