pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL

---

have changed topic and content of the thread since the issue has been solved by nyself ^^

HOWTO flash a max cube with aculfw to make it become a CUL

hey guys and girl

first of all - if you condider to follow the below tutorial be aware to use at your own risk!!

got the pimatic-maxcul plugin to run. for that, i have shot a max cube at ebay and flashed it with the aculfw 1.21.
the aculfw is an improving of the culfw. the cube now react as CUL.

pros / cons

the benefits are, you don’t need the cube a “middleware” anymore. the cube will become a transceiver device.
check here for some more information on the maxcul plugin
https://pimatic.org/plugins/pimatic-maxcul/
unfortunately the plugin does not support the max wall thermostats yet, since i use them in every room for manual override of the preinstalled program. maybe @fbeek can have a look in the future.
also there is NO scheduler anymore like the original max software has had. for that you either need rules or the chronotherm or mythermostat plugin

basic knowledge:

a CUL is a device for receiving / sending RF messages attached to the usb port similar to our homeduino. mostly the CUL is used for integration of homematic / 868 MHz based hardware into home automation software. since the max hardware runs on 868 MHz we need special device to communicate with the hardware. homeduino is only capable of 433 MHz RF. And here’s where the CUL comes into play.

I followed this turorial here to transform my max cube into a CUL (on my raspberry) :
https://forum.fhem.de/index.php/topic,38404.msg378455.html#msg378455

erase the cube’s flash and bootloader

first you need to erase the cube. if you do that, there is no way back there is no cube software to reflash and get back to the cube mode. so no is the right time to think about any further actions
you will have to short the pins on j1 on the cubes pcb and plug it into the usb port to power it up for 5 seconds. i have soldered a pinheader and used a jumper for that but you can do it with a piece of wire or a paperclip etc.
so short pin j1, plug in the cube for 5 secs while pin j1 is still shorted, unplug the cube and remove the shortage / wire / jumper etc. on pin j1, the cube is ready to be flashed now.

install software and flash bootloader

now go ahead with these steps, since you don’t have a choice anymore

1. get the neede programs
   sudo apt-get unzip minicom bossa-cli
2. download the aculfw from my dropbox (i packed only the needed files together, if you want the whole content, see above for links)
   wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/72185313/Pimatic/aculFW_CUBe%20121B77.zip
3. extract the zip file
   unzip aculFW_CUBe\ 121B77.zip -d aculfw
4. prepare the cube and flash the bootloader with bossa
   cd /home/pi/aculfw/bootloader/
sudo bossash to start bossa in the shell
   scan to connect to the cube. best is to have only the cube connected to the usb port, nothing else.
   write bootloader_CUBE.bin flash the bootloader
   bootf true will restart the cube
5. flash the firmware with the terminal program minicom (or another one at your choice!)
   you need to get used to minicom. it’s a bit tricky to navigate at the beginning.
   gonna show with several pictures what to do

minicom walkthrough

minicom -s start minicom, opens the setup screen. go to “Serial port setup”

here you press A and edit the line to /dev/ttyACM0 which your cube should be detected at. (you can see that with dmesg|grep usb and / or check the /dev directory if ttyACM0 exists). If you entered the serial device path press enter twice and then press escape to get to the main terminal

the main terminal looks like that

now press ctrl+ a together and then s (for to send the binary file with the firmware). you will see a new menu, navigate to xmodem and hit enter

now you have something like a file manager. navigate to your directory with the CUBE_BL.bin file.
the navigation is simple once you know how up and down arrow keys and the space key (hit twice for a double click to enter directories and mark the CUBE file)

Once the cube file is marked hit enter to upload the file to the cube

if you have installed the maxcul plugin, you need to set the device path (worked for me the best) and the baudrate.

that should be it. if everything is done, restart the cube and have a cul
looks a bit complicated but is a matter of 10 minutes if all is good going.

