I went to the last link you provided and looked where it makes the connection. I've tried to find the description of signature of the call when it makes the connection and I don't see a definition for the signature being used below. The signature I've used and seen is using the first two parameters, but what are the 3rd and 4th parameters?
(void)WiFi.begin(MY_WIFI_SSID, MY_WIFI_PASSWORD, 0, MY_WIFI_BSSID);
@TRS-80 My point was you didn't add anything constructive to thread. You could have said hey you might have a radio propagation issue and here's how you could troubleshoot it. That's a helpful comment. What's not helpful is sitting on the sidelines until the problem was solved and then making a comment like: You didn't solve it you just got lucky. I did pinpoint the problem to be the gateway hardware. Could I have spent hours to figure out exactly what it was in the ESP32 that was failing? Possibly, but I have parts on hand, they are cheap, and I just swapped it out and it eliminated the issue. So my approach wasn't lucky it was measured and methodical. I tried the suggestions given in the thread then I replaced one radio and tested with a known working radio. I did the same with the other radio and so on. No coincidence there that I was able to isolate where the issue was. And your comment was not based on any evidence it was just a feeling you had and you offered no solutions.
I'm not trying to cause an issue here and I'm trying to be as polite as possible to what I felt was a very 'troll like' comment. Be helpful and supportive in your replies. I came asking for help and everyone else on the thread gave some things to try and added value to the conversation. Be the same way as I'm sure you have value to add.
Is the NodeMCU an ESP8266 or an ESP32? I've had trouble with the ESP32 and getting the communication to work but have no idea why. I did what you did and swapped out the NRF24's and it didn't help. Then I swapped out the microcontrollers and that's when I swapped the ESP32 (gateway in my case) with an ESP8266 and everything worked fine.
Sometimes what I'll do to troubleshoot is replace the gateway with an UNO just to eliminate issues and go with a known working piece of hardware. Sounds like you may have done some of that already. You could try moving them a little farther apart and see if that works.
What does the message, GWT:TIN:CONNECTING..., mean? Connecting to what? Sometimes mine will just repeat over and over and I have to reset it one or more times until it connects to whatever it is it's connecting to. Assuming it's my wifi it's trying to connect to? My gateway is a Node MCU ESP8266.
@TRS-80 I have no idea what you're talking about. I changed out pieces one at a time until I found the problem. That's not called luck that's called troubleshooting. Please provide constructive comments not sarcastic non-sense.
I think I found the problem. I've been using an ESP32 for the gateway and hadn't had problems. For whatever reason I added this new node and I had the problems as described. I decided to try swapping the ESP32 out with an ESP8266 and things started working. I guess I'll stay with ESP8266 on the gateway.
@zboblamont Moved things around and that didn't work. I soldered up a new newbie pcb thinking maybe it was my solder job and tried that and I get the same result. I've swapped nrf24 radios out and still the same result.
@mfalkvidd It's powered from an outlet and it reads 3.3v when I put my meter on it, I don't believe this is the problem.
@zboblamont Thank you. I will try and report back.
@mfalkvidd It is. That's not a gw it's a sensor node. My problem isn't with the gw it's with the node. The gw receives the find parent message and responds. The node fails and says there is no response (see my original post)
@mfalkvidd Radio is getting 3.3v volts powered from a usb plug in. The capacitor on the radio is a 4.7uf. Here is a picture if this helps.!
@mfalkvidd nrf24, 4.7uf, and it's powered at 3.3v, I put a meter on it. I'm using the MySensors board by sunberg.
I'll take a look at the guide, thanks.
I have a node that's sending a find parent request to the gw. The gw receives it and sends back a reply. The node never receives the reply and says parent not found. Any suggestions or help on how to fix/troubleshoot would be appreciated.
