Installation RFXflash on Linux under Mono failed.

[FireWizard]

Hi,

I noticed https://github.com/domoticz/domoticz/co ... 6a1cd58dc2, that the flash possibility for RFXtrx433E has been removed and in order to upgrade the RFXCom device, you have to use RFXflash Programmer software.

I assume, that (like me) many users has their RFXCom device installed in a remote place, e.g. their metering cabinet.
They will probably also use the P1 Smart meter and so the metering cabinet is the most suitable place and the RFXCom is installed there as well.

I know that newer RFXCom devices should not be flashed with Domoticz, but older devices, like RFXtrx433E can be flashed with Domoticz.
I have no idea, if updates has been planned for those devices, but if so, you have to physically remove the device, find a Windows PC, run RFXflash.exe and put it back. What a unnecessary hassle!

In the manual of the RFXCom you can find in Chapter 4 how to run RFXflash.exeon Linux under Mono.

I followed the steps there.

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sudo apt install mono-runtime

That went fine

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sudo apt install libmono-microsoft-visualbasic8.0-cil

That gave an error. This was expected, as the package is very old.

Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package libmono-microsoft-visualbasic8.0-cil
E: Couldn't find any package by glob 'libmono-microsoft-visualbasic8.0-cil'
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libmono-microsoft-visualbasic8.0-cil'

But version 10.0 was available

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sudo apt install libmono-microsoft-visualbasic10.0-cil

That went fine, as well

Running:

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sudo mono RFXflash.exe

gave a failure, as follows:

WARNING: The runtime version supported by this application is unavailable.
Using default runtime: v4.0.30319

Unhandled Exception:

Followed by a lot of error messages.

Again it seems that users of an existing product (RFXtrx433E and older) are left behind after the issue with armv6.
At least, I believe it has not been discussed by @gizmocuz and @ b_weijenberg.

If you take out the support for a product, you should introduce an alternative.

Regards

[b_weijenberg]

Flashing is removed on purpose.
There are no more firmware updates planned for the old RFXtrx433 and RFXtrx433E transceivers.
At RFXCOM we received too many problem calls from users that flashed the RFXtrx433XL or RFX433XL with Domoticz despite all the warnings.

[FireWizard]

Hello @b_weijenberg

Bas,

Thanks for the quick response.
From your point of view I understand the decision to remove it, but I hope, that in the case an update for the older RFXCom is released a solution is provided, so that flashing can be done in an easy way, without dismounting devices, etc.
I do not hope that it will be necessary.

Regards