Z2M Thirdreality sensors 'online' but unresponsive

Configuration Zigbee
1

Looking for some troubleshooting help please…

Recently setup HA as VM with a Sonoff ZBDongle-E and Zigbee2MQTT and 4 x ThirdReality Zigbee water sensors. Last week all sensors paired and I was able to generate alerts on HA when the sensors were wet.

All seemed well for a few days… but…
Have red flashing light on the sensors this morning.
Devices are showing as “online” in Z2M
On the map all 4 have green links, only kitchen is showing as 100, others as 0, even through 2 of them are now right next the dongle.

I am receiving some messages from them eg…

  • Received 11:41:36
    • QoS: 0
      battery: 100 battery_low: false
      linkquality: 160
      tamper: false
      update:
      installed_version: -1
      latest_version: -1
      state: null update_available:
      null voltage: 3100
    • Payload:
      water_leak: false

However when activating the sensor, only the alarm goes off, it is not sending messages to Home Assistant.

I have updated HA, restarted and tried looking for anything odd in the logs.
What else can I do to debug ?
Do I need to reset and repair the sensors ?

Also… noticed and confused about updates… only 1 of the 4 sensors appears to offer a version update but not the other 3 ? I can’t find any information as to if I should update ?
“battery”: 100,
“battery_low”: false,
“linkquality”: 108,
“tamper”: false,
“update”: {
“installed_version”: 31,
“latest_version”: 56,
“state”: “available” },
“voltage”: 3100,
“water_leak”: false

DEVLINKS: >-
/dev/serial/by-id/usb-ITEAD_SONOFF_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_V2_20230505195555-if00
/dev/serial/by-path/pci-0000:00:07.0-usb-0:2:1.0
DEVNAME: /dev/ttyACM0
DEVPATH: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:07.0/usb2/2-2/2-2:1.0/tty/ttyACM0
ID_BUS: usb
ID_MODEL: SONOFF_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_V2
ID_MODEL_ENC: SONOFF\x20Zigbee\x203.0\x20USB\x20Dongle\x20Plus\x20V2
ID_MODEL_ID: 55d4
ID_PATH: pci-0000:00:07.0-usb-0:2:1.0
ID_PATH_TAG: pci-0000_00_07_0-usb-0_2_1_0
ID_REVISION: ‘0442’
ID_SERIAL: ITEAD_SONOFF_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_V2_20230505195555
ID_SERIAL_SHORT: ‘20230505195555’
ID_TYPE: generic
ID_USB_DRIVER: cdc_acm
ID_USB_INTERFACES: ‘:020201:0a0000:’
ID_USB_INTERFACE_NUM: ‘00’
ID_USB_MODEL: SONOFF_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_V2
ID_USB_MODEL_ENC: SONOFF\x20Zigbee\x203.0\x20USB\x20Dongle\x20Plus\x20V2
ID_USB_MODEL_ID: 55d4
ID_USB_REVISION: ‘0442’
ID_USB_SERIAL: ITEAD_SONOFF_Zigbee_3.0_USB_Dongle_Plus_V2_20230505195555
ID_USB_SERIAL_SHORT: ‘20230505195555’
ID_USB_TYPE: generic
ID_USB_VENDOR: ITEAD
ID_USB_VENDOR_ENC: ITEAD
ID_USB_VENDOR_ID: 1a86
ID_VENDOR: ITEAD
ID_VENDOR_ENC: ITEAD
ID_VENDOR_ID: 1a86
MAJOR: ‘166’
MINOR: ‘0’
SUBSYSTEM: tty
TAGS: ‘:systemd:’
USEC_INITIALIZED: ‘1793957’

2

I highly recommend that you start by reading and try following all the tips in this guide before you troubleshoot further or dig into debug logs any deeper → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage

Zigbee radios is relatively speaking extremely sensitive to EMF interference from close sources (at least within 1-2 meters) + Zigbee devices have very poor range relatively speaking and therefore depends heavily on its mesh networking technology which only works oif you have many Zigbee Router devices to extend range and coverage.

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Also note that a “ezsp adapter” Zigbee Coordinator is not currently recommend for Zigbee2MQTT, so consider buying the CC2652P based “Sonoff ZBDongle-P” to use as a Zigbee Coordinator instead and later convert that “Sonoff ZBDongle-E” into a dedicated Zigbee Router device by refreshing its firmware and then power it via a USB-charger as a stand-alone Zigbee extender/repeater device → https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/adapters/#recommended

More about “Sonoff ZBDongle-P” verses “Sonoff ZBDongle-E” in these other threads:

ITead’s “Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2” (model "ZBDongle-E") based on Silicon Labs EFR32MG21 +20dBm radio SoC/MCU

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Welcome!

I’ve not used this specific 3rdreality device, however I do use their door sensor and motion sensors with zigbee2mqtt with good success.

They are zigbee end devices that probably work in a very ‘sleepy’ mode to maximize battery life. This behavior in zigbee end devices can add to the head scratching when debugging.

You do not say much about the type of hardware you have zigbee2mqtt running on and the type of USB port you are using. As was stated in some other posts reference material (worth reading), getting your zigbee coordinator device away from any noise caused by host machine and/or USB3 ports is a good idea. Simple solution, put the USB coordinator on a several foot USB 2 (important 2 not 3) cable and let it dangle away from your host computer. Even better, if you are using a USB3 port on the host computer, put a USB 2 hub between host computer and coordinator dongle.

I’m not sure about these sensors, however many battery powered zigbee sensors will ‘wake up’ in response to a short press of the pairing button on the device. You might watch the Zigbee2MQTT detail screen for one of the devices and short press the button to see if Zigbee2MQTT updates ‘last seen’ value.