Node log:
18098 TSM:FAIL:RE-INIT
18100 TSM:INIT
18106 TSM:INIT:TSP OK
18108 TSM:INIT:STATID=1
18111 TSF:SID:OK,ID=1
18113 TSM:FPAR
18117 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
20124 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
20126 TSM:FPAR
20130 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
22138 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
22140 TSM:FPAR
22145 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
24153 !TSM:FPAR:NO REPLY
24155 TSM:FPAR
24159 ?TSF:MSG:SEND,1-1-255-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0,ft=0,st=OK:
26166 !TSM:FPAR:FAIL
26167 TSM:FAIL:CNT=2
gw log:
8974 TSF:MSG:READ,1-1-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
8981 TSF:MSG:BC
8984 TSF:MSG:FPAR REQ,ID=1
8989 TSF:CKU:OK,FCTRL
8993 TSF:MSG:GWL OK
12351 !TSF:MSG:SEND,0-0-1-1,s=255,c=3,t=8,pt=1,l=1,sg=0,ft=0,st=NACK:0
13023 TSF:MSG:READ,1-1-255,s=255,c=3,t=7,pt=0,l=0,sg=0:
I think all the replies highlight the challenges / difficulties with what happens. You read the thread and there are at least 3 or 4 different thoughts on each element (GW HW configuration, PCB recommendations, node recommendations, controllers, mqtt vs not, etc.) If you're coming to this for the first time you just see a bunch of what people have done and so you have to blindly pick a direction. Which then can lead you down a rabbit hole.
All of that discussion is great and this is what should happen in a forum is to share experiences. The problem, again, is that there is no baseline to start from that gives you the initial nearly guaranteed path to success when you're starting out. It that existed then you could tweak and adjust, try more advanced configurations, and experiment from a working baseline. Right now when you ask a question like what GW hardware should I use, you get multiple answers back and there is no consensus or "standard" to refer to. This thread has gotten way OT IMO because it's evolved into "here's what worked for me."
For me personally if I had the working baseline then I could add features on as I had the need or wanted to experiment. The challenge is you are experimenting from the start and then you get frustrated because you run into barriers all the time. There is no baseline and there are so many variants that it's a little chaotic. My suggestion is to come up with the baseline (hardware for GW, type of transport, ONE suggested controller) The KISS approach (Keep It Simple, Stupid) , publish it, and then clearly document other avenues as variants or advanced config. That at to me doesn't seem all that big of an update. The information is there as far as building and config just organize it and be more clear on the best path to success.
Again, MySensors is a great platform. I want to use it and promote it, just need to have that clear pathway.
@scalz not sure how to take the comment. I've posted and contributed (even developing a library) so it's not like I haven't participated. I bought parts from the links and still had issues with radios. Whether help was asked for or not that doesn't make the constructive feedback invalid. Feedback is a gift and in this case it should be taken that way. These are suggestions to make MySenors accessible to more people.
Yeah there is a good chance I would buy it. When I started my journey into home iot devices I was buying $45 light switches so if it was a good product I would.
I've looked at the MySensors gw but several of the comments mentioned issues so l steered clear. It's not the cost. What's being suggested here is not a huge criticism it's just asking to have a clear path to a high probability of success. Which is mainly cleaning up the documentation. If I had a solid working setup I'd help do it but I don't. I love the platform and the idea is really great, it's just too scattered and needs to be more focused. Don't try to be all things to all people.
@pptacek said in Started with MySensors and about to give up (some feedback):
jModule2
Do you have details on these sticks? What is jmodule2?
@monte this is exactly the point. There is no mention or way to know you're choosing the hardest possible combo of hardware until you've spent hours fiddling with it. You'll find more posts about counterfeit radios rather than what a good radio is. There is saying that they don't teach treasury agents what every counterfeit bill looks like because there are too many and it's always changing. They teach them what a real bill looks like so they will know a fake when they see it. Same thing here. Just post the place to buy a good radio. Don't post a guide on rpi gw if it's the hardest and least used option, leave that to the forum.
I would rather spend my time building and using the sensors rather than troubleshooting and figuring out problems, which it seems like that's what I do a lot of. It could very well be the choices of hardware I'm making I'll completely admit that but I don't know because there are so many paths you can take. OTA updates are something I'd like to incorporate but there is no clear path to success there for me. I feel like that will lead to frustration based on what I've read in the forum. Again because there are too many options without the clear path laid out.
