Add support for ITead's SONOFF NSPanel touchscreen display (ESP32 with custom Nextion HMI screen)?

[Hedda]

Describe the problem you have/What new integration you would like

Request support in ESPHome for SONOFF NSPanel touchscreen display by ITead = ESP32 based with custom Nextion HMI screen:

https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-nspanel-smart-scene-wall-switch/

It is listed at MSRP $74.90 but early-bird version is currently sold via this Kickstarter campaign for around $54 each or $99 for two:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sonoffnspanel/sonoff-nspanel-smart-scene-wall-switch/

A lot of information had already leaked via its FCC certification (FCC ID 2APN5NSPANEL):

https://fccid.io/2APN5NSPANEL

https://fccid.io/2APN5NSPANEL/User-Manual/User-Manual-5481421.pdf

https://fccid.io/2APN5NSPANEL/External-Photos/External-Photos-5481413.pdf

https://fccid.io/2APN5NSPANEL/Internal-Photos/Internal-Photos-5481415.pdf

https://fccid.io/2APN5NSPANEL/Label/ID-Label-and-Label-Location-5481414.pdf

Many tech review bloggers/vloggers who received preview prototype units seem to complain about its lack of integrated motion sensor for presence detection so can automatically turn on the screen backlighting, (and I like to also add the request for its DS18B20 temperature-only sensor to be replaced with a DHT22, AM2301, or Si7021 temperature and humidity combo sensor).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGXJnzS7D9g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQZk3MKJXzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg_Jq4Y9b_s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg_Jq4Y9b_s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUvWwtvtd6k

Looks like a model each for Europe and North America; “NSPanel-EU” and “NSPanel-US”. It also contains a temperature + humidity sensor and two integrated low-amp relays for 220V/300W or 110V/150W capacity respectively, but the point is really for it to act as remote control of scenes and running widgets (local applications or scripts) such as for example an HVAC thermostat.

As I understand all Nextion displays as their own integrated microcontroller unit (STM32GO ARM Cortex-M0+ 64MHz Onboard MCU Processor) so that will off-load most of the heavy lifting work and all text and graphics, animations, etc. are created using Nextion Editor software, and then then the project files/assets are uploaded directly into the Nextion screen. The screen then has serial commands mapped to UI elements and can be sent and received from ESPHome firmware to control it.

There is some interesting discussions on the Home Assistant community forum about hacking it with ESPHome and/or Tasmota:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-nspanel-smart-scene-wall-switch-by-itead-coming-soon-on-kickstarter/332962/

HA-TB303 and blakadder are two that have especially connected a lot of information about the internal workings of these:

https://espthings.io/nspanel

https://blakadder.com/nspanel-teardown/

Also, the community at the unofficial Nextion/TJC chat room on Discord have been making some discoveries about its display:

https://unofficialnextion.com/t/welcome-to-the-unofficial-nextion-tjc-user-forum/8

The first thing they discovered it that has practically been designed it to be hacked and flashed with third-party firmware. Especially when taking into consideration that Efuses are not burned and pin headers on the board are easy to use for a solderless flash.

The information so far is that it does not use the protocol that ESPHome support for Nextion HMI but instead a custom protocol:

Nextion HMI Project Upload Protocol specifications:

https://nextion.tech/2017/12/08/nextion-hmi-upload-protocol-v1-1/

ITead has also posted specific IO (Input-Output) definition documention for Sonoff NSPanel in a new Kickstarter campaign update:

Please describe your use case for this integration and alternatives you've tried:

Additional context

[jesserockz]

I am backing the NSPanel so hope to get one ASAP, but without it in front of me I cannot make any assumptions about how it works. I have seen the IO pinout and actually spent an hour or 2 looking at the fcc pictures and had all of the pins listed right before they posted that update on kickstarter 🤦‍♂️

[Hedda]

@jesserockz Suggest that you write a short mail to "Jeri Shi" jerry.shi@itead.cc, "Stan Li" Stan.li@itead.cc, and "Daniel Zhan" daniel.zhan@itead.cc telling them who you are and ask them nicely if they would be willing to send you a prototype or preview sample unit in advance of them shipping general availability of the Kickstarter early-bird units, maybe even be so bold and ask them to also send some units to your fellow ESPHome and Home Assistant core developers. I am sure that they would appreciate it if some of the popular open-source firmware projects could already support it before it gets shipped to end-users.

