# READ ME FIRST — the Generator's microSD Card

This card belongs in the **ESP32 Four Channel Generator**. The Generator reads its
programs from this card every time it starts, and it will not run without it.

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## Leave these files as they are

- **`protocols-0.txt`** — the program the Generator loads every time it starts.
- **`protocols-98.txt` and `protocols-99.txt`** — spare copies of `protocols-0.txt`.
  If `protocols-0.txt` is ever damaged, the Generator repairs it from these by
  itself. Keep them.
- **All the `protocols-nn.txt` files stay in the top level of the card**, not in a
  folder, and keep their exact names, `protocols-0.txt` to `protocols-99.txt`.

The Generator ignores everything else on the card, so the folders below are safe
to open, read and copy.

## What's on this card

| Where | What it holds | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Top level | `protocols-0.txt` to `protocols-99.txt`, the programs the Generator plays. `wifidataX.txt`, a template for WiFi settings. | Everyone |
| `Manual` | The Generator PWM Manual in four formats: **.pdf** (easiest to read and print), **.docx** (Word), **.md** (markdown viewer), and **.txt** (for AI assistants). `manual_images` holds the pictures the .md version uses. | Everyone |
| `Python` | The three PC programs — `protocol_tool_gui.py`, `protocol_tool.py` and `protocol_editor.py` — with a guide to each, a README, and the complete protocol file format. | Anyone moving or editing protocol files on a computer |
| `firmware_update_package` | Everything needed to install the Generator's firmware on it again or update it. See Chapter 7 of the manual. | Anyone updating the firmware |
| `Firmware Source` | The eight Arduino source files, in a folder ready to open in the Arduino IDE. See Chapter 8. | People changing the firmware |
| `Documentation` | The circuit schematic and circuit board drawings. | Building or repairing a Generator |
| `PCB Design Files` | The circuit board design files. | Building circuit boards |
| `Pictures` | Photos of the Generator and its prototypes. | Anyone |

## Where to start

- **Using the Generator for the first time:** the manual, Chapter 1.
- **You have a question:** the "How To: Questions and Answers" section at the end
  of the manual.
- **You'd like an AI assistant to help:** give it `Manual/Generator_PWM_Manual.txt`
  and ask your question.
- **Moving protocol files between a computer and the Generator:** the manual,
  Chapters 5 and 6, and `Python/README`.

## Working with this card on a computer

- **Switch the Generator off** before taking the card out.
- **Eject the card properly** before pulling it out of the computer. Pulling it out
  early can leave a file you just copied or renamed unfinished.
- **Put the card back in the Generator** when you're done.
- **Back up the whole card** to your computer from time to time.

## Files from the website end in .txt

The Aurorasky website publishes the firmware and the PC programs with `.txt`
endings, because the web server will only send files of that kind. The copies on
this card already have their proper endings — `.ino` and `.py` — so use them just as
they are.

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**Aurorasky** · contact_9@aurorasky.net

The Generator is not a medical device, and nothing on this card makes any claim
about the effect of any frequency.
