2020.12.7 broke RFLINK

Configuration
1

I’ve upgraded to 2020.12.7 and it broke my RFLINK integration. I’m now getting hundreds of entries like this in response to a command:

2020-12-25 08:17:10 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x

2020-12-25 08:17:10 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��fxf~f��f��������������������

2020-12-25 08:17:10 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�

This was working perfectly before the upgrade.

My configuration.yaml for rflink is as follows:

# RFlink                                                                                                               
rflink:                                                                                                                   
  port: /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Arduino__www.arduino.cc__0042_55936343034351F0F0D2-if00
  wait_for_ack: false                                                                                                

cover:                                                                                                                      
   platform: rflink                                                                                                        
   devices:                                                                                                                  
     RTS_098831_0:    
       name: Living
     RTS_CDA300_0: 
       name: Seline
     RTS_0F5D2B_0:
       name: Bedroom
     RTS_D77634_0:
       name: Pergola

Does anyone have any clue on what’s happening here?

2

Are yours covers working ok?
I think these traces are signals that your RFLink receives from a nearby sensor (not necessarily yours).

3

Thanks for the reply. The covers are working fine. What I will do is to clear it and re-learn it from the remotes. Let’s see whether that might get it to work.

4

I’ve cleared all remotes in RFLink Loader and re-configured the remotes. Rebooted HA but no difference. 2020.12.7 definitely broke RFLink. As mentioned before, this worked perfectly without any issues before 2020.12.7.

5

Ok, there are a few diferents things to review here.

Your RFLink is USB connected to HA, right? And this has been the case since before the problem, correct?

You mention that the problem has appeared when updating the supervisor to version 2020.12.7
What version of HA do you have installed? Did you update it at the same time as the supervisor?
In my installation I have HA 0.118.5 with supervisor 2020.12.7 (also connected by USB) and I have not detected the problem you report.

From what you say, you cannot control the blinds from HA, is that correct?
The error traces could be generated by some signal RFLink receives (which shouldn’t be a problem), but if you can’t send commands correctly, there must be some kind of problem.

Can you enable the debug logs for RFLink?
This can be done from services panel, calling the logger.det_level service with:

homeassistant.rflink: debug
rflink: debug

Get some traces for your RFLink commands and disable the debug level calling the same sevice with:

homeassistant.rflink: warning
rflink: warning
6

Thanks @javicalle for your reply.

My RFLink box is connected via USB to my Raspberry PI4.

I’ve reconfigured all remotes again in RFLINK Loader and can successfully control then from within RFLink Loader with the 10;RTS;;0; command.

I’ve enabled the log level as you suggested. I don’t get much more out of it than what I’ve already shared.