[jesserockz]

I will do just that @Hedda. Thanks =)

[Hedda]

FYI, Tasmota developer blakadder now discovered that SONOFF NSPanel uses Nextion Discovery 3.5” NX4832F035 screen type part:

https://nextion.tech/datasheets/nx4832f035/

NX4832F035 Nextion 3.5″ Discovery Series HMI Touch Display can be purchased as a separate unit directly from ITead for $29.90 (US) if need it for development or want to test it in an ESP32 DIY project:

https://itead.cc/product/nx4832f035-nextion-3-5-discovery-series-hmi-touch-display/

blakadder (in Tasmota discussions): "With this discovery we confirm it is possible to upload custom GUI created in Nextion Editor."

https://nextion.tech/nextion-editor/#_section1

blakadder has posted updated information on his findings here:

https://blakadder.com/nspanel-teardown/

Note that the main PCB is marked with “E32-MSW-NX” and “NSPanel-EU” if you open it.

and specific flashing instructions here:

https://templates.blakadder.com/sonoff_NSPanel.html

and looks like he is also planning on posting code here:

https://github.com/blakadder/nspanel

blakadder wrote: I’ve also successfully decoded most of the NSPanel custom protocol, just need to figure out why the touch function stops working when doing some actions. Here’s a list of objects pulled by a nice tool coded by MaxZ from Nextion Unoffficial Discord:

https://gist.github.com/blakadder/7928279bd95ad47b54f705b7a121a7e1

Again, more discussion here on Home Assistant community forum:

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/sonoff-nspanel-smart-scene-wall-switch-by-itead-coming-soon-on-kickstarter/332962/

Over at the https://unofficialnextion.com/t/welcome-to-the-unofficial-nextion-tjc-user-forum/8 we’ve been making some discoveries:

• The stock firmware serial baudrate is 115200
• The stock firmware has Protocol Reparse and Address Mode activated
• You have to put the Nextion into passive mode to processes serial data according to the Nextion Instuction Set

Also ESPhome only sends the connect command to the Nextion. That doesn’t work because the NSPanel is in Protocol Reparse mode. You need to send the full escape sequence from the Nextion Upload Protocol v1.1 1 instead to exit Protocol Reparse mode.

You need to have GPIO4 pulled low so the screen boots. Then send the escape reparse mode string DRAKJHSUYDGBNCJHGJKSHBDNÿÿÿ and you can use all standard nextion commands.

https://gist.github.com/blakadder/7928279bd95ad47b54f705b7a121a7e1

[nagyrobi]

Although not locked down to Nextion, but: https://haswitchplate.github.io/openHASP-docs

[Hedda]

Although not locked down to Nextion, but: https://haswitchplate.github.io/openHASP-docs

blakadder (who now managed to get Sonoff NSPanel display working with Tasmota) said that openHASP can't be reused for this:

arendst/Tasmota#13347

"Nextion screens have a different design philosophy and will not work with LVGL and therefore openHASP"

blakadder continuously keeps updating his findings both on a few web-pages and in this GitHub repo:

https://blakadder.com/nspanel-teardown/

https://templates.blakadder.com/sonoff_NSPanel.html

https://github.com/blakadder/nspanel

https://blakadder.github.io/nspanel/

https://gist.github.com/blakadder/7928279bd95ad47b54f705b7a121a7e1

As noted it does not use standard Nextion so they reference Nextion Instruction Set and the Nextion HMI Project Upload Protocol:

https://nextion.tech/instruction-set/

https://nextion.tech/2017/12/08/nextion-hmi-upload-protocol-v1-1/

Again, the community at the unofficial Nextion/TJC chat room on Discord has made most of the discoveries about this display:

https://unofficialnextion.com/t/welcome-to-the-unofficial-nextion-tjc-user-forum/8

[Hedda]

FYI, blakadder now said that he is trying to replicate the original default firmware but using MQTT to be able to integrate it in HA.

Everything neatly laid out here for hacking it and configuring Tasmota and blakadder said will be updated as support progresses:

https://templates.blakadder.com/sonoff_NSPanel

Michel from espthings.io also updated his teardown and test of flashing ESPHome:

https://www.espthings.io/index.php/2021/10/10/sonoff-nspanel-first-impressions/

Again, also be sure to check out this teardown as an introduction to the hardware:

https://blakadder.com/nspanel-teardown/

[jesserockz]

@Hedda https://twitter.com/Jesserockz/status/1457415401743126530 =)

[Hedda]

@Hedda https://twitter.com/Jesserockz/status/1457415401743126530 =)

Awesome stuff! Will keep an eye on esphome/esphome#2702 and your Twitter while waiting for ITead to ship Sonoff NSPanel!

[mbo18]

@jesserockz Thank you so much for this component!
It seems that weather data are not currently supported (YAML part missing form my understanding). Do you plan to finish the NSPanel support for next release?