I keep coming back because I really see the potential and there really is no other platform like MySensors. If I had that strong reliable baseline to build from I'd have some pretty cool ideas and sensors to contribute.
Instead I'm building sensors with Wi-Fi connections all over the place when a single gw connecting to the internet or a controller would be a much better solution.
@alex28 I agree exactly with what you've said. I've spent hours with MySensors and the website and community kept me here for a long time. Would love to just see the quickest path to success. I would have never messed around with a rpi to do this if I would have known the troubles I would run into.
@BearWithBeard I think the frustration is more that the information is out of date in many areas or leaves it open to people repeating the same thing that others have already solved. The antenna is always a problem. Maybe a prominent guide/recommendation on how to avoid buying counterfeits. A better FAQ on the common errors with communication messages and top solutions. Much of the information is there, I think it could be curated better. However it's hard to find sometimes in the forum because information is conflicting because people have different experiences because of different setup.
A one recommended path for beginners would be much more helpful. Meaning use specific hardware: gateway, antennae, nodes and whatever else and you're likely to have success. Part of the frustration is using something you have on hand only to find out after you built things out it has some other known problem or limitation that if known up front you would have avoided. The battery nodes for some reason took me a while to figure out. Then I bought 3.3v pro minis to only realize as I built some of the simpler sensors out they needed to be 5v (like motion) and they either run on more batteries or had to be plugged in, which defeated my purpose for a remote sensor. I'm sure you'll say but all that info is there. It is in some cases but you spend hours trying to find it in the forum.
I too have a software engineering background so I'm not a technical novice. I enjoy this as a hobby but because of ease of use I've started to not use the platform. If there were a known path to success that was documented that way I'd come back in a minute. I have no doubt there is a setup and hardware config (including where to buy from) that works nearly all the time it just isn't clear to me what that is.
Please take as constructive. I'd love to see MySensors adopted by even more people because I think it really is a platform that could be good for way more people.
@alex28 I think these are fair criticisms. I've spent a ton of time with mysensors and have backed away because of some of these same things. I love the idea and appreciate the effort that's went into the platform. You have to tinker a lot and you spend more time figuring out problems with the platform than you do actually building sensors. Spending time troubleshooting only to find out others have spent time on the same thing or info is outdated takes the fun out of the process for me.
However, having said that I keep coming back because I love the idea of this platform. Lots of really great ideas and great makers contributing here.
How do I format the log file so the line shows date / time instead of the numbers it's showing? I've searched in the forum but don't see it and I'm sure it's got to be out here somewhere. But mine looks like this:
12901564 TSF:MSG:READ,1-1-0,s=1,c=1,t=0,pt=7,l=5,sg=0:64.6
There doesn't seem to be a ton of interest in this but I wanted to provide an update. After writing the transport and using it for a bit I've decided to go another direction with the integration to SmartThings. I felt like the custom transport would require more maintenance and I wanted more of any option that was configuration rather than coding. Because there was C++ code on the MySensors side of things and then Groovy on the SmartThings side it just seemed like a brittle integration with the design and how I wrote the code. SmartThings is going to be moving in another development platform direction as well at some point.
I'm working on an MQTT solution with Mosquitto and Node Red (on a Raspberry Pi) and it will also require some Groovy on SmartThings but a much simpler solution IMO. There will be more to come and I'll share here when it's complete but I do have a prototype/proof of concept working. The two way communication is much better/cleaner IMO than how I did it with the transport. If this is something that interests you let me know and I'd be happy to collaborate.
I've thought a little bit about the communication coming back from the controller (SmartThings hub) and I don't really need orchestration right now coming back from the controller for a couple reasons. The biggest reason is that the light switches and things I have taking action based on some other sensor (motion turning a light on for example) are all off the shelf switches that don't come through my MySensors gateway they communicate directly with the SmartThings hub. I had bought these before I discovered MySensors and started building my own devices. However, I have plans for other nodes that will need to take action rather than just report data so I'll need to solve it eventually.
