[REQUEST] Silcon Labs Zigbee EmberZNet 7.3 (7.3.x) NCP experimental builds for testing?

[Hedda]

@NilsBohr community requests Zigbee firmware as Silabs EmberZNet 7.3.x.x NCP images for ELR023/ELU013 adapters by Eleabs:

FYI, by now I have seen quite a few positive reports from many users of Home Assistant's built-in ZHA integration, as well as many Zigbee2MQTT and IoBroker users. and(knock on wood) this EmberZNet 7.3 (7.3.x) series has so far proven to be very stable, (at least much more stable than EmberZNet 7.0, 7.1. and 7.2). EmberZNet 7.3 is also supported in the very latest OpenHAB, and in the Zigbee Plugin for Domotiz too. So it now looks like a likely candidate to maybe replace 6.10.x series as the recommended version for those who want to use newer firmware.

Zigbee EmberZNet 7.3.2.0 SDK has been released as part of Gecko SDK (GSDK) Version 4.3.2.0

https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/release-notes/emberznet-release-notes-7.3.2.0.pdf

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases

Silicon Labs first on the 7th of June 2023 released Gecko SDK (GSDK) v4.3 / 4.3.0 with Zigbee EmberZNet SDK v7.3 / 7.3.0.0 GA:

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/releases/tag/v4.3.0

https://www.silabs.com/documents/public/release-notes/emberznet-release-notes-7.3.0.0.pdf

https://www.silabs.com/wireless/zigbee?tab=software#software

Any chance consider releasing some experimental builds if zigpy and zigbee-herdsman developers want to test EmberZNet 7.3?

Reference -> https://github.com/zigpy/bellows/issues/563 and https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman/issues/319

While brand new and not yet supported in any open-source Zigbee gateway solution, early cutting-edge can help pre-release testing.

Normal end-users should be warned against flashing this firmware was is the EZSP protocol version been incremented to EZSP v12 and Zigbee gateway solutions such as Home Asssitant's ZHA integration and Zigbee2MQTT are still only compatible with EZSP v11 and earlier EZSP versions at this time.

EZSP protocol version been incremented to EZSP v12 in Silicon Labs Gecko SDK v4.3 (4.3.0.0) / Zigbee EmberZNet v7.3 (7.3.0.0):

https://github.com/SiliconLabs/gecko_sdk/blob/gsdk_4.3/protocol/zigbee/app/util/ezsp/ezsp-protocol.h#L33

0x0C hexadecimal = 12 in decimal.

Sidenote - EmberZNet 7.3 is the first Silabs firmware release to be "Zigbee PRO 2023" compatible

Silicon Labs EmberZNet 7.3.0.0 is the first Silabs SDK that offers Zigbee R23 compliance, with it making their Silabs Zigbee stack compatible with Zigbee Protocol Specification Revision 23 / R23 (also known as "Zigbee PRO 2023" and "Zigbee 2023" ).

Zigbee

• Zigbee R23 compliance, with these Security enhancements among others:
  • Dynamic link key negotiation
  • Device interview to query devices before they are allowed to join
  • Trust Center Swap Out to replace an existing Trust Center with a new one
  • Frame Counter Synchronization
• Zigbee Direct Device (ZDD) support for:
  • Onboarding/commissioning
  • Communication to all Zigbee devices without a hub (Alpha), using Bluetooth LE
• Zigbee Smart Energy 1.4a compliance (Alpha)
• Enhancements to Zigbee Green Power (ZGP) APIs
• New Zigbee Security upgrade component for moving encryption keys from cleartext NVM3 tokens into secure storage

https://www.silabs.com/blog/zigbee-pro-2023-spec-released-increases-security

https://csa-iot.org/newsroom/zigbee-pro-2023-improves-overall-security-while-simplifying-experience/

https://csa-iot.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/05-3474-23-csg-zigbee-specification-compressed.pdf

Reference:

https://github.com/zigpy/zigpy/issues/1211

PS: Nabu Casa already offers official EmberZNet 7.3.,x NCP firmware beta builds for the Home Assistant SkyConnect USB dongle:

https://github.com/NabuCasa/silabs-firmware/tree/main/EmberZNet/beta

https://github.com/NabuCasa/silabs-firmware/commit/b89f14925ddd83ac62df34cb715afc75c476b644

[TermeHansen]

7.3 firmware builds can be found here: https://github.com/darkxst/silabs-firmware-builder/tree/main/firmware_builds/elelabs-elx0x3

Where do you see that Zigbee2MQTT only works with EZSP v11 ?

[Hedda]

Where do you see that Zigbee2MQTT only works with EZSP v11 ?

I lost track, EZSP v12 support might have been implemented in zigbee-herdsman by kirovilya by now but I do not remember seeing any specific statement saying that support for it has already been implemented. FYI, if and when a new EZSP version/previous changes framing format or commands then the zigbee-herdsman's ezsp adapter developer needs to implement that change into zigbee-herdsman's ezsp adapter code. You can read and follow the progress here -> https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman/issues/319 and see all the ezsp realted commits here -> https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee-herdsman/pulls?q=is%3Apr+ezsp

Note that I meant that Zigbee2MQTT are currently only compatible with EZSP v11 and earlier EZSP versions until zigbee-herdsman's ezsp adapter developer has implemented support for any changes. So it is not "only compatible with EZSP v11" but also compatible with older versions, however, newer versions are not supported automatically unless they contain no breaking changes.

[Hedda]

See the new request for EmberZNet 7.4.x.x which is important for Zigbee2MQTT users -> https://github.com/Elelabs/elelabs-zigbee-ezsp-utility/issues/47