Inconsistent device functions ESPHome

ESPHome
21

there is a new repo as its called ESPhome now, not ESPhomeYAML. Check the install docs for the new repo detail

22

Yes, I know it has changed. The address I got the instructions from is: https://esphomelib.com/esphomeyaml/guides/faq.html#how-do-i-update-to-the-latest-version
That is where I ran into the problem


How do I update to the latest beta release?

For pip-based installs

pip2 install --pre -U esphome

For docker-based installs

docker run [
] -it esphome/esphome:beta livingroom.yaml run

I simply do not know where to enter the commands
Directly in my Rasp Pi? Somewhere under hassio>? Another directory? Via SSH? Via a .yaml file in HA?

23

The Beta is a separate add-on:

And for Hass.io, you will see a “ESPHome Beta” Add-On for the beta channel.

24

I had similar issues with a bunch of Gosund SP1’s (platform: esp8266 / board: esp8285), Sonoff Basic’s (platform: esp8266 / board: esp01_1m) and a Sonoff RF Bridge (also platform: esp8266 / board: esp01_1m) that I managed to flash to ESPHOME using a USB serial adapter / pin soldering.

All units would drop every minute or so, showing the dreaded “WARNING Disconnected from API: Timeout while waiting for message response!” in the logs.

Initial suspicion was WIFI signal strength, but all were mid-50 dB’s or better (ie. lower). Then looked at my ASUS RT-AC68U wifi settings and messed with the professional settings on the 2.4 GHz band (Bluetooth co-existence from Disble to Enable, and Preamble Type from Long to Short). This improved things marginally.

Finally followed a number of cross-referenced posts by almighty Otto, that lead me to the suggestion that the arduino platform libraries could be causing these wifi issues.

Added arduino_version: dev to the esphome.yaml for each device like so:

esphome:
  name: sonoff_rf_bridge_new
  platform: ESP8266
  board: esp01_1m
  arduino_version: dev

This appears to have severely reduced the disconnects. Word is still out if this can be considered a permanent fix, but I am hopeful. :slight_smile:

Update: HA logs overnight showing over 9 hours of uninterrupted connection on all devices!

1 Like
25

I confirm.

arduino_version: dev

did the trick. No more disconnects. But mDNS also stops working :slight_smile:
I also tried

arduino_version: 2.5.2

- it not work. Disconnecting. But mDNS works :slight_smile:

26

Adding use_address solves the mDNS issues. Not ideal but better than continual disconnects


wifi:
  use_address: 192.168.1.xxx
  networks:
  - ssid: MYSSID
    password: MYPW
1 Like
27

How do you know whether this is working or not?

I’ll concur that using dev solves the WiFi issues.

I added this in (don’t know if I had an issue), there seemed to be no downside in doing so as I use static addresses anyway.

28

Spoke too soon. Still disconnecting :cry:

29

Are you d’not know what is mDNS? mDNS - this is name resolution without DNS server (the node work as DNS server itself). So, if it works, you can reach the node by it name (name from the node config in “esphome” “name” section). For example, “ping node_name.local” (domain “.local” - is reserved for mDNS queries). If you can do like this - mDNS working, if not - not working. It is simple.

“use_address” have nothing related to mDNS. It is used to reach the node by old ip address, if you changed the network, where node was connected before.

30

Do you meen “esphome dev” or “arduino version dev”? For me the “arduino_version: dev” solves the issue complitely. I have 5 esphome nodes. Before i have many disconnects for each node, now - zero. All nodes always connected. So, this is not the esphome, but underleing libraries (yes, esphome uses Arduino esp8266 Wfi library) issue. Of course, it is all correct, if you not have another issues in you WiFi network


31

arduino_version dev

WiFi is not simple. I have a couple of different APs (from different manufacturers) I could connect to some are better than others (RSSI is pretty similar), with channels etc not conflicting.

I feel that it is probably an authentication issue with how the protocol is implemented on different devices.

One particular AP absolutely hates the old Android tablets I have - disconnects all the time, so I have a cheap TP-Link AP for those to connect to.

32

Which version of esphome you are using?
My experience:
esphome 1.13.6 (last version of 1.13 branch) with arduino_version dev - no disconnects. When i upgraded to esphome 1.14.3 (last) - a lot of disconnects. And it is not dependend on arduino_version. When i rolled back to 1.13.6 - no disconnects. So i’m now on 1.13.6.

1 Like
33

I’m going to roll back. I’ve actually moved some stuff onto Tasmota as it got so bad.