There are a couple of solutions that would work in this instance though. One, is to make the SmartThings gateway transport work for arduino and/or esp8266 (or esp32). I did it on the Raspberry Pi because that's what I wanted to run as my gateway. However, making the transport work on the other hardware platforms would allow for the usage of the standard ethernet libraries and I know that works for bi-directional communication over http because I've done it before on a MySensors node and that's fairly straightforward.
The second thought if staying with the Raspberry Pi gateway would be to have a node (arduino or esp8266) that is dedicated to receiving http requests and just passing those along to the gateway which in turn could process the message and pass it along to nodes like a light switch, actuator, etc. This would introduce some latency although for me this wouldn't really be a concern because it would be milliseconds and for my use this doesn't matter. It increases complexity slightly as it's adding another hop and therefore another point of potential failure. Again, probably a minor concern but worth noting. The advantage is that it works with the standard ethernet libraries and is well documented and I've got experience doing this so it would be a 'quick win'.
The other option would be to dig into the Linux versions of the MySensors custom ethernet libraries and change / extend those to make the webserver http communications work. Don't really want to do that though.
For me at least the easiest, quickest option is probably the second to stand up a node dedicated to receiving http requests. With probably moving more towards the first solution as time allows and moving off the Raspberry Pi as my gateway and going back to an esp8266 or the newer esp32. That would mean modifying the gateway transport I created, which is fine, and putting the code in there to allow for that. I was using an esp8266 before and I moved to the Raspberry Pi because I had one and this seemed like a good use for it. I had problems at times with the esp8266 hanging and then it had to be restarted which was kind of a pain, so I moved to the RPi. My guess was that it wasn't timing out/closing connections from clients and I could probably fix that.
Just some thoughts on the topic if anyone is looking at how to get orchestration back from the SmartThings hub. It's very doable though and really not too difficult for either option and probably other ways than what I've mentioned. Other thoughts are absolutely welcome on the subject.
I have created a gateway transport for the SmartThings hub. It works for me but it's definitely a work in progress. There are two pieces to this:
This is an Ethernet gateway transport that is designed to run on a Raspberry Pi 3 gateway. I have no plans right now to adapt to other platforms but feel free to contribute and add that support for other gateway devices.
SmartThings has an API that is called via an http POST method. Right now this is a one way transport and that's from MySensors to SmartThings. It doesn't handle an http request from SmartThings to the MySensors gateway. I have gotten http requests to work from SmartThings to an esp8266 and an arduino with a W5100 though, so I know it can be done. You have to host a webserver and I think it's not working on the pi because the ethernetclient.cpp/ethernetserver.cpp is custom for MySensors on linux.
You also have to install a SmartThings device handler for the MySensors gateway on SmartThings. The above repo contains the device handler and an example motion sensor device handler.
I learned a ton about the way that MySensors is working and also the way that SmartThings works. I'm happy to answer questions and share any of that knowledge as I'm able to.
@alexsh1 - Thanks for the suggestion. I'll be curious to hear what you think of the TPL5110.
Thanks for all the suggestions and replies. I'll take all the info, weigh the options and then report back on what I end up doing.
@alexsh1 Which sensor should I replace the water pressure sensor with?
@maah This video doesn't show different ways to power an arduino it's talking about power consumption. I'm already removing the regulator, LED and sleeping it. I'm more asking about battery powered nodes with sensors than are more than 3.3v. How are people feeding 5v to these sensors?
@tochinet Do have diagrams, pictures and sketches you've posted?
@alexsh1 like I said of course it would be preferred to use the 3v sensors but that's not always possible. My question is more about what are people doing when they are using a battery powered node with a 5v sensor.
@zboblamont - interesting thought on the pump pressure switch. It's not a dedicated water supply. I'm in an irrigation district and the line is pressurized by their pump which is pumping from a canal. It does go down at times and then one of my neighbors or I have to call and alert them to come out and get it going. Yes you would think they would have some sort of alarm on their system but apparently they don't. I use the water for watering lawn, pasture, and just added the filtering so I could water my animals. I may end up with more than one flow meter so I can measure water consumption in each pen. These are show animals and water consumption is important as it relates to nutrition and weight gain.
