Complete Behavior Reference | Bitaxe Robot Bitcoin Display

At a glance

The complete startup sequence

1

Power on

The screen identifies the installed ROBOT v2.12.0 firmware, then the Robot checks for saved local WiFi credentials.

2

Initial WiFi setup, when needed

If no local WiFi credentials are saved—or the saved network is unavailable after a brief connection attempt—the Robot opens its BitaxeRobot setup network. This required stage connects the Robot to an available local WiFi network; no reset is needed.

3

WIFI SAVED

This means required setup succeeded. The setup page may disappear as its network closes. RobotSettings starts next, but opening it is optional.

4

Optional RobotSettings

The Robot temporarily reopens BitaxeRobot for customization and device management. If no phone or computer joins, the normal display rotation begins after about one minute. The unopened settings network closes after about five minutes.

5

Normal display

The Robot shows the saved rotation and retrieves only the online data needed by that rotation. Restarting makes RobotSettings available again.

Required stage

Initial WiFi setup

When it appears

Initial setup appears when the Robot has no saved local WiFi credentials or cannot connect to its saved network at startup. It briefly tries the saved network first, then enters the same setup flow automatically. No reset is required. The temporary network is named BitaxeRobot and uses the BitaxeRobot WiFi password supplied on the private owner card.

How the page opens

A phone may open the local setup page automatically after joining. If it does not, stay on BitaxeRobot, open a normal browser, and enter 192.168.4.1 in the address bar.

If nobody joins

The complete setup guidance repeats for about two minutes. The screen then changes to a clean showcase of the Bitaxe logo, animated eyes, and scrolling message. The setup network remains available in the background so a late owner can still configure it.

When a device joins later

The device screen returns from the showcase to the relevant joined/setup guidance.

JOINING LOCAL WIFIThe Robot is still trying the submitted network and password. Wait for a final result.

WIFI SAVEDThe Robot connected successfully. Required setup is complete.

WIFI FAILEDThe connection did not succeed. Follow the screen’s password/network and reconnect guidance, then try setup again.

Optional stage

RobotSettings timing and access

You do not have to open RobotSettings to finish initial setup. Use it only when you want to customize the display, run diagnostics, manage the device, or close the temporary settings network immediately.

Situation	What the screen does	How long the network remains available
Nobody joins	Connection guidance appears for about one minute, then the normal saved rotation begins.	About five minutes from when RobotSettings started.
A phone or computer joins	Joined guidance remains visible and directs the owner to open a browser at 192.168.4.1.	The unopened five-minute window continues. The normal session rules begin after the page is opened.
The page has been opened	The PIN or reconnection guidance remains available instead of relying on the normal rotation.	About three minutes without successful browser communication; 20 minutes maximum for a normal session.
Extended Feed Test is enabled	Feed Test may optionally keep the settings session available for diagnostics.	Up to one hour maximum.

A remembered phone can join BitaxeRobot automatically. If you want to skip RobotSettings, disconnect that phone from BitaxeRobot; otherwise the joined guidance can remain until the unopened settings network closes.

Opening RobotSettings

Join BitaxeRobot using the same BitaxeRobot WiFi password from the private card.
Open a browser manually and enter 192.168.4.1 in the address bar.
Enter the changing four-digit PIN shown on the device screen.

Each RobotSettings start creates a new PIN. Five incorrect PIN attempts close the temporary settings network. Disconnect and reconnect power to start a fresh session and generate a new PIN.

Four pages

Display, Price, Feed Test, and Device

Save changes on the current page before using the navigation buttons to open another page.

Display

Build the saved rotation

Add, remove, repeat, and reorder up to 24 rotation items.
Available items are Bitaxe logo, animated eyes, custom scrolling message, Bitcoin price in USD, Bitcoin price in EUR, block height, recommended fee, and time since the last block.
For non-Message items, Quick is about two seconds, Normal about five seconds, and Long about 15 seconds.
Message timing selects Fast, Normal, or Slow scrolling instead of a stationary duration.
The scrolling message is limited to 80 characters, and every Message row uses the same saved text.
An empty rotation displays eyes rather than a blank screen.

Price

Choose price behavior

Select Coinbase, Kraken, or CoinGecko as the primary price source.
The source and refresh choice apply to both USD and EUR, while the two currencies keep separate cached values.
Coinbase and Kraken offer 30-second, one-minute, and two-minute refresh choices. CoinGecko offers two-, five-, and ten-minute choices.
Optional fallbacks let the Robot try another provider after a primary-source failure. The order is Coinbase, Kraken, then CoinGecko, skipping the selected primary source.
A fallback price is labeled with the provider on the device screen.

Feed Test

Run advanced diagnostics

Tests USD and EUR against Coinbase, Kraken, and CoinGecko: six combinations in all.
Checks run one at a time. Selected rates are minimum targets, not promises that all six checks will finish on exact schedules.
Results can be viewed on the page, optionally shown on the device screen, or streamed live over an attached USB serial session.
Feed Test is temporary and resets when the Robot restarts.

Device

Finish, restart, erase, or change privacy display behavior

Finish & Close RobotSettings closes the temporary BitaxeRobot WiFi network immediately. Saved settings remain active.
Restart Device restarts without intentionally erasing saved settings.
Erase Local WiFi Credentials removes the owner’s local WiFi information but keeps display and price choices.
Erase All Device Settings restores defaults, including turning Public Display Mode off. The installed firmware remains.

Device page · Public Display Mode

What Public Display Mode changes

The firmware calls the BitaxeRobot WiFi password the device-network password. Check Hide the device-network password on the device screen, then click or tap Save Public Display Mode.

When enabled, the device screen asks for the BitaxeRobot WiFi password without displaying it. The mode persists across a normal restart and Erase Local WiFi Credentials, but Erase All Device Settings turns it off.

