I’m in the same position as @ArnoHA in his post of June 2025. I have installed another Zigbee SMLIGHT SLZB-06 coordinator only to find out that ZHA does not support more than one coordinator. I have a very long and ranging bungalow with some thick concrete block walls and find that many of my ZigBee devices will not connect to the Sonoff ZBDongle-E USB attached to my HA device located centrally in my home.
As I only had a few ZigBee devices migrated I decided to remove ZHA and install Z2MTTQ. I followed the tutorial found on YouTube here and everything installed ok until i got to the last stage where you enter your coordinator’s details. Zibee2MTTQ is now on version 2.7.2-1 and different to that shown in the YouTube tutorial. Instead of copying code from the SLZB06 dashboard into the yaml file it now contains fields for the various entries. I therefore entered the Coordinator Path, Coordinator Stack and baud rate into the various fields as shown here
Some don’t appear to be required and other have apparently auto completed such as MQTT user name and password.
However I clicked on the Submit button at the bottom and got this message
there was no close button on this screen so clicked on Overview in sidebar.
I checked both add-on’s and both appear to be running. I assumed I should then click the Zigbee2MTTQ shortcut in the side bar and expected to see a list of Zigbee devices on my network. However I was presented again with the Onboarding Screen as in the screenshots above. so far I just go round and round in a loop. Is the onboarding screen missing some vital information such as password or port numbers? I notice that the correct front end Port 8099 has been auto completed as suggested by @LiQuid_cOOled
I am not sure how or where to add ZigBee devices to Z2MT? Do I assume the install has completed successfully and just add them through the app or should they have appeared in the Zigbee2MTTQ dashboard here
Hit “Permit join (All)” and put your device(s) into pairing mode one by one. They should appear in the list (your last screenshot above).
Note that “Permit join (All)” will automatically getting disabled again after ~4 minutes and 17 seconds for security reasons. After it times out you have to reenable “Permit join (All)”.
Also it helps to post the logfile of Z2M here if you get into issues.
Thanks @Tamsy . the problem is I am not seeing the dashboard. ( I grabbed the image from another post to explain what I presumably SHOULD see).
I keep going round and round with only the onboarding screen viewable. What I am not sure is if Z2M has installed correctly.
Here are the logs
[20:14:48] INFO: Preparing to start...
[20:14:48] INFO: Socat not enabled
[20:14:49] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] info: z2m: Logging to console, file (filename: log.log)
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] info: z2m: Starting Zigbee2MQTT version 2.7.2 (commit #unknown)
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] info: z2m: Starting zigbee-herdsman (8.0.1)
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] info: zh:zstack:znp: Opening SerialPort with {"path":"tcp://10.0.0.75:6638 ","baudRate":115200,"rtscts":false,"autoOpen":false}
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] error: z2m: Error while starting zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] error: z2m: Failed to start zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] error: z2m: Check https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/20_zigbee2mqtt-fails-to-start_crashes-runtime.html for possible solutions
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] error: z2m: Exiting...
[2026-01-03 20:17:48] error: z2m: Error: Error: No such file or directory, cannot open tcp://10.0.0.75:6638
[20:17:49] INFO: Preparing to start...
[20:17:49] INFO: Socat not enabled
[20:17:50] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] info: z2m: Logging to console, file (filename: log.log)
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] info: z2m: Starting Zigbee2MQTT version 2.7.2 (commit #unknown)
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] info: z2m: Starting zigbee-herdsman (8.0.1)
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] info: zh:zstack:znp: Opening SerialPort with {"path":"tcp://10.0.0.75:6638 ","baudRate":115200,"rtscts":false,"autoOpen":false}
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] error: z2m: Error while starting zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] error: z2m: Failed to start zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] error: z2m: Check https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/20_zigbee2mqtt-fails-to-start_crashes-runtime.html for possible solutions
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] error: z2m: Exiting...
[2026-01-03 20:21:47] error: z2m: Error: Error: No such file or directory, cannot open tcp://10.0.0.75:6638
[20:21:49] INFO: Preparing to start...
[20:21:49] INFO: Socat not enabled
[20:21:50] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
[2026-01-04 12:45:39] info: z2m: Logging to console, file (filename: log.log)
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] info: z2m: Starting Zigbee2MQTT version 2.7.2 (commit #unknown)
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] info: z2m: Starting zigbee-herdsman (8.0.1)
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] info: zh:zstack:znp: Opening SerialPort with {"path":"tcp://10.0.0.75:6638 ","baudRate":115200,"rtscts":false,"autoOpen":false}
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] error: z2m: Error while starting zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] error: z2m: Failed to start zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] error: z2m: Check https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/20_zigbee2mqtt-fails-to-start_crashes-runtime.html for possible solutions
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] error: z2m: Exiting...
[2026-01-04 12:45:40] error: z2m: Error: Error: No such file or directory, cannot open tcp://10.0.0.75:6638
[12:45:41] INFO: Preparing to start...
[12:45:41] INFO: Socat not enabled
[12:45:42] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
[13:20:30] INFO: Preparing to start...
