Hi I understand it is early days and this is a long shot but ……
Has anyone created a an OpenThread RPC firmware load for ITead’s/Sonoff ZBDongle-E?
Based on the same SI Labs SoC as the upcoming SkyConnect Dongle.
1 Like
Not yet that I have seen, however since Silicon Labs recently released their Gecko SDK on GitHub it might be possible for anyone to do that for free if can do it only with their “slc-cli” (Silicon Labs Configurator) CLI tool without a Silabs account, but I know that before you had to buy an official Silabs development kit or starter kit with an evaluation board for Zigbee and then register it to get an official Silabs with Zigbee access enabled in order to get full GUI access to the EmberZNet (Zigbee) SDK part of their Simplicity Studio (CDT/IDE), where I currently think the least expensive starter kit is their EFR32xG22 devkit for about $99 US-dollar.
https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy/discussions/1042
https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/
https://www.silabs.com/developers/simplicity-studio
https://www.silabs.com/development-tools/wireless
Easiest though is probably writing to ITead/Sonoff asking them for a non-supported alpha/beta firmware build, as previously seen their project manager for ZBDongle-E kept an eye on community “wishlists”.
Alternatively maybe try asking these community developers very nicely as they have built Silcon Labs EmberZNet Zigbee NCP firmware images in the past for the same type of Silabs EFR32MG21 hardware chip, (but do take note that needs to be pin-compatible, have correct antenna tuning config, and that there are several different flash sizes of EFR32MG21 so should preferably be specifically built for a specific USB adapter model):
https://github.com/grobasoz/zigbee-firmware/
and
https://github.com/MattWestb/EFR32-FW
As well as xsp1989 though I think he only makes builds for “SM-011” modules/adapters but I believe that just so happen to be pin-compatible and have the same flash size as the Sonoff ZBDongle-E dongle.
https://github.com/xsp1989/zigbeeFirmware/
Elelabs also by the way have RCP firmware for EFR32MG21 but it is only meant for their upcoming new USB adapter that I understand is still in development so they will not build for other adapters:
https://github.com/Elelabs/elelabs-zigbee-ezsp-utility
Regardless suggest you read and follow the related development discussion here:
https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy/discussions/894
Also keep an eye on home-assistant addons-development repository on GitHub
https://github.com/home-assistant/addons-development/
https://github.com/home-assistant/addons-development/issues
https://github.com/home-assistant/addons-development/pulls?q=is%3Apr
1 Like
FYI, I reposted your question as a request on ITead’s GitHub repository for tracking here:
https://github.com/itead/Sonoff_Zigbee_Dongle_Firmware/issues/5
I do not actually know of ITead/Sonoff is monitoring that repo so the best is to contact ITead directly.
Again, probably still want to keep close eye on → https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy/discussions/894
Last post by agners there make it sound like his add-on might come to Home Assistant beta soon.
You might even just want to repost your same Dongle-E firmware question there if ask nicley! 
As there agners + a few zha/zigpy developers and testers are discussing RPC firmware as well as Home Assistant add-ons for Home Assistant SkyConnect USB Stick (and the EFR32MG21 based Zigbee module in Home Assistant Yellow) as well as for other Silicon Labs based EFR32 adapters.
Thanks Hedda
I apologise if my request came across as not nice. I am on the spectrum (on the low end) and sometimes what seems perfectly ok to me offends some people.
I did notice the multi protocol discussions for the SI SoC. The last update I saw was SI need to update their firwmare/Sdn to support?
I already use a Conbee II for ZHA and have been happy except for a period of about four months where the firmware was very unstable.
I was looking to start to experiment with the OpenThread add-on and a couple of Eve devices to start the thread journey.
I got a few generic Thread devices with SiLabs modules on them, built the RCP Thread+Zigbee stack from Simplicity Studio
It only has a few wires attached from the USB Serial to the device. The Multiprotocol plugin starts and runs… Linking to ZHA is working
Only Zigbee is working now… Thread falls over all the time for some reason, but I think that is OTBR
Richard
Firmware - !Use at your own risk!
https://github.com/RichardPar/EFR32MG21_GenericFirmware
FYI, xsp1989 also built a Multi-PAN RCP firmware image for that and Sonoff EFR32MG21 dongles:
Thanks @Hedda,
I was unsure if THREAD was included as there are messages that cover alot of topics and devices. Its not really clear what is in-or-out or even what the target for a good result is.
I’ll join in on the other thread… keen to help/contribute
Richard
@Hedda
Any idea if I can use 2 Sonoff Dongle-E devices on the same thread network?
I have setup one already as a border router in HA using the RCP firmware from @darkxst , and I have a second one which I flashed with the same ot-rcp firmware, but I have no idea to add it to the network
How is the second one connected ?
@morhimi this is a very old discussion you dug up so better if you start a new new discussion instead that is dedicated about that question, therefore you should make sure that topic has a clear subject title.
Anyway, I do not know the answer and I have no Thread-based devices myself, but I would guess it depends if the official OpenThread Border Router Add-on for Home Assistent support multiple local adapters on the same addon instance or not yet, (I suspect that is does not). Documentation does at least not mention that:
And
And
It is a bit limited currently, you need a separate HA instance (and thread HA integration) for each BR. Once you have that though you can join both to the same thread network and things will continue to work if, even if one of the BR’s was to fail.