Public Display Mode does not change the BitaxeRobot WiFi network name or password, temporary PIN, availability windows, or session limits. It is a privacy display choice, not a lock or a separate authentication system.

Connectivity

What happens when connectivity is lost

Internet access stops, but local WiFi remains connected

What triggers it: Public data requests repeatedly fail even though the Robot still has a local WiFi connection.
What appears: After sustained failures, NO INTERNET appears once per display rotation. Cached online values gain old-data labels.
What continues: The saved rotation continues. Bitaxe logo, animated eyes, and message items do not need internet and continue normally.
Recovery: The Robot backs off for about one minute after three consecutive transport failures, then retries automatically. Warnings and old-data labels clear as successful refreshes return.
Owner action: Usually wait for automatic recovery. If it continues, confirm the saved network has internet access and no browser sign-in requirement.

The Robot loses its local WiFi connection

What triggers it: The connection to the saved local WiFi remains unavailable for about 15 seconds.
What appears: WIFI LOST appears instead of treating the problem as only a remote-provider outage.
What continues: Non-network display items and cached values remain available.
Recovery: The Robot continues trying to recover its connection.
Owner action: Check the router or guest/IoT network. The Robot retries automatically. If it starts while the saved network is unavailable, follow the initial WiFi setup flow shown on the device; no reset is required.

The active rotation uses no online data

What triggers it: The saved rotation contains only the Bitaxe logo, animated eyes, and message.
What appears: No irrelevant internet warning is inserted into the rotation.
What continues: The complete saved rotation continues without ordinary price, block, or fee requests.
Owner action: None. Feed Test remains the only explicit exception because starting it requests online data for diagnostics.

Display data

Fresh, fallback, cached, and unavailable values

Fresh priceShows the current USD or EUR value without an old-data label.

Fallback priceShows the provider label when another enabled provider supplied the value.

OLD PRICEThe displayed USD or EUR price is cached rather than current.

NO USD PRICE / NO EUR PRICENo current or cached value is available for that currency.

OLD BLOCKThe displayed block-height value has not refreshed successfully.

OLD FEEThe displayed recommended-fee value has not refreshed successfully.

LAST SEENThe displayed last-block information is cached.

WAITBlock height, recommended fee, or last-block data has not arrived yet.

A cached price gains the OLD PRICE label after a sustained network warning or about 15 minutes without a successful refresh. Block, fee, and last-block values gain their old-data labels after a sustained network warning or about five minutes without their own successful refresh. USD and EUR prices keep separate caches so one currency cannot be presented as the other.

Normal online requests are rotation-aware. The Robot retrieves USD prices only when USD price is present, EUR prices only when EUR price is present, block information only when Block Height or Last Block is present, and fee information only when Recommended Fee is present.

Online work occurs between display items rather than during frame-by-frame logo, eyes, or message animation. A required request can still cause a brief stationary wait at an item boundary or temporarily delay a RobotSettings page.

Advanced diagnostics

Feed Test behavior

Feed Test is for diagnosing price-provider behavior. It is not part of normal setup and does not need to remain enabled.

Starting a test clears the previous session’s counters and begins checking the six currency/provider combinations one at a time.
Refresh the Feed Test page to see newly accumulated results.
Optional device-screen results and live USB serial output apply only to the current diagnostic run.
Ordinary mempool statistics refreshes pause during Feed Test so they do not add unrelated diagnostic traffic.
An in-progress external request can briefly produce Device busy - retrying or even a misleading device-not-responding message before a Stop action completes.
If stopping seems delayed, wait rather than repeatedly pressing controls. Restarting is a safe escape: it stops Feed Test, clears its options and results, and restores normal defaults.
An optional keep-open setting can extend RobotSettings for Feed Test, but the diagnostic session still has a one-hour maximum.

Saved state

Saving, finishing, restarting, and erasing

Save on each page

Moving to another page, choosing Finish Settings…, closing the browser, or losing the temporary network does not save unfinished changes automatically.

Finish Settings…

This is a navigation control on Display, Price, and Feed Test. It takes you to Device so you can perform the final close. It does not save unsaved changes on the page you leave.

Finish & Close RobotSettings

This exists to close the temporary BitaxeRobot WiFi network immediately. It does not save settings; already-saved settings remain active.

Restart Device or power-cycle

A restart reopens RobotSettings during startup without intentionally erasing local WiFi, display, price, or Public Display Mode settings. Feed Test state resets.

Erase Local WiFi Credentials

This removes the saved local network name and password. Display and price choices remain, and Public Display Mode remains in its previous state. The Robot returns to initial WiFi setup.

Erase All Device Settings

This removes local WiFi information and restores display, price, message, and Public Display Mode defaults. It does not remove or downgrade the installed firmware.

Security and privacy

Important limits and safeguards

The reusable BitaxeRobot WiFi password is intentionally absent from public instructions. It is supplied privately to the owner.
Public Display Mode hides that WiFi password on the device screen but does not change it, disable the network, or replace the temporary settings PIN.
The setup and RobotSettings pages use local HTTP at 192.168.4.1, not HTTPS. Nearby access is possible for someone who obtains the relevant credentials.
The ESP32-S3 stores the owner’s local WiFi name and password. Erase that information before selling, returning, or transferring the Robot.
A properly isolated guest or IoT network reduces access to trusted computers, phones, and storage. A network requiring a browser sign-in page is not suitable.
Connections to public data providers are encrypted, but the firmware does not validate provider security certificates. A capable attacker controlling the network path could potentially supply false display data.
The Robot does not hold Bitcoin and never needs a wallet address, private key, seed phrase, exchange login, or other financial credential. Never enter those into a setup or settings page.