Pixlbit

Flash it yourself

Every panel and kit we sell already ships pre-flashed. This page is for people running their own ESP32-C3 — or re-flashing a board from scratch.

1 · Wire the matrix

ESP32-C3 pinMAX7219
GPIO 7DIN (data)
GPIO 6CLK (clock)
GPIO 10CS / LOAD
5VVCC
GNDGND

Four chained 32×8 MAX7219 modules (FC-16 style), 32 columns total. Power the matrix from the board’s 5V and a decent USB-C supply — the LEDs can pull close to an amp at full brightness.

2 · Flash the firmware

Latest build: v1.20 · BTC and Clock Fix

Uploaded May 25, 2026

Plug the board in over USB, then:

Your browser can’t flash over USB — use Chrome or Edge on desktop, or the command line below. Flashing needs a secure (https) connection.

Chrome or Edge on desktop, via Web Serial. Nothing is installed; the firmware is fetched from this site.

Prefer the command line?

pip install esptool esptool.py --chip esp32c3 --port /dev/ttyACM0 --baud 921600 write_flash -z 0x0 fw_v1_20.bin ⇩ Download fw_v1_20.bin

3 · Set it up

  1. On first boot the panel scrolls its own serial (MGW-XXXXXXXX) and starts a Wi-Fi hotspot named LED-Panel-xxxx.
  2. Join that hotspot (password ledpanel123) and open 192.168.4.1, or use the Bluetooth setup page to hand it your Wi-Fi.
  3. Once it’s online it checks in here automatically. Create an account, then claim it with the serial from step 1. Full walkthrough in the setup guide.

Building from source instead? The Arduino sketch needs board ESP32C3 Dev Module, partition scheme Huge APP, and the MD_Parola / MD_MAX72xx / ArduinoJson libraries.

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