TROUBLESHOOTING:

if you don’t get any useful debug output, it might be possible that your serialport baudrate is not correct.
then try to use sudo stty -F /dev/ttyACM0 38400 to set the portspeed accordingly.
here’s a sample of my debug data

you surely can use any other CUL too. gonna show in the next post my selfmade nano cul.

here’s part 2 of the HOWTO diy a CUL

since you maybe don’t want to “destroy” your cube or want to be on the safe side, you can create a CUL with an arduino nano and a cc1101 transceiver.
both are available on aliexpress or ebay for under 5 euro.

here’s a picture of my actual nano CUL, mounted on a development board

of course you can solder the CC1101 transceiver with shorter wires and directly to the nano to have a more compact device. i did it that way for a better debugging. my next CUL will be smaller in size!

here’s what you need :

CC1101 transceiver module
arduino nano
some wires and a usb cable

make sure to get the above shown CC1101 device. there are also devices that have only 433MHz as RF range the pins have 2mm distance, so the device is NOT breadboard compatible. but you can keep the wires very short and glue the module to the nano or tie it together with tape.

here is how to connect the cc1101 to the arduino

Now that the arduino and the CC1101 are wired up, you are ready to flash it.

1. get the needed software
   sudo apt-get install make gcc-avr avrdude avr-libc unzip

2. copy the culfw to your homedir
   cd
wget https://sourceforge.net/code-snapshots/svn/c/cu/culfw/code/culfw-code-559-trunk.zip
unzip culfw-code-559-trunk.zip
cd culfw/Devices/nanoCUL

3. prepare for flashing / edit board.h file
   the board.h file contains all possible settings for the cul. here you can activate/deactivate protocols and other options. for now, it is important to know what arduino board you are running 8MHz or 16MHz.
   There are 2 lines to edit, you can use nano for that.
   sudo nano board.h
   
   uncomment the first and comment the second line like shown below and save with ctrl+x y enter

4. ready to flash!
   make to compile the binary
   make program to upload the compiled binary, make sure the nano is attached to USB0

you’re done! congrats
hope you are able to create your own CUL now
you can use this cul also with the homegear plugin for example!

the above steps have been taken and translated from here

@leader21
Can you tell me about the benefits of this solution against the standard max!-plugin with original cube FW?

I’m still unhappy with my MAX! solution because it gives me connection errors very often in the last time and it was never really comfortable because of the missing sheduler function.

Hey,

nice work!

with a little bit of help i think we can get the wall thermostats working.

I have a few things for the plugin on my todo list but not much time at the moment, if someone wants to help with knowledge or code support, don’t hesitate to write me a message.

Regards
fbeek

yes there’s still some work on the plugin to do. but generally it is working!

@DDNRN
i will show another howto make a nanocul with an arduino nano and a cc1101 transceiver. (maybe below the first thread here).
all in all the costs for this device are approx 6 Euros and it’s not that complicated to flash like the cube, but you need to solder some wires. (but i know that’s no problem for you )
if it’s too risky to flash the cube (since no return back) you may go this way and help testing this plugin.

i have read that the connection range / connectivity with the cul firmware has been better at some users.
so maybe this can solve your problems. but i cannot guarantee.

Inspired by your post, i also tried to flash my cube.
But the firmware upload didn’t worked.
After long reading the FHEM thread i read the solution.
Create the Bootloader and firmware in one file and flash it togehter.

Install Software:

sudo apt-get install bossa-cli gcc-arm-none-eabi

Clone Repo and make binary

cd ~/
git clone https://github.com/heliflieger/a-culfw
cd a-culfw/culfw/Devices/CUBe/
make CUBE

Now flash the firmware like above:
(if the scan doesn’t work, you may try bossash with root privilages)

$ bossash
Press Ctrl-D or enter "exit" to end session.
Enter "help" to display a command list.

bossa> scan
bossa> write CUBE.bin
bossa> bootf true

My baudrate in the plugin config is 115200.
With other values i had errors.

@kosta
thx for pointing this out!!
on which system have you flashed the cube? a raspberry pi?

I have compiled and flashed it on an ubuntu intel pc.
But it is also possible to make it over a raspberry pi.

The only thing with this firmware, i don’t get the valve and battery state.
To get the thermostat temperature i made a rule which make periodically changes.

When 
every 1 hour 
then 
set temp of schlafzimmer-therm to $schlafzimmer-therm.temperatureSetpoint + 0.5 and set temp of wohnzimmer-therm to $wohnzimmer-therm.temperatureSetpoint + 0.5 
and after 5 minute set temp of schlafzimmer-therm to $schlafzimmer-therm.temperatureSetpoint - 0.5 and after 5 minute set temp of wohnzimmer-therm to $wohnzimmer-therm.temperatureSetpoint - 0.5

@leader21 said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

yes there’s still some work on the plugin to do. but generally it is working!

