Plug keeps blinking green forever

[boar24]

Dear all,

after spending many hours I still have no success in connecting my new smart WiFi plugs Refoss MSS210W to Mosquitto.
I am following the procedure by Rob Griffiths, but am stuck at where the meross-setup utility is used. After I try to bind the plug to my Mosquitto broker at 192.168.188.30 with the command
./meross-setup --gateway 10.10.10.1 --wifi-ssid assid162 --wifi-pass 3438XXXXXXXXXXXX7725 --mqtt mqtts://192.168.188.30 --mqtt mqtts://192.168.188.30
the plug

• clicks
• probably reboots
• changes its IP from 10.10.10.1 to 192.168.188.31
• changes its LED states from blinking red/green to blinking green
• sends out Appliance.Control.Bind- and Appliance.System.Report-messages every ≈30 seconds

The plug remains in this state forever. I have no clue on how to proceed and would highly appreciate any suggestions.
The plugs work correctly when connected to the Meross cloud / eHomeLife-App.

The Mosquitto server was installed from mosquitto-2.0.15-install-windows-x64.exe on a Windows10 machine with IP 192.168.188.30. The instance uses the following mosquitto.conf, which corresponds to that of Rob Griffiths:

listener 8883
allow_anonymous true
require_certificate false
cafile   ssl/ca.crt
certfile ssl/broker.crt
keyfile  ssl/broker.key

The three certificate files have been created on WSL/Ubuntu with this script makeCerts.sh, based on the one from ElBobo:

# !/usr/bin/env bash
mkdir ssl 
ssldir=./ssl 
   
# CA: certification authority
openssl genrsa                                           -out $ssldir/ca.key     2048 
openssl req    -new -x509 -days 1826 -key $ssldir/ca.key -out $ssldir/ca.crt     -subj "/C=CH/ST=BE/L=BE/O=Private/OU=Dep0/CN=stdifferent.30" 
 
# certificate 
openssl genrsa                                           -out $ssldir/broker.key 2048 
openssl req    -new             -out $ssldir/broker.csr  -key $ssldir/broker.key -subj "/C=CH/ST=BE/L=BE/O=Private/OU=Dep1/CN=192.168.188.30"

openssl x509   -req -in $ssldir/broker.csr -CA $ssldir/ca.crt -CAkey $ssldir/ca.key -CAcreateserial -out $ssldir/broker.crt -days 1826 

cp makeCerts.sh $ssldir/.

Note that it does not use the -des3 option which Rob uses. I also made sure that the Organisational Names are not identical, as pointed out by sheran29.

I have opened a second commandline window on the PC and successfully attached a subscriber to the running Mosquitto broker:
mosquitto_sub -h 192.168.188.30 -t "#" -t "/#" --cafile ssl/ca.crt

It successfully receives messages that I send from a third commandline window, e.g.:
mosquitto_pub -h 192.168.188.30 -p 8883 -t "test7" -m "message7" --cafile ssl/ca.crt

Here is a screenshot of the broker with three blocks:

• blue line: startup
• orange line: the subscriber connects
• yellow line: the publisher sends a message

From this I would say that Mosquitto and the certificates are OK.

Now, as I said in the beginning, after the plug is reconfigured with
./meross-setup --gateway 10.10.10.1 --wifi-ssid assid162 --wifi-pass 3438XXXXXXXXXXXX7725 --mqtt mqtts://192.168.188.30 --mqtt mqtts://192.168.188.30
it behaves as stated above. The Mosquitto broker and hence the subscriber see messages of types Appliance.Control.Bind and Appliance.System.Report, and this continues forever. What can I do?

