flipper zero multi-tool / developing

Written by
Walter Doekes
Published on 2022-08-11

Here are some pointers on how to get started editing/developing plugins for the Flipper Zero multi-tool.

(When writing this, the stable version was at 0.63.3. Things are moving fast, so some of the next bits may be outdated when you read them.)

Starting

Starting the Flipper Zero and adding an SD-card is documented in Flipper Zero first-start.

Now you can use all the nice pentest features already included. The SD-card is necessary to unlock some features.

When you first get your hands on your Flipper, you'll likely want to play around a bit now, scanning your NFC tags and radio controls.

Firmware

To update the firmware, you'll need to download qFlipper, attach the Flipper Zero to your USB port and click the INSTALL button, as documented in Flipper Zero firmware-update. On Linux you may need to add the following to /etc/udev/rules.d/42-flipperzero.rules first (and then run udevadm control --reload-rules and udevadm trigger as root):

#Flipper Zero serial port
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5740", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="Flipper Devices Inc.", TAG+="uaccess"
#Flipper Zero DFU
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="df11", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="STMicroelectronics", TAG+="uaccess"
#Flipper ESP32s2 BlackMagic
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="303a", ATTRS{idProduct}=="40??", ATTRS{manufacturer}=="Flipper Devices Inc.", TAG+="uaccess"

The usage of qFlipper should be self-explanatory.

Plugins

At this point — while writing, we're on firmware 0.63.3 — adding plugins is not trivial yet. The Flipper Zero development page is empty.

$Development, an emptypage$

No, this page did not help me ;-)

Some tutorials/examples exist elsewhere, like mfulz/Flipper-Plugin-Tutorial. A good alternative is to take the existing Snake game and remove all the code until you're left with something that does little more than print Hello World.

Building

Building a plugin means building the entire firmware. The steps involved are:

git clone https://github.com/flipperdevices/flipperzero-firmware
cd flipperzero-firmware/
git submodule init
git submodule update
sudo apt-get install scons openocd clang-format-13 dfu-util protobuf-compiler  # see ReadMe.md

Check out an appropriate version:

$ git tag -l | sort -V | tail -n3
0.63.2-rc
0.63.3
0.63.3-rc

$ git checkout -b branch-0.63.3 0.63.3

$ ./fbt

This yields a nice ./build/latest/firmware.dfu which can be uploaded using qFlipper.

If you want your (modified) version recorded in the About screen, you'll need to tag it. If git describe --exact-match returns no match, then the version shown will be "unknown". The git commit id is always shown regardless.

I'll plan on following up on this post with some documentation on using the GPIO-ports and connecting a temperature sensor. To be continued...

P.S. If you've managed to freeze your Flipper, have no fear. The LEFT+BACK button combination makes it reset. Or, alternately, holding BACK for 30+ seconds.

Update 2022-09-02

In the mean time, I did get some fixes in:

Changes so I can attach a temperature sensor and read it, are still pending:

Alter onewire API to allow GPIO pins too

Flipper Zero with DS18B20 sensor attached to GPIO pin C0, reading 23.3degressCelcius

In the mean time, you can look at these repositories for more inspiration:

A collection of Awesome resources (djsime1/awesome-flipperzero)
Tetris (on evilaliv3/flipperzero-sequencerz-app)
Older Flipper development documentation (by Aiden Manos)

Getting U2F to work on Ubuntu with snap

If you're using Chromium or Firefox in snap, you may need some extra udev rules too:

--- 70-snap.chromium.rules  2022-08-12 18:07:02.865910207 +0200
+++ 70-snap.chromium.rules  2022-08-12 18:07:43.297930862 +0200
@@ -107,6 +107,8 @@ SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*",
 # u2f-devices
 # Yubico YubiKey
 SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1050", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0113|0114|0115|0116|0120|0121|0200|0402|0403|0406|0407|0410", TAG+="snap_chromium_chromedriver"
+# Flipper Zero
+SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5741", TAG+="snap_chromium_chromedriver"
 TAG=="snap_chromium_chromedriver", RUN+="/usr/lib/snapd/snap-device-helper $env{ACTION} snap_chromium_chromedriver $devpath $major:$minor"
 # bluez
 KERNEL=="rfkill", TAG+="snap_chromium_chromium"
@@ -216,4 +218,6 @@ SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*",
 # u2f-devices
 # Yubico YubiKey
 SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1050", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0113|0114|0115|0116|0120|0121|0200|0402|0403|0406|0407|0410", TAG+="snap_chromium_chromium"
+# Flipper Zero
+SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5741", TAG+="snap_chromium_chromium"
 TAG=="snap_chromium_chromium", RUN+="/usr/lib/snapd/snap-device-helper $env{ACTION} snap_chromium_chromium $devpath $major:$minor"

--- 70-snap.firefox.rules  2022-08-12 18:06:09.309883567 +0200
+++ 70-snap.firefox.rules  2022-08-12 18:06:33.853895670 +0200
@@ -105,6 +105,8 @@ SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*",
 # u2f-devices
 # Yubico YubiKey
 SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1050", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0113|0114|0115|0116|0120|0121|0200|0402|0403|0406|0407|0410", TAG+="snap_firefox_firefox"
+# Flipper Zero
+SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5741", TAG+="snap_firefox_firefox"
 TAG=="snap_firefox_firefox", RUN+="/usr/lib/snapd/snap-device-helper $env{ACTION} snap_firefox_firefox $devpath $major:$minor"
 # camera
 KERNEL=="vchiq", TAG+="snap_firefox_geckodriver"
@@ -212,4 +214,6 @@ SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*",
 # u2f-devices
 # Yubico YubiKey
 SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1050", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0113|0114|0115|0116|0120|0121|0200|0402|0403|0406|0407|0410", TAG+="snap_firefox_geckodriver"
+# Flipper Zero
+SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0483", ATTRS{idProduct}=="5741", TAG+="snap_firefox_geckodriver"
 TAG=="snap_firefox_geckodriver", RUN+="/usr/lib/snapd/snap-device-helper $env{ACTION} snap_firefox_geckodriver $devpath $major:$minor"

Reloading udev: udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger

flipper zero multi-tool / developing