Get your system up and running!

You’ve received your m5stickC in the mail, and you’ve got the link to this website. Your device has already been programmed with a couple of demonstration programs, which you’re welcome to explore. Follow the steps below to get your system online and connected to Shad. And once done, you can even jump right in to programming it yourself!

Step 1: Plug it in

While your m5stickC does come with a small battery, at first, it’s probably best to connect it to a power supply. Using the provided cable, connect the USB-C port to any powered USB outlet. It should power on automatically, but note the power / reset button in the picture below.

Step 2: Connect to a Wifi Network

After a few seconds, you’ll see this screen. This is the device trying to connect to the wifi network on which it was first programmed.

Now that it’s in your hands, you’ll need to program it to connect to your network. While you can program the device using a USB connection, programming it over Wifi is the most convenient and allows all sorts of additional online functionality. As long as your network has a standard SSID and password, just follow the steps shown below. If you have an unusual network situation, contact Chris.

First reset the device by pressing and releasing the power button. You will see this “Setting” screen

QUICKLY ! Press the “A” button to enter the settings mode. (If you miss the 2-second window, just reset again). You can use the “B” button to cycle between the following 3 screens:

Settings menus, scroll through by pressing B, select by pressing A

Go to the “Setup” screen, and Press A to select it.

Use the B button to scroll down to “Wifi via AP”, and select it by pressing A. You’ll see a screen like this, but with different numbers:

The stick is now broadcasting a Wifi Network SSID that you can connect to and “tell” it how to connect to your regular network.

Next, use a nearby computer or phone, or anything that can connect to a Wifi network and scan for new networks. You’ll see a network corresponding to the numbers shown on the stick – M5-43E8 in this example. Connect to that network, there’s no password.

Then, open any browser on your computer or phone and type in the IP address: 192.168.4.1. Press enter to get to the “Network Settings Page”.

  • Select the SSID for your Wifi network
  • Enter your Wifi network password
  • Click “Configure”
  • The m5stickC will now be programmed to connect to the Internet via your Wifi network. Congratulations – your device is online!
  • You can now disconnect from this network, and reconnect to your regular network as usual.

Troubleshooting Notes:

  • Does not connect – does your Wifi SSID have a space in it? Example “Temp Wifi”? Here’s the fix!

Step 3: Explore existing programs

We downloaded a couple of demo programs into your device to help you play with it. To load these programs:

  • Reset the device by pressing the power button
  • At the “Settings” page , you can either:
    • do nothing, and in two seconds it will load up the last-used program.
    • OR, hit A, scroll to the “APPlist” page by pressing B (twice), and select it by pressing A
  • Select the program you want to load (B to Scroll, A to Select)
  • It will load the program!
  • Figure out what “Shad.py” is all about; and explore a small fraction of your devices capabilities with “devOps.py”. Check out the Projects page for more details on those programs, including how they were written

Step 4: Get your hands dirty

So you’ve connected the device, and are running some programs? So far so good, but you KNOW that you’ll get bored with the same two programs real quick. Fortunately, uploading new programs is super easy! Check out the instructions here.