Output from the broker:

1690725142: New connection from 192.168.188.31:52884 on port 8883.
1690725143: New client connected from 192.168.188.31:52884 as fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (p1, c1, k120, u'48:XX:XX:XX:XX:17').
1690725143: No will message specified.
1690725143: Sending CONNACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (0, 0)
1690725143: Received SUBSCRIBE from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725143:     /appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe (QoS 1)
1690725143: fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA 1 /appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe
1690725143: Sending SUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725143: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m227, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (388 bytes))
1690725143: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (388 bytes))
1690725143: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m227, rc0)
1690725143: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m228, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725143: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725143: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m228, rc0)
1690725148: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m229, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725148: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725148: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m229, rc0)
1690725153: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m230, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725153: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725153: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m230, rc0)
1690725158: Received DISCONNECT from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725158: Client fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA disconnected.
1690725167: New connection from 192.168.188.31:52885 on port 8883.
1690725167: New client connected from 192.168.188.31:52885 as fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (p1, c1, k120, u'48:XX:XX:XX:XX:17').
1690725167: No will message specified.
1690725167: Sending CONNACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (0, 0)
1690725167: Received SUBSCRIBE from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725167:     /appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe (QoS 1)
1690725167: fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA 1 /appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe
1690725167: Sending SUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725167: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m232, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (389 bytes))
1690725167: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (389 bytes))
1690725167: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m232, rc0)
1690725167: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m233, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725167: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725167: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m233, rc0)
1690725172: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m234, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725172: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725172: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m234, rc0)
1690725177: Received PUBLISH from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (d0, q1, r0, m235, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725177: Sending PUBLISH to auto-4899B759-2D01-9D43-97C8-918DF0A9A65A (d0, q0, r0, m0, '/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish', ... (766 bytes))
1690725177: Sending PUBACK to fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA (m235, rc0)
1690725182: Received DISCONNECT from fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA
1690725182: Client fmware:2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317_qqocyGoCpeCzBsXA disconnected.

Output from the subscriber:

{"header":{"messageId":"f81cXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX5bc1","namespace":"Appliance.System.Report","method":"PUSH","payloadVersion":1,"from":"/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish","uuid":"2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317","timestamp":1690724715,"timestampMs":338,"sign":"c435XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX918a"},"payload":{"report":[{"type":"1","value":"1","timestamp":1690724715}]}}
{"header":{"messageId":"4ddbXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX10b5","namespace":"Appliance.Control.Bind","method":"SET","payloadVersion":1,"from":"/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe","uuid":"2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317","timestamp":1690724715,"timestampMs":372,"sign":"df58XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX9b67"},"payload":{"bind":{"bindTime":1690724715,"time":{"timestamp":1690724715,"timezone":"","timeRule":[]},"hardware":{"type":"mss210","subType":"un","version":"6.0.0","chipType":"rtl8710cf","uuid":"2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317","macAddress":"48:XX:XX:XX:XX:17"},"firmware":{"version":"6.2.3","compileTime":"2021/10/22-11:13:43","encrypt":1,"wifiMac":"5c:XX:XX:XX:XX:03","innerIp":"192.168.188.31","server":"192.168.188.30","port":8883,"userId":0}}}}

The same in prettyfied form:

{
  "header": {
    "messageId": "f81cXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX5bc1",
    "namespace": "Appliance.System.Report",
    "method": "PUSH",
    "payloadVersion": 1,
    "from": "/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish",
    "uuid": "2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317",
    "timestamp": 1690724715,
    "timestampMs": 338,
    "sign": "c435XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX918a"
  },
  "payload": {
    "report": [
      {
        "type": "1",
        "value": "1",
        "timestamp": 1690724715
      }
    ]
  }
}

