This folder is a backup of the custom firmware from the Arm Create developer conference. It only runs on the Tufty 2350, the color-screen badge in Pimoroni's Badgeware line.

Do not flash these files onto Badger, Blinky, or the older Tufty 2040. Those are different boards. This image was built for pimoroni_tufty2350, and the program, the screen, and the files on the badge are laid out for that board.

• Product site: badgewa.re
• Badgeware API: badgewa.re/docs
• Stock firmware and updates: github.com/pimoroni/tufty2350
• Buy the board: shop.pimoroni.com/products/tufty-2350

Tufty is one of three Badgeware badges. The other two use different screens and different firmware:

• Badger — 2.7" 264×176 e-paper
• Blinky — white LED matrix

These are the board specs from Pimoroni. The chip reading from this badge matches the Tufty 2350: an RP2350 in a QFN80 package, which is the RP2350B, and 16 MB of flash.

Stock instructions, from the Tufty 2350 repo: turn the badge over so the back faces you. BOOT is the button toward the far left. RESET is just to the right of BOOT, on the left-hand edge.

Pimoroni ships two files for each stock release. The latest stock release right now is v3.1.1.

This backup is the second kind, but it is the Arm Create build, not the stock v3.1.1 file. The version string is bw-1.28.0-3, built August 25, 2026, with Pico SDK 2.3.0.

Flash tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.uf2 when you want this conference badge back, firmware and files together. Flashing the stock with-filesystem UF2 from the Pimoroni repo will wipe these apps and pictures and put the factory set back.

Taken with picotool 2.3.1 while the badge was in BOOTSEL. The full 16 MB read was checked against the chip. picotool reported OK.

• Board id: pimoroni_tufty2350
• Chip: RP2350, revision A4, package QFN80
• Firmware: MicroPython bw-1.28.0-3, ARM Secure image, USB REPL
• Firmware addresses: 0x10000000–0x10152520
• A 1 MB read-only ROMFS sits at 0x10200000–0x10300000
• Badge files sit in a FAT filesystem labeled TUFTY, at 0x10300000–0x11000000 (13 MB). Sector size is 4096 bytes
• There is no RP2350 partition table. The whole chip is one unpartitioned flash image

The FAT volume holds the apps and pictures. That is why the with-filesystem image is the one that brings the folders back. A firmware-only UF2 stops at the program and leaves that region alone.

INDEX.HTM and INFO_UF2.TXT are the two files the RP2350 boot drive shows. They are not the firmware.

Pictures in TUFTY\:

• Shared art in ASSETS\: TUFTY.PNG, background.png, CARDS.PNG, ICONS.PNG, SKULL.PNG, SQUIRREL.GIF, ARMMARK.SVG, and squirrel-sprites\
• Gallery pages in APPS\GALLERY\IMAGES\EN\ and APPS\GALLERY\IMAGES\CN\
• App icons and sprites under APPS\BADGE, APPS\cricket_hop, APPS\SNAKE, and APPS\TUFTY

SECRETS.PY and PROFILE.PY are the Wi-Fi and name-badge settings. In this backup they are still blank: no SSID, password, name, company, job title, or social handle. LANGUAGE is cn, which only selects the Chinese gallery artwork. There is no profile.png.

You need picotool to read the chip or to flash the .bin. Dragging the .uf2 onto the RP2350 drive does not need it.

1. Download picotool-2.3.1-x64-win.zip from the Raspberry Pi pico-sdk-tools release v2.3.1-0.
2. Unzip it and keep the whole picotool folder. picotool.exe has to stay next to the other files in that folder.
3. Put that folder on your user Path:

$picodir = "$env:USERPROFILE\.local\pico\picotool-2.3.1\picotool"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path (Split-Path $picodir) | Out-Null
# Unzip picotool-2.3.1-x64-win.zip so picotool.exe is in $picodir
$userPath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "User")
if ($userPath -notlike "*$picodir*") {
  [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$picodir;$userPath", "User")
}
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("picotool_DIR", $picodir, "User")

4. Close PowerShell, open a new window, and run:

picotool version

You want picotool v2.3.1. The commands in this file match that version. On the machine where this backup was made, picotool is already at %USERPROFILE%\.local\pico\picotool-2.3.1\picotool\picotool.exe.

