Hello,
I had ZHA running using an SLZB-06 poe, but I managed to kill it. I got a ConBee III and am trying to add it using ZHA, but I simply can’t manage it. My setup: Home Assistant in a VM on Proxmox installed on a mini NUC.
No matter what I do, I simply cannot get either stick to connect to HA using ZHA. I have passed the sticks through to the HA VM, and HA does autodiscover them, but then I get “unknown error” or “failed to connect”. I’ve tried using a USB 2.0 extension cable (the mini NUC has only USB 3.0 ports), I’ve tried flashing the firmware on the Conbee III, but nothing seems to work. I have a Zooz z-wave stick on the same PC, and it works beautifully.
The logs don’t seem to say anything about ZHA, so I’m at a loss. Any ideas?
Am I seeing a whole raft of similar ‘Z’ errors being teported, all resolving themselves by waiting? Possibly the result of the latest updates?
Start with the basics:
- Go to Settings > System > Hardware > All Hardware and check if the Conbee is shown under either
ttyorusb. Grab the serial path (something like/dev/serial/by-id/usb-dresden_...-if00) while you’re there. - In the ZHA setup page, make sure you choose
deconzas the radio type, then paste in the serial path on the next screen. This will ensure that your device is always found if you unplug it or restart your VM. - If it still fails or no hardware is detected, ZHA might still be hanging on to the SLZB-06 config. You might have to delete ZHA & set it up from scratch, same as this other person I helped yesterday.
@ShadowFist thanks so much for your response. The Conbee does show up in hardware, and I’ve tried using the serial path, but I still get “unknown error”. I’ve tried and tried to troubleshoot it, passing through just the device, just the port, etc. etc. I already deleted the old SLZB-06 socket, and now ZHA doesn’t show up at all in my integrations, so unless there is something hiding somewhere I haven’t found yet, I’m setting ZHA up from scratch…
I just looked again in Hardware, and the Conbee is showing up both as USB (/dev/bus/usb/009/010) and as serial (ttyUSB0: /dev/serial/by-id/usb-dresden_elektronik_ConBee_III_DE03309736-if00-port0). Is that a conflict of some sort?
@ShadowFist when I try using the serial path, I get “unknown error”. When I try to connect using the USB path, I get “Failed to connect”…if either of those is helpful…
Did you restart HA after doing so?
Also, if you go to System > Settings > Integrations, click on the filter icon in the top right & tick disabled & ignored integrations, do you see ZHA now?
@ShadowFist I did restart HA, multiple times.
When I look at ignored and disabled…Oh good lord…it is in Ignored! I had no idea it was there—that must be what’s blocking the Conbee? That also explains, I think, why Zigbee discovery (of devices) looks like it’s working. How exactly do I remove it? Do I “stop ignoring” it and then delete it? Thanks sooooooo much for your help!
I’ve never had to do this, so the below is purely a guess:
- Pull out your conbee from the use port
- Hit “Stop Ignoring” on ZHA
- Click the ZHA integration > 3 dots > Delete
- Restart HA one more time (just in case) and plug in your Conbee coordinator.
- If ZHA doesn’t pop up due to autodiscovery, add it manually using Add Integrations. Make sure you choose
deconz& paste the/dev/serial/by-id/path for your Conbee.
Note that the above will cause your entire zigbee network to be wiped away, so you will have to re-pair all your devices.
Okay, this is very strange…I stopped ignoring it and it disappeared! It’s not appearing in integrations, and now I don’t know where it’s gone…
It’s fine. It’s probably because I told you to unplug the Conbee before ignoring it - my bad.
Follow my last 2 steps, starting with “Resart HA” & keep going.
Sigh, I followed your last two steps, and unfortunately, I’m still getting “unknown error” when using autodiscovery and “failed to connect” when I try adding manually. ![]()
Can you share screenshot of each ZHA setup page & a dump of any ZHA logs you can get?
I absolutely can. I’m out with the kids going to a German Christmas market, but I’ll be back in a few hours and then will post the screenshots. Thanks so much for your help!
For when you come back, the below is from a reported working config for Zigbee2Mqtt. It’s a different integration from ZHA (obviously), but the parameters below (especially the baudrate) can still be found during the ZHA setup:
port: /dev/serial/by-id/usb-dresden_elektronik_ConBee_III_DEXXXXXX-if00-port0
adapter: deconz
baudrate: 115200
Yep, that’s exactly what I’ve been using when I add manually.
Go and enjoy your time with your kids. When you get back, post more info. If I’m still up, I’ll reply tonight, otherwise I’ll get back to you tomorrow.
All right, the first screenshots are when are try to use autodiscovery…
Next, when I try to add manually but using the detected serial path, then when I input it manually:
And now if I try to use the USB path:
The HA Core logs don’t show anything related to ZHA or to ConBee…should I be looking somewhere else?
Thanks again for all your help!
I’m honestly stumped. Only thing I can say is that the last screenshot doesn’t look right.
Should be/dev/ttyUSB0 according to your earlier screenshots.
If that still errors out, it HAS to be a permission or firmware error, like the error says.
Sorry I can’t be of much more help, but while I do use proxmox, I never used usb zigbee dongles for that very reason. Too much hassle with passthrough settings when ethernet dongles are a thing .
It’s all good—I really appreciate your efforts, really I do. I tried to create a separate container for Zigbee2MQTT, but I can’t get it to work, either. I do have another SLZB-06 POE arriving tomorrow, and it’s my fervent hope that once I set its static IP address to the same one the old one used, I can use one of my backups to get everything back up and running. Thanks so much!
Hi, this is just a wild shot , but i have issues with another “native” integration, where i have to go to my profile, and enable Default-Theme, for being able to add Devices














