Tuya CloudCutter & ESPHome Libretuya LibreTiny How To Guide for Beken Chips | No soldering!

[@digiblurDIY]

UPDATE 5/28 - The LibreTiny container is prebuilt now. No need to build it manually. I updated the guide found above to just pull up from the web

[@heiaheiaheiahei]

Thanks!

[@digiblurDIY]

Thank you!

[@joudatfd]

Thanks for video. I ordered some LVL ceiling light last year, and guess what, no ESP chip there. I opened it up and some strange chip was there. I begin to search the internet and found this project. My device was not supported by tuya cutter, but i managed to get firmware from it and send it to developers so now it's supported. Then i ordered some bulbs and they were again with this tuya chips, but this time, it was supported so i managed to flash them without soldering. I stumbled upon some problems when compiling my firmware, but author of libretuya responds quickly and fixes everything, kudos to him.

[@digiblurDIY]

Awesome to hear.

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

Can you confirm these where the round softlights with only colortemp settings and not RGBW? I have a dozen of them and would love to get them going localy. Mine read: Surface Ceiling Light Model: LVxxW (have different strength) CCT: 2800-5000 Input 220/240Vac If the same can you point to the right firmware/setup? Searched the know devices but don't see any

[@digiblurDIY]

@bastiaanhoutkooper3714 try them. See what firmware version it is.

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

@@digiblurDIY firmware is 1.3.2 for all. Installed coudcutter on raspberry (thanks for the guidance) and checked both by name and bij firmware but no LVL shows anywhere. Wonder how @joudatfd found the right firmware

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

@joudatfd could you please show the firmware you used?

[@nickchandler1389]

Thanks Travis! I can confirm this works with the RGBW Laser 10W globe (model LSH-E27RGB10W), if you choose the V1.1.2 - BK7231T / oem_bk7231s_light_ty. Kudos to the developers of this software!

[@gobbirock]

Man, you are great. I did it twice witch the Zemismart TB25. When asked how do i what to choose the device, I use By firmware version and selected 1.1.8 - BK7231N / oem_bk7231n_plug. Works like a charm! tks a lot!!!!

[@digiblurDIY]

Nice job!

[@simonsayshomeassistant]

Love your videos Travis!

[@digiblurDIY]

I appreciate that!

[@Jmcinally94]

Man I got some tuya plugs/powerstrios that I need to flash, glad theres a way to do this again. Nothing worse than taking them apart and confirming they didnt have ESPs in them 😂

[@Markyboy767]

Thanks for the hard work to put this together. Super helpful!

[@digiblurDIY]

Thanks yo!

[@vetsus3518]

i was literally just thinking to myself "i wonder if someone update tuya convert" and..... i come on youtube and there's your video... lol

[@digiblurDIY]

Boom! 😎

[@vetsus3518]

@@digiblurDIY I’m guessing that like the tuya convert this also doesn’t work on devices already connected to the tuya app?

[@digiblurDIY]

Not at all. Actually useful to find out the firmware version on it.

[@ivlis32]

Thanks! I waited for this video for so long!

[@digiblurDIY]

Been beating on things for a bit to get it working right on the Pi as an all in one for folks. Glad to get it done and more info to follow.

[@geesharp6637]

That's pretty cool.

[@wizdude]

Thanks for an awesome video Travis. I’m looking to put some new floodlights with a motion sensor at my front door. I can get lights from my local Kmart for half the price of the zigbee alternatives and they are listed on the repository. I think I’ll need to play and check it out. The code fork is the only bad side of this, but to be honest once I have esphome configured on the device I don’t really have a need to recompile the firmware anyhow. Cheers! 😊

[@digiblurDIY]

Hopefully it will be merged soon. You can run the fork in other locations too.

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

Thank you for making this video. Would it be possible to dive a bit deeper in the YAML code you use and how to adapt it? I got a LVL ceiling light with only colortemp and brightness and I am struggling to find the right YAML to put in now I got cloudcutter working for it. When I flash it I get the standard content which I can not edit afterwards it seems.

[@digiblurDIY]

Why can you not edit your own YAML file?

