Sonoff ZBDongle-E timeout & firmware customization testing

[Nerivec]

Continuation of Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt#23861 regarding firmware customization testing.

[bobo-cher]

Thanks for creating this topic.
I'd like to test if increasing SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE solves the issue with OTA failures.

For this I tried to build firmware but I don't really know what I'm doing 😄

I forked the repository (only main branch) and then changed SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE. Then using Actions tab started a new firmware build. After that I've took gbl-file from producedfirmware-build-sonoff_zbdonglee_zigbee_ncp_8.1.0.0_115200_sw_flow.zip and flashed the firmware using web-flasher.

Is that a proper way of doing things? ;)

The firmware probably failed to load because the communication with the dongle didn't work anymore. I was able to restore normal firmware using bootloader mode.

I don't know if the problem was with my workflow, with the changed settings or maybe current version (8.1.0) doesn't work on ZBDongle-E at all. I don't know if anyone tested it so far.

I'd like to test 7.4.4 or 7.4.5 or 8.0.2 with increased SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE but have no idea how to build an older version of the firmware.

[Nerivec]

Is that a proper way of doing things? ;)

It is. Just be careful if you don't have a good grasp of the effect of changing values.

maybe current version (8.1.0) doesn't work on ZBDongle-E

Indeed it would be that: #21
I didn't create a release because of that problem, we'll have to wait for a fix from Silabs (seems to affect software flow control, so, all adapters that use it).

There is a branch for previous version (8.0.2): https://github.com/Nerivec/silabs-firmware-builder/tree/sisdk-2024.6.2 (make sure to pick the correct branch when triggering a build in Actions).
This builder does not support versions older than 8.0.x (the SDK changed, it's not the same setup).

[bobo-cher]

Thank you. That worked.

With 8.0.2 and SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE set to 128 (from default 64) OTA updates work!
Updated two devices on first attempt. I have another 7 devices wanting OTA updates, in a case I need to test other Dongle-E firmwares.

[wfa001]

would like to test your build (https://github.com/bobo-cher/silabs-firmware-builder-2/tree/refs/heads/8.0.2-test) from half a hour ago.
Any identified problems so far?

[bobo-cher]

@wfa001 Please see my post below with links to test builds.

[bobo-cher]

Tested with successful OTA updates:

• 8.0.2: SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE=128 and baudrate=115200
• 8.0.2: SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE=128 and baudrate=230400
• 8.0.2: SL_IOSTREAM_USART_VCOM_RX_BUFFER_SIZE=256 and baudrate=230400.

Will be using the last config (rx_buffer=256, baudrate=230400) for now and see how it works in general.

[bobo-cher]

Uploaded my test builds to releases section of my repository: bobo-cher releases.

Please be aware these are test releases, use with care.

I'm currently using this one: sonoff_zbdonglee_zigbee_ncp_hb_8.0.2.0_rx256_230400_sw_flow.gbl.

No issues so far but it runs for less than an hour. It's too early to draw conclusions about stability.

[wfa001]

thx. will try this one.

[bobo-cher]

Don't forget to change baudrate setting in z2m config if using firmwares with non-standard baud rates like this one (standard is 115200).

[wfa001]

seems working smooth so far... (49 devices)

[wfa001]

did OTA Update with Custom Firmware on Device LYWSD03MMC successfully

[Nerivec]

https://github.com/Nerivec/silabs-firmware-builder/releases/tag/v2024.6.2-update5 should fix this (work around it at least), so, closing pending feedback from silabs on the underlaying issue.