Expert menu

The Expert menu groups the maintenance and diagnostic actions that are not part of everyday use. Open it from Main menu → Tools → Expert. On entry the badge shows a caution prompt that you have to acknowledge before the menu appears.

Caution

These actions reach hardware and stored data directly. Rebooting into the bootloader and rebuilding secure-element caches are safe but interrupt normal operation; toggling modules and setting a duress PIN change how the badge behaves. Read each entry below before using it.

Entries

The menu is built from a fixed top group, then any module-provided entries (for example the vFAT explorer), then a fixed bottom group. The fixed entries are:

Entry	What it does
Hardware Info	Opens a read-only screen that probes the I2C bus, power IC (BQ25895), keypad expander (TCA9535), display, TROPIC01 secure element (including its session state, RISC-V/SPECT firmware versions and R-Memory slot size), WiFi and BLE, and reports heap/DRAM memory usage.
Modules	Opens the module list. Each row shows a module name and its current status. Selecting a module toggles it enabled/disabled and starts or stops it; a module that failed to start shows an error and selecting it offers a retry.
Backup	Opens the encrypted backup submenu (Export / Import / Delete). See Encrypted backup & restore.
Set Duress PIN	Starts the duress-PIN setup flow. See Duress PIN / self-destruct.
TR01 Cache Rebuild	Rebuilds the cached TROPIC01 metadata and reports OK or failure.
TR01 Cache Cleanup	Cleans the cached TROPIC01 metadata and reports OK or failure.
Shipping Mode	Disconnects the battery for storage/shipping after a confirmation prompt. See Ship mode.
Bootloader	Reboots the badge into USB download mode for flashing. It shows a “bootloader mode” lock screen, detaches USB so the host re-enumerates, and triggers a hard reset with the ROM download-boot bit set.

Module-provided entries

Modules can add their own rows between the top and bottom groups. The vFAT file explorer appears here when the mod_vfat module is enabled - see File storage & NVS tools.

Modules: enable and disable

The Modules screen lists every registered module with a status marker. Selecting an entry:

• toggles the module’s enabled state and immediately starts or stops it;
• if a module fails to start, shows the failure reason. A start can fail because a secure-element slot is in error, because there is no free USB interface slot, or for a generic reason;
• if the toggle changes the USB configuration (for example enabling a USB-HID module), shows a sticky alert that you need to re-plug the badge.

A module that is in an error state shows that error; selecting it offers to retry initialization rather than toggling it.

The factory-default enabled state of each module is fixed at build time. Your own enable/disable choices persist independently in NVS and survive reboots.

TROPIC01 cache maintenance

The badge keeps a cache of metadata for the TROPIC01 secure element. Two Expert actions maintain it:

• TR01 Cache Rebuild re-reads the secure element and rebuilds the cache.
• TR01 Cache Cleanup removes stale cache entries.

Both run synchronously, show a working indicator, and report OK or failure. Use them if the badge reports inconsistent secure-element state.

Ship mode

Shipping Mode disconnects the battery so the badge can be stored or shipped without draining it. Selecting it shows a confirmation prompt first; on confirm the charger opens its BATFET and the badge powers off (or keeps running from USB if USB is attached). The same action is available by holding the Flash button for three seconds or via the SHIPMODE serial command. Full details are on the Power, battery & sleep page.

Bootloader entry

Bootloader is the on-device way to enter USB download mode without holding the BOOT button. After you select it the badge switches to a quiet lock-screen state, detaches USB, and performs a hard reset into the ROM download mode, so a flashing tool on the host can talk to it. A normal power cycle returns the badge to firmware.