BistroSN: a port of Bistro firmware to Convoy SN8F5701 8x7135 driver

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
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As you probably know, modern Convoy drivers use Sonix microcontrollers instead of ATtiny, so there were no custom firmware for them. Well, until today.

Here is something that has been brewing on my computer for quite a while: a port of Bistro firmware to Convoy SN8F5701 8x7135 driver. This is the kind of driver you get if you order Convoy S2+ or Convoy S3 with SST20, XPL HI or 219 LED. It is also available as a separate purchase. If you’re buying a new flashlight to try this firmware, I recommend the Convoy S3, as the driver in the Convoy S2+ will likely be soldered to the pill, complicating disassembly.

The code, binaries and installation instructions are available on the Github page. To flash the firmware, you’ll need the SN8Flash tool that was discussed earlier.

The firmware is experimental, so be careful! But it seems to work for me. The UI is the same as in the original Bistro:

bistro-ui
bistro-ui630×1200 133 KB

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A tool to flash Sonix MCUs in recent Convoy drivers
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Wow, thanks for all the hard work!

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How does medium press work without an OTC?

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Great work - Thank you!

Might you have ambitions to port this to Convoy buck drivers aswell?

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You have to solder an extra capacitor for medium press to work, the existing OTC is too small (0.1 uF) to distinguish between medium and long presses

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I have plans to make a custom firmware for Convoy’s 5A dual-fuel driver, which is boost for AA and buck for 14500.

Unfortunately, most Convoy drivers aren’t easy to flash – they either have no flashing pads (and use tiny parts) or/and have extra components on the programming pin that need to be desoldered. The 8x7135 and 5A dual-fuel are among the few exceptions that are easy to flash. You can check my research on Convoy drivers in the SN8Flash thread.

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That would have been my second ask - It is my most used AA driver. Cant wait to try it out and flash my lights - Thank you so much!

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This is awesome. It’s like how BLF was in the old days, taking proprietary hardware and making it better, using whatever methods necessary.

I added it to my flashlight firmware repository:

I can’t promise to keep my repo entirely up to date with your upstream copy though, so I made sure to point my copy at your repo and at this thread.

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Incredible! Exactly what I was looking for. Did you make any progress on the firmware for the 5A dual-fuel driver from the T3/T6? That’s exactly the driver I wanted to modify.

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Had a chance to play with it recently, but nothing to share yet. I’ve posted an update in the adjacent thread: A tool to flash Sonix MCUs in recent Convoy drivers - #44 by SilicaGel

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