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

@@digiblurDIY I am very new to ESP32 (not so much to coding but from the Basic times) I managed to flash by using the standard firmware that was offered during the process. (ESPHome-Kickstart-v23.08.29_bk7231n) So I did not do what you did and create your own, mainly I hope the standard would work as starting point and I have too limited knowledge you change the code to suite this ceiling light. But after flashing I could adopt it in HA and it shows a device but does not appear in the ESP32 overview. I made a new one with exactly the same name and basic YAML and tried to flash/ upload but it errors out "connection refused'. I assume because it uses a encryption key. (none in my YAML file)

[@bastiaanhoutkooper3714]

All very clear, thanks for that. What I miss is the right YAML for my device that got the standard Kickstarter firmware. Is there an overview/list somewhere? How did you create your own YAML file and is it more or less universal? IN my case it is a big round flood/ceiling light with only colortemp option. (LVL)

[@digiblurDIY]

Did you use LTchiptool to build your firmware? It should pull the configs.

[@bleeblak8]

Excellent work! I'll have to try this on some of my already flashed devices to the OpenBeken project. I've got Feit Smart dimmers and Treatlife Fan/Light switches that had the newer chips in them.

[@digiblurDIY]

Haven't played with Openbeken too much except on a light switch I flashed via serial a while back. That is one thing I want to try to swap back and forth. It does look possible given the bottom of this document. docs.libretuya.ml/docs/flashing/esphome

[@k-mal184]

Ahh the good ol days of TC'ing anything and everything possible. Still have a drawer full of devices that were bought and flashed with no real purpose other than to scratch that TC itch lol. Hope all is well Trav.

[@digiblurDIY]

Hey what's up!! Long time! Yup... scratching that TC itch a little again.

[@CarAudioInc]

I got to the last step, and it can't find the AP 😢. Still appreciate all the effort you put into this Travis!

[@digiblurDIY]

Did it change the AP to A-xxxx?

[@CarAudioInc]

@@digiblurDIY ended up just soldering to the board, glad I got it though.. this night light is awesome lol

[@ModMINI]

@@CarAudioInc I think I have same issue. can you share info how to solder to the board?

[@patrickburton6130]

Hi Travis, I always enjoy your videos they have helped me a lot.. You always promote getting out of the cloud which i agree with 100%, but getting out of the cloud to me is zero internet connection. This sounds great, but all Tasmota flashed devices NEED internet to provide the correct time via an internet based NTP, specifically for timers. I understand that there are work arounds using an RTC boards in every device that needs one, or maybe configuring a Pi as a NTP and pointing your Tasmota device to the Pi.s IP. This sounds like a pain to a 72 year old like me, so I have been trying to figure out Tasmota's Mode 1 and Mode 2 command which utilizes your physical Latitude and longitude to calculate sunset and sunrise, plus the ability to incorporate an offset to switch device's at a time other than sunset or sunrise, what the documentation fails to state, from what I can see, is whether you need a NTP connection or not. Maybe I don't get it so I look to the young and bright, any thoughts would be appreciated.

[@digiblurDIY]

I have NTP servers running on my NAS and router. I haven't had any issues with these keeping time even with days of internet outages. No internet at all locations might need to do their own GPS based NTP server for items requiring time.

[@patrickburton6130]

@@digiblurDIY thanks for your response, my internet connection reliability is terrible as I am using sim cards, non of my Sonoffs will connect, hence I am using tasmota. I notice my Asus router has lost connection to NTP, I need to do a bit more digging.

[@digiblurDIY]

I have seen a few projects where you can run your own ntp server with a cheap GPS sensor connected to it. I haven't dug into them though myself.

[@wizdude]

Question - where is a good place to find the yaml files for the devices? I can see lots of devices, including some available easily to me in the TC GitHub. Surely there is an associated set or templates somewhere? Cheers.

[@digiblurDIY]

Build them from the profile off cloudcutter. It should get you pretty close on most. upk.libretiny.eu/

[@wizdude]

@@digiblurDIY that’s awesome. Thank you very much.

