Cannot Connect new Devices to conbee II Stick

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Hey

Now, you mentioned USB 2.0. I had my old stick plugged in the USB 2.0 Post and now my new one in the 3.1 port. Why should I use the 2.0?
Also, I ordered a USB 3.1 Extension cable, but It’s shielded to avoid interferences.
So my questions now are:

1. Is it okay to use the 3.1 port or better 2.0
2. Is it okay to use a 3.1 shielded extension cable?

I didn’t think about this, but why is it a problem?

Also, another question:
Do you know how I can update my ConBee III stick within ZHA? Do I have to use the command shell in HA?

Thanks a lot for your time and help! i hope i can fix it soon
Noel

[francisp (Francis)]

@noel.bergundthal

Is it okay to use the 3.1 port or better 2.0

USB2 is preferred

@noel.bergundthal

Do you know how I can update my ConBee III stick within ZHA?

I think you need to do it outside HA

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Thanks a lot for the response

But the USB 3.1 Shielded extension cable is okay?

[francisp (Francis)]

Does not hurt, so yes.

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Thanks

[Hedda]

@noel.bergundthal

Now, you mentioned USB 2.0. I had my old stick plugged in the USB 2.0 Post and now my new one in the 3.1 port. Why should I use the 2.0?
Also, I ordered a USB 3.1 Extension cable, but It’s shielded to avoid interferences.
So my questions now are:

1. Is it okay to use the 3.1 port or better 2.0
2. Is it okay to use a 3.1 shielded extension cable?

I didn’t think about this, but why is it a problem?

Connecting with a USB 3.0 extension cable to a USB 3.x port can cause EMI interference, (and worse is having other USB 3.x devices close to the Zigbee radio).

It is ok to use USB 3.x cable to a USB 2.0 port, but not OK to use it with a USB 3.0 port. If only have a USB 3.x port then must use a USB 2.0 cable or a USB 2.0 hub so that the port get used as a USB 2.0 port.

That is all covered by the guide (in detail and with references). The point with with me writing that guide is so that it does not have to be explained seperatly to each person individually

Please read the guide and only ask about stuff not covered by it if possible.

Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference + optimize using Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable mesh network with best possible range and coverage

Who is this guide for? I have tried to make this guide to be a comprehensive collection of the most basic yet essential tips with a set of actions and best practice steps that should be applicable to all types of Zigbee setups, regardless of what type of Zigbee adapter/gateway/hub/bridge/devices that you are using. This guide is meant for both those who are new to Zigbee as well as those who been using Zigbee devices for years but might not been aware of the underlying prerequisites to optimiz…

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Thanks for the response. I read the Guide before, it’s an excellent Guide.
But I didn’t catch on the USB stuff, I didn’t think much of it because I was pretty sure that i replugged it into the 2.0 Port. Only after checking it again when you mentioned it, I found out that’s not the case.
I will try asap at home. Sadly, I am now in the holidays for a week, so I can only test it in a few days.

But thank you all for the help, much appreciated!

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Hey
I changed it now and attached the 1.5 meter cable between the raspy, and the ConBee III.
Sadly, there is no difference at all. Still only the few devices connected via the Hue Plug, also I cannot add new devices. It’s still stuck on interviewing the devices.

[Hedda]

Was that to a USB 2.0 port or did you use a USB 2.0 extension cable?

What else you can try is to first remove a few Zigbee End Devices and then add a few more Zigbee Router devices before add back any Zigbee Router devices. Buy some known good Zigbee Router devices or make a known great DIY Zigbee Router devices by flashing extra Zigbee USB dongles. All as per the guide.

But devices stuck on interviewing is usually (however not always) a sign of EMI interference so you should still also continue to take as many proactive measures for that as you can. Again as per the guide.

Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference + optimize using Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable mesh network with best possible range and coverage

Who is this guide for? I have tried to make this guide to be a comprehensive collection of the most basic yet essential tips with a set of actions and best practice steps that should be applicable to all types of Zigbee setups, regardless of what type of Zigbee adapter/gateway/hub/bridge/devices that you are using. This guide is meant for both those who are new to Zigbee as well as those who been using Zigbee devices for years but might not been aware of the underlying prerequisites to optimiz…

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Hello
I used a double shielded 3.0 Extension cable and plugged it in the 2.0 Port.

Now I tried to make a new ZigBee network (not restore a backup with the new stick) and still all the same devices are connected and still the same aren’t connected. Even though, I made a new network.

Honestly, I don’t get it any more. I have no clue what could be the problem, I tested it all now but nothing works.

[Hedda]

Only suggestions other that adding ”known good” Zigbee Router devices is to upgrade firmware on the ConBee or buy a different Zigbee Coordinator adapter as the issue could be with the deCONZ firmware on the ConBee

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

I already bought the new III stick after the issue started with the II stick

[Hedda]

What I meant was to buy something other than ConBee if that could be an issue, as in either buy a CC2652P based dongle with latest Texas Instruments Z-Stack ZNP firmware or a dongle like SkyConnect ZBT-1 that uses latest standard Silicon Labs EmberZNet firmware with EZSP/Ember interface.