[13:20:30] INFO: Socat not enabled
[13:20:31] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
[2026-01-04 15:29:47] info: z2m: Logging to console, file (filename: log.log)
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] info: z2m: Starting Zigbee2MQTT version 2.7.2 (commit #unknown)
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] info: z2m: Starting zigbee-herdsman (8.0.1)
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] info: zh:zstack:znp: Opening SerialPort with {"path":"tcp://10.0.0.75:6638 ","baudRate":115200,"rtscts":false,"autoOpen":false}
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] error: z2m: Error while starting zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] error: z2m: Failed to start zigbee-herdsman
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] error: z2m: Check https://www.zigbee2mqtt.io/guide/installation/20_zigbee2mqtt-fails-to-start_crashes-runtime.html for possible solutions
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] error: z2m: Exiting...
[2026-01-04 15:29:48] error: z2m: Error: Error: No such file or directory, cannot open tcp://10.0.0.75:6638
[15:29:49] INFO: Preparing to start...
[15:29:49] INFO: Socat not enabled
[15:29:50] INFO: Starting Zigbee2MQTT...
Starting Zigbee2MQTT without watchdog.
Onboarding page is available at http://0.0.0.0:8099/
It appears it cannot access the SLZB-06 but the ip address and port are what I took from the SLZB-06 control panel?
here is the log which has the same info going back to installation
2026-01-05 14:45:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:50240 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:45:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:47:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:43936 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:47:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:49:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:38816 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:49:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:49:55: Saving in-memory database to /data//mosquitto.db.
2026-01-05 14:51:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:43846 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:51:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:53:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:58804 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:53:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:55:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:46034 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:55:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:57:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:38544 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:57:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 14:59:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:43172 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 14:59:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 15:01:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:47808 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 15:01:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 15:03:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:48380 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 15:03:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 15:05:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:57414 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 15:05:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
2026-01-05 15:07:07: New connection from 172.30.32.2:35036 on port 1883.
2026-01-05 15:07:07: Client <unknown> closed its connection.
I’m not sure what the unknown client trying to connect on a 172.30.32.2 which is presumably from the internet
Are the correct ports configured by the Onboarding?
Finally I don’t know if this is relevant but when I installed Z2M my Sonoff USB was still attached to my HA pc. Might this have screwed up the config?
Thanks @ShadowFist I have changed that in the configuration and yaml file but it makes no difference. I have stopped an started Z2MT and restarted Home Assistant but I am still presented with the onboarding screen
No I do not. Can this be placed anywhere? e.g. at bottom of file.
What are trusted proxies? The example in your post appear to be an internet address rather than a Private IP range on the 10.0.0.1-254 range?
Hi All OK I have made some progress. I kept seeing Starting without Watchdog in the logs so I Google searched for that phrase and another post came up in HA Community where a user @samo1 said insert Default in the watchdog field of Z2m advanced settings. Voila Z2M has now now started with watchdog and I can now see the following:
Yes, they will, if you click Permit Join on the left before setting the devices in pairing mode.
Tip: If you want end devices to join via a specific router, that tiny arrow next to Permit Join allows you to select which router the device will use for pairing. It’s not guaranteed to stick, but it might help pairing devices which are far from the coordinator.
Firstly I would like to thank you @ShadowFist and @LiQuid_cOOled and other members for helping me with this problem. Coming from Smartthings I am still a newbie but beginning to learn my way around HA.
I have now added my first device. A Heiman smoke detector. I think I can see where to rename it but not where to select a zone. Any suggestions
In addition the exposed identities don’t appear to expose the alarm state of the device i.e. when the detector detects smoke. Smoke entity has Null against it (unless this means its not reporting currently)
If so this is a bit of a deal breaker as in ZHA I set up routines which announced across all my Alexa devices. I may have to contact the developer to see if there are ways of exposing this entity
The next hurdle will be to set up the original Sonoff USB ZBdongle-E coordinator to cover the rest of the house.
You select a zone(area) inside the HA device page, not inside Z2M. Bear in mind that Z2M can run on a variety of home automation platforms (including standalone). Not all these support areas, so setting it is only possible inside the HA interface.
It’s a battery device, so give it time to check in and it should populate all the details.
If you’re impatient, press the test button once, briefly on the device and it should fire an update.
If you’re REALLY impatient, blow some smoke on it.
Having said that, you have a really crap suboptimal LQI of 10. That’s almost as bad as having no communication at all.
Did you follow my previous advice to pair it via a closer router? Do you have actual router devices in your zigbee mesh, or is it just this single battery (end) device?
This is the very first battery device installed. The SLZB-06 coordinator is directly above the device in the loft. There are no other wired(router) Zigbee devices connected yet as I am migrating stuff that is not currently in Smartthings This smoke detector would not pair previously with the Sonoff dongle-E plugged in to my HA NUC several rooms away.
I checked here after searching the forums to answers to the same question.
The device is still named after its IEEE address 0x842712fffe1a8788 as I was afraid to rename it in Z2m for fear of breaking the MQTT link.
Is it safe to rename it in Entities?
Thanks