[@thedoctor3181]

This is quite nice as a tutorial and as software developed. I have an issue that i could not resolve yet. I have cut the device from the cloud, but now it's stuck with AP name A-8404 and can't do anything with it. I can connect to the device AP, but not sure what to do next to force the device to connect to my actual WIFI. Any help would be appreciated.

[@digiblurDIY]

You need to do go through the process again, the A-8404 means it is cut from the cloud but you didn't flash any third party firmware yet. Be sure to pick the same device type.

[@jayshomebrew]

Thanks for putting this together. What about at 14:28 where the directions say to use "managed=true" but you left yours as false ?

[@digiblurDIY]

Yep, someone else mentioned the same. Looks like it doesn't matter there but I would go with what the docs say.

[@danieldewindt3919]

I was almost about to throw all the lsc crap away. I'm using it on a wifi bridged router. Like a fckn kermis the lights sometimes turn on and off. Probably it's disconnected from the server than. I saw diffrent solutions. Some you had to open the fitting of the lightbulb. Soon I'll be testing your way of firmware update. Thanks for sharing Ooh almost forgot. 1 question: Do you realy need to install docker on rasbian? I already run docker inside several proxmox containers

[@digiblurDIY]

You could use a VM and pass a wifi adapter to it.

[@DesertGardenPrepper]

They're Back! Good work Travis for sharing and your hard work to make it easier for us.

[@digiblurDIY]

Thanks! Glad to help

[@isaacbreuer3496]

Thanks , this is awesome, I have transplanted a couple of WB3S devices with esp12f with tasmota, going to try this instead, can I have the regular esphone and the fork working together as 2 addones?

[@digiblurDIY]

The fork is just the dashboard to manage the devices. It doesn't need to run after you flashed them with esphome.

[@jimbrewer5821]

Travis, Thanks for the step by step video tutorial. You're right... This is awesome! 🎉👏😁

[@digiblurDIY]

Jump in.. It's addictive

[@theaustindude]

I'm getting stuck at the "sudo apt update && sudo apt install network-manager" stage. It gets to about 91-92% of the way and then switches over from ethernet to wifi, freezing the process. I then have to log in with another IP address. Is this normal?

[@digiblurDIY]

The WiFi shouldn't be connected at all. We are using Ethernet here as the WiFi needs to be free to run the exploit.

[@theaustindude]

@@digiblurDIY How do I ensure the wi-fi is disabled?

[@digiblurDIY]

@theaustindude it shouldn't be enabled on a fresh build like I walked through.

[@theaustindude]

@@digiblurDIY I literally followed step by step. My version of Rpi flasher is newer than the video, so I suspect maybe it is enabling WiFi?

[@digiblurDIY]

Don't put in your wifi name or password.

[@djlorenz11]

let's hope for a quick merge, so the process can be much easier

[@gleonlo]

Each time I start raspberry, I cannot connect to esphome, so I run "sudo docker run -d -v /opt/esphome:/config:rw -v /etc/localtime:/etc/ ........" , but gives me an error "Conflict. The container name "/libretiny-esphome" is already in use by container "d313f0bc.... ". Tried to remove or rename container and found permission denied, so I changed permissions, stop and remove container, finally able to run sudo docker run -d -v ... Is this normal?

[@digiblurDIY]

Yes this is normal as the docker container is not on auto start like with docker compose or another script. There's also a HAOS addon you can run now or if you run HA in just the container you can run the pre-built container along side it. This issue will be going away soon enough though when the merge into ESPHome happens. Can't wait.

[@reneb5222]

Thanks Travis for the great video.

[@digiblurDIY]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@thosecrazyarkwrights]

Can this be used on the older chips also? Most of my tuya devices are from 2018/2019.

[@digiblurDIY]

Probably not. Try the older Tuya Convert video I have.

[@jefferygrantham5582]

"Just take your shit out of the cloud. Get it done." - Travis That's your quote of the day.

[@digiblurDIY]

Local is the way and so awesome!

[@usmangojra]

how to add restore last state of switch in esphome after a power failure? Beken chips supports this function?