{
  "header": {
    "messageId": "4ddbXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX10b5",
    "namespace": "Appliance.Control.Bind",
    "method": "SET",
    "payloadVersion": 1,
    "from": "/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe",
    "uuid": "2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317",
    "timestamp": 1690724715,
    "timestampMs": 372,
    "sign": "df58XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX9b67"
  },
  "payload": {
    "bind": {
      "bindTime": 1690724715,
      "time": {
        "timestamp": 1690724715,
        "timezone": "",
        "timeRule": []
      },
      "hardware": {
        "type": "mss210",
        "subType": "un",
        "version": "6.0.0",
        "chipType": "rtl8710cf",
        "uuid": "2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317",
        "macAddress": "48:XX:XX:XX:XX:17"
      },
      "firmware": {
        "version": "6.2.3",
        "compileTime": "2021/10/22-11:13:43",
        "encrypt": 1,
        "wifiMac": "5c:XX:XX:XX:XX:03",
        "innerIp": "192.168.188.31",
        "server": "192.168.188.30",
        "port": 8883,
        "userId": 0
      }
    }
  }
}

What can I do?

[bytespider]

Does this work for you? #57 (comment)

[boar24]

Wow, in deed! I sent
mosquitto_pub -h 192.168.188.30 -p 8883 --cafile ssl/ca.crt -t "/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe" -m "{""header"":{""messageId"":""2960cfeef370338255f669525209abca"",""namespace"":""Appliance.Control.Bind"",""timestamp"":""1690744475"",""method"":""SETACK"",""sign"":""a246aa1f28f1a1d7b4a4cdc46ba6ad40"",""from"":""/cloud/hook/subscribe""},""payload"":{}}"
where I reused the messageId, timestamp and sign of an incoming message. And I had to convert the quotes to double quotes - as I am on Windows.
And this stopped the blinking. Hooray! Thanks a lot for nudging me onto the solution!

Now, when I press the plug's button, I can see in the broker and the attached subscriber that an Appliance.Control.ToggleX message comes in:
{"header":{"messageId":"690a3f909feba1ef9852c0403024783f","namespace":"Appliance.Control.ToggleX","method":"PUSH","payloadVersion":1,"from":"/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/publish","uuid":"2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317","timestamp":1690752350,"timestampMs":967,"sign":"9ee7114ec23b648e3ac2f391a58fd3ed"},"payload":{"togglex":[{"channel":0,"onoff":1,"lmTime":1690752350}]}}
Looks good!

Now, for the other way around, i.e. controlling the plug, I tried to send a similar message towards the plug:
mosquitto_pub -h 192.168.188.30 -p 8883 --cafile ssl/ca.crt -t "/appliance/2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317/subscribe" -m "{""header"":{""messageId"":""690a3f909feba1ef9852c0403024783f"",""namespace"":""Appliance.Control.ToggleX"",""method"":""SET"",""payloadVersion"":1,""from"":""mosquitto_pub"",""uuid"":""2211XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX7317"",""timestamp"":1690752350,""sign"":""9ee7114ec23b648e3ac2f391a58fd3ed""},""payload"":{""togglex"":[{""channel"":0,""onoff"":0,""lmTime"":1690752350}]}}"
It has

• SET instead of PUSH
• another value in the "from" field

The plug only reacts on the message

• many minutes after the messageId had been generated in the first place (I guess i.e. after the plug will have forgotten that the messageId had been used recently, clearly it can only have limited memory) and
• after unplugging and replugging the plug (apparently, i.e. erasing its memory). :-)

So far so good. I understand that to do it properly, I must use a random messageId, a correct timestamp, the correct key and a signing value equal to md5(messageId + key + timestamp). This should be doable without too much programming effort, analogue to the code fragment which is posted here for Symcon. However, I would assume that there is tool or library around to do this, just couldn't find something. Could you possibly point me into the right direction? I am looking for a simple plain command line tool, without an integration in HomeAssistant or the like.

