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SenseCAP M1 → ChirpStack

Repurpose a Seeed SenseCAP M1 (Raspberry Pi 4 + WM1302/WM1303 LoRa concentrator) as a private ChirpStack LoRaWAN gateway and network server.

Built for people who still have the hardware, but not the Helium wallet keys — and would rather run real LoRaWAN than leave a good radio in a drawer.

Branch Target OS
main (this branch) Raspberry Pi OS on Debian 13 Trixie (recommended)
bookworm Raspberry Pi OS Bookworm (Debian 12) — legacy

Hardware: SenseCAP M1 = RPi 4 + Semtech SX1302 (WM1302) or SX1303 (WM1303) over SPI.

Current release: v2.0.0 — Trixie support, ChirpStack 4, CI, install helpers. See CHANGELOG.md.

Lost Helium seed phrase?

There is no recovery.
The Helium app is explicit about this during setup, which is why it ships with a write-down card. If those words are gone, the wallet is gone.

Official warning: https://docs.helium.com/wallets/wallet-seed-phrase

The good news: the gateway hardware is still useful. SPI, the concentrator, and Linux all still work. HNT may be out of reach, but LoRaWAN is not — and with ChirpStack, you run the network server yourself.

Requirements

  1. SenseCAP M1 (lost keys, retired miner, or intentional repurpose)
  2. Basic Linux command line
  3. Micro SD card reader
  4. Decent quality SD card (A2 / high endurance recommended)
  5. A bit of time

1. Flash Raspberry Pi OS (Trixie)

Download Raspberry Pi Imager.

  1. Board: Raspberry Pi 4
  2. OS: Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit) — description should mention Debian Trixie
    • Lite is enough for headless gateways
    • Desktop is fine if you want a GUI
  3. In OS customisation:
    • Set username and password
    • Configure Wi-Fi if needed
    • Enable SSH
  4. Write the image, insert the SD into the M1, power on

SSH in with Termius, PuTTY bla bla.

Still on Bookworm? Use branch bookworm instead of following main.

2. Board setup

Enable interfaces

sudo raspi-config

Under Interface Options, enable:

  • SPI (required for WM1302/WM1303)
  • I2C
  • Serial Port (login shell: No / hardware serial: Yes, if asked)
  • VNC (optional, Desktop only)

Finish the steps below before rebooting.

Update EEPROM (recommended)

sudo rpi-eeprom-update -a

Swap on Trixie (rpi-swap)

Trixie uses rpi-swap instead of dphys-swapfile. Defaults are fine for many installs. For a fixed 2 GiB swap file (helpful with Docker):

sudo mkdir -p /etc/rpi/swap.conf.d
sudo tee /etc/rpi/swap.conf.d/80-swapfile-2g.conf >/dev/null <<'EOF'
[Main]
Mechanism=swapfile

[File]
FixedSizeMiB=2048
EOF

Applies after reboot (man swap.conf).

Base packages

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y gpiod git curl ca-certificates

gpiod provides the modern GPIO tools. Trixie ships libgpiod 2.x (different CLI from Bookworm’s 1.x). This repo’s reset script supports both.

Docker

curl -sSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"
sudo usermod -aG gpio,spi,dialout "$USER"
sudo reboot

After reboot:

sudo apt autoremove -y
docker version   # should work without sudo after re-login

3. Clone this repo

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/hereismeaw/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack.git
cd SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack

main = Trixie. For Bookworm:

git clone -b bookworm https://github.com/hereismeaw/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack.git

4. Packet forwarder (WM1302 / WM1303)

Sysfs GPIO is gone on modern Raspberry Pi OS.
reset_lgw.sh uses libgpiod and auto-detects:

  • v2 → Trixie
  • v1 → Bookworm

Make binaries executable

cd ~/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack/packet_forwarder
chmod +x reset_lgw.sh lora_pkt_fwd spectral_scan

Read concentrator EUI

WM1302 (SX1302), AS923 Thailand config:

./lora_pkt_fwd -c global_conf_as923_th.json

WM1303 (SX1303):

./lora_pkt_fwd -c global_conf_as923_th_sx1303.json

Note the line:

INFO: concentrator EUI: 0xXXXXXXXXYYYYYYYY

Then stop with Ctrl+C.

Set Gateway ID

nano global_conf_as923_th.json   # or the sx1303 file

Under gateway_conf, set gateway_ID to the EUI without the 0x prefix (16 hex characters):

"gateway_ID": "XXXXXXXXYYYYYYYY",

Prebuilt lora_pkt_fwd is aarch64 for RPi 4. Bookworm-built binaries usually run on Trixie. If you hit glibc/loader errors, rebuild from sx1302_hal on the Pi.