2020-12-28 11:38:20 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.loader] You are using a custom integration for hacs which has not been tested by Home Assistant. This component might cause stability problems, be sure to disable it if you experience issues with Home Assistant.
2020-12-28 11:38:20 WARNING (MainThread) [homeassistant.loader] You are using a custom integration for smartweather which has not been tested by Home Assistant. This component might cause stability problems, be sure to disable it if you experience issues with Home Assistant.
2020-12-28 11:38:24 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Initiating Rflink connection
2020-12-28 11:38:24 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Connected to Rflink
2020-12-28 11:38:24 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] connected
2020-12-28 11:38:57 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Sending command: UP to Rflink device: RTS_098832_0
2020-12-28 11:38:57 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] sending command: {'protocol': 'RTS', 'id': '098832', 'switch': '0', 'command': 'UP'}
2020-12-28 11:38:57 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] writing data: '10;RTS;098832;0;UP;\r\n'
2020-12-28 11:39:18 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x��fxf~f�
2020-12-28 11:39:18 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �f�����������`���������`~f�~f
2020-12-28 11:39:18 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: f������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:39:42 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x��fxf~f
2020-12-28 11:39:42 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��f�����������`���������`~f�~f
2020-12-28 11:39:42 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: f������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:40:07 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x�
2020-12-28 11:40:07 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �fxf~f��f�����������`���������`
2020-12-28 11:40:07 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:40:31 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x�
2020-12-28 11:40:31 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �fxf~f��f�����������`���������`
2020-12-28 11:40:31 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:40:56 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~���
2020-12-28 11:40:56 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �`��fx����x��fxf~f��f���������
2020-12-28 11:40:56 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��`���������`~f�~ff����
2020-12-28 11:40:56 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��~怘�
2020-12-28 11:41:20 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~
2020-12-28 11:41:20 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~����`��fx����x��fxf~f��f�������
2020-12-28 11:41:20 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ����`���������`~f�~ff���
2020-12-28 11:41:20 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ���~怘�
2020-12-28 11:41:45 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`�
2020-12-28 11:41:45 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �fx����x��fxf~f��f�����������`��
2020-12-28 11:41:45 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �������`~f�~ff������~�
2020-12-28 11:41:45 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��
2020-12-28 11:42:09 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x
2020-12-28 11:42:09 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��fxf~f��f�����������`���������`
2020-12-28 11:42:09 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:42:34 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��f
2020-12-28 11:42:34 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: x����x��fxf~f��f�����������`�����
2020-12-28 11:42:34 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ����`~f�~ff������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:42:58 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: 
2020-12-28 11:42:58 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x��fxf~f��f�
2020-12-28 11:42:58 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ����������`���������`~f�~ff�
2020-12-28 11:42:58 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �����~怘�
2020-12-28 11:43:22 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~���
2020-12-28 11:43:22 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �`��fx����x��fxf~f��f���������
2020-12-28 11:43:22 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��`���������`~f�~ff����
2020-12-28 11:43:22 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��~怘�
2020-12-28 11:43:47 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x
2020-12-28 11:43:47 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��fxf~f��f�����������`���������`
2020-12-28 11:43:47 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�
2020-12-28 11:44:11 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��fx����x
2020-12-28 11:44:11 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ��fxf~f��f�����������`���������`
2020-12-28 11:44:11 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: ~f�~ff������~怘�

My versions are as follows:

System Health

version 2020.12.1
installation_type Home Assistant OS
dev false
hassio true
docker true
virtualenv false
python_version 3.8.6
os_name Linux
os_version 5.4.79-v7l
arch armv7l
timezone Australia/Sydney
Home Assistant Community Store
GitHub API ok
Github API Calls Remaining 4964
Installed Version 1.9.0
Stage running
Available Repositories 703
Installed Repositories 3
Home Assistant Cloud
logged_in true
subscription_expiration January 11, 2021, 11:00 AM
relayer_connected true
remote_enabled true
remote_connected true
alexa_enabled true
google_enabled false
can_reach_cert_server ok
can_reach_cloud_auth ok
can_reach_cloud ok
Hass.io
host_os Home Assistant OS 5.9
update_channel beta
supervisor_version 2020.12.7
docker_version 19.03.13
disk_total 57.8 GB
disk_used 5.2 GB
healthy true
supported true
board rpi4
supervisor_api ok
version_api ok
installed_addons Mosquitto broker (5.1), File editor (5.2.0), Log Viewer (0.9.1), Git pull (7.12), TasmoAdmin (0.13.1), SSH & Web Terminal (7.8.0), Zigbee2mqtt (1.14.4.2), Node-RED (7.2.11)
Lovelace
dashboards 2
mode auto-gen
resources 0

Again, I’m at a loss why the upgrade broke RFLink. Any help in resolving this would be much appreciated.

7

Hi,
I see from your traces that you have sent an UP command from HA, did it work? Can you now control your blinds from HA?

This same error has been reported previously but usually related to a TCP/IP connection (which is not your case). There is also some report related to the zigbee2mqtt addon:

As far as I can see, the error traces are produced on the received signals, which does not explain why RFLink stops working.
But from what you say, I understand that it is not just error traces in the logs, but that your RFLink is not operational.
Since there are no more reports of people complaining about this problem after the version update, could it be related to another origin? Is it possible that you have recently installed or updated an addon?

