Pi4 USB boot and Zwave/Zigbee not responding

Hi,

I flashed the beta eeprom for native USB boot on my PI4. Installed openhabian on a new SSD, updated everything and restored a backup. So far so good. The PI boots from USB/SSD without any problems. Openhab runs fine except that my Zwave (razberry shield/ttyAMA0) and Zigbee (TI CC2531EMK USB Stick / ttyACM0) controllers and things are online but not updating/responding. (after a while some Zwave devices go offline (device not communicating))

I inserted my original SD card and everything worked as before. So I cloned this (working) SD card with rpi-clone and booted from USB again. Same as before, everything online but Zwave/Zigbee not responding.

Anyone else with the same issues?

  1. Did you backup the SD-Card configuration & restore to SSD?
  2. What versions if OH?
  3. If they are new configs, secure devices will not work. The key is stored in the OH config.

1st attempt:
openhab-cli backup --full on the running instance, copied zip to SSD and restored (used this method successfully on another SD)
2nd attempt:
cloned the whole SD with rpi-clone

openHAB 2.5.5-1 (Release Build)

I have no secure devices :slight_smile:

Maybe it has something to do with the bootloader/“bios” ?
BOOT_UART is disabled, so there shouldnt be any debug output on GPIO 14/15

[13:25:33] root@openhab:/home/openhabian# vcgencmd bootloader_config
[all]
BOOT_UART=0
WAKE_ON_GPIO=1
POWER_OFF_ON_HALT=0
DHCP_TIMEOUT=45000
DHCP_REQ_TIMEOUT=4000
TFTP_FILE_TIMEOUT=30000
ENABLE_SELF_UPDATE=1
DISABLE_HDMI=0
SD_BOOT_MAX_RETRIES=1
USB_MSD_BOOT_MAX_RETRIES=1
BOOT_ORDER=0xf41

Not sure if the same config is used while booting from SD? I doubt it’s binding related tbh.

If so, that would be off-topic here and more appropriate on a Pi forum likely.

It could still be of interest to other Rpi4 users with newer (beta) firmware.

2 Likes

Hey @tsmit Tom,
Let me get this straight so I’m sure to understand you correct.
So you flashed the PI4 with the 28-05 release of the EEPROM Beta? Installed Openhabian on a new SSD, copied the latest *.elf and *.dat files on the Openhabian /boot partition?
So that implies that you are not running the latest Raspberry Pi OS and the latest Kernel right?
Interesting if that is the case. Makes the whole transition a lot easier because it eliminates the manual OpenHab installation.
I’m running a new PI4 (8Gb, whoop whoop, version) booting from USB (Kingston SSD) with Raspberry Pi OS. Works like a charm and I’m going to test Openhab this weekend on that setup. However I’m still not sure what the best (and easiest) approach would be.
Keep you all posted.
Best,
E

Hi! @EdwardV,

Yes, make sure you change rpi-update to beta on the new SSD as well, otherwise it will “update” to the non-beta elf/dat files and stop booting.
I used this tutorial: https://tynick.com/blog/05-22-2020/raspberry-pi-4-boot-from-usb/

I’m not sure, I did run apt update && apt dist-upgrade (I think the Openhabian install script does that too?)

Nice :sunglasses:

Openhabian and Openhab are running fine! Everything works flawlessly and fast (!!) except Zwave and Zigbee. That is all :slight_smile:

Do you use Zwave (razberry) or Zigbee?

Hey @tsmit, I started with an extra SSD disk and conducted your process, manually copied the *.dat and *.elf files. Works like a charm. So I have a completely new, clean Openhabian running.That proves that one doesn’t need the latest RaspOS to run from USB, the EEPROM update is enough.
I am using Zwave but with a USB stick (Aeotec), that’s on the list for tomorrow :slight_smile:
Keep you posted on my Zwave findings.

Best,
E

Hi @EdwardV, How did it go with your setup? Does everything work?

Last week I experimented some more with my SSD setup and aparently zigbee does work. It’s only razberry that doesnt work. I hooked up a serial usb cable to GPIO 14 and 15 to see if there is any data from the bootloader, there isn’t.

