Offband offband-v1.1.2

Companion GPS auto-baud + on-demand GPS status, plus the wedge/time fixes
found while validating it on real hardware, and a safer first-flash default — a
fresh Observer no longer auto-publishes to a preset MQTT broker. Still on the
MeshCore 1.16.0 base.

Added

• GPS auto-baud detection — the companion now detects the GPS modem's baud rate at
  runtime (probing 115200 then 9600, validating by a checksum-good NMEA sentence), so one
  image reads either a standard 9600 module or a 115200 one with no rebuild. It re-probes
  on a GPS enable and keeps trying if a modem is slow to start at boot. (#216, #233)
• On-demand GPS status to the app (0xC1) — the client can query live GPS state
  (enabled / detected / fix / baud / lat / lon / alt / sats / time) instead of only seeing
  position at connect. (#216)
• On-device build identity — an optional build tag shows on the app device-info
  field and the OLED splash, so a specific build is identifiable without a serial
  console. (#222)

Changed

• Fresh flashes no longer auto-publish to OKIMesh CoreScope. A newly-flashed
  Observer previously seeded the CoreScope (Dayton) broker enabled, so a device
  flashed anywhere in the world immediately fed MQTT to OKIMesh CoreScope tagged as a
  Dayton node. On a fresh flash every broker now ships disabled — the operator
  opts in per slot. (#262)
• Default region is now XYZ (a non-geographic placeholder) instead of HAO
  (Dayton), so an out-of-region device stops mislabeling itself until the operator sets
  its region via mqtt iata. Fresh / NVS-erased devices only; existing devices keep
  their stored config. (#262)

Fixed

• GPS at high baud could wedge BLE. An unbounded GPS read loop let a fast modem
  (e.g. 115200, multi-constellation) monopolize the main loop and starve BLE — the app
  would slog or stall. GPS ingestion is now bounded per loop. (#231)
• GPS time showed garbage before the date was acquired. A position fix can arrive
  before the calendar date; the device now reports time=0 ("acquiring") until a real
  date is parsed, instead of a wrapped-garbage timestamp. (#232)

Internal

• Build/governance tooling + GPS design & diagnostic records — no firmware-behavior
  change. (#214, #217–#219)

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Which file do I download?

File	What it is	When to use it
*-merged.bin (ESP32 — Heltec V3/V4, XIAO)	Full image — bootloader + partition table + app in one, flashed at 0x0 after a chip erase. Self-contained, works on a blank chip.	First install / clean setup. In a web flasher this is the "Full Firmware" option.
*.bin (ESP32)	App only — flashed at the app offset (0x10000); the bootloader must already be on the chip.	Updating an existing node — OTA / "Update Only." Keeps the device identity + WiFi/MQTT config.
*.uf2 (nRF52 — RAK, T-Echo, XIAO nRF52)	Complete self-contained image.	First install and updates — double-tap reset, then drag-drop onto the USB drive. (nRF52 has no merged/app split.)

⚠️ ESP32: the app-only *.bin will not boot if flashed at 0x0 — use *-merged.bin for a fresh install. A full erase / "Full Firmware" wipes the device's identity + saved config, so use it only for a first install or recovery, never a routine update.

What's Changed

• fix(#239): round CLI frequency output to 3 decimals (ftoa3) by @Strycher in #240
• docs(#244): block-user firmware<->app architectural contract by @Strycher in #245
• feat(#241): Block/Ignore Users — firmware half (BlockStore + 0xC2 sync + DM-drop) by @Strycher in #247
• chore: sync pre-commit to canonical (§0.6) + pin DW_PROJECT=Crosswire by @Strycher in #249
• fix(#251): pio-flash ESP32-S3 USB-Serial/JTAG robustness by @Strycher in #252
• chore(crosswire): deploy session-identity hook + SessionStart wiring + gitignore by @Strycher in #269
• chore(#270): session-state.py sources identity from session-identity.py by @Strycher in #271
• fix(#262): don't auto-enable OKIMesh CoreScope on fresh flash + default region XYZ by @Strycher in #272

Full Changelog: offband-v1.1.2-rc1...offband-v1.1.2