Step-by-step procedure to connect the NRF24L01+ to the GPIO pins and use the Raspberry as a Serial Gateway (MySensors 1.x)

[mfalkvidd]

@shabba the best discussion I've seen so far is http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1918/what-radio-to-use-nrf24l01-rfm69-rfm73/

[shabba]

Thanks @mfalkvidd - will check it out.

[shabba]

Ps. I followed https://github.com/abouillot/HomeAutomation/tree/master/piGateway and now have a MQTT service running. But I do not know how to connect this to domoticz or even debug that it can actually see my test sensor etc.

[stranger]

This thread has been great - thanks @mfalkvidd!

@hayduke I had a similar problem earlier. I haven't fixed it yet, but here's where I'm at:

Clean install (Jessie, RF24, Raspberry) March 25th 2016 has the problem where it works for a few minutes, then stops (/dev/pts/0 dissapears, which breaks the symbolic links - ttyMySensorsGateway and ttyUSB20). This is at home where I have a bunch of nodes around and a Vera with serial gateway, so there are lots of different signals coming in.

But when I move to another location with just one node (that just sends a light status update regularly), it works fine - at least, I've been sitting here with it running for 30 minutes so far.

I know this might not help much, I'm new to all this and still getting my head around everything. I would probably agree with what you suggested earlier: something in one of the messages that causes a problem with the gateway (possibly to do with already having another serial gateway nearby).

I'll try to do some more testing by changing this gateway to a different channel to my other one, and gradually bringing nodes across to see when it breaks.

[alexsh1]

@stranger just to make sure - you said you have two gateways at home. Did you change the channel so that they do not interfere with each other?

[Tore André Rosander]

Hello, im just starting to set up some mysensors nodes and have already set up a gateway with nodemcu (esp).
But to eliminate the number of devices i am thinking about moving the gateway directly to the Raspberry pi as mentioned in this thread. Is there any downsides (or upsides) by connecting the nrf24 chip directly to the RPI?

And btw:
"The radio module NRF24L01+ is cheap and power efficient, but it is unable to communicate with regular wifi."
That is not entirely correct, the nrf24 can connecct to wifi and send TCP/IP packets with an arduino.

[stranger]

@alexsh1 No actually. I didn't want to go around and reprogram all my nodes, and I forgot to turn off my other gateway. That is what I was going to do next, but I've just been running it for a few hours with no problems (with a heap of nodes and another gateway a few metres away, all on the same channel).

I then Home Assistant and tested out a few nodes, and now it sometimes breaks, but mostly works fine.

All that being said, I've realised I need signing (I have a few electronic locks), so I'm going back to a hardware serial gateway. If anyone has got signing working I'd love to hear how - I had a look but couldn't figure it out and don't have much time to spare on it.

[Sander Stolk]

pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ sudo ./PiGatewaySerial
Starting PiGatewaySerial...
Protocol version - 1.4
Created PTY '/dev/pts/1'
Gateway tty: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
================ SPI Configuration ================
CSN Pin          = CE0 (PI Hardware Driven)
CE Pin           = Custom GPIO25
Clock Speed      = 8 Mhz
================ NRF Configuration ================
STATUS           = 0x0e RX_DR=0 TX_DS=0 MAX_RT=0 RX_P_NO=7 TX_FULL=0
RX_ADDR_P0-1     = 0xa8--------------------------------
RX_ADDR_P2-5     = 0xff 0xc-----------------
TX_ADDR          = 0xe7e7e7e7e7
RX_PW_P0-6       = 0x20 0x20 0x20 0x00 0x00 0x00
EN_AA            = 0x3b
EN_RXADDR        = 0x06
RF_CH            = 0x4c
RF_SETUP         = 0x23
CONFIG           = 0x0e
DYNPD/FEATURE    = 0x3f 0x06
Data Rate        = 250KBPS
Model            = nRF24L01+
CRC Length       = 16 bits
PA Power         = PA_LOW
^[read: 1-1-0 s=0,c=1,t=0,pt=7,l=5:16.1
read: 1-1-0 s=0,c=1,t=23,pt=2,l=2:1022
read: 1-1-0 s=1,c=1,t=23,pt=2,l=2:1023
read: 1-1-0 s=2,c=1,t=23,pt=2,l=2:1021
Received SIGINT^C
Exiting...
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ sudo cat /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
cat: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway: No such file or directory
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
[....] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.serviceFailed to start PiGatewaySerial.service: Unit PiGatewaySerial.service failed to load: No such file or directory.
 failed!
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$

Playing with a RPI 3 B and a NRF24+ radio I got this error message above.
Running Jessie but with no luck...

Anybody else got this problem?

[mfalkvidd]

@Sander-Stolk did you run

sudo make install

?
What happens if you run

sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial

?

