Connecting

Most of what FREE-WILi 2 can do is reachable three ways: from a desktop app, over a plain serial terminal, or directly on the device's own screen. Pages elsewhere on this site point back here rather than re-explaining all three each time.

1. The FREE-WILi GUI desktop app

FREE-WILi GUI is the cross-platform desktop app for GPIO, SPI, I2C, UART, radio, LEDs, audio, scripting, and file management — a point-and-click front end for the same features the device exposes on its own screen and console. It can also be launched straight from the device's SD card with no separate install.

2. A serial terminal over USB

Plug FREE-WILi 2 into a host over USB and it enumerates as a USB serial (COM) device — look for it in your OS's port list (Device Manager on Windows, /dev/tty* on Linux/macOS). Open it in any serial terminal.

The serial console presents a menu of letters for navigation and functions. The menus are described in Menus & Commands.

3. Use the screen

Everything above is also reachable from the touchscreen and buttons, without a host PC at all — see Screen and buttons for how the panel list, folders, and button map work.

Which one you reach for is mostly a matter of convenience: the GUI app is easiest for anything visual or file-based, the serial console is quick for scripting or automation, and the device's own screen needs nothing else plugged in.