[@SayWhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat]

14:35 you missed to make True from false :)

[@digiblurDIY]

Caught myself in the redo when stuff got easier kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHfWpq2XaLp0ns0

[@valshaped]

Heads-up, Ctrl+S in nano will save the file without asking for a filename.

[@jakeanake]

Is it possible to use this with the W701 chips that are on some of the Gosund power strips?

[@digiblurDIY]

Those are not supported yet from what I saw.

[@ghostofdre]

I tried this on my Arlec RGB downlights a couple weeks back, I didn't think it worked but now I realise they are no longer RGB, I think I've successfully flashed the non RGB config on to them.

[@digiblurDIY]

You do need to configure the LEDs in them basee on the firmware you flashed to them.

[@illegalmexicain]

Would be fun if there was a list of the compatible devices because it's not always easy to find the devices that have the Beken chip !

[@digiblurDIY]

All right here.. The list evolves quickly github.com/tuya-cloudcutter/tuya-cloudcutter.github.io/tree/master/devices

[@mcheibani]

Thanks for the detailed video! One question though, if I want to flash a different device (not the Globe Light you have here), how can I create the yaml file? are there instructions on what to put in the file? thanks

[@digiblurDIY]

Have to find out the pins... This project looks cool to do that. github.com/libretuya/esphome-kickstart

[@max.m]

I did the tuya-cloudcutter before finding your video, so I think my bulb is flashed with whatever default firmware they had for it. Can I flash esphome onto it somehow afterwards?

[@digiblurDIY]

If you just cloudcut it then Tuya firmware is still on it. So feel free to flash away.

[@sebydocky5080]

Awsome ..... I am pretty this major PR will be merged in a couple of weeks!!!!. That's awsome....

[@robdapraia3486]

Thanks a lot! I'm following the guide and I'm at the point of '2) Flash 3rd Party Firmware', but unfortunately my device is not found in the list of brands. The device is an Avatto Thermostat me81h. It has a WBR3 module Any advice of how to flash this device with ESPHome Libretuya? For example is it possible to first flash it with a very generic ESPHome to enable OTA and then continue to edit the ESPHome yaml?

[@digiblurDIY]

You can try the firmware version of some of the profiles to get it to cut. Then once you do that yes you can just run a simple version of esphome with no sensors and update it over OTA.

[@andymok7945]

Quite the rabbit hole. The only thing missing is that it must be done on the 2nd blue moon of the year. I still have the tuya-convert container on my Proxmox.

[@digiblurDIY]

Yep. Super simple once the Esphome main branch is merged though. Working on that!

[@louisviciedo]

Hi Travis Im getting the following error when trying to run step 2 Under install ESPHOME kickstarter... any suggestions: => ERROR [base 2/2] RUN apt-get -qq update && apt-get install -qy --no-install-recommends git hostapd rfkill dnsmasq build-essential libssl-dev iproute2 mosquitto

[@digiblurDIY]

What's the error?

[@Silent_523]

is the only way to know if this works to take apart the device and check the board number? I have some Teckin (Tuya) SP21's that I'd like to see if I can flash but they'd be my first attempt at this and I don't want to open the case if I don't need too since I don't think they open well

[@digiblurDIY]

You can pair it with the Tuya app and check the firmware version on the device.

[@Silent_523]

@@digiblurDIY Thanks for the response! in the tuya app it shows - Firmware: Main Module V1.0.3 MCU Module V1.0.3 But how does that tell me what board I should select in the process in video? I checked the MAC address of the device online and it shows "Tuya inc"

[@silentnight-outland8425]

@@digiblurDIY Great Video - I Would also like to know if its possible to tell the board type without taking it apart

[@itspottinger4746]

Hi Travis, Newbie with a buyer's question. I have yet to buy products like sensors/lights, etc... and integrate them into HA. If I am a store with these products, what do I need to look out / check for to know if the product will integrate with HA, and if not it has the potential to be flashed as per your demonstration?

