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Magic Box SilverFoxRC · User Guide

Hardware v1.4 vs v2.0

Two hardware revisions of Magic Box are in the field: v1.4 and v2.0. Same enclosure, same Raspberry Pi inside, same display and buttons, same 4 × USB, same Web UI. What changed is the motherboard — and for you, it comes down to two things: how the UART line handles signal inversion, and a physical power switch.

If you fly PPM or SBUS, the revisions are interchangeable. If you want IBUS or CRSF, the revision decides whether the link works at all — v1.4’s UART is inverted and those two protocols expect a plain one.

The difference in one table

Section titled “The difference in one table”
v1.4v2.0
UART inversionOne fixed inverter on the line — always on, nothing to switchSwitched in hardware, per protocol — Magic Box matches whatever you pick
PPM (3.5 mm jack)✅✅
SBUS✅ Native — inverted is exactly what SBUS wants✅
IBUS⚠️ Only if the module you’re driving accepts an inverted line✅
CRSF — ExpressLRS⚠️ Tick UART inverted in the module’s WebUI✅ Leave UART inverted unticked
CRSF — TBS Crossfire❌ Those modules have no inverted-input option✅
Power switchNone — powered whenever the battery is plugged inPhysical ON/OFF switch with a latch — flip it off and the box shuts down cleanly
Everything else—Same: Raspberry Pi, enclosure, display, buttons, 4 × USB, 16 channels, Web UI, profiles, transforms, head tracker input

What it means in practice

Section titled “What it means in practice”

Flying PPM or SBUS? No practical difference. SBUS is the cleanest digital path on v1.4 — the inverted UART matches SBUS natively, with nothing to set on either end.

Want IBUS or CRSF? v2.0 removes the caveats. Both are still reachable on v1.4, they just need the far end of the wire to cooperate:

  • IBUS on v1.4 — won’t work unless the module can be told to accept an inverted input, and modules configured by buttons rather than a WebUI generally can’t be. In practice that closes the door: use SBUS, which is the same wire to the same module and matches v1.4 natively. Details on the IBUS page.
  • CRSF on v1.4 — ExpressLRS modules (Bandit Micro / Lite / Nano on ELRS 3.x+) take the inverted stream once you tick UART inverted in their Options tab. TBS Crossfire modules don’t expose that toggle, so on v1.4 the path is ExpressLRS or SBUS. Details on the CRSF page.

Every protocol is selectable in the Web UI on both revisions — the dropdown doesn’t hide anything. On v1.4 it shows a warning next to IBUS and CRSF so you know the inverted line is in play.

The inversion setting to check sits on the module you wire Magic Box to, not in your model — your receiver hands the rest of the chain a standard signal either way.

Which one do I have?

Section titled “Which one do I have?”

Two ways to tell:

  • Web UI — open System. It reads Hardware: 1.4 or Hardware: 2.0.
  • Look at the box — v2.0 has a physical ON/OFF switch. v1.4 doesn’t.

One firmware line, both boards

Section titled “One firmware line, both boards”

There’s no separate v1.4 build and v2.0 build. From v2.7.0 one SD card image covers both revisions — Magic Box works out which board it’s on at boot and sets itself up. You don’t pick a build, and there’s nothing to configure.

Grab the current image from OS Images whichever revision you own.

Staying on v1.4

Section titled “Staying on v1.4”

Nothing to fix. A v1.4 box flying PPM or SBUS does everything a v2.0 does, and firmware releases land on it too — v2.6.0, for instance, put IBUS and CRSF on the v1.4 protocol menu for pilots whose downstream gear handles the inverted line.