[REQUEST] Alpha and/or Beta release versions of latest EmberZNet 7.2.x (7.2.x.x) Zigbee Coordinator NCP firmware images for testers to test on Sonoff ZBDongle-E

[Hedda]

@Daniel-zhan-itead Suggest that ITead considers via this repository providing some publicly available "official" Alpha and/or Beta versions of Silicon Labs EmberZNet NCP 7.2.x (7.2.x.x) Zigbee Coordinator NCP firmware image builds for Sonoff ZBDongle-E adapters here for developers of various Zigbee gateway solutions and volunteering alpha/beta testers to test their new/updated EZSP v11 (EmberZNet Serial Protocol version 11) and EZSP v10 (EmberZNet Serial Protocol version 10) interface as well as upstream bug-fixes that comes in the latest Silicon Labs release of their Gecko SDK Suite 4.2 (currently GSDK v4.2.2).

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases

Note! To clarify, EmberZNet 7.2.x.x is probably not ready for general use yet but great if firmware images were available to test for issues. That is, it would be great if both developers/testers could have access to Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.x.x NCP images for development/testing.

https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/release-notes/emberznet-release-notes-7.2.2.0.pdf

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases/tag/v4.2.2

Zigbee EmberZNet SDK 7.2.2.2 GA release notes cover SDK version(s):

• 7.2.2.0 released March 8, 2023
• 7.2.1.0 released February 1, 2023
• 7.2.0.0 released December 14, 2022

FYI, there are already "unofficial" Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.x.x NCP firmware builds from a couple of community members that a few people have been testing on ZBDongle-E in some different Zigbee implementations to test EZSP v11 and EZSP v10 interface in these newer firmware versions:

• https://github.com/xsp1989/zigbeeFirmware/tree/master/firmware/Zigbee3.0_Dongle-NoSigned/EZSP
• https://github.com/skgsergio/silabs-multiprotocol-firmware-zbgw04-usb/tree/main/firmware/ncp

Related discussions:

• [REQUEST] Silabs Zigbee EmberZNet SDK 7.2 NCP experimental builds for testing? xsp1989/zigbeeFirmware#33
• [REQUEST] Silabs Zigbee EmberZNet SDK 7.2 NCP experimental builds for testing? grobasoz/zigbee-firmware#40

Please be aware that some advanced users of Home Assistant's ZHA integration, the Zigbee Plugin for Domoticz, as well as Zigbee2MQTT and IoBroker have already been pre-release testing those unofficial firmware builds of the new EZSP v10 and EZSP v11 interface using different Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.x.x builds on ITead's EFR32MG21-based “Sonoff Zigbee 3.0 USB Dongle Plus V2” (model " ZBDongle-E").

Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman#319
zigpy/bellows#535
zigpy/bellows#528

https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/zha

https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/ZigbeeForDomoticz

https://doc.jeedom.com/en_US/plugins/automation%20protocol/zigbee/

PS: OpenHAB ZigBee Binding dependencies are currently missing support for EZSP v9, v10, and v11 -> openhab/org.openhab.binding.zigbee#778 (so therefor a Silibs EmberZNet 6.7.x or 6.10.x based NCP firmware image is still recommended for the OpenHAB ZigBee Binding -> https://www.openhab.org/addons/bindings/zigbee/)

[Hedda]

Note! Also be noted that you need to enable Touchlink (touchlinking) support in Zigbee Coordinator NCP firmware image -> #6

Just to clarify, many but not all popular open-source DIY home-automation projects have now been updated to support EZSP v11.

The "bellows" radio library for zigpy to interface Silicon Labs Zigbee EmberZNet EZSP has been updated to support EZSP v11:

• Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA) integration for Home Assistant (which as you might know depends on zigpy).
• Domoticz via the Zigbee for Domoticz Plugin (see Domoticz-Zigbee, which is also depends on zigpy).
• Jeedom via official Zigbee plugin for Jeedom (which is also depends zigpy as well).

zigbee-herdsman is not lagging far behind as has already been updated to EZSP v11:

• Zigbee2MQTT (that is depending on zigbee-herdsman).
• ioBroker (ioBroker adapter for Zigbee devices that also depends on zigbee-herdsman).

The only large project that was lagging behind is OpenHAB but its dependencies was at least updated to EZSP v11 this week:

• OpenHAB via official OpenHAB ZigBee Binding (that depends on com.zsmartsystems.zigbee)
  • There are also a few other lesser-known projects that also depend on the [com.zsmartsystems.zigbee] library.

PS: The only well-known open-source project in the DIY home-automation community that is lagging behind those is Zigbee2Tasmota (Zigbee to Tastmota) project and that is only because Tasmota lead Zigbee developer is currently fully focusing on getting initial support working for the new Matter standard in Tasmota, (which in turn might later also lead to a wish for him wanting to add Thread / OpenThread radio support in Tasmota in order to support Matter over Thread with native Thread Border Router / OpenThread Border Router firmware).

[Hedda]

FYI, Silabs Zigbee EmberZNet SDK 7.2.3.0 has now been released as part of Silicon Labs Gecko SDK (GSDK) Version 4.2.3.0

https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/release-notes/emberznet-release-notes-7.2.3.0.pdf

Silicon Labs Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.3.0 release states that it is specifically targeting quality improvements and bug fixes.

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases/tag/v4.2.3

[Hedda]

FYI, Silabs Zigbee EmberZNet SDK 7.2.4.0 has now been released as part of Silicon Labs Gecko SDK (GSDK) Version 4.2.4.0

https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/release-notes/emberznet-release-notes-7.2.4.0.pdf

Silicon Labs Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.3.0 release states that it is specifically targeting quality improvements and bug fixes.

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases/tag/v4.2.4

Again, Zigbee EmberZNet 7.2.x may break backwards compatibility so applications need to support at least EZSP v10.

PS: All popular open-source home automation platforms have now beeen updated to support EZSP v10 and EZSP v11.