@DDNRN
i will show another howto make a nanocul with an arduino nano and a cc1101 transceiver. (maybe below the first thread here).
all in all the costs for this device are approx 6 Euros and it’s not that complicated to flash like the cube, but you need to solder some wires. (but i know that’s no problem for you )
if it’s too risky to flash the cube (since no return back) you may go this way and help testing this plugin.

Yes, give me input and I’ll test it! Already thought about using a selfmade CUL for MAX! but my knowledge in pimatic development is so bad that this is no good idea without help. At the moment I’ve still some mySensors tinkering on my table, but even there it’s missing some support from pimatic and can’t get it running.

i have read that the connection range / connectivity with the cul firmware has been better at some users.
so maybe this can solve your problems. but i cannot guarantee.

I don’t think it’s a max!-RF-Range problem, it’s most time a network connection problem to the cube.
The CUL solution would fix this anyway

@leader21 Thanks for your nice tutorial. I also ordered a arduino and the cul module and try your instructions soon, because my cube also have many connection issues.

@DDNRN said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

At the moment I’ve still some mySensors tinkering on my table, but even there it’s missing some support from pimatic and can’t get it running.

yes, i’ve seen your post. sorry that i cannot help on this topic.
but maybe you can ask @sweebee directly. he knows much about the mysensors stuff!

@thost96
nice! yes, go ahead and test it. it’s a lot of fun to build and test. but as said, it’s all beta and diy etc.
hope you, @DDNRN and others who have problems with their cubes connection will benefit somehow.

@thost96 said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

@leader21 Thanks for your nice tutorial. I also ordered a arduino and the cul module and try your instructions soon, because my cube also have many connection issues.

same here, much react-problems with 5 max-devices… so i invest 5 Euros for a good thing…

@leader21 thanks for the great tutorial

@leader21 said in pimatic-maxcul and max! cube with aculfw acting as CUL:

@DDNRN
i will show another howto make a nanocul with an arduino nano and a cc1101 transceiver. (maybe below the first thread here).
all in all the costs for this device are approx 6 Euros and it’s not that complicated to flash like the cube, but you need to solder some wires. (but i know that’s no problem for you )
if it’s too risky to flash the cube (since no return back) you may go this way and help testing this plugin.

Thanks for the edit and added HowTo for CUL and MaxCUL !
I will definitely test this in my next free time, sounds good even with still missing functions like wallthermo and sheduler.

Nice work, I have a CC1101 somewhere.
Now order some max devices, my wife says thanks

I’ve ordered the CC1101 transceiver. It’s going to be a long 30 days waiting for the delivery

got the CC1101 and the nano today
time to replace my busy cube… ^^

edit:

@leader21 , currently culfw-version was 558, so
wget https://sourceforge.net/code-snapshots/svn/c/cu/culfw/code/culfw-code-558-trunk.zip

@xCite86 thx! changed the howto.

hmm… i`ve get an error by trying to communicate via maxcul-plugin and the thermostat.

sending from pimatic via cul 22,5°C to thermostat:

debug [pimatic-maxcul]: no packet to handle in send queue
00:06:48info [pimatic-maxcul]: Paket 0b01004012345612e038006d send but no response!
00:06:45info [pimatic-maxcul]: received unknown data: LOVF
00:06:45debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: LOVF
00:06:45debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
00:06:45debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004012345612e038006d, awaiting drain event
00:06:45debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004012345612e038006d, try 3 of 3
00:06:42info [pimatic-maxcul]: received unknown data: LOVF
00:06:42debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: LOVF
00:06:42debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
00:06:42debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004012345612e038006d, awaiting drain event
00:06:42debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004012345612e038006d, try 2 of 3
00:06:39info [pimatic-maxcul]: received unknown data: LOVF
00:06:39debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: LOVF
00:06:39debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
00:06:39debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004012345612e038006d, awaiting drain event
00:06:39debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004012345612e038006d, try 1 of 3
00:06:36info [pimatic-maxcul]: received unknown data: LOVF
00:06:36debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: LOVF
00:06:36debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
00:06:36debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004012345612e038006d, awaiting drain event
00:06:36debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Set desired temperature 22.5 for deviceId 12e038

edit: when i’m changing the temperature on the thermostat, pimatic gets after a few seconds the correct temperature:

