EQ3 firmwares 1.20+ not working anymore (requires pairing?)

[robluca]

After try to set target temperature at any values it goes at 5.0 Celsius Degree. With Fw 1.10 it is still working. I bought new one and I received it with new FW.
Did you see similar issues?
Thank you

[ropperto]

Also firmware 1.20 does not work.

[Predator83]

It seems that the producer of the thermostats updated their firmware recently. According to ios and Android appstore comments even the original app of the producer (calorBT) is not able to connect anymore.

Seems like this issue is NOT a problem with the Bluetooth library in use nor the adapter, it seems like a problem with the firmware itsself.

[rytilahti]

I'm not actively maintaining this package, but if someone wants to add support for the newer versions I can try to help however I can by codereviews etc.

The first step would be to figure out the new communication protocol, quick googling brought this site which looks like a helpful starting point on how to reverse BTLE devices: https://reverse-engineering-ble-devices.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

[nakatomi845]

I don't know if this is problem with protocol. I have checked it with eq3cli and it connect and after writing date it disconnect with exception. Thermostat is now with version 1.46.

eq3cli --mac 00:1A:22:06:A7:83 --debug
DEBUG:eq3bt.eq3btsmart:Querying the device..
DEBUG:eq3bt.connection:Trying to connect to 00:1A:22:06:A7:83
DEBUG:eq3bt.connection:Connected to 00:1A:22:06:A7:83
DEBUG:eq3bt.connection:Writing b'031501040e2415' to 1041 with with_response=True
DEBUG:eq3bt.connection:Got exception from bluepy while making a request: Device disconnected
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/openhab/.local/bin/eq3cli", line 8, in <module>
    sys.exit(cli())
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/core.py", line 829, in __call__
    return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/core.py", line 782, in main
    rv = self.invoke(ctx)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1236, in invoke
    return Command.invoke(self, ctx)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/core.py", line 1066, in invoke
    return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/core.py", line 610, in invoke
    return callback(*args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/click/decorators.py", line 21, in new_func
    return f(get_current_context(), *args, **kwargs)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/eq3bt/eq3cli.py", line 34, in cli
    thermostat.update()
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/eq3bt/eq3btsmart.py", line 205, in update
    self._conn.make_request(PROP_WRITE_HANDLE, value)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/eq3bt/connection.py", line 73, in make_request
    self._conn.writeCharacteristic(handle, value, withResponse=with_response)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/bluepy/btle.py", line 543, in writeCharacteristic
    return self._getResp('wr')
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/bluepy/btle.py", line 407, in _getResp
    resp = self._waitResp(wantType + ['ntfy', 'ind'], timeout)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages/bluepy/btle.py", line 362, in _waitResp
    raise BTLEDisconnectError("Device disconnected", resp)
bluepy.btle.BTLEDisconnectError: Device disconnected

With BLE Scanner on my phone when i send date to service then I received:

0x02010900042b000000001e0c2c220a it look like similar than prev version.

Problem with btle.py?

[Predator83]

Or maybe a problem with the thermostats new firmware itself, as there is quite a shitstorm on the app store‘s comment sections of the official app (CalorBT) as it cannot connect to the thermostats anymore once they were updated to the new firmware.

[nakatomi845]

From CalorBT works, also works from BLE Scanner. Problem starts when manufacturer add "pairing" then phone starts asking for pairing code.

[rytilahti]

@nakatomi845 if I understand you correctly, the vendor has fixed the security issue where it was possible to control the device without pairing (like this library does)?

[nakatomi845]

Yes, I think this is the problem. But of course I don't know if it's correct implemented on vendor side.

[Predator83]

Ok, that explains some things.

I was already wondering why I was never asked for a PIN when I was setting up the Raspi with the thermostats. In contrast, when pairing with the CalorBT app I had to enter a PIN.

[nakatomi845]

As I can see btle.py supports pair and unpair method so I think it shouldn't be complicated to implement it.

[nakatomi845]

Definitely this is problem with pairing. When I paired it manually eq3cli works well. But I don't know how to implement in on library.

[rytilahti]

What steps were necessary to pair it? Did you just use the bluepy (and the btle.py interface? so this is a standard btle passcode pairing?), or did you do something else?