@zboblamont - Below are links to what I have but am certainly open to other options.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00RCPDCQU/ref=twister_B00RCPDQOI?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@zboblamont - So you mean you're running two pro minis (3v and 5v)? That actually sounds kind of cool. So both of them are running off the 4AA is that correct? Do you have a wiring diagram/sketch for how you have that hooked up and working? I'd be interested in how that works because that sounds like a really slick way to do it.
Actually that's a good point about needing the continuous power for the water sensors. I actually would be fine without continuous power to the water pressure transducer but a flow meter I would probably need continuous power. What I'm designing is for livestock, specifically pigs in my case. For the pressure transducer I just want to know if there is pressure to their water supply so if it goes down I'll know right away so checking every few minutes is fine. But the flow meter is to measure their water intake and I'd need to have that running on continuous power to be able to measure that as they drink the water. I also want to measure water temp as the water is coming from a canal and if it gets to warm I want to know that. I put in a filter system this year and the pressure could also help me know if the filters need to be replaced. But your idea of running 3.3V and a 5V could make it possible to run them all off 1 radio. I am also considering running power to this location as well so I would then have a power supply but solar is also a good option.
@zboblamont - Great information, thank you. I've sort of been coming to the same conclusion but when I look it seems like most people are using 3.3v pro minis so it's really great to hear you're using the 5v. I ran into the problem with PIRs and trying to do all the tricks to make it run on 3v but it didn't work reliably for me. I don't mind running 4AA for those nodes and I don't mind the larger form factor. So are you running a nano to get more pins instead of a 5v pro mini?
@nca78 - The preference would certainly be to run the lower voltage sensors but that's not always an option. I've got some sensors I want to run like a water pressure transducer that is 5v or a water flow meter that is 5v which I'd like to run on batteries because I don't have wired power available in the location I want them at. There are others too that aren't necessarily available in a 3.3v version. Do you have any experience or can you point me how to do this?
@yveaux - Sounds like you're running 3.3v pro minis or something similar? I think I remember seeing the post with a PIR running running 3AA so I'll take a look at that again and that might help me with 5v sensors. Have you run any 5v pro mini's on batteries?
What are the thoughts on running 5v vs 3.3v pro mini's for battery powered nodes? For sensors that need 5v are you running a 3.3v and stepping up to 5v or running a 5v and stepping down for the radio? Also for 5v pro mini's are you running 4AA batteries or doing a 9v battery or something else?
@vasarbob I have been able to make a rest call to the SmartThings API. I was using an esp8266 as the gateway but am in the middle of moving that to an Uno with Ethernet shield. The code is a little hacky right now and I am planning on refactoring and cleaning it up a bit. Would eventually like to write a transport layer but that's going to take some time.
I also had to write the device handler code on SmartThings. That too is a little hacky and I need to refactor that as well. I'd be happy to share and collaborate if you want.
I was trying to get a working prototype going and learn some things about MySensors as well as SmartThings and I think I understand it well enough now to be able to put it together.
@gohan I just tried that and answered my own question (it worked). Thanks for the pointer.
@gohan I'm not an expert here so bear with me. On the LCD pin 15 goes to (+) and pin 16 goes to (-). Are you saying to connect (+) to a digital pin then set to HIGH or LOW to turn off and on?
I have a 16x2 LCD without an I2C interface. I looked but can't seem to find an example of turning the backlight on and off or dim when using the LiquidCrystal.h library. Is there an example sketch and wiring diagram someone can point me to? Sorry for the basic question I just can't seem to find an example.
@dbemowsk I'll go take a look at it, thank you. I also see the version you have that doesn't have vents so I'll try one and see how works for me first.
@dbemowsk I saw yours and it looks great. I want to have one without the vents and have it more enclosed. I supposed I could modify yours and not have the vents but like I said I'm new to the 3D printing. What software do you use to create / modify the designs?