[mbo18]

I've flashed my NSPanel with jesserockz's code and it's working pretty fine. I've found how to declare widgets in the YAML configuration. It's clear that "devices" are not currently supported but "groups" are. Regarding "devices", "CURTAIN: 11" is missing in the code.
Regarding groups, I think that I found bugs when using multi-switch (2 ou 3 or 4):

• first switch is always on, all others are off
• names are not displayed so it's OUTLET1, OUTLET2, etc.
• only the last ON_CLICK action is triggered

For example, with this code:

    - type: group
      name: Salon
      uiid: SWITCH_VERTICAL_TRIPLE
      items: 
        - name: "Open"
          on_click:
            - homeassistant.service:
                service: cover.open_cover
                data:
                  entity_id: cover.salon_volet_roulant
        - name: "Close"
          on_click:
            - homeassistant.service:
                service: cover.close_cover
                data:
                  entity_id: cover.salon_volet_roulant
        - name: "STOP"
          on_click:
            - homeassistant.service:
                service: cover.stop_cover
                data:
                  entity_id: cover.salon_volet_roulant

If I click on OUTLET1 or 2 or 3, only the last on_click action is triggered, here it is cover.stop_cover

[TyzzyT]

When trying to compile with Jesse's code, I'm getting the error below. Any idea what can be wrong?

HARDWARE: ESP32 240MHz, 320KB RAM, 4MB Flash
Dependency Graph
|-- <AsyncTCP-esphome> 1.2.2
|-- <WiFi> 1.0
|-- <FS> 1.0
|-- <Update> 1.0
|-- <ESPAsyncWebServer-esphome> 2.1.0
|   |-- <AsyncTCP-esphome> 1.2.2
|-- <DNSServer> 1.1.0
|-- <ArduinoJson-esphomelib> 5.13.3
|-- <ESPmDNS> 1.0
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp.o
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/text_sensor/text_sensor.cpp.o
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/time/automation.cpp.o
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp.o
In file included from src/esphome/components/sensor/sensor.h:3:0,
                 from src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.h:6,
                 from src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:1:
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp: In member function 'bool esphome::nspanel::NSPanel::process_data_()':
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:99:50: error: 'format_hex_pretty' was not declared in this scope
            format_hex_pretty(message_data, length).c_str());
                                                  ^
src/esphome/core/log.h:95:89: note: in definition of macro 'esph_log_d'
   esp_log_printf_(ESPHOME_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, tag, __LINE__, ESPHOME_LOG_FORMAT(format), ##__VA_ARGS__)
                                                                                         ^
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:98:3: note: in expansion of macro 'ESP_LOGD'
   ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Received NSPanel: Type=0x%02X PAYLOAD=%s RAW=[%s]", type, message.c_str(),
   ^
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/uart/uart.cpp.o
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/uart/uart_component.cpp.o
Compiling /data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/uart/uart_component_esp32_arduino.cpp.o
*** [/data/sonoff-nspanel1/.pioenvs/sonoff-nspanel1/src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp.o] Error 1
========================= [FAILED] Took 12.08 seconds =========================

[samuelmcconnell]

On ESPHome 2021.12.1, I'm seeing a similar error on compilation as what @TyzzyT is getting:

Processing nspanel (board: esp32dev; framework: arduino; platform: platformio/espressif32 @ 3.3.2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARDWARE: ESP32 240MHz, 320KB RAM, 4MB Flash
Dependency Graph
|-- <WiFi> 1.0
|-- <Update> 1.0
|-- <ArduinoJson-esphomelib> 5.13.3
|-- <ESPmDNS> 1.0
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/output/automation.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/output/float_output.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/resistance/resistance_sensor.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/rtttl/rtttl.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/sensor/automation.cpp.o
Compiling /data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/sensor/filter.cpp.o
In file included from src/esphome/components/sensor/sensor.h:3:0,
                 from src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.h:6,
                 from src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:1:
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp: In member function 'bool esphome::nspanel::NSPanel::process_data_()':
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:99:50: error: 'format_hex_pretty' was not declared in this scope
            format_hex_pretty(message_data, length).c_str());
                                                  ^
src/esphome/core/log.h:95:89: note: in definition of macro 'esph_log_d'
   esp_log_printf_(ESPHOME_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG, tag, __LINE__, ESPHOME_LOG_FORMAT(format), ##__VA_ARGS__)
                                                                                         ^
src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp:98:3: note: in expansion of macro 'ESP_LOGD'
   ESP_LOGD(TAG, "Received NSPanel: Type=0x%02X PAYLOAD=%s RAW=[%s]", type, message.c_str(),
   ^
*** [/data/nspanel/.pioenvs/nspanel/src/esphome/components/nspanel/nspanel.cpp.o] Error 1
========================== [FAILED] Took 3.15 seconds ==========================

The yaml config I used is available here.

EDIT: It compiled fine using the dev release of ESPHome.