Install as a systemd service (recommended)

cd ~/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack
sudo ./scripts/install-lora-service.sh

WM1303:

sudo ./scripts/install-lora-service.sh --config global_conf_as923_th_sx1303.json

Custom user:

sudo ./scripts/install-lora-service.sh --user youruser --config global_conf_as923_th.json

Status / logs:

sudo systemctl status lora_pkt_fwd.service
journalctl -u lora_pkt_fwd -f

Manual template: systemd/lora_pkt_fwd.service.

5. ChirpStack (Docker Compose)

Pre-configured for AS923 (Thailand). For other regions, edit MQTT topic templates in chirpstack-docker/docker-compose.yml and the region files under configuration/.

What is ChirpStack?

ChirpStack is an open-source LoRaWAN Network Server with a web UI for gateways, devices, tenants, and integrations, plus a gRPC API.

Start the stack

cd ~/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack/chirpstack-docker
docker compose up -d

Wait 1–3 minutes, then open:

http://<m1-ip>:8080

Default login: admin / admin — change this if the host is reachable beyond a trusted LAN.

Register the gateway

  1. Left menu → Gateways → add
  2. Gateway ID = same EUI as in the packet-forwarder config

(Optional) Import device profiles

cd ~/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack/chirpstack-docker
sudo apt install -y make
make import-lorawan-devices

Docs: https://www.chirpstack.io/docs/

6. Node-RED (optional)

cd ~
bash <(curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/node-red/linux-installers/master/deb/update-nodejs-and-nodered)

Answer the prompts (Pi-specific nodes if you want), then:

sudo systemctl enable --now nodered.service

UI: http://<ip>:1880

7. Advanced: multiple LNS with Packet Multiplexer

ChirpStack Packet Multiplexer forwards Semtech UDP traffic to several backends (e.g. private ChirpStack + TTN).

Install (ChirpStack 4.x apt repo)

sudo apt install -y gpg wget apt-transport-https
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo sh -c 'wget -q -O - https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/packages/chirpstack.key | gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/chirpstack.gpg'
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/chirpstack.gpg] https://artifacts.chirpstack.io/packages/4.x/deb stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/chirpstack.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y chirpstack-packet-multiplexer

Configure

sudo mkdir -p /etc/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer
sudo cp ~/SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml \
  /etc/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml
sudo nano /etc/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer/chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml

Default template binds on :17000 so it does not clash with Gateway Bridge on :1700.
When using the multiplexer, point packet-forwarder serv_port_up / serv_port_down to 17000.

sudo systemctl enable --now chirpstack-packet-multiplexer
sudo systemctl status chirpstack-packet-multiplexer

8. Bonus: Mysterium node

sudo -E bash -c "$(curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mysteriumnetwork/node/master/install.sh)"
sudo reboot

After 5–10 minutes: http://<ip>:4449

Desktop / VNC

If you installed Desktop, use a VNC client or Raspberry Pi Connect for remote GUI access.

Bookworm → Trixie migration notes

Topic Bookworm Trixie (main)
Base OS Debian 12 Debian 13
Swap dphys-swapfile rpi-swap
GPIO CLI libgpiod 1.x libgpiod 2.x
reset_lgw.sh v1-oriented auto-detects v1 and v2
Multiplexer apt 3.x + deprecated apt-key 4.x + /etc/apt/keyrings
Multiplexer config v3 TOML shape v4 [multiplexer] / [[multiplexer.server]]
Docker Compose optional version: key Compose Spec (no version)
Images postgres 14 / floating latest postgres 16 / ChirpStack major 4

Repo layout

SenseCAPM1-Chirpstack/
├── packet_forwarder/          # Semtech UDP PF + configs + reset
├── chirpstack-docker/         # ChirpStack v4 Compose stack
├── scripts/
│   ├── install-lora-service.sh
│   └── check-syntax.sh
├── systemd/lora_pkt_fwd.service
├── .github/workflows/ci.yml
├── CHANGELOG.md
└── chirpstack-packet-multiplexer.toml

CI / local checks

GitHub Actions runs on push/PR to main and bookworm:

  • bash -n / sh -n on shell scripts
  • ShellCheck
  • python -m py_compile
  • docker compose config
  • basic systemd unit layout check

Run locally:

./scripts/check-syntax.sh

Closing

If the miner chapter is over, the hardware chapter doesn’t have to be.
This guide turns the M1 back into a working LoRaWAN gateway, your network, your rules.

Made in Phatthalung, Thailand.

About

OS and Software Installation for People who own SenseCAP M1 But Lost Hellium Wallet Key and Don't Want To Leave It For Nothings

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chirpstacklorawanlorawan-gatewaylorawan-networkmysterium-networkthailand

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