None nnn Node in Home Assistant

[KevinT]

I ran into a problem while testing out an nRF52832 board with home assistant. Sometimes, when a new node connected, it would show in Home Assistsant as None nnn (where nnn is the node number) with only a battery sensor and no other sensors. Looking in the mysensors.json file, I found the sensors were defined but the sketch_name was "null".

    "211": {
        "sensor_id": 211,
        "children": {
            "0": {
                "id": 0,
                "type": 6,
                "description": "Temperature",
                "values": {
                    "0": "22.99"
                }
            },
            "1": {
                "id": 1,
                "type": 8,
                "description": "Pressure",
                "values": {
                    "43": "kPa",
                    "4": "101.86"
                }
            }
        },
        "type": 17,
        "sketch_name": null,
        "sketch_version": "1.0",
        "battery_level": 0,
        "protocol_version": "2.3.2",
        "heartbeat": 0
    }

The sketch name is set by sendSketchInfo(), which made me think that this message was getting lost sometimes, perhaps the transport message system was still processing previous messages.
I added a 10ms wait, and the problem was solved, the nodes now consistently register with home assistant.

void presentation()  {
  // Send the sketch name & version information to the gateway and Controller
  wait(10);		// allow transport to setup, sometimes sketch info is being lost
  sendSketchInfo("BMP280 Sensor", "1.0");

  present(CHILD_ID_TEMP, S_TEMP, "Temperature");
  present(CHILD_ID_PRES, S_BARO, "Pressure");
}

I just thought I would share this, in case others run into the same problem.

[OldSurferDude]

Yeah, you need the sketch name.

I found that wait() was required pretty much after every send. I don't why exactly, I suspect the the send commands were overrunning the previous send command.

[KevinT]

Good to know. I'll have to check and see if all my sensor measurements are getting through to ha. Out of curiosity, what hardware are you using for your gateway and controller?

[OldSurferDude]

Home Assistant is my controller. It runs in a virtualbox under linux on a refurbished PC. On that same computer I run an MQTT broker (not using HA's)

My gateway, which uses MQTT for transport, runs on an RPi zero 2W running Raspberry Pi OS. It also controls my irrigation relays.

I also have a serial gateway which has no radio network which is its own node for "pushing" the buttons on a remote control. This gateway essentially gives a PC digital IO.

[nagelc]

@OldSurferDude said:

Yeah, you need the sketch name.

I found that wait() was required pretty much after every send. I don't why exactly, I suspect the the send commands were overrunning the previous send command.

I second this. Waiting after send can help some odd behavior.

I have also had nodes the performed well with debug turned on, then not work when it is off. The debug prints are slow in processor time and I think they act like a wait. If this happens, check where you have debug messages and try some waits there, especially if it is after a send.

[KevinT]

Given that the nrf52832 is a fairly fast processor (ARM Cortex M4), I can see how that might happen, depending on the speed of the gateway and controller. That's why I asked @oldsurferdude what he's running. I'm running a Pi4 with Home Assistant OS and 2 serial gateways, 915Mhz and 2.4Ghz. My 2.4Ghz gateway consists of an ESP8266 with an nRF24L01P module. So far, I haven't had any lost messages, but it's early days for me, just testing out the hardware. I've been running with DEBUG off.

I'm also trying to determine battery requirements. Here's what I've found for current for various peripherals.
Bare bones mySensors sketch, with sleep, serial disabled: 2 uA
Bare bones mySensors sketch, with sleep & serial: 7.5 uA
sketch with I2C, sleep, serial disabled, ic2 disable/enable: 2 uA
sketch with I2C, sleep & serial, ic2 disable/enable: 8.4 uA
sketch with I2C, sleep & serial disable/enable, ic2 disable/enable: 2 uA
sketch with digital interrupt, sleep, serial disabled: 7.6 uA
sketch with digital interrupt, sleep, serial: 3.5 mA !
sketch with digital interrupt, sleep, serial disable/enable: 7.6 uA
sketch with spi, sleep, serial disabled: 2 uA
sketch with spi, sleep, serial : 3.1 mA !
sketch with spi, sleep, serial disable/enable: 2 uA

Basically, if you are using serial output, always disable it before sleep, and re-enable upon wake.
Current draw is normally 2 uA when sleeping. If you are using digital input interrupts, sleep current is 7.6 uA.

[nagelc]

I have been getting about a year from a coin cell on nrf52832 and BME280 sending temperature and humidity every 3 minutes. Good enough for me : )

[KevinT]

Good stuff. Which coin cell are you using? What transmit power?