Ivan Banha

Wow 😲

What’s the use case of such setup?

YouTube video by Jeff Geerling You will own NOTHING and be HAPPY! (SKG)

You'll own NOTHING and be HAPPY! That's what I've been hearing a lot, lately. Quick video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAsg...

1 + making tiny pet projects

Hey 👋. I would like to clarify one thing about Core Time 2. Will it have barometer and compass as well as Core 2 Duo?

A screw instead of a ranging sensor

Some time ago, I decided to buy and experiment with a Time-of-Flight (ToF) ranging sensor. I ordered it on AliExpress and ... received a screw instead of the sensor. 😅 Never buy anything from the "HH HangHeng Electronics Store" store.
#scam #aliexpress

Ubuntu 24.04 seems to be pretty stable.

I have AMD GPU and only Ubuntu (from relatively fresh distros)is supported by AMD’s official drivers.

DDR3 🤔 It’s not that old 😄 I have an old laptop with DDR2. It still runs Debian perfectly with Home Assistant on it.

What’s the new purpose of that pc though?

For the first time, russians have attacked Ukraine with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

I believe you can assign static IPs for some of your devices on a router level. In my case, I use MikroTik router and my servers have assigned static IPs. So bulbs can't steal them.

Additionally, there is an option to assign IP for a device in ESP Home config. But I haven't tried it yet.

And the result 😄

If the config file is correct, the controller should connect to the Wi-Fi. All next updates will install as OTA. Now you can add your device to Home Assistant dashboard and create scripts and automations for it.

Moreover, there are other ways to control the device, such as #MQTT or via #HTTP.

Getting Started with ESPHome and Home Assistant Getting Started guide for installing ESPHome Dashboard as a Home Assistant add-on and creating a basic configuration.

Long story short.

The process of the first firmware is as follows:
1. Add a device to the dashboard and write basic config.
2. Compile the firmware and download its UF2 file.
4. Flash the file using ltchiptool.

Done! 🥳

Guides:
esphome.io/guides/getti...
docs.libretiny.eu/docs/flashin...

Then, install the initial firmware on the microcontroller. All further updates will be installed via OTA updates over Wi-Fi.

The documentation says that initial firmware can be flashed through a browser, but it didn't work for some reason. So I flashed it via the USB-TTL converter.

GitHub - home-assistant/supervised-installer: Installer for a generic Linux system Installer for a generic Linux system. Contribute to home-assistant/supervised-installer development by creating an account on GitHub.

I chose option #2 because my 10-year-old Dell laptop doesn't have UEFI. However, its power is more than enough to run HAOS directly. Also, with turned off screen and unnecessary devices, it consumes only 10 watts!

Here is a description of how to install Supervised HAOS: github.com/home-assista...

Below are some of the important details based on my experience.

There are several options to install HAOS:
1. Docker. Not suitable because add-ons won't work.
2. Supervised HAOS on #Debian (other distributions aren't supported).
3. HAOS as the main OS on a computer (UEFI required) or on VirtualBox.

Before installing the new firmware, you MUST back up the original firmware in case something goes wrong.
The firmware is compiled through the #ESPHome plugin.

The process is described here: docs.libretiny.eu/docs/flashin... docs.libretiny.eu/docs/flashin...

The module is prepared for flashing

To flash the firmware, you need:
1. A soldering iron.
2. A laptop with #Windows.
3. USB-TTL converter based on #CH340G. Others may not work.
4. An app for flashing called ltchiptool.
5. Installed HAOS with the possibility to install add-ons.
6. Oscilloscope (optional) - just to see cool signals 😄.

The rest of the pins are attached to the chip. I even managed to send a signal out of them using PlatformIO. I could not identify only a 2 or 3 pins. But I'll do that in the future.

Now it's time to flash the new firmware. Let's talk about required equipment.

Now, some info about the module itself. It has 15 pins. The pins TP1 and TP2 are used for UART, TP3 and TP4 are used to power the module.

TP1: TX
TP2: RX
TP3: GND
TP4: +3.3V

TP12 - PWM. This pin controls current flow to the LED. It's named as PA14 in the config.

The only disadvantage is the need for a dedicated server with HAOS to control all devices. Luckily, there are many ways how and where to install the HAOS. Starting from installing it on an old laptop, virtual machine, Raspberry Pi or even running as a #Docker container.

LibreTiny Platform Configuration for the LibreTiny platform for ESPHome.

Moreover, if you are using Home Assistant OS (HAOS), there is an add-on called #ESPHome. It allows connecting IoT devices to the #HAOS. In this case, all devices work within the local network. Therefore, there is no need for the internet connection to control devices.

esphome.io/components/l...

There is an alternative Arduino compatible firmware made by #LibreTiny project. So, it's even possible to write own software for this chip using #PlatformIO.

Here is the link for the project: docs.libretiny.eu/docs/platfor...

The lamp's control unit with RTL8710BX microcontroller.

So I decided to figure out if there is any alternative firmware which allows connecting the device to my own Home Assistant local server.

To achieve this, I had to disassemble the bulb and check what kind of microcontroller was used. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to find #Realtek #RTL8710BX

So I decided to sacrifice one bulb in the name of fun 😄 and research what are possible options to disconnect the device from the Internet.

Unfortunately, I could not find any useful info about the original firmware or about the built-in API, which could allow me to bypass TP-Link servers.

I don't really understand why manufactures require users to connect these devices to the internet and attach them to an account. Considering that, the Internet connection might be unstable or sometimes might not work at all. Therefore, a user just can't control the device anymore.

A few years ago, I bought two cheap smart bulbs. They can be controlled from a smartphone through Wi-Fi. However, there is a significant drawback: the bulbs can't be controlled if the Internet suddenly disappears.

Even though, a bulb and a smartphone are still connected to the same local network!

Smart lamp TP-Link Tapo

I've always been interested in #IoT, but never had enough time to look into the topic. And now the project I've been working on for more than two years is completed, which means I have some spare time. So I decided to dive into the IoT world and experiment with Smart Home and a bulb 💡. 😄

Also, I’ve got my new multimeter probes. On the left — old probes, on the right — new probes.

Package of Nucleo development board

Nucleo development board

Look what I’ve got 😄