RfRaw only works for an hour with Sonoff RF Bridge

[Christian Brandau]

I have successfully flashed a Sonoff RF Bridge with Portisch and it works. I can sniff RfRaw data and send them out. But it only works for some time (e.g. an hour or even less). The Web Gui is still accessible, but then, sniffingng and sending doesn`t work anymore. Strangly, a soft reboot doesn´t help. Only a hard reboot (unpluging the USB cable) brings the function back - but only for e.g. an hour or even less. I even tried it with another RF Bridge but with the same result. Any idea what could be the cause?

[Steve Miller]

I think the problem is probably in the Portisch code or the RF front-end.    I have seen similar problems with these simple rf remotes.   Either the Portisch code is in an infinite loop or the RF gain of the receiver has been reduced to the point where nothing gets through.    Unfortunately, lots of things use these frequencies and if one device sends too much data or too high an amplitude then it gets screwed up.   

The fact that a soft reboot does not fix it suggests that the problem is not on the Tasmota side.  Only a power cycle will reset the RF receiver and the microcontroller running the Portisch code.   You might be able to prove it is the RF receiver by doing the following.    Wait for the problem to occur,  then place the Sonoff bridge in an RF cage for about 10 minutes.   Does it start working again?   If so, then it suggests that the RF receiver was swamped out and placing it in a quiet place allowed it to reset its automatic gain control, AGC.    You can make a temporary RF cage by placing the Sonoff bridge inside a metal soup pot and installing the metal lid.  (Get permission from the cook first, or you will get a month of KP duty.  Don't ask me how I know.) 

An RF receiver swamp out may be due to a defect in the Sonoff bridge.   It could also be your home environment.   It is not easy to troubleshoot.   It might not even be in your house.   It could be devices like security sensors in a neighbors home that are using the same frequency.    If you suspect an interfering device, then testing at different times of the day might give clues. 

Below is the schematic for the sonoff bridge for reference.   As it is not connected to the power line directly, it is safe to probe around in there.       

https://www.itead.cc/wiki/images/c/cc/433RFBridge.SCH.pdf

On Tue, Mar 16, 2021 at 4:34 AM Christian Brandau <christia...@gmail.com> wrote:

I have successfully flashed a Sonoff RF Bridge with Portisch and it works. I can sniff RfRaw data and send them out. But it only works for some time (e.g. an hour or even less). The Web Gui is still accessible, but then, sniffingng and sending doesn`t work anymore. Strangly, a soft reboot doesn´t help. Only a hard reboot (unpluging the USB cable) brings the function back - but only for e.g. an hour or even less. I even tried it with another RF Bridge but with the same result. Any idea what could be the cause?

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[Christian Brandau]

Wow - thank you very much for this detailed explanations and tips!

I will try the soup pot testing but I will not ask the cook first because I definitely know that she won't allow me to use it for this purpose ;-)

[Greg from Oz]

My portisch was doing that as well, so much that I put a sonoff on it so I could turn off and on the rf-bridge. Then I went back to version 6.7.1 and used the portisch binary that comes with the version and it has been stable since.

The symptoms I had before was it would work a few times and then just lock up. EG if I sent off then on etc a few time in a row it stopped.

[Christian Brandau]

Thx, Greg, this really is the same behaviour I have. Unfortunately it seems that I have made something wrong while downgrading to 6.7.1. I guess  simple OTA downgrading does not work. The upload of the 6.7.1 minimal binary was successful, but after that the device did not come back for uploading the final 6.7.1 binary. Now I even can`t get AP mode back. Neither by pressing the button 40 seconds nor by power cycling.

I guess I have to do a serial flashing again, but I will need some days until I can proceed this.

[Christian Brandau]

@Greg: You are my hero! I have found some time to flash it even today and now with 6.7.1 it works stable. Thank you!

@smill... : Yesterday I really have tested you metal soup pot testing, but nothing happened. And I have not been detected by the cook ;-)

[Greg from Oz]

What version were you using before?

I have lots of old versions running here because it it isn't broken I don't upgrade it.

[Christian Brandau]

I have used 9.3.1.

So I will stick to 6.7.1 and will better not upgrade it anymore.

[Philip Knowles]

The data structures are totally different. The upgrade instructions on the releases page shows how far you can downgrade (OTA) too.

Regards

Phil K

Get Outlook for Android

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From: sonof...@googlegroups.com <sonof...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Christian Brandau <christia...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, March 19, 2021 7:09:35 AM
To: TasmotaUsers <sonof...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: RfRaw only works for an hour with Sonoff RF Bridge

 

To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sonoffusers/3938eb54-0a4f-4580-bc9d-a4514df01ecen%40googlegroups.com.

[Greg from Oz]

I guess it has been stable since downgrading?

That is good.

Glad it worked.

[Christian Brandau]

B.T.W.: After I have flashed it new down to 6.7.1. it worked stable immediately, although the latest hex file for Portisch was still on it. So it seems as if one doesn't have to use the Portisch FW that was available when the release was published. Taking the latest is OK.

[Christian Brandau]

knowles...: Indeed this was the mistake I have made to try to downgrade from 9.3 1 to 6.7 1. So I have flashed it new from scratch and now it works