MandoPuter firmware v0.1.9: SD-card updates and a new Vitals mode

Firmware v0.1.9 for the MandoPuter is now available. This is the first release that installs over the SD card — no computer or USB cable required. Drop the new firmware.bin on your SD card, power the unit on, confirm the update on-screen, and you're running the new build in about 10 seconds.

v0.1.9 — 2026-04-25

Highlights

SD-card firmware updates and a new Vitals medical-readout mode — left-side patient dossier with portrait, equipment loadout icons, and status pips, beside a right-side scanning bar chart with three animated gauges and a smooth random-hop scan band.

Changes

• Feature: SD-card firmware updates. Drop a firmware.bin on the root of your MandoPuter SD card and the unit detects it on boot. Confirm the install with a single press of BOOT and the update writes itself in about 10 seconds. The previous firmware stays bootable in the inactive partition slot, so a failed install can't brick the unit.
• Feature: Vitals mode (07). A medical-readout HUD inspired by Imperial diagnostic consoles. Left panel: patient avatar, ID label, and seven loadout icons (helmet, blaster, jetpack, shield, mythosaur skull, comlink, datapad) with red and white status pips. Right panel: three gauges (pie, crosshair, molecular), seven horizontal red bars with dense tick-mark columns, and a white scan band that hops randomly between rows. Bars only animate when the band is over them.
• Feature: Post-update banner. The first boot after an SD update briefly shows UPDATED TO vX.Y.Z over the splash so you can confirm the new firmware took.
• Feature: Same-version skip. If the firmware on your SD card matches what's already running, the unit boots silently with no prompt. The update screen only appears when the SD blob is actually different.
• Internal: Embedded version marker. Each compiled firmware binary now carries an identifying string (MPVERMARK:vX.Y.Z:MPENDMARK) the unit reads off the SD card to determine which version it's looking at.

Upgrade notes

• This release is your last manual USB install. Once v0.1.9 is on your unit, future updates come over the SD card.
• No NVS migrations — your saved scale, rotation, anchor, and color theme all carry forward.
• The mode cycle now includes Vitals between TargetAcq and Bounties.

How to install

1. Log in at foxheadworkshop.com/account and open your MandoPuter order.
2. Download firmware.bin.
3. Save it to the root of your MandoPuter SD card.
4. Insert the card and power the unit on.
5. Single-press BOOT when the update prompt appears.

Full instructions with screenshots are in the owner's manual under Updating Firmware.

Verified on

• Hardware: Waveshare ESP32-C6 LCD 1.3 USB
• SD card: FAT32 16 GB Sandisk
• Modes touched: all eight prior modes regression-checked, plus the new Vitals (mode 07).