Open, kernel-up firmware for Control4 controllers. A modern Linux kernel and root filesystem, built from source, running on hardware the vendor shipped locked.
📖 Documentation and the full hardware research →
| Controller | Supported |
|---|---|
| HC-250 | ✅ |
| HC-800 | ✅ |
| EA-1 | ✅ |
| EA-3 | ✅ |
| EA-5 | ❌ |
| CA-1 | ✅ |
| CA-10 | ❌ |
| Core-1 | ❌ |
| Core-3 | ❌ |
| Core-5 | ❌ |
| IO Extender (v1) | ✅ |
| IO Extender (v2) | ❌ |
These are just the controllers I have on hand. More will be coming in the future. I do not have plans to work on models older than the HC-250 (HC-200, HC-300, HC-500, HC-1000).
Everything goes through the flasher: installing openHC, going back into it, and restoring a controller to factory. It works over the network, with no serial cable and no lid off, and it identifies the controller before touching it.
GUI: download ohc-flasher for macOS, Windows or Linux from the
latest release, along with the
image bundle for your controller (openhc-<board>-<version>.zip), and run it.
Command line: build ohc-flash from this repository:
cd flasher
cargo build --release -p ohc-flash-cliBoth need sshpass to log into a controller (brew install sshpass, or your
distribution's package).
ohc-flash discover # find controllers on the network
ohc-flash identify <ip> # what it is, and what is running
ohc-flash plan <board> # what an install would do
ohc-flash install <ip> --images openhc-<board>-<version>.zip
ohc-flash boot <ip> # go back into an installed openHC
ohc-flash uninstall <ip> # boot stock Control4 again
ohc-flash restore <ip> # back to factoryohc-flash help lists every option. Before installing, read
Recovery for how your
controller gets back to stock.
Needs Docker and Python 3; nothing else is installed on the host.
make image BOARD=ea3-v2make help lists the boards. Full detail:
Building an image.
board/ Buildroot BR2_EXTERNAL root — one directory per board, plus the
shared common/ and ea/common/ trees they compose from
packages/ Buildroot packages and the Rust workspace (iod, webd, wifi+portal, …)
flasher/ the flasher — Rust workspace, GUI + CLI over one engine
build/ Dockerised Buildroot
site/ this project's documentation site (Astro + Starlight)
MIT. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Control4 / Snap One. Reverse-engineered for interoperability from lawfully-owned units and published GPL sources; no vendor code is redistributed here.