@barduino - Am I not understanding something because the .stl seems to be just the base and the not the cover. I borrowed a friends 3D printer so I am new to using one, it definitely could be my error on this. 
@gohan - Thanks. Looking at it a little closer it's actually a not a bad suggestion at all and it does look pretty cool. I think I'm going to get this working first so I can get things up and going. But I'm going to put Node-red on my future feature list to look at possibly implementing.
@gohan, if I'm understanding node-red correctly I'd have another controller that my esp8266 gateway would talk to, then node-red would talk to the controller via http. Is that correct?
I can make the http request from the receive() function on the gateway, which I've already got that part working as a test. It's not fully functional yet but I've tested and confirmed I can make the call when I receive a sensor message and I can pass it on to the controller from the gateway. What would the advantage be of using node-red in this case?
The reason I was asking about existing capability in MySenors is that I'd refactor and use the functionality that's already in MySenors if it was available. However, adding another piece of hardware and software integration adds more complexity which I don't think I need, unless I'm not understanding?
@mfalkvidd, More trying to figure out if MySensors gateway can make connection to controller via http not so much changing the message format. Either the serial or mqtt message format could still be utilized and just serialized/deserislized to/from json for instance.
I can do it in the receive function was just wondering if this was already provided for via an http connection and I was missing something, but it doesn't sound like it.
Does MySenors allow for the gateway to send an HTTP request (POST or GET) to the controller and also to receive a request from the controller? I'm doing that right now on an esp8266 as the gateway but I'm using the receive() function on the gateway to send the request after it's received from a sensor to the controller. Is this functionality already provided in the MySenors library and I'm just not seeing it? If so how do I do this?
Anyone ever connect to a scale like this? I can't find a reference online with pinouts or communication protocol and commands. Haven't been able to get vendor to respond either. Any thoughts on how to reverse engineer the output from the unit shown here? Scale control
EDIT: I should add that it has an RS-232 9 pin connection on the back of the unit so it should be able to be communicated with serially.
@hek, thanks that helps a lot. I have more questions the gateway but I'll go over to that part of the forum and research first.
Agreed about open platforms. I want to try and integrate with what I've got so I will have to try something with the REST api. Yes, it appears SmartThings can make an outgoing API call.
Please bare with me I'm learning here.
So if I understand the controller example you gave me from a hardware perspective there is a RPi that is acting as the controller running Raspian/MongoDB/MySensors/NodeJS. The gateway (eithernet or serial) is a separate device, ie. an Arduino. Then you have whatever sensors themselves. Communication is: Controller to/from Gateway to/from Sensors. All communication between the controller and sensors goes through the gateway. Can the senors communicate with each other through the gateway and not go through the controller? Just trying to get my head straight on the communication path. If I'm using a controller like SmartThings where does MySensors get installed? On the gateway?
SmartThings provides a set of REST api's for the integration. Does the gateway handle REST api calls? I'm assuming yes since the example is an ESP8266 wifi. Again, sorry if I'm asking questions that are documented already, just trying to absorb all the info.
Maybe I didn't ask the right question or don't understand the answer or possibly both 
. I would like to figure out how to use MySenors with SmartThings. The link, if I understand what it is, is a link to a custom controller. Isn't that what SmartThings is, a controller? How do I get the gateway to talk to SmartThings? I was thinking some sort of plugin/integration would need to be written? So I might be confused and not asking the right thing.
I'm new to the site so this information may be somewhere here but I didn't see it.
I have a SmartThings v2 hub/controller and have been pretty happy with it so far but have mostly just used it with devices I've bought. Just recently decided to use my prewired security contact sensors as part a home security project and I'm using an Arduino Mega 2560. When I realized how easy it was to build some of my own devices I ran across this site and I want to build more.
I'm a software engineer so was wondering if there are some examples of controller plugins that others have wrote for other controller or if that are specs so that one could be built for SmartThings. Anyone have some good examples that I could look at?