The boot drive is named RP2350 on this board. Pimoroni's stock steps are:

1. Plug Tufty into the computer with a USB-C cable that carries data. A charge-only cable will power the badge and will not show a drive.
2. Turn the badge over so the back faces you.
3. Press and hold BOOT (HOME/BOOT), the button toward the far left.
4. Briefly tap RESET, just to the right of BOOT.
5. Let go of BOOT.

File Explorer should show a removable drive named RP2350. On that drive you will only see INDEX.HTM and INFO_UF2.TXT. The apps and pictures are not loose files there. They are in the flash image.

Tufty has to be in BOOTSEL, with the RP2350 drive on screen. These files are for a Tufty 2350 only.

Copy tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.uf2 onto the root of the RP2350 drive. Do not drop it into a subfolder.

The file is 8,088,064 bytes. A UF2 block is 512 bytes and carries 256 bytes of flash, and this file keeps only the 15,797 pages that are not blank. That is the firmware, the ROMFS, and the TUFTY files. When the copy finishes, the RP2350 drive goes away and the badge reboots. Windows often reports that the drive disappeared. That is the flash completing, not a failed copy.

From this folder:

picotool info
picotool load -v -x ".\tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.bin"

picotool info should see an RP2350. -v reads the flash back and checks the write. -x reboots into the program when the write is done. Do not pass an offset. A .bin from this backup already starts at 0x10000000.

A full write plus the check takes a couple of minutes.

After this flash you do not also copy TUFTY\ by hand. The folders and pictures are already in the image.

Stock Tufty firmware calls this disk mode, and the Tufty repo says the drive shows up as Tufty2350. This Arm Create image's filesystem volume is labeled TUFTY, so look for that name too.

1. Let the badge boot. Do not hold BOOT.
2. Plug in USB if you unplugged it.
3. Turn the badge over. Double-tap RESET (the button to the right of BOOT).
4. A drive appears. On it you should see MAIN.PY, APPS, ASSETS, BRANDING.PY, PROFILE.PY, and SECRETS.PY. Gallery pictures are in APPS\GALLERY\IMAGES.
5. Eject the drive from Windows when you are done copying. The badge reboots into the menu. You can also tap RESET once to leave disk mode.

Copy the backup folders onto the badge by hand only if you flashed a firmware-only UF2 and the files are missing:

1. Double-tap RESET so the drive appears.
2. Open TUFTY from this backup.
3. Copy the contents onto the root of that drive: MAIN.PY, APPS, ASSETS, and the other files next to them. Do not copy the TUFTY folder itself onto the drive. That nests a second TUFTY folder and the badge will not see the apps.

Wi-Fi for this image is the same idea as stock Badgeware: edit secrets.py on that drive, then eject it. The API those apps call is documented at badgewa.re/docs.

The RP2350 drive can show up while picotool still says no BOOTSEL device was found. Install WinUSB for the boot interface only:

1. Download Zadig and run it as administrator.
2. Open Options, then List All Devices.
3. Choose RP2 Boot (Interface 1).
4. Set the driver on the right to WinUSB, not libusb-win32.
5. Install it.

Do not replace the driver on the mass-storage interface. That removes the RP2350 drive. Unplug the badge, enter BOOTSEL again, and run picotool info.

If no drive appears at all, try another USB port and another data cable, and hold BOOT while you tap RESET.

Do this in BOOTSEL, before you flash something else over the chip. save -a is the whole flash chip. save without -a keeps the program only, and you would lose the apps and pictures from the backup.

picotool info -a
picotool save -a -v .\tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.bin
picotool uf2 convert --family absolute --platform rp2350 .\tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.bin .\tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.uf2

picotool uf2 convert packs every page in the bin, including blank 0xFF pages, so that file is about 32 MB. The UF2 shipped here drops those blank pages and is 8,088,064 bytes.

tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.bin
0EA16153920D58F0E16D19E931EDAF37210069947C5DF1A3953E36365717B055

tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.uf2
54BB4F3A6703FFE83669FE36C508528B85301EDEE2F2DB285DFDEDFD082AEF28

Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 .\tufty-bw-1.28.0-3-micropython-with-filesystem.uf2

This repository is released under the MIT License. Copyright (c) 2026 VyrnSynx.

The font files under TUFTY\ASSETS\FONTS\ stay under the SIL Open Font License. That notice is in TUFTY\ASSETS\FONTS\LICENCES\OFL.TXT.