Your system already reaches Victron’s cloud. The Bridge adds the Bluetooth devices Venus OS doesn’t read today and everything Deeck builds on top.
Why Deeck, if you have VRM
A CarPlay app, Siri and the Deeck deck. VRM has push alerts, a Watch app and widgets, but no CarPlay app and no Siri
SmartShunt, MPPT, Orion XS and IP22 over Bluetooth, which Venus OS 3.81 doesn’t read today, show up in Deeck and in VRM graphs
Alarms on the system battery, checked on the Bridge every 30 seconds and pushed with the app closed, even when VRM is silent about your Bluetooth devices
Installs from the GX’s PackageManager. On a GX fresh from the factory, add SetupHelper from a USB stick first. A Venus GX needs a USB Bluetooth adapter
What the Bridge adds on your GX
SmartShunt, MPPT, Orion XS and IP22 over Bluetooth, as native devices in the GX device list and in VRM
WattCycle batteries and the climate, also from a distance
Push alerts on the system battery (charge, voltage, temperature) to up to 8 iPhones
Device settings changed from a distance
Install
Already have a GX? Install the Bridge from its menus.
How long it takes depends on your GX: if PackageManager is already there, you skip step 2.
1
Open the Remote Console
From the VRM portal, from a browser on the onboard network or on the GX’s own screen.
2
Add SetupHelper, if PackageManager is missing
If Settings has no PackageManager menu, install SetupHelper by kwindrem, a free community add-on: copy its venus-data file to a USB stick or microSD card, insert it into the GX and reboot. It can also be installed over SSH.
3
Add the Deeck package
Settings → PackageManager → Inactive packages → new. Package name voltdeck-venus-bridge, GitHub user iamdavidedb, branch main, then Proceed.
4
Install it
Open the package and tap Install. The Bridge services start on their own.
5
Open Deeck on the same network
On your iPhone, in Deeck: Settings → Deeck Bridge. The app finds the Bridge and hands it your device keys.
Leave “Modifications enabled” switched on (Settings → General → Modification checks): SetupHelper and the Bridge need it.
The Bridge also installs without PackageManager: from a USB stick with its tar.gz archive, or over SSH with the install-on-venus.sh script.
Requirements: Venus OS v3.4x or later with Bluetooth, as on a Cerbo GX or an Ekrano GX. The Venus GX’s Bluetooth only handles network setup, so it needs a USB Bluetooth adapter.
Deeck Bridge
What you need
A USB stick to install SetupHelper, once. The Bluetooth dongle is required on a Venus GX and recommended on older Cerbo GX units.
The links open a search on Amazon.
You already have a Cerbo GX or Ekrano · almost nothing
The Bridge installs on the GX. All you need is a USB stick for SetupHelper.
USB stickUsed once, to install SetupHelper on the GX. Any stick formatted FAT32 will do.
Rough budget for the package: about €15–25 with dongle and extension, our estimate; Amazon shows the current price.
Bluetooth dongle: reported working on Venus OS by the Victron community. Required on a Venus GX, recommended on Cerbo GX units up to serial HQ2207.
What reaches VRM
The Bridge publishes each Bluetooth device as a native Venus OS service: solar charger, battery monitor, DC-DC converter or charger. It appears in the GX device list and in the Remote Console like a wired device, and VRM records it in its graphs.
Alarms with the app closed
The Bridge checks the system battery every 30 seconds: state of charge, voltage and temperature, against low and high thresholds with hysteresis. When a threshold is crossed it sends a push through Deeck’s relay to Apple, to up to 8 iPhones, and waits 10 minutes before repeating the same alarm. iPhone only.
Where your data goes
Deeck’s cloud only handles pairing, configuration and waking the Bridge up. Your readings never pass through it: live data and commands stay on the local HTTPS connection or travel through VRM.
What it changes on the GX
No system files: the Bridge is a pure add-on
Your device keys are stored in /data/setupOptions and survive Venus OS updates
To reset it, insert a USB stick with a file named deeck-reset