Memory Usage (Fork of a Fork)

[jlpoolen]

I forked (https://github.com/jlpoolen/microReticulumTBeam) a fork (https://github.com/torlando-tech/microReticulum) of this project and successfully built an image for the LillyGO T-Beam SUPREME. I have been warned the project is incomplete, but I wanted to know what the memory consumption is, so I went ahead and built the project. Here are screenshots that answer that question along with the text.

Here's the text for posterity:

jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam $ idf.py size
idf.py size-components
ls -lh build/*.bin build/*.elf
Executing action: size
Running ninja in directory /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build
Executing "ninja all"...
[1/4] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/esp-idf/esptool_py && /home/jlpoole/.espressif/py...artition_table/partition-table.bin /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/microReticulumTBeam.bin
microReticulumTBeam.bin binary size 0x2e5b0 bytes. Smallest app partition is 0x100000 bytes. 0xd1a50 bytes (82%) free.
[1/1] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/bootloader/esp-idf/esptool_py && /home/jlpoole/.e...y --offset 0x8000 bootloader 0x0 /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/bootloader/bootloader.bin
Bootloader binary size 0x5240 bytes. 0x2dc0 bytes (36%) free.
[4/4] Completed 'bootloader'Running ninja in directory /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build
Executing "ninja size"...
[0/1] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build && /usr/bin/cmake -D "IDF_SIZE_TOOL=/home/jlpoole/.espressif/python_env/idf5.5_py3.13_env/bin/python;-m;esp_idf_size" -D MAP_FILE=/usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/microReticulumTBeam.map -D OUTPUT_JSON= -P /home/jlpoole/esp/esp-idf/tools/cmake/run_size_tool.cmake
                            Memory Type Usage Summary                             
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Memory Type/Section ? Used [bytes] ? Used [%] ? Remain [bytes] ? Total [bytes] ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
| Flash Code          |        78814 |          |                |               |
|    .text            |        78814 |          |                |               |
| DIRAM               |        55423 |    16.22 |         286337 |        341760 |
|    .text            |        42175 |    12.34 |                |               |
|    .data            |        10992 |     3.22 |                |               |
|    .bss             |         2256 |     0.66 |                |               |
| Flash Data          |        41356 |          |                |               |
|    .rodata          |        41100 |          |                |               |
|    .appdesc         |          256 |          |                |               |
| IRAM                |        16384 |    100.0 |              0 |         16384 |
|    .text            |        15356 |    93.73 |                |               |
|    .vectors         |         1028 |     6.27 |                |               |
| RTC SLOW            |           32 |     0.39 |           8160 |          8192 |
|    .force_slow      |           32 |     0.39 |                |               |
| RTC FAST            |           24 |     0.29 |           8168 |          8192 |
|    .rtc_reserved    |           24 |     0.29 |                |               |
+---------------------+--------------+----------+----------------+---------------+
Total image size: 189753 bytes (.bin may be padded larger)
Note: The reported total sizes may be smaller than those in the technical reference manual due to reserved memory and application configuration. The total flash size available for the application is not included by default, as it cannot be reliably determined due to the presence of other data like the bootloader, partition table, and application partition size.
Executing action: size-components
Running ninja in directory /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build
Executing "ninja all"...
[1/4] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/esp-idf/esptool_py && /home/jlpoole/.espressif/py...artition_table/partition-table.bin /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/microReticulumTBeam.bin
microReticulumTBeam.bin binary size 0x2e5b0 bytes. Smallest app partition is 0x100000 bytes. 0xd1a50 bytes (82%) free.
[1/1] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/bootloader/esp-idf/esptool_py && /home/jlpoole/.e...y --offset 0x8000 bootloader 0x0 /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/bootloader/bootloader.bin
Bootloader binary size 0x5240 bytes. 0x2dc0 bytes (36%) free.
[4/4] Completed 'bootloader'Running ninja in directory /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build
Executing "ninja size-components"...
[0/1] cd /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build && /usr/bin/cmake -D "IDF_SIZE_TOOL=/home/jlpoole/.espressif/python_env/idf5.5_py3.13_env/bin/python;-m;esp_idf_size" -D IDF_SIZE_MODE=--archives -D MAP_FILE=/usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam/build/microReticulumTBeam.map -D OUTPUT_JSON= -P /home/jlpoole/esp/esp-idf/tools/cmake/run_size_tool.cmake
                                                                                       Per-archive contributions to ELF file                                                                                        
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Archive File                    ? Total Size ? IRAM ? .text ? .vectors ? DIRAM ? .bss ? .data ? .text ? Flash Code ? .text ? Flash Data ? .rodata ? .appdesc ? RTC FAST ? .rtc_reserved ? RTC SLOW ? .force_slow ?
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
| libesp_app_format.a             |      28732 |    0 |     0 |        0 |    10 |   10 |     0 |     0 |        435 |   435 |      28287 |   28031 |      256 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libc.a                          |      26101 |    0 |     0 |        0 |   584 |  320 |   264 |     0 |      23314 | 23314 |       2203 |    2203 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_hw_support.a             |      25189 | 3773 |  3773 |        0 |  3997 |   91 |   470 |  3436 |      16312 | 16312 |       1051 |    1051 |        0 |       24 |            24 |       32 |          32 |
