Nortek HUSBZB-1 - At my wit's End

Spritzup · December 29, 2021, 7:18pm

Hi All,

I recently purchased the above stick due to it being highly recommended. After getting it setup (aka - plugged in), I stood up my first few Zigbee devices to test. Everything seemed to work, but overnight the controller went offline (though Z-Wave stayed up). After looking into it, I’ve applied the various fixes that I found online, all to no avail.

Used a USB extension to move the dongle away from interference - No Change
Tried various ports and USB extension cables - No Change
Updated the firmware to the latest available - No Change
Changed my AP’s channels to not interfere with Zigbee - No Change
Changed the channel within HA to 11 - No Change

To be fair, despite increasing the logging, I can’t see if the stick has accepted the new channel, though I did delete the integration and recreate to be safe. I am honestly out of ideas and am considering just getting rid of the stick and purchasing to separate ones to save myself the headache. This is a hail mary in case I missed something obvious.

Thanks in advance!

~Spritz

NathanCu · December 29, 2021, 7:57pm

So basics. What Zigbee integration are you using and which version?

Have you pulled thr logs grom the integration, please post them.

Spritzup · December 30, 2021, 1:04am

Thank you for replying @NathanCu , I appreciate it! You’ll have to pardon my ignorance, but the only question I can answer of yours is that I’m using the ZHA integration. I’m not sure where to pull the version or the specific integration logs from, but am happy to learn.

That said, I was able to confirm (via the HA logs) it’s using channel 11 for Zigbee now.

2021-12-29 11:21:45 INFO (MainThread) [bellows.zigbee.application] Node type: EmberNodeType.COORDINATOR, Network parameters: EmberNetworkParameters(extendedPanId=21:68:d4:71:b3:72:94:87, panId=0xb5e0, radioTxPower=255, radioChannel=11, joinMethod=<EmberJoinMethod.USE_MAC_ASSOCIATION: 0>, nwkManagerId=0x0000, nwkUpdateId=0, channels=<Channels.ALL_CHANNELS: 134215680>)
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:ZDO](3RMS16BZ): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0500]: initializing channel: from_cache: True
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0500]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: True
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0001]: initializing channel: from_cache: True
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0001]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0019]: initializing channel: from_cache: True
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0019]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0500]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0001]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x3800:1:0x0019]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x0000:ZDO](EZSP): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:ZDO](S31 Lite zb): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:45 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:ZDO](S31 Lite zb): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:46 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:50 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: failed to get attributes '['on_off']' on 'on_off' cluster: [0x702b:1:0x0006]: Message send failure
2021-12-29 11:21:50 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: async_initialize: retryable request #1 failed: [0x702b:1:0x0006]: Message send failure. Retrying in 0.8s
2021-12-29 11:21:50 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: failed to get attributes '['on_off']' on 'on_off' cluster: [0x2c1d:1:0x0006]: Message send failure
2021-12-29 11:21:50 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: async_initialize: retryable request #1 failed: [0x2c1d:1:0x0006]: Message send failure. Retrying in 1.0s
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:ZDO](S31 Lite zb): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:51 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:ZDO](S31 Lite zb): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0006]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0006]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:ZDO](S31 Lite zb): 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0006]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0000]: initializing channel: from_cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0000]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0006]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0006]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0006]: finished channel initialization
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0006]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0000]: 'async_initialize' stage succeeded
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x702B:1:0x0006]: attempting to update onoff state - from cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2C1D:1:0x0006]: attempting to update onoff state - from cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x2EFD:1:0x0006]: attempting to update onoff state - from cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4DA6:1:0x0006]: attempting to update onoff state - from cache: False
2021-12-29 11:21:52 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zha.core.channels.base] [0x4B62:1:0x0006]: attempting to update onoff state - from cache: False

mclever · December 30, 2021, 6:07am

Maybe just order a replacement stick cause you have a bad one?

abhi08638 · January 2, 2022, 3:45pm

Couple of things to note is that the ZigBee part of this stick isn’t the strongest so it’s recommended to get something like a CC2652 based stick. That being said it’s still possible to use this stick if you have enough ZigBee routers in your network, this will increase your range if your battery powered devices are too far away.

I would deleting the ZHA integration, deleting the zigbee.db file found in your base HA directory, rebooting, reinstalling zha, and then resetting your devices to pair. Give it some time to build up the mesh (about a day or two) and it should be more responsive after that.

Hedda · January 12, 2022, 12:55pm

Who is recommending HUSBZB-1 as a new purchase today and why? Sure if you already own one then you can still use it if you flash the latest available firmware, but its hardware is based on an old EM3581 chip which has been deprecated is the very latest firmware from Silicon Labs.