8

Hi @javicalle,

Yes, the traces included me sending an UP command to one of the blinds. Again, this used to work perfectly before the upgrade. The blinds also work when I send the command directly via RFLink Loader, ie all blinds work perfectly.

I can’t remember installing a new add-on other than upgrading HACS. That’s about it.

Here’s my current configuration yaml:


# Configure a default setup of Home Assistant (frontend, api, etc)
default_config:

logger:
  default: error
  logs:
    rflink: debug
    homeassistant.components.rflink: debug   

# Text to speech
tts:
  - platform: google_translate

group: !include groups.yaml
automation: !include automations.yaml
script: !include scripts.yaml
scene: !include scenes.yaml

frontend:
  themes: !include_dir_merge_named themes

# Configuration for Minut Point
point:
    client_id: 
    client_secret: 
  
# Cnfiguration for Philips Hue Bridge discovery  
  
hue:
    bridges:
      - host: 192.168.1.12
        allow_unreachable: true
        allow_hue_groups: true  

# SmartWeather
smartweather:
  station_id: 
  api_key: 
  
# SmartWeather Binary Sensor
binary_sensor:
  - platform: smartweather
    monitored_conditions:
      - raining
      - freezing
      - lightning

# TasmoAdmin
panel_iframe:
  tasmoadmin:
    title: TasmoAdmin
    icon: mdi:lightbulb-on
    url: http://homeassistant.local:9541
    

# PVOutput
sensor:
  - platform: pvoutput
    system_id: 
    api_key: 
    scan_interval: 120
  - platform: template
    sensors:
      power_generation:
        value_template: '{% if is_state_attr("sensor.pvoutput", "power_generation", "NaN") %}0{% else %}{{ state_attr("sensor.pvoutput", "power_generation") }}{% endif %}'
        friendly_name: 'Generating'
        unit_of_measurement: 'Watt'
      energy_generation:
        value_template: '{% if is_state_attr("sensor.pvoutput", "energy_generation", "NaN") %}0{% else %}{{ "%0.2f"|format(state_attr("sensor.pvoutput", "energy_generation")|float/1000) }}{% endif %}'
        friendly_name: 'Generated'
        unit_of_measurement: 'kWh'
        
  - platform: smartweather
    wind_unit: kmh
    monitored_conditions:
      - temperature
      - feels_like_temperature
      - heat_index
      - wind_chill
      - dewpoint
      - wind_speed
      - wind_gust
      - wind_lull
      - wind_bearing
      - wind_direction
      - precipitation
      - precipitation_rate
      - precipitation_last_1hr
      - precipitation_yesterday
      - precip_minutes_local_day
      - precip_minutes_local_yesterday
      - humidity
      - pressure
      - uv
      - solar_radiation
      - illuminance
      - lightning_count
      

# Theme selector
input_select:

  themes:
    name: 'Themes'
    icon: mdi:format-paint
    options:
      - Caule Black Rose
      - Caule Black Purple
      - Caule Black Blue 
      - Caule Black Aqua
      - Caule Black Green
      - Caule Black Yellow
      - Caule Black Orange
      - Caule Black Coral
      - Caule Black Pink
      - Caule Black Gray
      - Caule Dark Rose
      - Caule Dark Purple
      - Caule Dark Blue 
      - Caule Dark Aqua
      - Caule Dark Green
      - Caule Dark Yellow
      - Caule Dark Orange
      - Caule Dark Coral
      - Caule Dark Pink
      - Caule Dark Gray
      - Caule Light Rose
      - Caule Light Purple
      - Caule Light Blue 
      - Caule Light Aqua
      - Caule Light Green
      - Caule Light Yellow
      - Caule Light Orange
      - Caule Light Coral
      - Caule Light Pink
      - Caule Light Gray
      - Caule Black Rose Glass
      - Caule Black Purple Glass
      - Caule Black Blue Glass 
      - Caule Black Aqua Glass
      - Caule Black Green Glass
      - Caule Black Yellow Glass
      - Caule Black Orange Glass
      - Caule Black Coral Glass
      - Caule Black Pink Glass
      - Caule Black Gray Glass      
      - Default
      

