[IMPORTANT] Changes regarding the access to Web configurator

[paradajz]

Since day one, everything related to OpenDeck has been freely available and open-source, without any limits. That includes access to the web configurator, even for custom user-built boards.

Over the past few months, I have been working hard on porting the entire codebase to a more modern platform: Zephyr RTOS. This made it possible to support a much wider range of boards, including both Pico variants, nRF52/53, Teensy 4/4.1, various STM32 boards, Adafruit Grand Central, and all of my own boards.

Starting with the latest firmware, OpenDeck also supports network features, most notably OSC. For Ethernet-capable boards, this changes the category quite a bit: they are no longer just MIDI controllers, but network-deployable nodes with bidirectional communication and access to the same configurator over the network.

That also changes the sustainability of the project. If someone buys supported boards elsewhere, or builds their own, and uses the OpenDeck configurator, I currently receive nothing in return for maintaining the firmware, UI, documentation, and board support. Unfortunately, I can no longer afford to keep that part completely unrestricted.

Starting from v8 firmware, the UI verifies whether a board is approved for configuration access. This is done using the board’s unique serial number and a signature generated with my private key. The UI verifies that signature using the public key. If the board is not approved, the UI remains connected, but configuration changes are disabled:

The serial number shown will be different for every board.

In v8 and newer firmware, configuration writes are locked by default. After the UI verifies that the board is approved, it sends an unlock command derived from the board’s serial number. Only after that unlock succeeds will the firmware accept configuration changes.

For older firmware versions, the same approval check is not required for known official board IDs. However, if an older firmware reports an unknown/custom board ID, the configurator will also lock configuration access.

Configurator access for custom/user-built boards will be available for a one-time fee of 25€ per board, which I believe is fair considering the amount of work that has gone into the project. If you need access for multiple boards, bulk pricing can be arranged.

All boards I have sold in the past will continue working as before. All boards I sell in the future will be pre-approved for use with the UI.