Another lesson learned I’ve had. Get a permanent black fine tip marker and as you pair a new sensor or identify it, write the last three pairs of digits of the devices MAC address on the device, AA:E1:02 for example. Helps to save you from diddling with wrong device…

I’m not sure I can see what firmware version you are using on your coordinator dongle.
I would check that you are using the ‘best’ firmware for Zigbee2MQTT, from what I read, it might be a good idea to NOT use the fancy ‘multiprotocol’ firmware, if that is what you have. Rather use the simple 'EZSP - Standard Zigbee (NCP) firmware '. Web site link below is a good source for firmware and flashing. Good hunting!

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Thanks some great advice - Thanks. I assumed as its listed as ‘supported’ and its been Dongle-E has been released over a year it would be state now.
I have a usb zigbee repeater on order from Ali express which will hopefully help !

6

Thanks, I have a USB2 extender for the Sonoff. Running the VM on my Unraid NAS.

What’s normal behaviour when a device does loose comms ?

Unscrewing and hitting the reset on the sensor closer to the coordinator does indeed bring them back to life.

Does this mean whenever I reboot my NAS I have to reconnect everything ? Will a usb Zigbee repeater help by maintaining some sort of a connection with the end devices while the HA restarts ?

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and I’ll try and use my Mac with chrome to flash the Dongle with the best firmware…

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“What’s normal behaviour when a device does loose comms ?”

My experience with battery powered devices that lose battery power is that they show ‘Offline’ in Zigbee2MQTT pages and show as a unconnected device (no lines to it) in the zigbee2mqtt map. Sometimes you get a battery report, sometimes not. Pretty device dependent. It is not uncommon for battery powered end devices to show as ‘Offline’ in the Zigbee2MQTT pages, first picture below. They should wake up and report in at their programmed interval, the 2nd picture is an Ikea battery powered switch that has not been touched in a couple months probably, however it wakes up every 60 minutes (I’m guessing at the interval) and reports in. The intervals are hard coded in the firmware of the device and its totally up to firmware writer to pick the interval.

“Does this mean whenever I reboot my NAS I have to reconnect everything ?”
From my experience no you should not have to. All the devices on your mesh network will ‘check in’ at they interval after you restart Zigbee2MQTT. So, yes, it could be on the order of an hour before devices such as the water sensor wake up and report in. If they see water, they should wake up immediately and report in the coordinator.

If you power cycle your usb coordinator device, the network will need to rebuild it self at the low zigbee level. However, from my understanding if the coordinator dongle stays powered and is not instructed to ‘reboot’, your zigbee mesh stays ‘formed’, even if you reboot Zigbee2MQTT. Not sure the difference really matters, however, once in a blue moon, my coordinator dongles will go wonky just on a Zigbee2MQTT reboot. So I have to power cycle the dongle and then restart zigbee2MQTT.

"Will a usb Zigbee repeater help by maintaining some sort of a connection with the end devices while the HA restarts "

In my above babble, as I said, as long as the coordinator dongle stays powered, the zigbee network at the low level should stay connected. As I understand it, for example, even if your Zigbee2MQTT instance is down, but your coordinator is up, your water sensors will wake up and send a ‘report in’ message. The message will (there are some details here that I am possibly leaving out (mostly do to my lack of knowledge)) just go around the network for a bit and disappear. So then when you start Zigbee2MQTT it could take another ‘wake up’ cycle before Zigbee2MQTT calls the devices ‘online’.

The value of routers is mostly to deal with distance issues between devices, especially end devices. If you add routers, read up on how to ‘add via’ a device via a close router, rather directly to the coordinator. Router do have some other ‘magic’ up their sleeves for helping end devices (beyond my pay grade to explain).

Good hunting!

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Adding at least a few "know good"dedicated Zigbee Router devices between the Zigbee Coordinator and any devices having issues should make a huge difference.

Having a few “great” Zigbee Routers (a.k.a. Zigbee signal repeaters / Zigbee range extenders) with better radios and antennas for better reception can affect performance positively as communication signals if messages do not have to be resent. And having a Zigbee Coordinator with good radio and antenna away from any EMF sources can obviosuly have the similar benefits, but Zigbee signals have poor range and worse wall penetration power so routers are a must.

To get the best suggest Zigbee Router devices today buying a few of ITead’s Sonoff ZBDongle-E (based on EFR32MG21) and flashing with Zigbee Router firmware then power them via USB-changers to work as stand-alone devices, (or alternatively for an out-of-the-box product buy a few of IKEA’s Trådfri Signal Repeater devices and/or Aeotec’s Range Extender Zi devices).

Again, highly recommend reading and following all the additional tips here → Zigbee networks: how to guide for avoiding interference and optimize for getting better range + coverage

Home Assistant posted a video to clearly show Zigbee’s symptoms with electromagnetic interference:

Network optimization

You have to understand and remember that each Zigbee device by itself has very limited coverage, short range and their weak signals have poor wall penetration, so to workaround this a Zigbee network relies on mesh networking (a type of network topology/technology/architecture), which means that a Zigbee network heavily depends on having a swarm of mains-powered devices are a “Zigbee Router” that are always-on so they can act as a signal repeater and range extended by transmitting data over long distances by passing data messages through the Zigbee network mesh of intermediate devices to reach more distant Zigbee devices.

Thus the key to a great and healthy Zigbee network is to add/have many “Zigbee Router” devices relatively close to each other (and always powered on) in order for the Zigbee network as a whole to get good coverage and range. So often you more or less just need to add/have several mains-powered Zigbee devices in the network that act as “Zigbee Router” devices to achieve a stable Zigbee network.

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For others new to HA and following this, I’d also recommend getting the OTA updates working, not sure why the didn’t work out of the box, but I briefly hit the reset/reconnect button on them and then clicking check for OTA updates, seemed to work for me.