Caddx PC Tool (native Linux)

A native Linux/.NET tool for configuring Caddx Ascent FPV video gear (VTX/receiver units) over USB, with no Windows or Wine dependency.

Build & run

cd src
dotnet build CaddxTool.slnx   # build everything
dotnet run --project CaddxTool.Avalonia   # launch the GUI
dotnet test CaddxTool.Protocol.Tests/CaddxTool.Protocol.Tests.csproj   # run tests

Standalone executable

dotnet run needs the .NET SDK installed. To get a single native-feeling binary with no SDK/runtime dependency instead:

cd src
dotnet publish CaddxTool.Avalonia -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained true \
  -p:PublishSingleFile=true -p:IncludeNativeLibrariesForSelfExtract=true \
  -o ../publish

This produces publish/ascent-flasher — a self-contained ELF executable (~100MB, since it bundles the .NET runtime) you can run directly: ./publish/ascent-flasher.

CI builds this on every push (download it from the workflow run's Artifacts tab) and attaches it as a .tar.gz to the GitHub Release created for any pushed v* tag.

Web version

There's also a minimal browser-based version — no install, works on any OS with a Web Serial-capable browser. See web/README.md.

Disclaimer

Caddx's website doesn't publish a license agreement for the PC Tool, and I don't have a Windows machine to run their original app on and see whether it shows one during install or first run. So there's no way for me to verify how legal this independent client implementation is — use your own judgment.

This talks to your hardware's flash over USB, including firmware upgrades. Use it at your own risk — no responsibility is taken for any damage to your device.

Development

Feature work happens on main. A sibling git worktree (../caddx-pc-tool-secret, branch secret-not-secret) carries extra background material not tracked here; sync it with git merge main from that worktree. A fresh clone doesn't set this up automatically — recreate it with:

git worktree add ../caddx-pc-tool-secret secret-not-secret