Meshtastic Maps Build Guide

Ready to go Maps. Tested on T-Deck plus

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🧭 Project Overview

meshtastic:2.6.10

This guide documents how I got maps running on my LilyGO T-Deck Plus running Meshtastic UI — fully offline, field-ready maps.

The process starts with generating tile maps using Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC), converting the tiles into a format the T-Deck firmware can read, and loading them onto the device.

🚀 Build Steps

1. Install Java:
   sudo apt install default-jre
2. Verify Java:
   java -version
3. Download Mobile Atlas Creator (MOBAC) from SourceForge and unzip it.
4. Run MOBAC:
   java -jar Mobile_Atlas_Creator.jar
5. Select your map source:
   • OpenStreetMap Mapnik
   • OpenTopoMap
   • USGS National Map Topo (be careful — see notes below)
6. Select your region, set Zoom levels (10–14 worked well).
7. Set Atlas format:
   OsmAnd tile storage
8. Generate the map atlas.

⚠ Notes on Tile Formats

OsmAnd tile storage gives the correct folder structure:
/maps/<atlas_name>/zoom/x/y.png

HOWEVER — many tiles output as JPEG with a .png extension — causing "Failed to load tile" errors on the T-Deck.

To fix this, I used ImageMagick to convert them to true PNG:

sudo apt install imagemagick

find . -type f -name "*.tile" -exec bash -c 'f="{}"; out="${f%.tile}.png"; convert "$f" "$out";' \;

find . -type f -name "*png.png" -exec bash -c 'f="{}"; mv "$f" "${f/png.png/.png}"' \;

After this, run a sanity check:
find . -type f -name "*.png" -exec file {} \; | grep -v "PNG image data"
If no output, all tiles are now valid PNGs!

📦 Load Tiles onto T-Deck

Copy the corrected /maps/<atlas_name>/zoom/x/y.png directory to the root of your T-Deck’s SD card.

On boot, Meshtastic UI will load /maps/<atlas_name> and display your map.

🌟 Advanced Tip: Atlas Switching

The atlas_name folder is fully user-modifiable.

You can name this Tacos for example. On the T-Deck, long-press the "Map" tile (lower left), and a dropdown will appear allowing you to select which Atlas to load.

This enables you to have multiple maps for the same region:
e.g. one for public transport, one for topographic, etc.

✅ Final Result

Once I completed this process, I was able to load my map (USGS Topo around Bell Mountain, CA) onto the T-Deck — fully offline, readable in sunlight, and swappable on demand.

Field-tested and working!