| libfreertos.a                   |      18541 |  852 |   852 |        0 | 16285 |  757 |  3108 | 12420 |        425 |   425 |        979 |     979 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_system.a                 |      14294 | 2603 |  2603 |        0 |  1459 |  309 |   433 |   717 |       9476 |  9476 |        756 |     756 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libspi_flash.a                  |      14004 | 1372 |  1372 |        0 | 10351 |   32 |  1940 |  8379 |       1199 |  1199 |       1082 |    1082 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libhal.a                        |      12748 |  552 |   552 |        0 | 10230 |    4 |  2747 |  7479 |       1912 |  1912 |         54 |      54 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libheap.a                       |      11097 | 1591 |  1591 |        0 |  5490 |    8 |     4 |  5478 |       3118 |  3118 |        898 |     898 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_driver_uart.a            |       7639 |    0 |     0 |        0 |   336 |   32 |   304 |     0 |       6743 |  6743 |        560 |     560 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libvfs.a                        |       4336 |    0 |     0 |        0 |   236 |   44 |   192 |     0 |       3957 |  3957 |        143 |     143 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libxtensa.a                     |       3709 | 2031 |  1604 |      427 |  1513 |    0 |  1060 |   453 |        117 |   117 |         48 |      48 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_mm.a                     |       3616 |  614 |   614 |        0 |   429 |   48 |    87 |   294 |       2407 |  2407 |        166 |     166 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libnewlib.a                     |       3285 |  835 |   835 |        0 |  1113 |  200 |   172 |   741 |       1228 |  1228 |        109 |     109 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_driver_usb_serial_jtag.a |       2393 |  118 |   118 |        0 |    73 |   17 |    56 |     0 |       2029 |  2029 |        173 |     173 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_driver_gpio.a            |       2156 |    0 |     0 |        0 |    36 |    0 |    36 |     0 |       1843 |  1843 |        277 |     277 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libsoc.a                        |       1873 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |          0 |     0 |       1873 |    1873 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_common.a                 |       1865 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |         51 |    51 |       1814 |    1814 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_ringbuf.a                |       1332 |   72 |    72 |        0 |  1118 |    0 |     0 |  1118 |          0 |     0 |        142 |     142 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| liblog.a                        |       1280 |   24 |    24 |        0 |   598 |  276 |     8 |   314 |        634 |   634 |         24 |      24 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libbootloader_support.a         |       1113 | 1039 |  1039 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |         34 |    34 |         40 |      40 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_partition.a              |       1077 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     8 |    8 |     0 |     0 |       1032 |  1032 |         37 |      37 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_vfs_console.a            |        709 |    0 |     0 |        0 |    20 |   20 |     0 |     0 |        509 |   509 |        180 |     180 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_rom.a                    |        536 |   68 |    68 |        0 |   398 |    0 |     4 |   394 |         70 |    70 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_timer.a                  |        450 |   57 |    57 |        0 |    20 |   20 |     0 |     0 |        357 |   357 |         16 |      16 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libxt_hal.a                     |        437 |    0 |     0 |        0 |   405 |    0 |     0 |   405 |          0 |     0 |         32 |      32 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libefuse.a                      |        351 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |        295 |   295 |         56 |      56 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libapp_update.a                 |        186 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     4 |    4 |     0 |     0 |        152 |   152 |         30 |      30 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libpthread.a                    |        122 |    0 |     0 |        0 |    12 |    4 |     8 |     0 |        110 |   110 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libstdc++.a                     |         86 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     5 |    5 |     0 |     0 |         77 |    77 |          4 |       4 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libcxx.a                        |         34 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |         34 |    34 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_security.a               |         20 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |         12 |    12 |          8 |       8 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libmain.a                       |         16 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |         16 |    16 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libnvs_sec_provider.a           |          5 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |          5 |     5 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
| libesp_phy.a                    |          5 |    0 |     0 |        0 |     0 |    0 |     0 |     0 |          5 |     5 |          0 |       0 |        0 |        0 |             0 |        0 |           0 |
+---------------------------------+------------+------+-------+----------+-------+------+-------+-------+------------+-------+------------+---------+----------+----------+---------------+----------+-------------+
-rw-r--r-- 1 jlpoole jlpoole 186K Jan 18 15:27 build/microReticulumTBeam.bin
-rwxr-xr-x 1 jlpoole jlpoole 3.6M Jan 18 15:27 build/microReticulumTBeam.elf
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam $ git info
git: 'info' is not a git command. See 'git --help'.

The most similar commands are
        init
        mailinfo
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam $ git log -n 1
commit b8be484624b69819b9d69aeae0ca85bdeb19e626 (HEAD -> master, origin/master, origin/HEAD)
Author: Chad Attermann <attermann@gmail.com>
Date:   Tue Aug 26 21:05:36 2025 -0600

    WIP: Major refactor of unit and integration tests
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam $ git status
On branch master
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/master'.