[Sander Stolk]

@mfalkvidd
Tnx that worked but this is not in the tutorial I'm I right?

If this happens, double-check your wiring and correct any problems. Press Ctrl+Z and type

sudo killall PiGatewaySerial
to get rid of the non-functioning Gateway. Then run sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial again

If all is well, exit PiGatewaySerial by pressing Ctrl+C. Then run

sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
to start the gateway as a background process. Verify that it started correctly by running```

[mfalkvidd]

Yes it is. See the section under
COMPILING THE GATEWAY

also, you ran sudo ./PiGatewaySerial instead of sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial described in the instructions.

[mfalkvidd]

I have added a
TROUBLESHOOTING
section in the original post to cover for this error. Hopefully it can help if someone else makes the same mistake.

[micah]

Any thoughts on making a version for the 2.0 dev branch?

I recently switched my in-progress builds to 2.0 and am in the process of "trying" to get my Raspberry Pi2 setup with OpenHab and Mosquito. And the idea of not having to have an ethernet gateway arduino in the mix is appealing to me.

I would do it myself but I probably only have 3.275% of the required knowledge at this point

[mfalkvidd]

I'm unfortunately at about the same level as you. I can compile stuff and do basic troubleshooting, but merging the dev branch with the gateway code is way out of my league.

[micah]

@mfalkvidd said:

I'm unfortunately at about the same level as you. I can compile stuff and do basic troubleshooting, but merging the dev branch with the gateway code is way out of my league.

There is no way you are at 3.275% knowledge like me... I've seen many of your posts on here and you are at least a 4.532%... lol.... no honestly I've liked your posts and you seem very knowledgeable. You've got to be at least a 84.5% ;)

[Sander Stolk]

Can somebody tell me how to change the channel after compiling and using the Gateway for a couple of days?
Changing the channel in MyConfig.h in the dir Raspberry doesnt bother even after a reboot.
Still 0x4c channel / 76 when I run the PiSerialGateway program.

[alexsh1]

@Sander-Stolk said:

Can somebody tell me how to change the channel after compiling and using the Gateway for a couple of days?
Changing the channel in MyConfig.h in the dir Raspberry doesnt bother even after a reboot.
Still 0x4c channel / 76 when I run the PiSerialGateway program.

Did you recompile the code after changing the channel?

[Sander Stolk]

@alexsh1 I did this after changeing the channel in MyConfig.h: make all && sudo make install
Rebooted after that but no luck

[mfalkvidd]

That should be sufficient but you could see if running make clean before make all helps.

[Sander Stolk]

@mfalkvidd I did the make clean and the make install and rebooted.
Still 0x4c eq. 76

Using username "pi".
Server refused our key
pi@192.168.1.14's password:
______                      _   _
|  _  \                    | | (_)
| | | |___  _ __ ___   ___ | |_ _  ___ ____
| | | / _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \| __| |/ __|_  /
| |/ / (_) | | | | | | (_) | |_| | (__ / /
|___/ \___/|_| |_| |_|\___/ \__|_|\___/___|


Last login: Sat Apr  9 18:41:17 2016 from 192.168.1.34

Monday, 11 April 2016, 12:10:24 pm CEST
Linux 4.1.18-v7+ armv7l GNU/Linux
Uptime.............: 1 days, 17h29m13s
Memory.............: 520336kB (Free) / 948056kB (Total)
Load Averages......: 0.00, 0.01, 0.05 (1, 5, 15 min)
Running Processes..: 97
IP Addresses.......: 192.168.1.14

pi@Domoticz3:~$ cd Raspberry/
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ cat MyConfig.h
/*
 The MySensors library adds a new layer on top of the RF24 library.
 It handles radio network routing, relaying and ids.

 Created by Henrik Ekblad <henrik.ekblad@gmail.com>
 12/10/14 - Ported to Raspberry Pi by OUJABER Mohamed <m.oujaber@gmail.com>

 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
*/

#ifndef MyConfig_h
#define MyConfig_h

/***
 * Configure Sensor Network
 */
#define RF24_CHANNEL       111             //RF channel for the sensor net, 0-127
#define RF24_DATARATE      RF24_250KBPS   //RF24_250KBPS for 250kbs, RF24_1MBPS for 1Mbps, or RF24_2MBPS for 2Mbps
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL      RF24_PA_MAX    //Sensor PA Level == RF24_PA_MIN=-18dBm, RF24_PA_LOW=-12dBm, RF24_PA_HIGH=-6dBM, and RF24_PA_MAX=0dBm
#define RF24_PA_LEVEL_GW   RF24_PA_MAX  //Gateway PA Level, defaults to Sensor net PA Level.  Tune here if using an amplified nRF2401+ in your gateway.
#define BASE_RADIO_ID      ((uint64_t)0xA8A8E1FC00LL) // This is also act as base value for sensor nodeId addresses. Change this (or channel) if you have more than one sensor network.