[@ivanmagd]

Hi, like you I've also wanted to 'smartize' my home, so I went with the cheapest solution on the market, Tuya. I've been using Tuya integrated in HA for six months now, oh my God! what a shitty experience. Tuya devices will work great if you have a few, but if you have 30+ like me it is a nightmare! input lag is high, sometimes up to 15 seconds so you don't know did you pressed the button or not... Very cloud dependent, mandatory internet connection, disconnecting from the app so it has to be re-registered to the app etc. Tuya convert is not an easy option now and from this point the solution for me is to switch to Zigbee over ZHA/Zigbee to MQTT HA integration. Everything is local, no internet required, instant responses, low power consumption for battery powered devices.... WiFi Tuya....never!

[@digiblurDIY]

I would probably check out some Preflashed stuff for ease of use first. Then some easy flashable stuff then third maybe go down this path of Tuya cloudcutter. Also don't forget Zigbee is local and works out of the box. digiblur.com/wiki/devices/

[@productiondepartment4888]

I was getting an error about wifi not being connected while trying to install the tuya-cloudcutter docker. I had to add 'sudo chmod 666 /var/run/docker.sock' before installing the docker and then everything worked as expected. Just in case someone runs into the same issue.

[@digiblurDIY]

Thanks for the tip!

[@markjacksonpulver3546]

Does the exploit only work for BK7231 and RTL8710B tuya devices? or can it also work with the esp tuya devices ?

[@markjacksonpulver3546]

reading Tuya Cloudcutter, I see only mentions BK7231 and RTL8710B. Shame the same exploit does not work of esp, time to manually flash...

[@digiblurDIY]

Right. That was the old Tuya Convert for the ESP8266

[@Tntdruid]

My brain is on 🔥🔥 now 😂

[@digiblurDIY]

Not sure I have a fix for that.

[@richardlyd7450]

great tutorial. Thanks subbed!

[@digiblurDIY]

Thanks for the sub!

[@gleonlo]

Hello, I want to use aubess-16a-smart-switch that is listed in Devices with its json files, how do I get tha yaml file?

[@gleonlo]

I mean the yaml file to replace in esphome

[@digiblurDIY]

You can try here upk.libretiny.eu/

[@gleonlo]

Hello I succesfully load bin file to my aubess smart switch. I can access with its ip address and change from on to off but internal relay makes no clic, led is always on, does not respond to physical switch. what can be wrong?

[@digiblurDIY]

It might be on another pin. You might have to change your config. I would use the Kickstarter bin for this to find inputs and outputs. github.com/libretiny-eu/esphome-kickstart/releases

[@gleonlo]

@@digiblurDIY But now I am unable to set the device in fast or slow blink because switch is not working. Any suggestion?

[@digiblurDIY]

Do you have esphome on it?

[@gleonlo]

@@digiblurDIY Yes

[@digiblurDIY]

If you enabled the webserver in esphome. Just use the web page to send over the prebuit Kickstarter file and then search for the pins your device has.

[@jamesj4347]

What is the LibreTuya Openbeken drama you mentioned? I've put openbeken on about 20 treatlife and smartplugs and not going to lie i dont even fully understand mqtt... Kinda jumped in head first. I didnt even know libretuya existed until this video, but i think im head first into obk at this point. seriously though whats the difference??

[@digiblurDIY]

Drama based on some negativity on Reddit, Github and Discord from them towards other projects. Something I don't have the time or patience for. Much different designs though comparing the two. I know many people prefer the Esphome method given the API

[@rajilsaraswat9763]

Is it possible to convert a device running openbekken firmware to libretuya?

[@digiblurDIY]

Yup. Bottom of this page docs.libretuya.ml/docs/flashing/esphome/#converting-devices-with-tuya-cloudcutter

[@awr001c]

Hi, I'm trying to flash Aubess Mini Smart switch according to the manual. The device is listed as supported by cloudcutter and everything goes fine until the point where I see log: wlan0: AP-ENABLED. The flashing process stops at this point forever. Does anybody have any idea what causes the issue?

[@digiblurDIY]

Does it change to AP of A-xxxx?

