Detailed guide on how to flash the new Tuya Beken Chips with OpenBK7231T

gaz99 · September 13, 2023, 7:46am

I have just found and old Tenda smart plug in the unused stuff box that has a Realtek RTL8710BX chip.

This device is not Tuya, it used it’s own app, so cloudcutter can’t be used.

So what is the process to flash this by serial ? What firmware do I put on it initially ??

orange-assistant · September 13, 2023, 10:20am

It happened - it’s merged!

github.com/esphome/esphome

Support for LibreTiny platform (RTL8710, BK7231 & other modules)

esphome:dev ← libretiny-eu:platform/libretuya

opened 08:35PM - 28 May 22 UTC

kuba2k2

+6084 -88

# What does this implement/fix? This is not a single chip, but rather a unive…rsal PlatformIO framework that I'll use to add support for cheap IoT chips found in modules manufactured by Tuya, Inc. These chips are normally incompatible with ESP32/ESP8266 firmwares, and have very limited vendor and community support, so people tend to swap these for ESP-12 modules, which is also not always possible. This is often very troublesome and wasteful. My project is made to be as compatible with ESP32 Arduino core as possible. This decision was made especially with ESPHome in mind, so that porting it would require minimal changes to its components. The APIs are made to resemble ESP32 APIs closely. **If you're reading this and have any non-ESP IoT chips - you can be helpful by contacting me in this discussion** (or anywhere else). ### Porting progress - [x] Boots :clap: - [x] WiFi, mDNS, preferences backend - [x] OTA - [x] GPIO, PWM (ledc) - [x] ADC - [ ] I2C - [ ] SPI As I'm totally new to ESPHome's codebase, any reviews of the work done so far will be appreciated. ## Types of changes - [ ] Bugfix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue) - [x] New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality) - [ ] Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to not work as expected) - [ ] Other **Pull request in [esphome-docs](https://github.com/esphome/esphome-docs) with documentation (if applicable):** esphome/esphome-docs#3159 ## Test Environment - [ ] ESP32 - [ ] ESP32 IDF - [ ] ESP8266 - [x] LibreTiny? ## Example entry for `config.yaml`:  ```yaml bk72xx: board: cb2s ``` ## Checklist: - [x] The code change is tested and works locally. - [ ] Tests have been added to verify that the new code works (under `tests/` folder). If user exposed functionality or configuration variables are added/changed: - [ ] Documentation added/updated in [esphome-docs](https://github.com/esphome/esphome-docs).

ESPHome 2023.9.0 is scheduled to be released next Wednesday with LibreTiny support

digiblur · September 13, 2023, 11:37am

Yup! 10 char

peter.vk · September 13, 2023, 2:54pm

This is pretty amazing. This really expands the number of devices that ESPhome works on. They might even need to change the name!

orange-assistant · September 13, 2023, 3:04pm

I had this thought…

ferbulous · September 14, 2023, 2:13am

serial method, connect tx2, rx2 pins and ground tx2 for a moment to start flashing
also try the 2mb 468k board if ota isn’t working for the RTL8710bx

rtl87xx:
  board: generic-rtl8710bn-2mb-468k
  framework:
    version: latest

DaliDavila · September 14, 2023, 4:08am

Hi, I’ve just flashed an Avatto 1 Gang light switch using the GUIFlashTool and everything was clean, I’ve configured the device to be discovered by home assistant and it was recognized right. My question is, Is there any way you could configure an admin password for the config webpage like you do for tasmota? I just want to secure the devices so nobody in the LAN can get into those config pages and mess around with the configuration.

orange-assistant · September 14, 2023, 11:30am

Which config webpage? This one

If yes just read the docs as it mentions how to add authentication via user/password

gaz99 · September 14, 2023, 11:35am

Ok, I have tried to load ESPHome onto the device but get this error:

E: ValueError: Failed to write to 0x800B000

I’m pretty sure I have the serial wired OK as I was able to read the original firmware from the flash, a look at the file shows this:

This flash type is not supported!
 CHIPID[%08x]

The flash chip is a H25S80BG which seems to be a 8Mbit.

Any ideas ??

ferbulous · September 14, 2023, 12:05pm

Never got that error before.

Can you post that in the libretiny discord for discussion

gaz99 · September 15, 2023, 10:47am

I have created new uf2 files for the 3 possible options for that chip with Esphome 23.9.0b1a and get the same error with all of them. I’m pretty sure I have the serial stuff connected correctly and power is OK as I I can read from the device.

I can’t access my Discord account for some reason so I created an issue on the LibreTiny github and added the dump of the original firmware.

DaliDavila · September 15, 2023, 3:51pm

Hi!!
Nope, I mean this one.

I wrote in the forum of elektroda and got this:

orange-assistant · September 15, 2023, 3:55pm

We need to wait one week more This big release is now scheduled for the 27th of September

gaz99 · September 17, 2023, 3:58am

Just to finalise this, after a lot of assistance from the LibreTiny folks on github I have successfully loaded ESPHome on this smart plug and it works fine.

