Tradfri bulbs pair but nothing else

Just bought (Feb 2024) two Tradfri 1100 lumen bulbs from Ikea Canada (TRADFRIbulbE26WSglobeopal1100lm) – the ones with white temperature and dimming control, no RGB.

Problem:

TLDR: I’ve paired them directly with HA + Zigbee dongle easily (no Ikea hub), but they don’t respond to any commands :confused: .

I must have read almost all posts here (and on reddit) about problems with Tradfri bulbs but couldn’t find a problem/solution to fit my case.

I have about 12 other devices in my Zigbee network connected via the same dongle working as expected but not these 2 new bulbs.

Details:

  • I pair them by the usual turning it off/on via the wall switch 6 times, leaving the lights on after that. HA finds them pretty quickly and pairs them easily.
  • The bulbs show up in the UI as “off” although they are definitely on, lighting up the room (wall switch). See screenshot below.
  • I tried to toggle it “on” via the UI but it returns the following error after about 16 seconds:
    • Failed to call service light/turn_on. Failed to send request: Request failed after 5 attempts: <Status.NWK_INVALID_REQUEST: 194>
    • Weirdly, although the error the UI toggle stays on the “on” position after this, probably a UI bug IMHO. Trying to toggle it again gives the same error
  • Also tried to change one of the sliders but it gives me the following similar error:
    • Failed to call service number/set_value. Failed to send request: Request failed after 5 attempts: <Status.NWK_INVALID_REQUEST: 194>

What I have tried, to no avail:

  • Reloading the Zigbee integration a few times
  • Re-pairing the bulbs around 5 times (removed their devices from the zigbee integration and added them again)
  • Upgraded my HA docker image from 2022.<something> to the latest stable one as of this writing 2024.1.6
  • Removed the Zigbee dongle for 35 min (read that somewhere)
  • Although I wasn’t having problems with my other devices, I forced my WiFi router to function on channel 1, to avoid collisions with Zigbee
    • Plus, most of my WiFi network / devices uses 5Ghz anyway…
  • Removed all zigbee devices except the coordinator and tried adding the bulbs again
  • Removed the entire ZHA integration, configured the network from scratch and added the bulbs again, same problem

Versions:

  • Zigbee integration: Built-in ZHA
  • Zigbee Dongle: ITead’s Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus
  • Coordinator: CC2652 by Texas Instruments Firmware: Z-Stack 20210708
  • Home Assistant (docker): Core 2024.1.6 and Frontend 20240104.0 (as explained on the post before i had a Home Assistant version from 2022, same problem).

Setup:

  • No ikea hub, pairing directly
  • The bulbs are in the ceiling.
  • The zigbee dongle is in the same small room as the bulbs, almost directly under the bulbs, right at my desk’s level, connected via a USB cable (about 60cm / 23in).

Any clues?! Thanks!!

Update: added the below to the original post:

  • Removed all zigbee devices except the coordinator and tried adding the bulbs again
  • Removed the entire ZHA integration, configured the network from scratch and added the bulbs again, same problem

Update: I have migrated my setup from ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT and now it works :raised_hands:

Another alternative that i didn’t try but would as next step is updating the dongle’s firmware. Kudos to @bartkummel for writing this great post about it: Sonoffs Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus Firmware - #61 by bartkummel

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