Hello
I have a Sonoff P USB Stick, but it won’t connect to ZHA. When I try, it fails to probe after about 20 seconds. I’ve already tried flashing it and using a USB extender, but neither worked. I’m at a loss and really need help troubleshooting this. Any suggestions?
Little to go on.
What hardware are you running HA on ?
How is HA installed ?
Firmware version of the dongle-P ?
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Its installed on a pie 5 newest version of ha and i updated the stick on sonoffs website to the newest version.
Using an USB2 port with the extension cable ? Don’t use an USB3 port.
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My extender is a usb 2.0 and its plugged into the usb 2.0 port on my pie.
Then you could try a powered USB-hub.
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How would that work any different that an extender?
I’m not native English speaker. Is a USB extender a USB extension cable or a USB hub ?
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Its a USB extension cable.
A pi can only deliver a limited amount of power to the USB ports. A powered USB hub solves that problem because it has it’s own power supply.
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Oh really ok thats good. to know my pies power supply is 45w so I though I would have no problems with power though USB.
I mean, Home Assistant does see the stick—it shows up and everything. The issue is when I try to add it to ZHA; after a while, it just says ‘Failed to probe.’ I didn’t think it could be a power issue, but I’ll give that a try. Just in case that doesn’t work, is there anything else that could be causing the problem?
If you’re adding USB drives or other USB devices, please note that the maximum current the Raspberry Pi USB ports (either combined or a single USB port) can pass through is 1.2A.
To clarify, you cannot draw 1.2A from all four ports at the same time. You can draw this from one port only, or 1.2A across all 4 ports combined.
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Do you use /dev/serial/by_id ?
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I have an SSD plugged into it. So that might also be driving power.
You might have a look at Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference…
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@Colt587 Which firmware and version are you using on SONOFF ZBDongle-P stick? When you said “i updated the stick on sonoffs website to the newest version.”, you mean SONOFF Dongle Quick Flasher?
If you are using official firmware on SONOFF Dongle website (meaning you have flashed ZBDongle-P or ZBDongle-E using above online flashing tool), I suggest you try Zigbee2MQTT to work with SONOFF ZBDongle. Zigbee2MQTT seems to have better support for Zigbee devices and works better with many Zigbee Adapters aka. Zigbee Dongle: Supported Adapters | Zigbee2MQTT
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If it is the Sonoff ZDongle-P (and not the Sonoff ZDongle-E) then suggest flash it with firmware image from Koenkk:
You can find several links on how to flash it and more tips for it in this other thread about the Sonoff ZDongle-P:
Another tip is to temporarly remove the antenna while probing it the initial time, or at least move it far away from that SSD drive, as there might be issues if the radio is getting interference during initialization, so a trick is to remove the antenna during first setup and then put the antenna back after the Zigbee network is created.
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May I ask if your HA Core version is 2025.4.1? If yes, could you please upgrade to the latest version (2025.4.2) and test again?
I’ve tested three ZBDongle-P devices on all USB ports of a Raspberry Pi 5 without encountering any issues - my HA Core version is 2025.4.2.
Doesn’t matter as long as it’s USB 2.0
USB 3.0 uses differential signaling with a reference frequency of 2.5GHz, which is very close to the 2.4GHz band. When a 2.4GHz device is near a USB3 connector or transceiver, broadband interference is possible.
(Google RF Desense)