Peanut zigbee switches - missing power

Hardware
1

So I saw a post a while back saying that the Peanut zigbee switches needed an Almond hub to push a software update that allowed power monitoring, that the shipped software did not support it. The poster said he just acquired an Almond hub and would report back on results. I couldn’t find the results posted so I went hunting on the interwebs…

(UPDATE: I do not believe the steps below work. You have to have an actual Almond router to upgrade the peanut firmware, but if you get and Almond router you can flash the firmware on the peanuts to report power usage Please see additional comments in this series.)

I found this reddit post.

The poster states that you can buy the homescreen router for $15 on Amazon. Which is stated to be functionally the same as an Almond 2015.

Then follow the instructions here to upgrade the router.

The software download link for the version used AL2-R109 is here.

Users have reported success using this process.

I have ordered the Hub from Amazon and will report back when tested (someone remind me if I forget)… :slight_smile:

  • This has not yet been proven to work. See reply below!
2

Progress so far.

  • I ordered the HomeScreen router
  • I flashed it with the Almond 2015 firmware
  • Paired a brand new Peanut switch to the router
  • The device both, a. does not show amps/volts/watts and b. says it is on the latest firmware
  • Tried with and without having the router connected to an almond account, and with and without the router having a web connection.

I will try on a few more Peanuts. However, based on initial testing either: a. Securifi changed something so you can no longer flash devices or b. These devices are on the latest firmware, and just do not report power information.

The first one tried reported zero power readings to the Securifi router as well as HomeAssistant.

I will try some more things:

  • Different Peanut plugs
  • Different firmware versions on HomeScreen router
  • I ordered a used Almond + off Ebay. Just to see if firmware update is disabled on the HomeScreen device.
3

Ok, so the HomeScreen with Almond 2015 firmware does not update firmware on the Peanuts. I tried older versions of the Almond firmware, but no dice. I bought a used Almond + off ebay, upgraded the software, and it flashes new firmware onto the peanut switches. I have confirmed that the new firmware does indeed measure current.

You do not have to have the router attached to an Almond account to upgrade the peanut firmware, but it does have to see the internet on the WAN port.

4

Very strange. Followed the articles noted and was able to flash 2 of my Peanuts using the Almond 2015 firmware on the Home Screen. Without ethernet connection, the Home Screen showed no updates for the Peanut and all the Power information was 0. Plugged the Home Screen to the top port (the WAN cloud icon) to my network, it changed to stating the Peanut had firmware update. Took about 5 minutes and got the Upgrade Success. Now I see Power wattage, current amps and Voltage with correct information. Not sure why you had no luck with the Home Screen, but wanted anyone else viewing this thread to know that it seems to be possible.

5

So is there a way of updating these switches without an Homescreen router with almond firmware? Otherwise I’ll throw them in the trash.

6

I’ll take them. They’re still strong zigbee repeaters.

7

I have a stack of them here along with the flashed HomeScreen and an actual Almond display. I pulled them and replaced them with Aqara (because the other battery powered Aqara devices I had did not get along with the peanuts)… The peanut switches were great though and their touch screen panel was pretty nice too…

I had no luck with the flashed Homescreen router updating firmware on my switches, but cinghialino reports success. I had success with an actual Almond device. I don’t know of anything other than the Securifi software that will update the firmware in your peanut switches… So if anyone wants some Securifi hardware I’ve got ~6 almond switches a flashed Homescreen router (zigbee only) and an Almond 2015 that are collecting dust… :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

I caved in and got an Almond router for the sole purpose of updating the peanuts plugs. I guess I’ll return it when I’m done with it. Anyone needs an update?

9

I am using the Peanut with deConz and even after firmware update can’t get any power readings. : ( If you have any success please report back. Thanks.

10

yeah it took about 10 mins each plug but now they’re working. the procedure is easy (for a home assistant tinkerer)

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11

Are you using deConz?

12

I actually just paired mine to zigbee2mqtt and ran ota in there and it updated the firmware, after which I paired it directly to home assistant. After using the plug with smartthings for years, I finally have power info.

Follow the directions on the zigbee2mqtt site as the plug doesn’t publish it’s model number. Zigbee2mqtt displays volts, watts, and amps, while HA only displays watts.

13

Hello friend. I’m trying to do what you did: pair a peanut plug to zigbee2mqtt. I’m trying to follow the directions at…

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/advanced/support-new-devices/01_support_new_devices.html#_1-pairing-the-device-with-zigbee2mqtt

…but I’m running into a wall at step 2. I suspect it’s something wrong with the equivalent of the “WSDCGQ01LM.js” file in the example.

Would you mind sharing your equivalent of that file? I’d immensely appreciate your help, because I’ve been banging my head against this for a few hours!

UPDATE: Problem solved! I was looking at the wrong directions. These are the correct directions:

https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/devices/PP-WHT-US.html

Worked like a charm :slight_smile: