News, and google classic sites has been suspended

[MikeP 4 MPP]

Biggest thing - google classic sites has been suspended and I think is no longer visible as of Sept 1.  My main site is in the new format but the old pages (the black ones) were part of my old site.  These are mostly the MPP firmware pages and info.

I was keeping it because it allowed direct links which was much easier to work with for uploads/downloads and image retrieval.

This means AM is broken for firmware updates until I sort out a new way to handle it, I'll post here when I do.

I have a new version of the MPP firmware ready to go as soon as I do.  It's got some new RF and DHT devices, and some improvements in restart announcements and event reporting over UDP that makes working with devices easier.

Along with those fixes is a new version of MppArduino with improvements in the log viewer (making it faster for large logs), in capturing the UDP messages I mentioned, and additional functions in the IP menu for OTA management of devices - battery device wakeups, configuration changes, etc.

The next version of AM will have two new sets of devices - support for bulbs for devices using Philips Hue emulation and a preliminary implementation of MQTT support that enables Tasmota over MQTT.

Hue emulation is handy for simple rule integration but it's only bulbs and it's a polled interface so not much use for event handling like buttons.  But quick for taking outbound action, easily integrating ESPurna and Tasmota.

MQTT emulation is faster and handles event reporting for Tasmota devices.  One of the interesting devices there is the Zigbee2Tasmota bridge using inexpensive devices like the Sonoff Zigbee Bridge.  MQTT makes it possible to pair and use zigbee battery buttons and sensors as well as other bulbs and switches with reasonable fast triggering.  I've got that working for my old osram, cree, and wemo bulbs and buttons that were ZHA vs hue's ZLL.  The MQTT bridge should also work for the various sensors and switches but I haven't played with them - if you try and run into trouble send me a log and I'll try to get it working.

I've written a small java MQTT broker for this that I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with it, ping me if you need it for Tasmota.  So far it's running on java for PCs, I'll probably do an android app too.  No TLS so only useful inside a firewall.  The existing MQTT brokers I could find were either cloud services (so I wasn't interested), python based (not a fan of that language though I have to use it most every day), or C based (too hard to use in android).

[sergey]

Bad news are news anyway)  By the way Mike, which " google classic sites" did you  mean? Everything as https://sites.google.com/site/mppsuite and https://sites.google.com/site/mppsuite1/ are still visible for me.

Great news about MQTT support!

[MikeP 4 MPP]

It's the "mppsuite1" (black background) that's being removed by google.  Good that you can still see it!  Google says it shouldn't be visible, and they won't let me edit it or change the uploaded files.

I've moved all of the information into the main site including the latest MPP firmware bin and source files.  If you're building your own all you need is MppPublish.zip from there.  Note that I've moved to the 2.7.2 esp8266 arduino library.

The new version of MppArduino.jar is available there now.  

One new feature in MppArduino is the "cal" command (use help on the input line).  "cal full" switches the device to do a full wifi calibration on boot which uses more power an a few 10s of milliseconds.  But it seems to have helped with some of my older sonoffs (sonoffs behaving badly).  For battery devices it's probably best to stick with (or return to) "cal partial" to reduce power use once deployed.  Switching to full was recommended by the Espressif engineers.

Another feature is the ability to run commands remotely with .../command?command={command, e.g. cal full}.  Not the easiest as there's no response message but handy for quick changes like cal.

Note this requires the latest MppDevice bins to work.

Firmware updates using AM are still broken (they'll be the previous version), I'll post once I figure out how to fix it.

[sergey]

Yep, i still can see https://sites.google.com/site/mppsuite1/ more over it seems to me much faster than mppsuite.  I don't now if the information is fresh enought - what i see is MppPublish.zip (7734k) Mike P 4 MPP, Jun 3, 2021, 5:19 PM v.50 for instance. Btw is there any critical changes in libraries function ?

[sergey]

And one more - You've mentioned that download page (the black one) is on  mppsuite now (as new location), but what i see is empty download page here.

[MikeP 4 MPP]

Yeah, the old site probably is faster, the new sites is somehow linked to their Google Drive service while the old sites are direct.  But unfortunately it's the old stuff, I'll be zapping it once I get AM firmware updating to work.

I just tried while logged out and was able to see the zip and firmware files:  https://sites.google.com/site/mppsuite/esp2866/flashing-firmware/downloads.  Can you give it another try?

The new library version has some additional features but no critical or security fixes.  You may need to to use all of the new features available on MppArduino.

[sergey]

Yep, now i can see downloads. Thanks.

[MikeP 4 MPP]

Just updated the AM beta to 17.0.0 which fixes the MppDevice firmware and remote images issues, and sorted the image issues with the AM web app.  You need to be running the latest version of the AM server to pick up the changes for AM Remote (which must also be on 17) and the web app.

[MikeP 4 MPP]

MppArduino is now at 6.0.0, I've added remote console support.  This requires MppServer 1.12.0 or later which now listens for a console on port 8897 (password protected if you've set it for the MppFirmware).

The 1.12.0 version might require you to change custom code:

• Change all "mppServer.MppSerial" to "MppSerial".  MppSerial is a "print" device (just like "Serial") but is hooked into the console TCP socket as well as the USB port.
• Change any output you'd like to share with the console (e.g. the periodic reports or other messages) to use MppSerial instead of Serial.
• OUTPUTIP is no longer needed and has been removed.  it'll be ignored by the MppServer and will no longer send out messages.

There's a few new features:

• The MppServer will announce restarts with reasons over UDP and includes a Nickname if supplied.
• Set the MppServer property Nickname to make device UDP messages more readable
• MppArduino can listen for UDP and multicast messages (see the "Listeners" menu) and there's a "Discover" command to request the MppDevices to check in
• Use MppSerial to send messages that can be shown the MppArduino console
• mppServer.noteProperty can be used to write temporary values/messages that can be seen on the device's web page.  They are not persisted so writing them doesn't cause a flash update.

[MikeP 4 MPP]

To start a remote console in MppArduino to an MppDevice:

1. Use the IP menu to set the remote device IP
2. Use Open Console to connect, enter the password if applicable (in commands, then enter or touch send), and use the appropriate buttons or commands (try "help").  The "Reset" button will be disabled when connected over IP as it won't work...
3. Selecting/opening the "Port" menu will close the console socket and attempt to open the USB port.  The "Reset" button will be re-enabled.
4. The app title will show the connection type and target:  USB port or TCP IP

Some other helpful features of MppArduino:

• You can update firmware, open the device's web page, edit properties, subscribe to the device (for UDP updates), change wifi, and restart the device over IP.
• Over the TCP console (as well as the USB port) you can still use the buttons for console control as well as enter custom commands.  Firmware is always updated over TCP, to update over USB (e.g. if the device locks up) you need a firmware flashing tool like the Arduino IDE, Eclipse, or the Espressif flasher.
• The IP menu allows for waiting for a battery device to wake/connect, and optionally to update the firmware or tell it to stay awake in configuration mode

[DougC]

This sounds like a fantastic package of enhancements MIke. I shall have to blow off the cobwebs and get my kit all updated so I can check it out.