[lechercheur123]

If you want to do this with python 3, here are some tips:

To generate random messageId:

messageId = str(random.randbytes(16).hex())

To calculate the timestamp:

timestamp = int(datetime.now(timezone.utc).timestamp())

To calculate the sign:

key = "customkey"
stringToHash = messageId+ key + str(timestamp)
hash = hashlib.md5(stringToHash.encode())
sign = hash.hexdigest()

As an example here is how I generate the JSON for my use cases (unfortunately I don't use ToggleX, so I added a short section at the end that should help you):

def generateMqttMessage(uuid, key, messageType, namespace, messageId=None, onoff=1):
        data={}
        data["header"]={}
        data["header"]["from"]="/app/0-"+uuid+"/subscribe"
        if(messageId == None):
                data["header"]["messageId"]=str(random.randbytes(16).hex())
        else:
                data["header"]["messageId"]=messageId
        data["header"]["method"]=messageType
        data["header"]["namespace"]=namespace
        data["header"]["payloadVersion"]=1
        data["header"]["sign"]="0"
        data["header"]["timestamp"]=int(datetime.now(timezone.utc).timestamp())
        stringToHash = data["header"]["messageId"] + key + str(data["header"]["timestamp"])
        hash=hashlib.md5(stringToHash.encode())
        data["header"]["sign"]=hash.hexdigest()

        data["payload"]={}
        if(namespace == "Appliance.System.Clock"):
                data["payload"]["clock"]={}
                data["payload"]["clock"]["timestamp"]=data["header"]["timestamp"]
        elif(namespace == "Appliance.System.Time"):
                data["payload"]["time"]={}
                data["payload"]["time"]["timestamp"]=data["header"]["timestamp"]
                data["payload"]["time"]["timezone"] = "Europe/Paris"
                data["payload"]["time"]["timeRule"] = []

                tm = tz.gettz(data["payload"]["time"]["timezone"])
                now=datetime.now(tm)
                # Previous end or debut of DST
                if(datetime.dst(now) != timedelta()):
                        dst1 = now + relativedelta(month=3, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=0, minute=0, hour=3, microsecond=0)
                        dst2 = now + relativedelta(month=10, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=59, minute=59, hour=2, microsecond=0)
                        dst3 = now + relativedelta(years=1, month=3, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=0, minute=0, hour=3, microsecond=0)
                        dst1on = 1
                        dst2on = 0
                        dst3on = 1
                else:
                        dst2 = now + relativedelta(month=3, day=31,  weekday=SU(-1), second=0, minute=0, hour=3)
                        if(now < dst2):
                                dst1 = now + relativedelta(years=-1, month=10, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=59, minute=59, hour=2)
                                dst3 = now + relativedelta(month=10, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=59, minute=59, hour=2)
                        else:
                                dst1 = now + relativedelta(month=10, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=59, minute=59, hour=2, microsecond=0)
                                dst2 = now + relativedelta(years=1, month=3, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=0, minute=0, hour=3, microsecond=0)
                                dst3 = now + relativedelta(years=1, month=10, day=31, weekday=SU(-1), second=59, minute=59, hour=2, microsecond=0)
                        dst1on = 0
                        dst2on = 1
                        dst3on = 0

                data["payload"]["time"]["timeRule"].append([int(dst1.timestamp()) + dst2on, 3600 + (dst1on*3600), dst1on])
                data["payload"]["time"]["timeRule"].append([int(dst2.timestamp()) + dst1on, 3600 + (dst2on*3600), dst2on])
                data["payload"]["time"]["timeRule"].append([int(dst3.timestamp()) + dst2on, 3600 + (dst3on*3600), dst3on])

        elif(namespace == "Appliance.Control.Electricity"):
                data["payload"]["channel"] = 0
        elif(namespace == "Appliance.Control.ConsumptionX"):
                pass
        elif(namespace == "Appliance.Control.Bind"):
                pass
        elif(namespace == "Appliance.System.Report"):
                pass
        # Just added right now for @Traveler4 but not tested
        elif(namespace == "Appliance.Control.ToggleX"):
                item = {}
                item["channel"] = 0
                item["onoff"] = onoff
                item["lmTime"] = data["header"]["timestamp"]
                data["payload"]["togglex"] = []
                data["payload"]["togglex"].append(item)


        else:
                return None

        return(json.dumps(data))