So for everybody who is struggling with new RM3mini or RM4mini devices and getting Authentication failed message:
Apparently there is some new “feature” in RM devices which disables local API authentication if device is connected to the cloud.
And of course, the official Broadlink app makes it impossible for you to set up the device without connecting it to the cloud. So how did I get things up and running? Manually…
Download the official python-broadlink scripts and set it up (you have to use python3 and run python3 setup.py install ; it does not hurt to update pip3 install -U cryptography as otherwise you may encounter an error about initialization error)
Now once you installed the tools, put your device into AP mode (hold reset button until it starts flashing fast. then hold it once more until it starts flashing a bit slower) run python3 and lets get to some in-line coding:
import broadlink
broadlink.setup('myssid', 'mynetworkpass', 3)
Once you do this, the flashing on RMx should stop flashing and after a short while the device will become pingable (find its IP on your router e.g.)
I then wanted to get some IR codes for my broadlink.map, so I had to learn them. To do that, first cd into cli folder of python-broadlink package and edit broadlink_discovery file. On top replace python with python3 , as python2 does not work with this.
Then run ./broadlink_discovery and if your device is set up ok, you will see it detected together with something like
0x2712 1.1.1.1 aaaaaaaaaa
So this is your IP as well as MAC and you use this with another script to start the learning process.
Execute:
broadlink_cli --device "0x2712 1.1.1.1 aaaaaaaaaa" --learn
And point your IR blaster to the RMx, press the buttons and if the gods are with you, you should see a hex and base64 captured code. Use that in your broadlink.map
Now for RM3 device I was able to detect and add it automatically via PaperUI, but for RM4 I had to add device manually. Just select RM4 type, enter IP, MAC (with : separators) and port=80 and you should be good to go. After this the device should show as ONLINE.
So to sum up - if you want to use latest firmware on RM3/4 devices you cannot set them up with Broadlink Android app.
