Tab5 Terminal Demo

A hacker-style terminal UI for the M5Stack Tab5

Plug in a keyboard. Type commands. Feel like you own the system.

🎬 Preview

_{🏠 Home — select connection method}	_{🏠 Home — UART card selected}
_{🔍 Scan — discovering nearby BLE devices}	_{💻 Terminal — neofetch system info}

✨ What is this?

A terminal emulator UI built with LVGL v9 running on the M5Stack Tab5 — a 5-inch 1280×720 IPS touchscreen device powered by the ESP32-P4 (RISC-V dual-core @ 360MHz) and an ESP32-C6 wireless coprocessor.

Connect a CardKB2 keyboard over UART and you get a fully interactive retro-terminal: colored output, line numbers, scrollable history, command autocomplete — all on a palm-sized device.

Tab5@terminal : ~ $ neofetch

  ######## ######## ######    tab5@terminal
  ##    ## ##    ## ##   ##   ─────────────────────────
     ##    #######  ######    OS      CardKB-Linux 1.0
     ##    ##       ##        Host    ESP32-P4 + C6
     ##    ##       ##        Kernel  5.15.0-esp32p4
     ##    ##       ##        Shell   bash 5.1.16
                              BLE     CardKB2 [CONNECTED]
                              ESPNOW  [ACTIVE] ch.6
                              RAM     16MB Flash / 32MB PSRAM
                              Display 1280×720 IPS

🛠️ Hardware

_{M5Stack Tab5 — ESP32-P4, 5" 1280×720 IPS}

Component	Spec
Main SoC	ESP32-P4 · RISC-V dual-core 360 MHz + LP core 40 MHz
Wireless	ESP32-C6-MINI-1U · Wi-Fi 6 / BLE 5 / Thread / Zigbee
Flash	16 MB
PSRAM	32 MB
Display	5-inch IPS TFT · 1280×720 (720p) · ST7123 TDDI
Touch	Capacitive · built-in to ST7123
Keyboard	M5Stack CardKB2 · connected via UART
UART pins	TX → GPIO 53 / RX → GPIO 54 · 115200 baud · HY2.0-4P port

⚠️ Current Status

Mode Status

UART (CardKB2 via HY2.0-4P) ✅ Works

Bluetooth HID (CardKB2 via BLE) 🚧 UI Present — Not Functional Yet

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

ESP-IDF v5.3+
M5Stack Tab5 connected via USB-C

Build & Flash

git clone <this-repo>
cd TerminalDemo

idf.py set-target esp32p4

idf.py -D SDKCONFIG_DEFAULTS="sdkconfig.defaults;sdkconfig.bsp.m5stack_tab5" build

idf.py -p /dev/ttyUSB0 flash monitor

Wire the CardKB2

Connect the CardKB2 to Tab5's HY2.0-4P (PORT.A) socket:

CardKB2          HY2.0-4P (PORT.A)
  GND   ───────────── GND
  3.3V  ───────────── 5V
  TX    ───────────── G54  (UART RX)
  RX    ───────────── G53  (UART TX)

💡 On the home screen, tap the UART card once to select it, then tap again to enter the terminal directly.

📱 UI Flow

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               🏠  Home Screen                │
│                                              │
│   ┌──────────────┐    ┌──────────────┐       │
│   │     UART     │    │ BLUETOOTH HID│       │
│   │  ✅ Working  │    │  🚧 WIP      │       │
│   └──────────────┘    └──────────────┘       │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │ tap UART card twice
         ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               💻  Terminal                   │
│   Blinking cursor · colored output           │
│   Line numbers · scrollable · autocomplete   │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

         (BLE path, WIP)
         │ tap BLUETOOTH HID → SCAN DEVICES
         ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               🔍  Scan Screen                 │
│   Live BLE discovery · RSSI · device name    │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘
         │ tap CONNECT
         ▼
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          ⚡  Connecting...                   │
│          12-dot spinner animation            │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────┘

⌨️ Terminal Commands

Once in the terminal, the CardKB2 input appears in the bottom bar with a blinking cursor. Press Enter to run.