The process was a bit more complicated and required the writing of the separate OTA1 &2 files with a different software package. It also needed the smallest generic board type as the flash is only 1Mb.

The internal connections to the RTL8710BX module in the Tenda Beli SP3 plug are:

Relay1&2	GP12	Pin2
LED D6		GP22	Pin11	Red
LED D7		GP19	Pin12	Blue
Button1		GP11	Pin4

INFO ESPHome 2023.9.0b1
INFO Reading configuration /config/esphome/tenda-test22468.yaml...
INFO Starting log output from tenda-test22468.local using esphome API
INFO Successfully connected to tenda-test22468.local
[21:10:00][I][app:102]: ESPHome version 2023.9.0b1 compiled on Sep 15 2023, 13:16:12
[21:10:00][C][wifi:546]: WiFi:
[21:10:00][C][wifi:382]:   Local MAC: 50:2B:73:F6:xx.xx
[21:10:00][C][wifi:383]:   SSID: [redacted]
[21:10:00][C][wifi:384]:   IP Address: 10.0.0.146
[21:10:00][C][wifi:385]:   BSSID: 80:2A:A8:D1:CF:D5[redacted]
[21:10:00][C][wifi:387]:   Hostname: 'tenda-test22468'
[21:10:00][C][wifi:389]:   Signal strength: -31 dB ▂▄▆█
[21:10:00][C][wifi:393]:   Channel: 1
[21:10:00][C][wifi:394]:   Subnet: 255.255.0.0
[21:10:00][C][wifi:395]:   Gateway: 10.0.0.1
[21:10:00][C][wifi:396]:   DNS1: 10.0.0.1
[21:10:00][C][wifi:397]:   DNS2: 10.0.0.1
[21:10:00][C][logger:357]: Logger:
[21:10:00][C][logger:358]:   Level: DEBUG
[21:10:00][C][logger:359]:   Log Baud Rate: 115200
[21:10:00][C][logger:361]:   Hardware UART: UART2
[21:10:00][C][mdns:115]: mDNS:
[21:10:00][C][mdns:116]:   Hostname: tenda-test22468
[21:10:00][C][ota:097]: Over-The-Air Updates:
[21:10:00][C][ota:098]:   Address: tenda-test22468.local:8892
[21:10:00][C][ota:101]:   Using Password.
[21:10:00][C][api:138]: API Server:
[21:10:00][C][api:139]:   Address: tenda-test22468.local:6053
[21:10:00][C][api:143]:   Using noise encryption: NO
[21:10:00][C][lt.component:013]: LibreTiny:
[21:10:00][C][lt.component:014]:   Version: v1.4.0 on generic-rtl8710bn-2mb-468k, compiled at Sep 15 2023 13:15:57, GCC 10.3.1 (-Os)
[21:10:00][C][lt.component:015]:   Loglevel: 3

bkbartk · September 17, 2023, 7:01am

There are some great tutorials on the internet
I used the above one and the updated video

I already flashed 3 lights.
Now I’m wondering if I should give it a try flashing the vacuum cleaner.
Or wil it destroy my device if ltchiptool doesn’t recognize it.

ferbulous · September 17, 2023, 10:23am

I also have the same labeled chip and flash the 2mb 468k board size.
Didn’t have to use separate software just the ltchiptool.
How stable is the wifi connection on the plug so far?

ferbulous · September 17, 2023, 10:24am

Assuming it’s using tuya mcu like this one, you should be good

gaz99 · September 17, 2023, 10:51am

I had to use the python2 version of the rtltool.py and I used a linux VM in Proxmox when I couldn’t get python to work in Windows.

The relevant info for my device is in this issue on github.

Everything is working fine, I am still trying to sort out the 2 leds but the relay and button are done.

gaz99 · September 17, 2023, 12:07pm

Another question about LibreTiny ESPHlome.

Has anyone tried to rename a device from the 3 dot menu the ESPHome addon ?? I just tried on my new RTL8710 based smart plug and it went through the hoops and uploaded something but the name stayed the same.

Also tested it on a random ESP based device and that worked as I expected.

INFO ESPHome 2023.9.0b1
INFO Reading configuration /config/esphome/tenda-test22468.yaml...
Updating /config/esphome/tenda-test22468.yaml to /config/esphome/tenda-plug-1.yaml

Edit: OK the renamed device did show up in HA with the new name but the stuff in the ESPHome addon did not get updated to the new name. I had to create a new device with the new name and paste the old yaml into and manually rename it.

bkbartk · September 17, 2023, 4:10pm

yes,
But flashing a device with esphome and having a working device are 2 different things,
After I have esphome running I would like to have the vacuum working.

It might be easier then I thought before, Earlier I thought Turning left/right and stopping based on sensors should be developed.
but checking out this branche

I think I only need to send the correct datapoints and just use tx/rx/

I’m not interested in keeping the tuya app working, I don’t use it now. So I should be good overwriting, still I think there is a lot which can go wrong and brick my vacuum cleaner.