CC2531 not seen by HA

[dan.matiesanu (Dan)]

Hi
I am trying to add a CC2531 to my HA. The purpose is to be able to configure IKEA remotes to control non-IKEA devices.
But I am not able to add the CC2531 to HA - it is not seen anywhere, not in devices not in System/Hardware/All Hardware etc. I understand that once I connect it and restart it should appear under devices?
Anyway, when trying to configure an integration I am not able to provide a device path because the CC2531 does not seem to exist in HA at all… and when providing a generic path the device is not found
I am aware of the limitations of the CC2531 but I think I can live with them and anyway I would like to try using it just to learn and I can buy a better device later on.
The LED on the CC2531 does turn green so at least I think it’s not completely dead on arrival…

Any suggestions on how to solve this? Thank you

[Hedda]

The CC2531 adapter itself will never be automatically discovered. Instead, you need to first make sure meet the underlying requirements (such as making sure the CC2531 have the correct firmware and drivers installed) then you either need to install Home Assistant’s own ZHA integration (which does not have other dependencies so is easy to get started with) or use third-party Zigbee2MQTT application (which does have several external dependencies and then connect indirectly via the MQTT integration instead). Either will work but they have different pros and cons, so suggest reading up a little on both “ZHA” and “Zigbee2MQTT” before installing either (tip is that there are many YouTube videos which summerize those two):

https://www.google.com/search?q=ZHA+verses+Zigbee2MQTT

So do you mean that have problems configuring it in Home Assistant’s own ZHA integration or are you planning on using it with the third-party Zigbee2MQTT application and connecting it via a MQTT broker?

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/usage/integrations/home_assistant.html

Notes! First of all, note that regardless if using Home Assistant’s own ZHA integration or Zigbee2MQTT you need to first make sure that a CC2530/CC2531 Zigbee Coordinator adapter has the correct firmware, as many if not most CC2530/CC2531 are sold not sold with a Zigbee Coordinator firmware, (both the ZHA integration and Zigbee2MQTT are however at least compatible with the same Zigbee Coordinator firmware for them). Also note that you can not use both the ZHA integration and Zigbee2MQTT with the same Zigbee Coordinator adapter, (you could use both separately but then you will need to get a dedicated Zigbee Coordinator adapter for each of them).

https://github.com/Koenkk/Z-Stack-firmware/tree/master/coordinator

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/#flashing-cc1352-cc2652-cc2538-based-adapters

Regarding CC253x limitations; note that CC2530/CC2531 is now very old obsolete hardware and unmaintained decapitated firmware so while you can use it to get started with it is to add just a few devices in order to test you are likely to quickly reach its limits soon if you start adding more then a few devices or you try to connect newer Zigbee 3.0 device more than basic features, so highly recommended that you buy and migrate to a newer adapter like example EFR32MG21 or CC2652 (CC2652P). See example:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/home-assistant-skyconnect-usb-stick-announced-will-be-compatible-with-both-zigbee-and-thread-including-matter-chip-over-thread/433594/

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/iteads-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-model-zbdongle-p-based-on-texas-instruments-cc2652p-20dbm-radio-mcu-now-sold-for-19-99/340705

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/itead-s-sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-v2-model-zbdongle-e-based-on-silicon-labs-efr32mg21-20dbm-radio-mcu-now-sold-for-19-99/442695

[Hedda]

Oh, also be sure to read and follow these best practice guidelines (especially the tips around using USB a long extension cable and USB 2.0 port or USB 2.0 hub to avoid interference as those will cause serious issues that are hard to troubleshoot) → https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy/wiki/Generic-best-practice-tips-on-improving-Zigbee-network-range-and-general-stability

[dan.matiesanu (Dan)]

@Hedda

you need to first make sure meet the underlying requirements (such as making sure the CC2531 have the correct firmware and drivers installed) then you either need to install Home Assistant’s own ZHA integration

Thank you for tyour answer
The vendor claims the device has the proper firmware. I am trying to use it with ZHA but I am not able to find the device path. I looked into the folders at system/hardware/3 dots menu/all hardware and there isn’t even a "serial"folder, there is one named serial1 but it’s empty. So unless I am missing something about finding the correct device path, then my HA server does not see the device for some reason - I assume the most probable one is that it does not have correct firmware despite the vendor’s claims.

I think I will use another coordinator, I already ordered a SONOFF ZigBee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus USB stick so I hope I have better succes with that one.

I have one more question - I am running HA from Umbrel, which works in a container, I do not have Core or Supervised. Will that have an impact on recognizing and then using a Zigbee coordinator?

[dan.matiesanu (Dan)]

To be clear, I try to add the ZHA integration so I pass this screen

Then I don’t know what to complete here because I cannot find the path of my CC2531

[Hedda]

@dan.matiesanu

I have one more question - I am running HA from Umbrel, which works in a container, I do not have Core or Supervised. Will that have an impact on recognizing and then using a Zigbee coordinator?

It does as if for example used a container in Docker then you would need to use docker-compose of get the device into the container, see → https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha/#cant-connect-to-usb-device-and-using-docker

You also need to make sure that the user have permission to the device.

Also see this similar discusion that mentions that the user also need correct permission for the device:

ZHA Failed to probe the usb device

I’ve been told by many people how easy it is to set up the SONOFF ZBDongle-E with ZHA. Well, it certainly isn’t for me. I’m running Home Assistant temporarily on Ubuntu on WSL 2 to try out a few different things before committing to any specific setup. It runs smooth, but I only have Zigbee devices, so I won’t get very far without a Zigbee coordinator. The dongle is connected with Ubuntu just fine it seems: Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub Bus 001 Device 010: ID …

You will need to pass through the device into the contain so that at least Home Assistant core can see the device under hardware and that it gets a device ID before you run the ZHA installation config flow.