2016-12-14 00:43:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: got data from heatingelement 12e038 with payload 190C2200D9
00:43:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: RSSI for Message : -77
00:43:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: decoding Message Z0F00046012E03800000000190C2200D9FA
00:43:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: Z0F00046012E03800000000190C2200D9FA

but the device-row was grey (seems to be not synced)

    {
      "deviceId": "12E038",
      "xAttributeOptions": [],
      "id": "test-thermostat",
      "name": "Test Thermostat",
      "class": "MaxculHeatingThermostat",
      "groupId": "00",
      "guiShowModeControl": true,
      "guiShowPresetControl": true,
      "guiShowTemperatureInput": true,
      "guiShowValvePosition": true,
      "guiShowMeasuredTemperature": true,
      "guiShowBatteryState": true,
      "guiShowConfigButton": false
    }

edit:

@leader21

sorry for the circumstances, i hope you could answer me some questions…
was the deviceID of maxcul-plugin the same as RFadress in max-plugin?
is the baudrate correct to communicate with the thermostats?
what is meaned with homebaseAddress?? 123456?

Hello xCite86,

i am the creator of the maxcul plugin.

Yes the deviceId is the RFAdress of the device. The homebaseAddress is the housecode for your system.
You should use as random value for this (you can use any value from 00 00 00 to FF FF FF).

The baudrate has nothing to do with the thermostats, it defines the speed of communication from your serialport to the cul.

I think this value is correct for your system because you can receive signals (incoming data in log).

You get a LOFV from your cul. That means LOVF = Limit Overflow.
https://wiki.fhem.de/wiki/LOVF

The data you can send in one hour is limited by law (1% rule) as you can read in the wiki link above.
So you have send to many packets and must wait now. The maxcul plugin doesn’t handle this in the moment.
Because this limit is realy annoying, a lot of cul users have removed the limit from the firmware, but that is not the best solution because it is a law problem in some countrys like Germany.

So your plugin is working and it can communicate with the cul but you reached the limit.

hey @fbeek
thanks for your fast reply.

okay. i understand… the incoming signals works well but i dont get any signal since i’ve build the “cul-nano” to the thermostat.

i’ve currently create only one test-thermostat, adding the RF-adress and change the temperature in pimatic:

2016-12-15 22:44:36debug [pimatic-maxcul]: no packet to handle in send queue
22:44:36info [pimatic-maxcul]: Paket 0b01004000000012e5360020 send but no response!
22:44:33debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
22:44:33debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004000000012e5360020, awaiting drain event
22:44:33debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004000000012e5360020, try 3 of 3
22:44:30debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
22:44:30debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004000000012e5360020, awaiting drain event
22:44:30debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004000000012e5360020, try 2 of 3
22:44:27debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
22:44:27debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004000000012e5360020, awaiting drain event
22:44:27debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Retransmit packet 0b01004000000012e5360020, try 1 of 3
22:44:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
22:44:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004000000012e5360020, awaiting drain event
22:44:24debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Set desired temperature 16 for deviceId 12e536
22:43:52debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Thermostat 12e536 handlers removed
22:43:52debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Thermostat 12e536 destroyed

ooh sorry, homegear was installed on the pi… after uninstall and reboot they works fine…

debug [pimatic-maxcul]: got data from heatingelement 031ed2 with payload 18003100F7
23:04:02debug [pimatic-maxcul]: RSSI for Message : -100.5
23:04:02debug [pimatic-maxcul]: decoding Message Z0F6C0460031ED20000000018003100F7CB
23:04:02debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: Z0F6C0460031ED20000000018003100F7CB
23:04:00debug [pimatic-maxcul]: no packet to handle in send queue
23:04:00debug [pimatic-maxcul]: got OK-ACK Packet from 12e536
23:04:00debug [pimatic-maxcul]: RSSI for Message : -89
23:04:00debug [pimatic-maxcul]: decoding Message Z0E01020212E5360000000001180024E2
23:04:00debug [pimatic-maxcul]: incoming raw data from CUL: Z0E01020212E5360000000001180024E2
23:03:59debug [pimatic-maxcul]: serial port buffer have been drained
23:03:59debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Send Packet to CUL: 0b01004000000012e5360024, awaiting drain event
23:03:59debug [pimatic-maxcul]: Set desired temperature 18 for deviceId 12e536