[@awr001c]

@@digiblurDIY yes, it changed... According to your video the next log should be with the PSK, but it never pops up

[@digiblurDIY]

Do you have the device and cloudcutter host close enough?

[@awr001c]

@@digiblurDIY yes, they're both on a desk. Distance about 20cm

[@digiblurDIY]

Stuck every time you try?

[@Jmcinally94]

Does anyone know of a good resource to find what chip is in a smart plug without prying the thing apart? I have a couple that I cant even really crack with a stanley knife 😂

[@digiblurDIY]

Just pair them with your wifi and check the MAC IDs against a lookup database

[@Jmcinally94]

I just see Tuya Smart Inc when I look up the Mac address, am I missing something?

[@tulpenboom6738]

You mentioned this uses an exploit. Does that mean they can fix this and this software won't work anymore?

[@digiblurDIY]

Yes, and they are already started patching it in some devices.

[@Robbedoes2]

I have one with a realtek chip, what about that?

[@digiblurDIY]

That would need to be flashed manually. Which model?

[@Robbedoes2]

@@digiblurDIYit says RTL8710BX

[@glen_nz]

Anyone else getting the following on the firmware compile screen? arm-none-eabi-g++: not found

[@glen_nz]

Hmm.....looks like the raspberry pi OS in the doc refers to 32-bit rather than 64-bit, perhaps that's my problem.

[@digiblurDIY]

Possibly, I didn't test 64 bit myself.

[@glen_nz]

reporting back, switching to 32-bit rapsberry pi OS solved this

[@lancecoupaud4531]

I have a GoSund SW4 that I used TuyaCutter on. I was successfully able to install basic ESPHome on it (IE, connects to WiFi, has a Web Server, etc) but am having issues making the switch and LED functional. I have 4 in case you'd like me to ship you one!

[@digiblurDIY]

I saw someone in discord with this switch. Was this you?

[@lancecoupaud4531]

@@digiblurDIY it was! I got it all worked out thankfully

[@visionintegrations]

Would you happen to know if this works with the tuya WBR3 module chips as well? They look similar to the chip you showed though everything I've seen so far says you have to desolder them from the board and replace them with a normal ESP8266 module. I've got a couple of those newer presence sensors that I'd love to get working without having to go through all that and risk damaging the solder pads on the board since i dont have a good hot air gun yet. Either way though, well done and great tutorial. Thanks!

[@digiblurDIY]

Oddly it shows the chip is supported by then it says it is not. I will do some digging docs.libretuya.ml/docs/status/supported/

[@DrDrewsAdventures]

With ESPHome being on the pi.. do we need to keep it up and running?

[@digiblurDIY]

Not unless you need to change anything on the devices themselves. Don't get rid of the yaml files. We will copy them back over when the merge happens to the regular Esphome

[@wizdude]

Btw - the name just changed only a few hours ago. It’s changed from LibreTuya to LibreTiny.

[@raphaelchicon]

I'm doing the process right now, it's LibreTiny for me too. When I click it the `Loading board list...` don't actually load.

[@digiblurDIY]

Yes they just changed it and I just saw a changed pushed to fix that error. You might have to pull again.

[@wizdude]

@@digiblurDIY they closed the ticket that you had linked on your website on esphome regarding the merge. I haven’t seen a new one raised as yet. The comments on the older one seemed to indicate that it was the author holding it back.

[@digiblurDIY]

Looks like it is still open? github.com/esphome/esphome/pull/3509

[@wizdude]

@@digiblurDIY they've rolled back the changes. originally the libretuya branch was removed and the pull was closed. a few hours later it was all reversed.

[@ubeaut]

Can tasmota be put on it this way as well?

[@digiblurDIY]

No. Tasmota doesn't support this chip.

[@algre977]

C'mon Travis, I'm sure you can pronounce Khaled! 😅 Thanks for the vid btw 👍

[@digiblurDIY]

Ka-L-E-D right? 😎

[@chad4935]

You had ifdown=true wrong in the video 😂 but still thanks for the video

[@digiblurDIY]

Lol. Apparently not needed as it works without.

[@Sparky_D]

I like to call it 'de-China-ing' 🙂