Anyway, suggest that try to upgrade HUSBZB-1 to the very latest Silabs EmberZNet 6.7.10.x firmware.

Note however that you will never be able to upgrade the old EM35x chips to EmberZNet 7.x.x firmware.

See → grobasoz/zigbee-firmware#17 and https://github.com/walthowd/husbzb-firmware/issues/36

Note that with grobasoz EmberZNet 6.7.10.x firmware images uses 115200 as the default baud rate.

People recommending this should understand Silicon Labs EM35x/EM35xx and ETRX35x Zigbee chips hardware have already been end-of-life for many years while and should now almost be considered obsolete as Silabs have started that they are deprecated as in removed from any firmware newer than EmberZNet 6.7.10.x so should not be bought any longer.

There may come a few updates bug-fix releases for EmberZNet 6.7.10.x but otherwise it is end-of-life.

PS: I understand that even some of the specific models Silicon Labs EFR32 Mighty Gecko Series 1 modules (i.e. EFR32MG1x e.g. EFR32MG12/EFR32MG13/EFR32MG14) based chip which does not feature enough flash storage size to fit firmware built with the newly released EmberZNet 7.0.0.0 Zigbee release have also reached the end of their planned lifecycle and been scheduled for obsolescence and discontinued by the manufacturer (Silicon Labs). So only the Silicon Labs EFR32 Mighty Gecko Series 1 module model variants which feature more flash storage size is be supported by EmberZNet 7.0 Zigbee.

PPS: Know that also the Z-Wave 500 chip in HUSBZB-1 has been replaced with Z-Wave 700 chips:

https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2549

https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2544

Spritzup · January 12, 2022, 1:33pm

@hedda Thank you for the detailed reply, I really appreciate it. I suppose “highly recommended” came from searching the interwebs from various sources. I’m loving HA, but the speed of the development sometimes makes finding up-to-date info a challenge.

All that said, what would you suggest then for a Zigbee & Zwave coordinators?

Thanks!

~Spritz

Hedda · January 12, 2022, 2:05pm

USB dongles based on Silicon Labs and Texas Instruments both work in either ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT on paper, but Silabs adapters in Zigbee2MQTT is still only experimental while TI is very mature in both.

Also, due to the current worldwide chip shortage, it is also very to find Silicon Labs based USB adapters with the later EFR32MG21 chip, however, we know that upcoming EFR32MG23/EFR32MG24 chips will be released soon so that is worth keeping an eye on as Silabs is still the industry leader for Zigbee. The best available Silabs-based adapters are therefore currently the slightly older ELU013 from Elelabs however they said that they are working on EFR32MG23/EFR32MG24 adapters which will hopefully be released once Silicon Labs sorts out their supply chain issues.

So if want flexibility to migrate between ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT then a CC2652-based option today.

Electrolama’s zzh (CC2652R based) offer the best support as their developers are active contributors to the community, however ITead SONOFF Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus (CC2652P based) is the least expensive and thus most bang for the buck if only looking at the price but understand that they only make/sell the hardware without offering any post-sale support and leave supporting it to the community. ZigStar gateways and Tube’s gateways are two alternatives if want a network-attached adapter.

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/information/supported_adapters.html

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zzh-short-for-zig-a-zig-ah-open-source-hardware-licensed-zigbee-usb-stick-based-on-ti-cc2652r/195064

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-zigbee-3-0-usb-dongle-plus-by-itead-is-based-on-texas-instruments-cc2652p-can-now-be-ordered-for-10-99/340705/

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/zigstar-zigbee-coordinators-and-routers/338586

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/tubes-zb-coordinators-and-routers-was-zigbee-router-on-steroids/280896

Electrolama will soon release couple of CC2652P based dongles that will be named zzhp and zzhp-lite

https://shop.electrolama.com/

https://electrolama.com/

For Z-Wave recommend Aeotec Z-Stick 7 USB stick for best support or Silabs SLUSB001A for low price

https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2549

https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/discussions/2544

Both those feature the exact same Z-Wave 700 chip and firmware, which is supported by Z-Wave JS.

Hedda · January 12, 2022, 2:18pm

By the way, recommend to not changing Zigbee channel as some devices do not support all channels.

Instead, only change the Wi-Fi channels on all and any WiFi routers or WiFi access-points as required.

NathanCu · January 12, 2022, 4:14pm

Do not get a 700-series based Zwave stick until the issue below is cleared. I just had to reverse migrate to a 500 series stick because of it. and No, I will not sell my 700 stick.

META-Issue: Problems with 700 series (healing, delays, neighbors, …) · Issue #3906 · zwave-js/node-zwave-js (github.com)

The effects inn HA:

Spritzup · January 12, 2022, 5:14pm

Well it appears after much googling, and trial and error, I’ve got the HUSBZB working with Zigbee2MQTT.