Anyway, if see same issues in a new network then it is still more likley that the root cause of your issues is either a lack of Zigbee Router devices or problem with a specific device that is somehow blocking messages from other devices on the same network.

[Hedda]

Can try enable debug mode a submit a issue with debug logs for analyzing by ZHA developers:

1. https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#debug-logging
2. https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha#reporting-issues
3. https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues
4. https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/new/choose

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Hey
Thanks for the response.
So what I did now is delete all devices, test with the ConBee II that worked up to 25 devices adding an Aeotec Zigbee repeater.
And it did not work. Then I tested it with the ConBee III and it also didn’t work. So there should not be a device that interferes with the signal, or any broken already connected device or whatever.

Update:
I deleted now the ZHA integration and all DB files in HA so completely removed the integration, and I am trying a complete greenfield approach now. Let’s see if it helps.

Update II:
It didn’t change anything. Still stuck on interviewing. I tried to connect the AEOTEC repeater and some Aqara device and the Hue power plug directly near the ConBee III Stick, still no chance to finish the interview.

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

When I go into the file editor and check and Zigbee File, I see this error:
‘utf-8’ codec can’t decode byte 0xe2 in position 1: invalid continuation byte

This is only because it cannot be displayed in the File editor right and not because the file is fucked?

[noel.bergundthal (Noel)]

Thanks a lot.
Here are some debugging infos I found with deconz, ZHA and so on. Probably it won’t help, but maybe you can find an issue from this. I will try to submit an Error to the developer.

2024-07-21 11:42:40.005 WARNING (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Unknown command received: Command(command_id=<CommandId.undefined_0x81: 129>, seq=130, payload=b’\x04\x00\x01\x00\x10[w\xfc’)
2024-07-21 11:42:40.010 WARNING (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Unknown command received: Command(command_id=<CommandId.undefined_0x22: 34>, seq=1, payload=b’\x00I\x00B\x00(translationLayer_initPlatform)ConBee Started RCAUSE: [00000201]\n\r’)
2024-07-21 11:42:51.779 WARNING (MainThread) [zigpy.application] Zigbee channel 20 utilization is 76.08%!
2024-07-21 11:42:51.779 WARNING (MainThread) [zigpy.application] If you are having problems joining new devices, are missing sensor updates, or have issues keeping devices joined, ensure your coordinator is away from interference sources such as USB 3.0 devices, SSDs, WiFi routers, etc.
2024-07-21 11:42:59.004 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.zigbee.application] Sending packet: ZigbeePacket(timestamp=datetime.datetime(2024, 7, 21, 9, 42, 59, 4347, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc), src=AddrModeAddress(addr_mode=<AddrMode.NWK: 2>, address=0x0000), src_ep=0, dst=AddrModeAddress(addr_mode=<AddrMode.Broadcast: 15>, address=<BroadcastAddress.ALL_ROUTERS_AND_COORDINATOR: 65532>), dst_ep=0, source_route=None, extended_timeout=False, tsn=8, profile_id=0, cluster_id=<ZDOCmd.Mgmt_Permit_Joining_req: 0x0036>, data=Serialized[b’\x08\xfe\x00’], tx_options=<TransmitOptions.NONE: 0>, radius=0, non_member_radius=0, lqi=None, rssi=None)
2024-07-21 11:42:59.006 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Sending CommandId.aps_data_request{‘request_id’: 9, ‘flags’: <DeconzSendDataFlags.NONE: 0>, ‘dst’: DeconzAddressEndpoint(address_mode=<AddressMode.NWK: 2>, address=0xFFFC, endpoint=0), ‘profile_id’: 0, ‘cluster_id’: <ZDOCmd.Mgmt_Permit_Joining_req: 0x0036>, ‘src_ep’: 0, ‘asdu’: b’\x08\xfe\x00’, ‘tx_options’: <DeconzTransmitOptions.USE_NWK_KEY_SECURITY: 2>, ‘radius’: 0, ‘relays’: None} (seq=70)
2024-07-21 11:42:59.007 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Send: 12460019001200090002fcff000000360000030008fe000200
2024-07-21 11:42:59.025 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Frame received: 0x124600090002002209
2024-07-21 11:42:59.025 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Received command CommandId.aps_data_request{‘status’: <Status.SUCCESS: 0>, ‘frame_length’: 9, ‘payload_length’: 2, ‘device_state’: DeviceState(network_state=<NetworkState2.CONNECTED: 2>, device_state=<DeviceStateFlags.APSDE_DATA_REQUEST_FREE_SLOTS_AVAILABLE: 8>), ‘request_id’: 9} (seq 70)
2024-07-21 11:42:59.985 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Frame received: 0x0e470007002600
2024-07-21 11:42:59.985 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Received command CommandId.device_state_changed{‘status’: <Status.SUCCESS: 0>, ‘frame_length’: 7, ‘device_state’: DeviceState(network_state=<NetworkState2.CONNECTED: 2>, device_state=<DeviceStateFlags.APSDE_DATA_CONFIRM|APSDE_DATA_REQUEST_FREE_SLOTS_AVAILABLE: 9>), ‘reserved’: 0} (seq 71)
2024-07-21 11:42:59.986 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Sending CommandId.aps_data_confirm{} (seq=71)
2024-07-21 11:42:59.986 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Send: 04470007000000
2024-07-21 11:43:00.002 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Frame received: 0x04470013000c00220902fcff00000000000000
2024-07-21 11:43:00.003 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Received command CommandId.aps_data_confirm{‘status’: <Status.SUCCESS: 0>, ‘frame_length’: 19, ‘payload_length’: 12, ‘device_state’: DeviceState(network_state=<NetworkState2.CONNECTED: 2>, device_state=<DeviceStateFlags.APSDE_DATA_REQUEST_FREE_SLOTS_AVAILABLE: 8>), ‘request_id’: 9, ‘dst_addr’: DeconzAddressEndpoint(address_mode=<AddressMode.NWK: 2>, address=0xFFFC, endpoint=0), ‘src_ep’: 0, ‘confirm_status’: <TXStatus.SUCCESS: 0>, ‘reserved1’: 0, ‘reserved2’: 0, ‘reserved3’: 0, ‘reserved4’: 0} (seq 71)
2024-07-21 11:43:00.005 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Sending CommandId.write_parameter{‘parameter_id’: <NetworkParameter.permit_join: 33>, ‘parameter’: b’\xfe’} (seq=72)
2024-07-21 11:43:00.005 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Send: 0b48000900020021fe
2024-07-21 11:43:00.017 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.uart] Frame received: 0x0b48000800010021
2024-07-21 11:43:00.017 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy_deconz.api] Received command CommandId.write_parameter{‘status’: <Status.SUCCESS: 0>, ‘frame_length’: 8, ‘payload_length’: 1, ‘parameter_id’: <NetworkParameter.permit_join: 33>} (seq 72)
2024-07-21 11:43:10.054 DEBUG (MainThread) [zigpy.application] Feeding watchdog

