Zigbee2MQTT: Unable to Pair New Devices and Existing Devices Stopped Working

Configuration Zigbee
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1

Hello everyone,

I’m new to Home Assistant and I’m experiencing issues with Zigbee2MQTT. My current setup includes:

  • 7 Aqara switches with neutral (Zigbee)
  • 2 WiFi light bulbs
  • Philips LED strip
  • Philips dimmer

The Problem:

Recently, one of my Aqara switches stopped working. While it still appears in Zigbee2MQTT, I can’t control it from HA, and the switch itself is blinking red, indicating it’s disconnected. Initially, pairing this switch took about a second and worked flawlessly, but now it’s not pairing at all.

I tried deleting the device from Zigbee2MQTT and re-pairing it, but after deletion, it doesn’t reappear in Zigbee2MQTT during the pairing process.

Additionally, I purchased a Sonoff DIY Smart Switch (ZBMINIR2) yesterday, and it’s also not showing up in Zigbee2MQTT—I can’t pair it either.

I reverted to a backup from four days ago. After the restoration, the Aqara switch appeared again in Zigbee2MQTT but still isn’t functioning.

Given that both the existing Aqara switch and the new Sonoff switch are unable to pair or function properly, I suspect the issue might be with my Home Assistant setup rather than the devices themselves.

What I’ve Tried So Far:

  • Restarted Home Assistant and the Zigbee2MQTT add-on.
  • Reset the problematic devices and attempted to re-pair them multiple times.
  • Verified that other Zigbee devices are functioning correctly.

Installation Details:

  • Home Assistant Version: 2024.10.4
  • Installation Method: Home Assistant OS on promox
  • Host Hardware: Dell Wyse 5070 J5005
  • Zigbee Coordinator: Sonoff SeriaZBDongle Plus-E
  • Zigbee2MQTT vesion: 1.40.2-1

Additional Information:

  • I haven’t made any significant changes to my configuration recently.
  • Other Zigbee devices (the remaining Aqara switches) are still working correctly.
  • WiFi devices are functioning without issues.

My Goal:

I’m looking to identify the root cause of why new devices won’t pair and why an existing device stopped working, despite appearing in Zigbee2MQTT. Any guidance on how to troubleshoot this issue or steps to resolve it would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

2

Start by looking through the logs. The Zigbee2MQTT logs are stored in the zigbee2mqtt/logs/ folder.

3

I checked the Zigbee2MQTT logs, and here’s what I found:

Warning Message:

[2024-11-05 23:25:56] warning: zh:ezsp: 'ezsp' driver is deprecated and will only remain to provide support for older firmware (pre 7.4.x). Migration to 'ember' is recommended. If using Zigbee2MQTT see https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/discussions/21462

I’ve seen this warning from the beginning. I tried switching to the ‘ember’ driver, but it didn’t work, so I stuck with ‘ezsp,’ which was functional until now.

Suspicious Log Entries After Devices Joined:

[2024-11-05 23:26:02] info: z2m: Currently 9 devices are joined.
[2024-11-05 23:26:02] info: z2m: Zigbee: disabling joining new devices.
[2024-11-05 23:26:02] info: z2m: Connecting to MQTT server at mqtt://core-mosquitto:1883
[2024-11-05 23:26:02] info: z2m: Connected to MQTT server

Errors for Aqara Switch (hall_door_switch):

[2024-11-05 23:39:02] error: z2m: Publish 'set' 'state' to 'hall_door_switch' failed: 'Error: ZCL command 0x54ef441000c1b3c9/1 genOnOff.off(...) failed (Timeout - 25567 - 1 - 5 - 6 - 11 after 10000ms)'

The switch occasionally gets configured successfully:

[2024-11-05 23:41:48] info: z2m: Successfully configured 'hall_door_switch'

But then errors continue:

[2024-11-05 23:43:18] error: z2m: Publish 'set' 'state' to 'hall_door_switch' failed: 'Error: ZCL command 0x54ef441000c1b3c9/1 genOnOff.on(...) failed (Timeout - 25567 - 1 - 11 - 6 - 11 after 10000ms)'

Any ideas on troubleshooting steps based on this? Thanks for your help!

4

You have the adapter on an extension cable?

5

I assume you are selecting “permit join” in Z2M before trying to pair?

6

No, its plugged directly into the dell.

7

Then try that. Directly plugged into the server you can get a lot of issues. Read this Zigbee network optimization: a how-to guide for avoiding radio frequency interference + adding Zigbee Router devices (repeaters/extenders) to get a stable Zigbee network mesh with best possible range and coverage by fully utilizing Zigbee mesh networking

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8

I have configured automatic pairing in mqtt and i am not selecting anythig before trying to pair. I just set the pairing mode in the device and it appears in zigbee2mqtt

9

That’s a good point. Maybe that’s the problem. I will do that and let you know. Thanks!

10

Now I have the adapter on an extension cable and the problem persists. I have the same errors in the logs.

11

Any new wifi networks in the neighborhood perhaps? It sounds like it might be interference and that can be difficult to troubleshoot. If possible you can temporary try re-locating the adapter closer to the devices that are having trouble and see if that helps.

12

I would disable that as my next step. Apart from being a security risk, it means your Z2M installation is constantly looking for new devices to join.

That by itself could cause some messages to be dropped because it’s waiting for new device messages while trying to process other messages.
So, please set permit_join to false, and only enable that when you actually need to pair new devices.

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13

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give you all an update. After taking a break for several days, I decided to try everything again. Surprisingly, it started working! Restarting all components seemed to do the trick. I also moved my Zigbee coordinator to an extension cable, which might have helped improve signal quality.

Additionally, there was an update to the Home Assistant core during this time, and that could have contributed to fixing the problem.

Thanks so much to everyone who offered advice and support! I really appreciate the help.

14

Z2M and Home Assistant are not connected in any way. A change to core would have zero affect on Z2M.

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