Dongle-PZG23 integration issue

[AdamGreenLA]

I recently purchased a Dongle-PZG23 stick and attempted to connect it to ZWave JS UI, but so far without success. Here are my troubleshooting findings:

1. ZWave JS UI ignores the setting to disable the Soft-Reset and always performs this operation. This is a defect that needs to be fixed.
2. ZWave JS UI communicates successfully with the Dongle-PZG23 until the Soft-Reset command is sent. After the reset is performed, the controller stops responding. I tested the controller using my own test tool: in response to a Soft-Reset, it issues a SERIAL_API_STARTED message within a second. This indicates that ZWave JS UI sends the reset command without waiting for the previous command to complete, which puts the controller into an unstable state. Adding a short delay before performing the reset might resolve this issue.

[zwave-js-bot]

Beep, boop! 🤖

I've found existing posts that look similar to yours. If they don't help, please wait for a human to show up.

These existing posts look similar to yours and might be related — a maintainer will confirm:

• SONOFF Z-Wave 800 Dongle Plus (Dongle-PZG23) (answered discussion)
• Raspberry Pi w/ Zooz ZST39 - Resource Unavailable, Cannot Lock Port (closed issue)
• Remote restart over the websocket (from Home Assistant) (answered discussion)

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[AdamGreenLA]

The is a defect. To get everything working, I modified the initializeControllerAndNodes() function in the Drive.js file:
...
const maySoftReset = this.maySoftReset();
if (this._options.features.softReset && !maySoftReset) {
this.driverLog.print(Soft reset is enabled through config, but this stick does not support it., "warn");
this._options.features.softReset = false;
}
// if (maySoftReset) {
if (this._options.features.softReset) {
await this.softResetInternal(false);
}
...
Now, everything works fine. I was able to migrate NVM from my 500 Gen5+ stick, etc.

[robertsLando]

Thanks for the detailed digging — the symptom is real, but the fix should not go where you put it, and the actual root cause has since been found and fixed.

1. Soft Reset being performed with the setting disabled is intentional, not a defect.

Z-Wave JS UI does pass your setting to the driver (zwaveOptions.features.softReset in ZwaveClient.ts). The driver deliberately ignores it on 700+ series controllers, since zwave-js#6154:

Experience has shown that the problems caused by soft reset are limited to 500 series and older controllers. On 700+ series, soft-resetting is however required in lots of cases. Here, having soft-reset disabled by the users rather causes problems.

So the patch you made to initializeControllerAndNodes() reverts a deliberate upstream decision. It happens to work for your setup because you do not use FUNC_ID_SERIAL_API_SETUP, but it would break NVM restore, RF region changes and jammed-controller recovery for everyone else on 700/800 series sticks. We will not carry that change.

Our docs were genuinely misleading here — they offered "disable Soft Reset" as a remedy without saying it has no effect on 700/800 series. Fixed in #4795.

2. The "reset sent before the previous command completed" theory is not what is happening.

As @AlCalzone pointed out in zwave-js/zwave-js#9103, the preceding GetLongRangeChannel is a frame with response, and both the ACK and the response arrive before the soft reset is issued — the command is complete by definition. A delay would not have helped.

3. The real root cause, and the real fix.

The SONOFF developers tracked it down: on Windows, node-serialport asserts DTR when opening the port (hupcl defaults to on), and the Dongle-PZG23 wires DTR into its bootloader-entry logic. The soft reset therefore lands in the Gecko bootloader instead of restarting the Serial API. The same dongle works fine on Linux/HAOS, which matches your report.

Fixed upstream in zwave-js/zwave-js#9118 (hupcl: false), tracked as zwave-js/zwave-js#9117.

That fix is not in a published zwave-js release yet. Once it is released we will bump the dependency here, and your dongle will work on Windows with Soft Reset left at its default. Until then, keeping your local patch is fine for you, but it is not the correct fix and it is not something we will apply for everyone.