Changes not staged for commit:
  (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
  (use "git restore <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
        modified:   CMakeLists.txt

Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
        build/
        components/
        dependencies.lock
        main/
        sdkconfig
        sdkconfig.old

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/microReticulumTBeam $ 

[jlpoolen]

And building the RNode binary, for those wondering what space would be consumed were RNode and this project combined on the same board:

INFO[0007]   found better lib                            lib=SD prio=6B0
Sketch uses 1441849 bytes (68%) of program storage space. Maximum is 2097152 bytes.
Global variables use 96572 bytes (29%) of dynamic memory, leaving 231108 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 327680 bytes.

real    0m51.897s
user    2m25.893s
sys     0m38.885s
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/RNode_Firmware $ date; find build -type f -name "*.bin" -maxdepth 6 -print -exec ls -lh {} \;
Sun Jan 18 17:17:36 PST 2026
find: warning: you have specified the global option -maxdepth after the argument -type, but global options are not positional, i.e., -maxdepth affects tests specified before it as well as those specified after it.  Please specify global options before other arguments.
build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 jlpoole jlpoole 1.4M Jan 18 17:17 build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.bin
build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.bootloader.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 jlpoole jlpoole 15K Jan 18 17:17 build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.bootloader.bin
build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.partitions.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 jlpoole jlpoole 3.0K Jan 18 17:17 build/esp32.esp32.esp32s3/RNode_Firmware.ino.partitions.bin
jlpoole@jp /usr/local/src/RNode_Firmware $ 

[attermann]

Out of curiosity, what would be the purpose of combining microReticulum and RNode on the same device? Are you just speculating how much space an RNode with microReticulum support would consume? If so then you'd get a better a measure using https://github.com/attermann/microReticulum_Firmware instead. It's not up-to-date with the latest RNode but it does (in case you're not familiar with it) enable microReticulum transport-mode in an RNode-compatible firmware.
NOTE: be sure to use the transport_node branch of that repo for the aforementioned feature.

[jlpoolen]

What I want to accomplish is: hand the device that requires no pairing to neighbors who are not techno-savvy and then ask them to walk a prescribed path around the neighborhood. No cell phone required. I would have up to 4 walkers and a base station. The T-Beam Supreme would have 1) RNode, 2) microreticum, and 3) a custom testing program which ascertains the users position and then messages to the four other units at set intervals, e.g. 15 seconds - 1 minute. Units receiving messages would log them to a file. All units would have the predetermined Reticulum addresses hard-coded. After all participants come back to the base station, I would then download (looks like I can use the SD card) each units data and push the logs into a database and then map the results. I haven't flushed out the parse of the data, but trust I will be able to determine if a packet came directly or through one or more intermediaries. I want to know how effective is Lora, coupled with Reticulum, in an urban and downtown setting. I'm 5 blocks away from the capitol in Salem where there is often a lot of public expression. It seems to me coordinators of such might want to be able to communicate anonymously and with reliance upon cell phone and potential Stingray monitoring. When I read that Stingray was being used by ICE, I felt compelled to explore something that could bypass Stingray. What I have determined is that I have 7 MBs of memory if I do not use partitions and since I will be the owner of the units and only hand them out for field trials, I do not have to worry about users upgrading & etc. since I'll be burning the images. As I looked into this and learned about the flash memory management of the T-Beam, I harkened back to over a decade ago when I built a Gentoo image for the first Beaglebone and my getting involved with Das Boot. As I am learning about the architecture, It seems to me if existing Meshastic users could try out a Reticulum unit simply by doing an upgrade and then using SD Cards to switch back and forth between their standard Meshtastic and Reticulum, we might open a door to get people to Reticulum.

…

On Wed, Jan 21, 2026 at 12:17 PM Chad Attermann ***@***.***> wrote: Out of curiosity, what would be the purpose of combining microReticulum and RNode on the same device? Are you just speculating how much space an RNode with microReticulum support would consume? If so then you'd get a better a measure using https://github.com/attermann/microReticulum_Firmware instead. It's not up-to-date with the latest RNode but it does (in case you're not familiar with it) enable microReticulum transport-mode in an RNode-compatible firmware. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#16 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AABXP4OZE2T4RVXLS54S6434H7NGXAVCNFSM6AAAAACSDGFJNKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTKNJWGM3DQMA> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.*** com>

-- John L. Poole Salem, Oregon 707-812-1323

[attermann]

Love everything about what you're trying to accomplish.

What you refer to as "1) RNode, 2) microreticum" is exactly what microReticulum_Firmware is. It's microReticulum taking the place of a serial/ble connection in RNode as both the source+sink for LoRa packets. You could use it as either a base or a reference for your custom firmware. Of course maybe other forks of microReticulum have example apps that are more appropriate to work from, especially if you plan on using LXMF as your messaging protocol.

Don't hesitate to reach out if I can help in any way.