Problems editing/saving a DDF-File

Advice
1

I’m trying to add a Fingerbot to my setup but I can’t update the DDF:

I got the DDF from this thread (Tuya Fingerbot Plus · Issue #7094 · dresden-elektronik/deconz-rest-plugin · GitHub), found the folders for the DDF-Files (I’m running this on a Windows-VM) and did the following:

  • saved the DDF in "C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\Programs\Deconz\devices\tuya"
  • Trying to pair the Fingerbot with Phoscon (Didn’t show up there but the Fingerbot appeared in Deconz
  • click “Edit DDF”
  • opened the DDF I got from the thread mentioned earlier
  • click “Hot Reload”

Doing this, the DDF will not be saved.
I also tried to load/save the DDF from “C:\Users\XXX\AppData\Local\dresden-elektronik\deCONZ\devices”. Didn’t work either

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks :-\

2

I think do some recent updates and additions in the DDF capabilities these haven’t been propagated to the editor yet. Likely got unnoticed since most developers just edit the plain JSON files instead using the editor.

So currently it’s best to edit the JSON directly, until the fixes for the editor are done.

3

I have the .json-file for the Fingerbot but I’m failing at “attaching” the DDF to the actual device. Can you tell me how and where this has to be done? I never tempered with deconz before since my other devices were supported out of the box :frowning:

4

The main thing to match the DDF to a device is that the modelid and manufacturer name from the Basic Cluster are listed in the DDF.

For example here in the Blitzwolf DDF

{
  "schema": "devcap1.schema.json",
  "manufacturername": "_TYZB01_hjsgdkfl",
  "modelid": "TS0201",
 ....
}

This data can be queried from the device Basic Cluster in the deCONZ UI

  • double click on the node
  • double click on “Basic” (cluster)
  • press the “read” button

The attributes 0x0004 and 0x0005 contain the respective data.

image
image1140×568 116 KB

Note for sleeping devices it is often needed to awake them after pressing “read” like pressing the buttons on a switch.

5

Thank you, I guess I found the problem.

My Fingerbot identifies as “_TZ3210_j4pdtz9v” but my DDF is for a Fingerbot that has the name “_TZ3210_dse8ogfy”. So that’s why the DDF didn’t work with my device :-\

1 Like
6

Could you make your fingerbot work in the meantime?
I used the same file that you used and also have a “_TZ3210_j4pdtz9v" fingerbot.

So I edited the file (just changed the manufacturer) and tried to reload it in the deconz app. But still no device appears in the phoscon app and everytime I restart the deconz docker container it loses all changes made to the DDF. Did you find a solotion?

Thank you!

7

Deconz check with manufacture name + model ID, so you need to add both in the DDF (even they are same)

everytime I restart the deconz docker container it loses all changes made to the DDF

Yeah it’s because your OS, you are using HA or official docker ? in both you have a persistent folder to put your DFF.

8

Thank you for your quick answer!
The modelid was the same (TS0001) so I only changed the manufacturername from “_TZ3210_dse8ogfy” to “_TZ3210_j4pdtz9v”. Or could this mean the DDF is incompatible with my device in general? I haven’t worked with the deconz app so far because my other devices were supported out of the box.

I’m using Raspbian with official docker and the file is located in /opt/deCONZ/devices. The file itself can be changed and saved with e.g. nano, only deconz will not remember the changes.

9 
  "manufacturername": ["_TZ3210_dse8ogfy", "_TZ3210_j4pdtz9v", "_TZ3210_j4pdtz9v"],
  "modelid": ["TS0001", "TS0001", "TS0001" ],

r could this mean the DDF is incompatible with my device in general?

It can don’t work, but you need to see it in the API

I’m using Raspbian with official docker and the file is located in /opt/deCONZ/devices

Perfect, so the DDF is not persistent for you ?

only deconz will not remember the changes

It’s not because of a typo in the file ?

10

No, the DDF doesn’t seem to be persistent.

I checked it and didn’t see any typo.

In the meantime I updated my deconz version which means I had to change the distribution from marthoc/deconz to deconzcommunity/deconz. Now I have a switch in the phoscon app, but it doesn’t do anything to the fingerbot. Somehow with the new version I am not able to enable the VNC mode for deconz so unfortunately I don’t have access to the deconz interface at the moment. Everytime I set the VNC value to 1 and recreate the container it doesn’t work at all. So I have to check and find a solution for this issue first before I can proceed the investigation with the DDF.

Thanks again for your help.

11

Strange, if you still have the GUI and make “edit DDF” after a right clic on the node, you need to see your DDF (name is on the editor title)

Yes, there is an issue recently, it seem there is 2 fingerbots (and ofc can be random) One is working with reglular cluster, one with the Tuya cluster.
Can make a try with the GUi to see wich one you have