diff --git a/environment-setup/femtofox.chroot b/environment-setup/femtofox.chroot
index ebf59e2..95496ec 100644
--- a/environment-setup/femtofox.chroot
+++ b/environment-setup/femtofox.chroot
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ echo "femtofox" | tee /etc/hostname > /dev/null
 
 echo "Configuring autostart of systemd services..."
 systemctl enable button
-systemctl enable meshtasticd
+#systemctl enable meshtasticd
 systemctl enable femto-runonce.service
 systemctl enable femto-usb-config-tool.service
 systemctl enable femto-boot-complete.service
diff --git a/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.d/femto_mac_address.yaml b/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.d/femto_mac_address.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1f2e8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.d/femto_mac_address.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+# this sets the mac address source to eth0, replacing the previous code that derived a seed from the CPU s/n.
+# of course, eth0 also has its mac address derived from CPU s/n, but this way meshtastic uses the exact mac address, instead of a bastardized version converted to a 9 digit int with `| bc | tail -c -9`.
+General:
+  MACAddressSource: eth0
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml b/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml.bak
similarity index 100%
rename from foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml
rename to foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/etc/meshtasticd/config.yaml.bak
diff --git a/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/usr/local/bin/femto-runonce.sh b/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/usr/local/bin/femto-runonce.sh
index e3470cb..ccc6b41 100755
--- a/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/usr/local/bin/femto-runonce.sh
+++ b/foxbuntu/sysdrv/out/rootfs_uclibc_rv1106/usr/local/bin/femto-runonce.sh
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ Re-running this script will:\n\
 * Set the eth0 MAC to be derivative of CPU serial number\n\
 * Add terminal type to user femto's .bashrc\n\
 * Add a shortcut \`sfc\` to user femto's .bashrc\n\
+* Enable the meshtasticd service\n\
 \n\
 Finally, the Femtofox will reboot.\n\
 \n\
@@ -106,6 +107,9 @@ else
   log_message "\`alias sfc='sudo femto-config'\` already present in .bashrc, skipping"
 fi
 
+log_message "Enabling meshtasticd service"
+systemctl enable meshtasticd
+
 # remove first boot flag
 sed -i -E 's/^first_boot=.*/first_boot=false/' /etc/femto.conf
 log_message "Removing first boot flag and rebooting in 5 seconds..."