[Hedda]

@noel.bergundthal

So what I did now is delete all devices, test with the ConBee II that worked up to 25 devices adding an Aeotec Zigbee repeater.
And it did not work. Then I tested it with the ConBee III and it also didn’t work. So there should not be a device that interferes with the signal, or any broken already connected device or whatever.

Update:
I deleted now the ZHA integration and all DB files in HA so completely removed the integration, and I am trying a complete greenfield approach now. Let’s see if it helps.

Update II:
It didn’t change anything. Still stuck on interviewing. I tried to connect the AEOTEC repeater and some Aqara device and the Hue power plug directly near the ConBee III Stick, still no chance to finish the interview.

Sounds like there might be a problem with either that Aeotec repeater or a bug with zigpy-deconz, so if you already updated to latest firmware on ConBee then best is to open a new issue for ZHA in Home Assistant’s Core repository and include diagnostics and debug logs there.

[mirekmal (Mirek Malinowski)]

If you are already rebuilding your zigbee network, would it make sense to try deconz instead, which is ‘native’ to conbee?

[Hedda]

@mirekmal

would it make sense to try deconz instead, which is ‘native’ to conbee?

Partially yes, but not if want to use ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT instead of deCONZ. Personally I prefer ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT.

Regardless it does currently not make sense to buy any ConBee dongle if want to use ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT since they thier support for ConBee is not as good as their support for dongles Silabs’s EmberZNet/Ember and TI’s Z-Stack/ZNP firmware

So if a user was successfully using ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT with a ConBee II (ConBee 2) then they should not buy a ConBee III (ConBee 3) as an upgrade if want to continue using ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT. They should instead buy a new dongle with Silabs’s EmberZNet/Ember and TI’s Z-Stack/ZNP firmware (e.g. SkyConnect ZBT-1 or a CC2652P based adapter).

You should really only buy a ConBee if want option to use deCONZ as when using ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT then ConBee dongles have limitations that EmberZNet and Z-Stack firmware does not have when using those, (install code and QR code commissinibg does not work on ConBee with ZHA or Z2M, nor does backup and restore work in Zigbee2MQTT).

All that is explained more here:

Zigbee buyer's guide

Don’t forget that the first post in a community guide is a wiki - feel free to add to it or correct it. This guide was written with reference to: Core 2023.11.3 Supervisor 2023.11.6 Operating System 11.2 Frontend 20231030.2 Summary This post is aimed at newcomers to Zigbee - and possibly to Home Assistant - who have stumbled into the wild west of Zigbee devices and manufacturers. It does not recommend particular products; instead it advocates a cautious approach to buying. When it comes t…

Also read this for technical details:

ConBee III (ConBee 3) from Dresden-Elektronik based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 +20dBm radio SoC/MCU

FYI, ConBee III (ConBee 3) from Dresden-Elektronik been officially released in early November 2023. https://phoscon.de/en/conbee3 [image] ConBee3 runs an updated variant of Dresden-Elektronik’s custom deconz Zigbee firmware with their own serial protocol interface (which does not look to have updated documentation yet), as such is primarily meant to work with Dresden-Elektronik’s own deCONZ/Phoscon Zigbee Gateway host application (and the matching deCONZ integration) as a replacement for the…