# RFlink                                                                                                               
rflink:                                                                                                                   
  port: /dev/serial/by-id/usb-Arduino__www.arduino.cc__0042_55936343034351F0F0D2-if00
  wait_for_ack: false                                                                                                

cover:                                                                                                                      
   platform: rflink                                                                                                        
   devices:                                                                                                                  
     RTS_098832_0:    
       name: Living
     RTS_B54703_0: 
       name: Seline
     RTS_0F5D2B_0:
       name: Bedroom
     RTS_D77635_0:
       name: Pergola

I might set up another Home Assistant instance with just RFLink to eliminate any other add-on as the culprit.

Thanks for your help so far.

9

Interesting detail. When connecting to the RFLink box the data received after the “connected” entry displaying the RFLink Gateway version is inconsistent. Here’s an example.

2021-02-01 15:17:51 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Initiating Rflink connection
2021-02-01 15:17:51 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Connected to Rflink
2021-02-01 15:17:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] connected
2021-02-01 15:17:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: 20;00;Nodo
2021-02-01 15:17:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: Link Gateway V1.1 - R48;
2021-02-01 15:18:37 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Sending command: DOWN to Rflink device: RTS_098832_0
2021-02-01 15:18:37 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] sending command: {'protocol': 'RTS', 'id': '098832', 'switch': '0', 'command': 'DOWN'}
2021-02-01 15:18:37 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] writing data: '10;RTS;098832;0;DOWN;\r\n'
2021-02-01 15:18:59 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �~�~����`��
2021-02-01 15:18:59 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: fx����x��fxf~f��f�����������`����
2021-02-01 15:18:59 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] Error during decode of data, invalid data: �����`~f�~ff������~怘�

Here’s another example.

2021-02-01 15:45:53 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Initiating Rflink connection
2021-02-01 15:45:53 INFO (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.rflink] Connected to Rflink
2021-02-01 15:45:53 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] connected
2021-02-01 15:45:54 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: odo RadioFrequencyLink -
2021-02-01 15:45:54 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: RFLink Gateway V1.1 - R4
2021-02-01 15:45:54 DEBUG (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] received data: 8;
2021-02-01 15:45:54 WARNING (MainThread) [rflink.protocol] dropping invalid data: odo RadioFrequencyLink - RFLink Gateway V1.1 - R48;

I’ve attached a screenshot from RFLinkLoader for comparison what it should be. It seems the HA RFLink component is unable to properly encode and decode RFLink messages.

2021-02-01 15_50_12-RFLink_v1.1_r48
2021-02-01 15_50_12-RFLink_v1.1_r481489×811 68.5 KB

10

I have the exact same issue, since moving to a hassOS via proxmox on Intel NUC, this setup has worked on a Docker on Synology NAS just fine.

I am unable to pinpoint a specific version of Homeassistant where it broke at this moment, since the NAS had been running for multiple years, with a fairly recent version running. I will start that version back up on the NAS later today and report back which version it is.

11

Guess what, moved the RFlink to my NAS, back to the NUC on the latest version…

It’s working again…? I did not change anything, but the VM has enumerated the USB device with a different id, which is now working… So, I have to retract my comment, but it was broken for a little bit without any clear reason.

12

Tried sudo apt-get purge modemmanager ?

13

Hi @olskar, thanks for the suggestion. I’m running Home Assistant OS and sudo is not available on that platform. Have tried Putty but can’t figure out how to get access to HA OS.

14

@Kaj, I’ve set up a fresh 2021.1.5 Home Assistant OS image and configured RFLink from scratch by copying the exact same entries from my normal HA environment. Guess what, works like a charm. So something is just interfering with RFLink. I will try restoring an earlier snapshot to see whether there was something I’ve installed that caused this issue.

15

Hi Markus, did you find the solution for this ?

16

Noticed this myself:

After a restart of Home Assistant, for example after a config change, I need to disconnect the RFLink Board from power, otherwise the errors above appear. When re-connected, the board works fine.

17

I only have to do this after my Pi4 has been shutdown, a restart does not cause this.