Guides

Flash and use the Sonoff RF Bridge R2 V1.0 to control RF devices

Using a serial-to-USB converter (FT232RL FTDI USB to TTL) and some dupont wires flash the R2 V1.0 RF bridge ESP with Tasmota, flash the RF chip with the custom Portisch firmware, then reflash the ESP with ESPHome.

• Download ESPHome-Flasher
• Download tasmota.bin from Tasmota releases
• Download the entire contents of the Tasmota GitHub project via the green Clone or Download button to ensure that the firmware hex files are downloaded properly. The firmware files are located in the ./tools/fw_SonoffRfBridge_efm8bb1/ folder. Select the newest available hex file. Otherwise you may get error "Magic byte is not 0xE9".

• Remove the rubber feet from the Sonoff RF Bridge, optionally placing them just next to the screw holes
• Pull out the circuit board from the casing
• Lift up the led panel from the circuit board, carefully unsticking it
• Locate the 5-pin header under near the bottom of the bent up led panel
• Move the switch position towards the 5-pin header (to the off position)

• Make sure the serial-to-USB converter is set to 3.3V mode
• Attach the female to male dupont wires to the serial-to-USB converter
• Place the male ends of the dupont wires in the RF bridge in the following order, making sure there is good contact:
  • Serial → RF Bridge:
  • VCC → 3V3
  • TX → RX
  • RX → TX
  • GND → GND
• Connect the serial-to-USB adapter to the computer while pressing the button on the edge in order to put the ESP8285 into programming mode to upload the Tasmota firmware
• If the green led panel lights up and there is no blue flashing light then it is in programming mode
• Release the button on the RF bridge
• Open ESPHome-Flasher on the PC
• Make sure the correct serial port appears and is selected
• Select the tasmota.bin firmware file
• Click Flash ESP and wait for it to finish uploading, fiddling with the pins and retrying if needed

• Using a Wi-Fi device search for a wifi AP named tasmota_XXXXXX-#### (where XXXXXX is a string derived from the device's MAC address and #### is a number) and connect to it
• It should take you to the Tasmota configuration page automatically
• Configure your network details in AP1, the hostname doesn't matter at this stage, and Save
• It should connect to your wifi network, use your router to find its IP address
• Connect to that address:
  • Configuration > Configure Module > Module Type > Sonoff Bridge (25)
  • Save (It should restart and act as a Sonoff RF Bridge)
  • Console:
    • Enter the command: SerialLog 0

• Disconnect the RF Bridge from the PC
• Keep the switch on the RF Bridge in the OFF position
• On the RF Bridge, connect two wires from GPIO4 to C2D and GPIO5 to C2Ck
• Plug the serial adaptor back into the PC
• Reconnect to the RF Bridge web UI:
  • Firmware Upgrade:
    • Upgrade by File Upload > Pick the previously downloaded Portisch firmware hex file
    • Start Upgrade (This should complete within 60 seconds)
• Disconnect the serial adaptor from the PC and remove all the wiring
• Switch the ON/OFF switch on the board back to ON to enable the RF again
• Carefully bend the led panel back into place and fit the board into the case again, screwing it in

• Give the RF bridge a static IP address in your router
• Using the ESPHome addon in Home Assistant:
  • Create a new device with the name sonoff_rf_bridge and any placeholder text for the network info
  • Enter the code from the Notes section below into the config of the device
  • Save
  • Three dot menu on the device > Compile
  • Download Binary
• Power up the RF bridge and load its web UI:
  • Firmware Upgrade:
    • Upgrade by File Upload > Pick the just downloaded ESPHome firmware
    • Start Upgrade (This should complete within 60 seconds)
• You should get a new device discovered notification in Home Assistant
• Agree to add the RF bridge to Home Assistant

• : learn new RF codes

• Describe update Process
• Include in the Update Everything page using {{page>home:rf_control#Update&noheader}}

• https://tasmota.github.io/docs/devices/Sonoff-RF-Bridge-433/
• https://next.esphome.io/components/rf_bridge.html

ESPHome firmware definition to allow discovery of new RF codes:

substitutions:
  devicename: sonoff_rf_bridge
  upper_devicename: Sonoff RF Bridge
  device_platform: ESP8266
  device_board: esp01_1m
  device_ip: 10.0.0.108
 
# Enable Web Server (optional)
# web_server:
#   port: 80

<<: !include common/base.yaml

logger:
  baud_rate: 0

uart:
  tx_pin: 1
  rx_pin: 3
  baud_rate: 19200

api:
  services:
    - service: send_rf_code
      variables:
        sync: int
        low: int
        high: int
        code: int
      then:
        - rf_bridge.send_code:
            sync: !lambda 'return sync;'
            low: !lambda 'return low;'
            high: !lambda 'return high;'
            code: !lambda 'return code;'
    - service: learn
      then:
        - rf_bridge.learn
    - service: send_advanced_rf_code
      variables:
        length: int
        protocol: int
        code: string
      then:
        - rf_bridge.send_advanced_code:
            length: !lambda 'return length;'
            protocol: !lambda 'return protocol;'
            code: !lambda 'return code;'
    - service: start_advanced_sniffing
      then:
        - rf_bridge.start_advanced_sniffing
    - service: stop_advanced_sniffing
      then:
        - rf_bridge.stop_advanced_sniffing

rf_bridge:
  on_code_received:
    then:
      - homeassistant.event:
          event: esphome.rf_code_received
          data:
            sync: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.sync,buffer,16);'
            low: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.low,buffer,16);'
            high: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.high,buffer,16);'
            code: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.code,buffer,16);'

  on_advanced_code_received:
    then:
      - homeassistant.event:
          event: esphome.rf_advanced_code_received
          data:
            length: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.length,buffer,16);'
            protocol: !lambda 'char buffer [10];return itoa(data.protocol,buffer,16);'
            code: !lambda 'return data.code;'
 
# Turn the Wifi led on for 2 seconds when the button is pressed to show that it's working
output:
  - platform: gpio
    pin:
      number: GPIO13
      inverted: True
    id: output_wifi_led
light:
  - platform: binary
    id: wifi_led
    output: output_wifi_led
binary_sensor:
  - platform: gpio
    pin: GPIO00
    id: pairing_button
    on_press:
      then:
        - light.turn_on: wifi_led
        - delay: 2s
        - light.turn_off: wifi_led