I captured some zwave data and it look like this:

[13:48:28] root@openhab:/home/openhabian# jpnevulator --timing-print --tty /dev/ttyAMA0:SB9600d --read --ascii -i 30
2020-06-11 13:48:33.860778:
10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 00 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:35.359553:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:36.859338:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:38.359657:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:39.858908:
01 06 00 49 81 00 00 31 …I…1
2020-06-11 13:48:41.358665:
06 00 49 81 00 00 31 …I…1
2020-06-11 13:48:42.858752:
01 06 00 49 81 00 00 31 …I…1
2020-06-11 13:48:44.358667:
01 06 00 49 81 00 00 31 …I…1
2020-06-11 13:48:45.859339:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 00 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:47.359124:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 00 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:48.859243:
10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 00 0B …-.2.!..
2020-06-11 13:48:50.358890:
01 10 00 04 00 2D 08 32 02 21 12 00 00 00 00 C6 00 0B …-.2.!..

Not sure if it is supposed to look like this but the binding seems to be communicating with the razberry hat.

Hi @tsmit, as I mentioned I’m using a Aeotec Gen5 Zwave USB stick. So I can confirm that this works without any issues for the last couple of weeks. Stable and without dropping the connection. I use a € 1,00 passive USB hub on one of the USB2 ports of the Pi.
I don’t have a razberry so I can’t give you any insights in that area . . .
Best,
E

Good! Now I’m pretty sure the problem is in the onboard uart/firmware/USB booloader and is not OpenHAB related :slight_smile: Thanks for your reply :slight_smile:

Just for future reference:

I found out that it has something to do with the Asmedia controller. (I tried two different usb to m.2 converters)

scenario’s:

  1. boot from usb device -> zwave doesn’t work
  2. boot from SD -> zwave works -> insert usb to ssd controller -> zwave stops working after a while

Next I’m going to try to boot from another brand usb to ssd controller.

We have seen some USB2 controllers that do not respond correctly in a USB3 port. A solution is to add a USB2 hub in between. The port tries to communicate as USB3 which is incorrect.

yeah, both controllers are usb 3 connected to a usb 3 port

I would like to know what you find as I have a similar problem.

I had a 2.5.8 system (built with Openhabian 1.5) with an Aeotec Gen-5 Z-stick in a 2GB RPI4 with the root partition moved via an Eluteng USB3 SATA Adapter to a Kingston 120GB SSD mostly working for several months. The Z-stick was from Feb 2017 and did not work well with the Silabs Simplicity Studio (no NVM back-up or Network Health), so bought a Zooz and everything melted down. I rebuilt the system on an SD card and Z-wave works wonderfully (Node heals of powered nodes in seconds). I researched and thought I needed a powered USB3 hub. There is a 1.2A USB limit on the Rpi4. The Aeotec has a battery, the Zooz, to my knowledge doesn’t. Just got the powered hub today. Without moving the root, just plugging the SSD in, even powered, the Z-wave stops working well. Unplugging and all is well, so I’m stuck. I was going to try getting power readings of the Pi and hub, but need new parts. I can’t go back to the Aeotec because it will not load the back-up. I do have a call into Aeotec to see if there is a firmware update.

Hi,

Unfortunately I’ve had no luck getting zwave to work together with SSD boot. I’ve tried 4 or 5 different usb to ssd controllers (m.2 and sata) all the same result. Different from your setup I use the zwave.me razberry hat, so in my case USB power shouldn’t be a problem? Also I power my PI’s (5) from a 10 amp 5v meanwell psu.

I have no idea what to do next :frowning:

Why don’t you just drop the SSD. You obviously have wasted quite some time on that.
Some ideas sometimes turn out not to be as great as you thought they are when you started them.

I wouldn’t say its time wasted.I’m just trying to figure out what is going on :slight_smile:
Besides that, I don’t like my SD’s wearing out :expressionless:

That’s what ZRAM is for. As you run openHABian anyway why don’t you use it.

Hi Bruce,

Use an extension USB cable, and put the zigbee device from the SSD as far as you can. It should work.