// MySensors online examples defaults
#define DEFAULT_CE_PIN 9
#define DEFAULT_CS_PIN 10


/***
 * Enable/Disable debug logging
 */
#define DEBUG


#ifdef __Raspberry_Pi
        #define vsnprintf_P vsnprintf
        #define snprintf_P snprintf
        #define PSTR(x) (x)
        #define printf_P printf
        #define strlen_P strlen
#endif

#endif
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ make clean
rm -rf MyGateway MySensor MyMessage PiEEPROM PiGateway PiGatewaySerial MyGateway.o MySensor.o MyMessage.o PiEEPROM.o PiGateway.o PiGatewaySerial.o
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ make all
g++ -c -o MyGateway.o MyGateway.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -c -o MySensor.o MySensor.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -c -o MyMessage.o MyMessage.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -c -o PiEEPROM.o PiEEPROM.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -c -o PiGateway.o PiGateway.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -o PiGateway MyGateway.o MySensor.o MyMessage.o PiEEPROM.o PiGateway.o -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24 -lrf24-bcm
g++ -c -o PiGatewaySerial.o PiGatewaySerial.cpp -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24
g++ -o PiGatewaySerial MyGateway.o MySensor.o MyMessage.o PiEEPROM.o PiGatewaySerial.o -Wall -Ofast -mfpu=vfp -lpthread -g -D__Raspberry_Pi -mfloat-abi=hard -mtune=arm1176jzf-s -D_TTY_NAME=\"/dev/ttyMySensorsGateway\" -D_TTY_GROUPNAME=\"tty\" -march=armv6zk -I. -I/usr/local/include/RF24 -lrf24-bcm -lutil
pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$ sudo reboot

Broadcast message from pi@Domoticz3 on pts/1 (Mon 2016-04-11 12:12:17 CEST):

The system is going down for reboot NOW!

pi@Domoticz3:~/Raspberry$
Using username "pi".
Server refused our key
pi@192.168.1.14's password:
______                      _   _
|  _  \                    | | (_)
| | | |___  _ __ ___   ___ | |_ _  ___ ____
| | | / _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \| __| |/ __|_  /
| |/ / (_) | | | | | | (_) | |_| | (__ / /
|___/ \___/|_| |_| |_|\___/ \__|_|\___/___|


Last login: Mon Apr 11 12:10:24 2016 from 192.168.1.34

Monday, 11 April 2016, 12:12:45 pm CEST
Linux 4.1.18-v7+ armv7l GNU/Linux
Uptime.............: 0 days, 00h00m25s
Memory.............: 770952kB (Free) / 948056kB (Total)
Load Averages......: 0.59, 0.16, 0.05 (1, 5, 15 min)
Running Processes..: 100
IP Addresses.......: 192.168.1.14

pi@Domoticz3:~$ ls
bash_scripts  domoticz  Dropbox-Uploader  Raspberry  RF24
pi@Domoticz3:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
[ ok ] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.service.
pi@Domoticz3:~$ sudo /etc/init.d/PiGatewaySerial start
[ ok ] Starting PiGatewaySerial (via systemctl): PiGatewaySerial.service.
pi@Domoticz3:~$ sudo ln -s /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway /dev/ttyUSB20
ln: failed to create symbolic link ‘/dev/ttyUSB20’: File exists
pi@Domoticz3:~$ sudo /usr/local/sbin/PiGatewaySerial
Starting PiGatewaySerial...
Protocol version - 1.4
Created PTY '/dev/pts/2'
Gateway tty: /dev/ttyMySensorsGateway
================ SPI Configuration ================
CSN Pin          = CE0 (PI Hardware Driven)
CE Pin           = Custom GPIO25
Clock Speed      = 8 Mhz
================ NRF Configuration ================
STATUS           = 0x0e RX_DR=0 TX_DS=0 MAX_RT=0 RX_P_NO=7 TX_FULL=0
RX_ADDR_P0-1     = 0xa8a8e
RX_ADDR_P2-5     = 0xff 0xc4 
TX_ADDR          = 0xa8a8e1fc07
RX_PW_P0-6       = 0x20 0x20 0x20 0x00 0x00 0x00
EN_AA            = 0x3b
EN_RXADDR        = 0x06
RF_CH            = 0x4c
RF_SETUP         = 0x23
CONFIG           = 0x0e
DYNPD/FEATURE    = 0x3f 0x06
Data Rate        = 250KBPS
Model            = nRF24L01+
CRC Length       = 16 bits
PA Power         = PA_LOW
read: 5-5-5 s=5,c=5,t=5,pt=0,l=0:
version mismatch
^CReceived SIGINT
Exiting...
pi@Domoticz3:~$