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RPCortex β81 - Nebula

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@dash1101 dash1101 released this 26 Mar 05:33
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RPCortex Nebula — v0.8.1-beta3

v0.8.1-beta3 | Codenamed Nebula | β81

quick note, i just made command execution up to 95% faster.

Full feature reference: NebulaDocs

Status

Beta. Stable on RP2040, RP2350, and ESP32-S3. Recommended upgrade from beta2.

What's New in beta3

Shell — multi-command lines

  • Multiple commands can be run on one line with ; as a separator: mkdir /data; cd /data; touch file.txt
  • Quote-aware splitting — ; inside single or double quotes is treated as literal text

Shell — new commands

  • grep <pattern> <file> — substring search with line numbers and match count; line-by-line for low RAM
  • wc <file> — line / word / byte count
  • find [dir] [pattern] — recursive file search by name substring (max depth 8)
  • sort <file> — alphabetical sort with 8 KB RAM warning
  • uniq <file> — consecutive duplicate line filter
  • hex <file> [n] — 16-byte-per-row hexdump with address, hex, and ASCII columns
  • basename <path> / dirname <path> — path component extraction
  • sleep <secs> — pause the shell (supports decimal, e.g. sleep 0.5)
  • which <cmd> — shows where a command is defined: built-in, .lp registry entry, or alias
  • rawrepl — cleanly exit the OS and return to MicroPython REPL (for Web Installer use)

Shell — performance

  • Removed redundant re-inject on every cached command call — saves 6 setattr calls per dispatch

Browser tools

  • OS Update page — version picker now driven by releases/updates.json; add new versions to the JSON without touching HTML
  • Install page — version picker driven by releases/releases.json; same pattern
  • Package Browser — auto-disconnects the device after a successful package install
  • Package Browser — each package card now has a Download .pkg button (fetch + blob, no CORS issues)

What's New in beta2 (included)

Shell overhaul

  • Tab completion with ghost text — partial command names show a dim gray suffix; press Tab to accept
  • Shell aliases — alias name=cmd creates session aliases; unalias removes them; bare alias lists all
  • Full cursor navigation: left/right arrows, Home/End, Ctrl+A/E, Delete-forward, character insertion mid-line

OS management — from the shell

  • update from-file <path> — apply a .rpc update archive while preserving all user data
  • factoryreset — wipe users, packages, and logs; OS files untouched; reboots into first-run setup
  • reinstall — full OS wipe with optional .rpc auto-install; use when recovery isn't enough

Browser tools

  • Web Installer — flash RPCortex from any Chromium browser over USB; no software, no drivers; wipes device before install for a clean slate
  • Browser update page — push a .rpc update from a browser tab to a running device; no WiFi, no raw REPL
  • Web package browser — install packages from the browser to a running shell over USB; no reboot required

Registry & boot

  • Config cached in memory — registry reads no longer touch the filesystem on every call
  • Settings.Verbose_Boot — toggle how much POST prints at boot
  • Settings.OC_On_Boot — apply stored overclock on every boot automatically
  • Log directory auto-created by POST on first boot

Serial file transfer (_xfer)

  • Built-in protocol for receiving files from the browser over serial using base64
  • Used by the web package browser and update page to push files without leaving the shell

First-run setup

  • Official package repo added automatically
  • guest account created silently
  • Post-update login banner shows the new version after a successful update

Bug fixes (beta2)

  • ls no longer changes CWD when given a path argument
  • POST beeper crash fixed
  • Recovery shell crash in initialization.py fixed
  • Startup mode 7 (boot-clock crash) now shows a login notification

Bug fixes (beta3)

  • Ctrl+C cancel fixed
  • Tab completion ghost-text edge case fixed
  • rm recursion fix

Installation

Fresh install: Web Installer — flash from your browser, no software needed.

Update from beta2: OS Update page or update from-file /path/to/os.rpc from the shell. User data and settings are preserved.

Manual: Flash MicroPython v1.25+ (v1.28 recommended), copy files, connect at 115200 baud, reboot.

Using rawrepl for a fresh install

If RPCortex is already installed and you want a completely fresh flash:

  1. At the shell prompt, run rawrepl
  2. The MicroPython REPL (>>>) becomes active in your terminal
  3. Open rpc.novalabs.app/install.html in Chrome or Edge
  4. Click Connect Device and flash as normal

No need for reinstall or a full wipe — rawrepl simply exits the OS and hands control back to MicroPython.

Known Limitations

  • MemoryError after heavy use — run freeup; reboot clears completely
  • ESP32-S3 temperature reads ~300–450 °C — hardware calibration issue, not a bug
  • No real-time clock on base Pico — date shows time since boot epoch
  • HTTPS on Pico 1 W needs ~9.5 KB contiguous heap — run freeup first
  • WiFi passwords stored plaintext in registry — no secure enclave on this hardware
  • Editor requires a real terminal — Thonny REPL won't render it

Author: dash1101. Issues and PRs welcome.

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