While it appears that it may be outdated, realistically, what is the con with continuing to use it? I mean, the reality is that whatever I get is eventually going to be outdated. Do I need to justify the expense now, or can I put it off?

Thanks!

~Spritz

Hedda · January 13, 2022, 8:39am

You can continue to use it, but as mentioned, EmberZNet 6.7.10.x is the last firmware release for it so it is very unlikely to get any further bug-fixes or security fixes via firmware updates in the future for it.

So just understand there that some issues and bugs in firmware can not be worked around or fixed in Zigbee software application implementations lika ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT, as even some compatibility issues with certain devices can sometimes only be fixed in low-level firmware by the original manufacturer who makes the Zigbee stack and its SDK (in this case Silicon Labs who declared EM35x/EM35xx and ETRX35x Zigbee chips end-of-life for good).

But you do not need to buy new hardware today if you already bought it as ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT does not yet use any features only available in newer firmware, though that will happen sooner or later.

Remember that even with the current ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT is it relatively easy to backup your existing Zigbee Coordinator hardware to a file and then restore that file to new Zigbee Coordinator hardware. Both ZHA and Zigbee2MQTT developers are also working together on making backups easier and more compatible between different Zigbee stacks and Zigbee implementations, see example GitHub - zigpy/open-coordinator-backup: Open Zigbee coordinator backup format and https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy-cli/pull/2

Conclusion; sure you can postpone buying newer Zigbee Coordinator hardware for now, but if you continue using Zigbee then you will probably want to buy a newer Zigbee Coordinator hardware in a year or two from now.

paulcusick3 · February 15, 2022, 3:04pm

Thanks - Can you post your config and how you got it started in Zigbee2MQTT

Hedda · February 16, 2022, 4:11pm

It uses zigbee-herdsman for EZSP see → https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman/issues/319

Sireone · September 19, 2022, 6:15pm

How can I confirm that my HUSBZB-1 had the 700 series chipset vs the 500? Didn’t see anything definitive in those links. Would love to know if this applies…

github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js

🚧 META-Issue: Problems with 700 series (healing, delays, neighbors, ...) 🚧

opened 03:56PM - 15 Dec 21 UTC

closed 06:53AM - 28 Apr 22 UTC

AlCalzone

It seems that **700-series sticks** (including the currently latest firmware 7.1…7) have some problems which mostly appear on networks that: * are relatively busy (lots of unsolicited reports like motion sensor, power meters) * are large and/or * contain some battery-powered devices When lots of reports reach the controller in a short time, the 700-series sticks are not able to send any message. It looks like the stick is somehow blocked and simply doesn’t send anything, maybe not even the protocol level acknowledgements for receiving the messages, causing end nodes to repeat their messages over and over, making the situation even worse. ### 👷🏻‍♂️ EDIT: Fix available, see [below](https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/issues/3906#issuecomment-1065109783) for direct links to the updated firmware 7.17.2 ### 🔥 Bug in NVM conversion routine, potentially causing connectivity issues. Details see [below](https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/issues/3906#issuecomment-1068031298) #### 🗳 If you've updated, please take part [in the survey](https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/issues/3906#issuecomment-1026889320) so we can see if the update helps. --- We believe the following symptoms are all caused by this: - Huge delays (up to 60 seconds) when sending messages - Failure to send anything (`TransmitStatus: Fail`) - Floods of incoming reports that are transmitted over and over - Incorrect neighbor information (e.g. controller doesn't list some/any nodes as neighbors, etc.) - Failure to heal the network or individual nodes, especially in busy situations --- Additional background info: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/homeseer-products-services/homeseer-z-wave-products/smartstick/1483440-does-anyone-have-a-solid-working-g3-system-at-this-time/page4#post1510687 --- **A workaround** until this is fixed is **migrating back to a 500 series stick**, using the migration tool 700<->500 series. Description: https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/issues/3906#issuecomment-997484466

Hedda · September 20, 2022, 8:14pm

I did not mean that any HUSBZB-1 has a 700 series chip. All HUSBZB-1 are old so no HUSBZB-1 has a 700 chip.

HITChris · April 21, 2023, 7:47pm

For anyone that comes along, this is the only way I could get it to work

homeassistant: false
frontend: true
permit_join: true
mqtt:
base_topic: zigbee2mqtt
server: mqtt://localhost
serial:
port: /dev/ttyUSB1
adapter: ezsp
advanced:
baudrate: 57600
homeassistant_legacy_entity_attributes: false
legacy_api: false
legacy_availability_payload: false
device_options:
legacy: false