🖥 System

Command	Returns
`help`	All commands grouped by category
`clear`	Clear the screen
`neofetch`	Stylized system info banner
`uname -a`	`Linux tab5 5.15.0-esp32p4 #1 SMP PREEMPT`
`uptime`	Live uptime since boot
`date`	Current date/time
`pwd`	`/home/tab5`
`whoami`	`tab5`

📁 Files

Command	Returns
`ls`	`bin etc home proc tmp usr`
`ls -la`	Detailed listing with permissions
`cat /etc/motd`	Message of the day

🌐 Network

Command	Returns
`ifconfig`	`wlan0` interface with IP/MAC
`ping` / `ping 8.8.8.8`	Animated 5-packet ping with RTT
`ble status`	BLE connection state
`espnow scan`	Simulated ESP-NOW node discovery

⚙️ Process

Command	Returns
`top`	Live FreeRTOS task table — CPU %, stack, name
`ps`	Process snapshot

🎉 Fun

Command	Returns
`fortune`	"Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature."
`sudo`	`Sorry, try again.` × 3
`sudo rm -rf /`	`Permission denied, phew.`
`reboot`	Fake reboot → neofetch splash

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`Enter`	Execute command
`Backspace`	Delete character
`↑` / `↓`	Command history (last 20)
`Tab`	Autocomplete from catalog

📁 Project Structure

TerminalDemo/
├── main/
│   ├── main.c                  # Entry: BSP init → wireless → UI
│   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   ├── wireless/
│   │   ├── wireless_mgr.c/h    # Shared node list, WiFi/BLE init
│   │   ├── ble_mgr.c           # NimBLE HID central (CardKB2 BLE)
│   │   ├── espnow_mgr.c        # ESP-NOW scan & receive
│   │   └── uart_mgr.c/h        # UART driver (CardKB2, GPIO53/54)
│   ├── ui/
│   │   ├── ui_common.h         # Colors, fonts, layout constants
│   │   ├── ui_home.c           # Home: UART / BT HID selection
│   │   ├── ui_scan.c           # BLE scan list
│   │   ├── ui_connect.c        # Connection spinner animation
│   │   ├── ui_connected.c      # Connected status page
│   │   └── ui_terminal.c       # Interactive terminal (500-line scrollback)
│   └── assets/
│       ├── fonts/              # Inter typeface — 14 weight/size variants
│       └── images/             # Icons: arrows, BT logo, ESP-NOW, etc.
├── readme/                     # Screenshots & demo GIF
├── sdkconfig.defaults
├── sdkconfig.bsp.m5stack_tab5
└── partitions.csv

🎨 Color Palette

Swatch	Hex	Role
🟧	`#E07B39`	Prompt `Tab5@terminal : ~ $`
🟨	`#F0C27F`	User input
🟦	`#60A5FA`	Info / headings
🟩	`#4ADE80`	Success
🟥	`#F87171`	Error
🟡	`#FBBF24`	Warning
🟣	`#E879F9`	Highlight
⬛	`#0E0E11`	Background

🔧 Customization

Add a command — in main/ui/ui_terminal.c:

} else if (strcmp(start, "hello") == 0) {
    term_append_line(T_SUCCESS, "Hello, world!");
}

Add it to the autocomplete catalog at the top of the same file:

static const char *s_cmd_catalog[] = {
    "help", "clear", ...,
    "hello",            // ← add here
};

Change UART pins — in main/wireless/uart_mgr.h:

#define UART_KB_TX_PIN      53
#define UART_KB_RX_PIN      54
#define UART_KB_BAUD_RATE   115200

📄 License

CC0-1.0 — public domain. Do whatever you like.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
TerminalDemo		TerminalDemo
readme		readme
.gitignore		.gitignore
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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Tab5 Terminal Demo

🎬 Preview

✨ What is this?

🛠️ Hardware

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Build & Flash

Wire the CardKB2

📱 UI Flow

⌨️ Terminal Commands

🖥 System

📁 Files

🌐 Network

⚙️ Process

🎉 Fun

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

📁 Project Structure

🎨 Color Palette

🔧 Customization

📄 License

About

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Mode	Status
UART (CardKB2 via HY2.0-4P)	✅ Works
Bluetooth HID (CardKB2 via BLE)	🚧 UI Present — Not Functional Yet

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Tab5 Terminal Demo

🎬 Preview

✨ What is this?

🛠️ Hardware

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

Build & Flash

Wire the CardKB2

📱 UI Flow

⌨️ Terminal Commands

🖥 System

📁 Files

🌐 Network

⚙️ Process

🎉 Fun

⌨️ Keyboard Shortcuts

📁 Project Structure

🎨 Color Palette

🔧 Customization

📄 License

About

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