qMonstatek

Desktop companion app for the Monstatek M1 multi-tool device. Connects via USB to manage firmware, configure settings, and monitor device status.

For Users

Quick Start

1. Download the latest release .zip from the Releases page
2. Extract the zip to any folder (e.g. C:\qMonstatek\)
3. Run qmonstatek.exe
4. Connect your M1 via USB-C — it will auto-detect on the COM port

No installation required. All dependencies are included in the zip.

Linux users (Arch based distorbutions) that experience issues with the AppImage, build from source with the directions below.

Features

• Device Info — View firmware version, battery status, SD card, ESP32 status
• Firmware Update — Flash M1 firmware over USB (requires compatible RPC firmware)
• DFU Flash — Flash firmware via STM32 DFU mode (works with any firmware, including stock)
• Dual Boot — View and swap between two firmware banks
• ESP32 Update — Flash ESP32-C6 coprocessor firmware
• Screen Mirror — Live view of the M1's display
• WiFi Management — Connect to networks, manage saved credentials
• File Browser — Browse and manage files on the M1's SD card
• Sub-GHz / NFC / RFID / IR — View and manage captured signal files

DFU Flash (Recovery / Initial Setup)

If your M1 is running stock Monstatek firmware or is in an unresponsive state, use DFU Flash:

1. Power off the M1 (Settings → Power → Power Off → Right Button)
2. Hold Up + OK buttons for 5 seconds to enter DFU mode (screen stays dark)
3. Connect to PC via USB-C
4. Open qMonstatek → DFU Flash page
5. Select a firmware .bin file and click Flash

To exit DFU mode without flashing, hold Right + Back to reboot.

Swap Bank

The M1 has two flash banks for dual-boot. You can swap between them:

• Via DFU mode: Use the Swap Bank button on the DFU Flash page
• Via firmware: Use the Dual Boot page (requires compatible firmware)

For Developers

Firmware Compatibility

qMonstatek communicates with the M1 using a binary RPC protocol over USB CDC. Stock Monstatek firmware does not include this protocol — features like firmware update, device info, and file management require firmware that implements it.

To make your firmware compatible with qMonstatek, integrate the RPC protocol from:

https://github.com/bedge117/M1 (branch: feature/enhanced-firmware)

Key files to integrate:

• m1_csrc/m1_cli.c / m1_cli.h — RPC command handler
• Core/Src/cli_app.c / Core/Inc/cli_app.h — Command definitions and dispatch
• USB/Class/CDC/Src/usbd_cdc_if.c — USB CDC receive → RPC frame codec

The RPC protocol uses a simple frame format over the CDC serial link. See the source files above for the command IDs and payload structures.

DFU Flash (No RPC Required)

The DFU Flash feature works with any firmware — it uses the STM32H573's built-in ROM bootloader and ST's CubeProgrammer API. No RPC integration needed.

Building from Source (Windows)

Requirements:

• Qt 6.4+ (MinGW 64-bit)
• CMake 3.16+
• MinGW GCC (included with Qt)

Build:

cd qMonstatek
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -G "MinGW Makefiles" -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:/Qt/6.4.2/mingw_64"
mingw32-make -j8

The executable is at build/src/qmonstatek.exe.

DFU Flash helper (optional — only needed for DFU Flash feature):

gcc -O2 -o tools/stm32_dfu_flash.exe tools/stm32_dfu_flash.c

Place stm32_dfu_flash.exe in a stm32prog/ folder next to the main executable, along with the CubeProgrammer API DLLs and Data_Base/ directory. See the STM32CubeProgrammer API documentation for the required files.

Building from Source (Linux)

Requirements:

• Qt 6 (Core, Gui, Quick, SerialPort, Network, Widgets)
• CMake 3.21+
• GCC / Make

On Arch Linux / EndeavourOS, install the dependencies: ```bash sudo pacman -S base-devel cmake qt6-base qt6-declarative qt6-serialport ```

Build: ```bash cd qMonstatek mkdir build && cd build cmake .. make -j$(nproc) ```

The executable will be generated at build/src/qmonstatek.

Linux Device Permissions: To allow the application to communicate with the M1 over USB without requiring root or sudo:

1. Ensure your user is added to the uucp or dialout group (depending on your distro):

   sudo usermod -aG uucp $USER

   (You must log out and log back in for this to take effect).

2. DFU Flash Helper: Install STM32CubeProgrammer (e.g., yay -S stm32cubeprog on Arch) and ensure the STM32_Programmer_CLI is in your system PATH or installed to /opt/st/STM32CubeProgrammer/bin/.

3. udev Rules: Ensure you have the proper udev rules installed (usually /etc/udev/rules.d/99-stm32-dfu.rules) for 0483:df11 to allow user-space DFU flashing (These are included with STM32CubeProgrammer in the Drivers/rules/ directory with instructions). Additionally, you can run the following:

   echo 'SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="df11", MODE="0666"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-stm32-dfu.rules
   sudo udevadm control --reload-rules && sudo udevadm trigger

Building from Source (macOS)

Install Requirements

• Install STM32CubeProgrammer or STM32CubeIDE

brew install qt cmake

• You'll also need a compiler like gcc or clang, you can get that from brew or from Apple.

Build

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

The executable will be generated at build/src/qmonstatek.app. You can run it via open build/src/qmonstatek.app.

Prepare for distribution

In order to distribute to other macs, you'll need to have qt deploy and ad-hoc codesign the package. To do so, run the following command (and be prepared to wait a few minutes for it to work

cmake --install . --prefix ./dist

The package will be generated at build/dist/qmonstatek.app. You can test run it via open build/src/qmonstatek.app.

License

This project is provided as-is for use with Monstatek M1 devices.