I found from EISY migration WIKI the directions to update ZMatter USB Dongle Firmware Upgrade - (Eisy:User Guide - Universal Devices, Inc. Wiki) /

Easy enough process to unplug from EISY, then install windows driver, plug into usb port, then web updater) but I am wondering if this is common practice or if many others are doing this step

my ZMatter board from UD was purchased early on along with EISY so I was not surprised when found to be on the initial version - but when I did a search on release notes I am wondering

1. IS this Firmware on USB Dongle something EISY should be updating - ?

2. How many of the fixed items are impacting other users around here ?

3. Thoughts on enabling some of the other options- long range?

My dongle was Firmware was on 00.00.07.32 so I did he sequential updates to 7.35 then 7.45 then tried 7.46 twice, no error message, download looked normal but when done board still reported as 07.45. Answer was to then update the boot loader from 2.01 to 2.04, unplug for 10 sec then update to 07.46 (1 of the duplicate 07.46 choices in menu

Then there were more options in firmware choices too.

Also under more options I see some available options such as long range

Currently enabled features:

✔	Static mode support
✔	Backup and restore API
✔	Save devices batteries when no PC software is running
✔	Advanced network statistics
✔	Promiscuous mode
✔	Jamming detection

You hardware additionally supports:

Free	Long Range support	Add this feature
Free	UART communications on faster speed	Add this feature
99	Zniffer and Advanced Radio Tool	Add this feature
	Maximal power (+7 dBm)	Upon request
	Change vendor ID in Serial API	Upon request

here is what my search turned on for release notes and such as notes for others

Firmware 7.32

• Baseline SDK Release: Base Silicon Labs 700/800 series Z-Wave controller build handling core S2 security frames, SmartStart inclusions, and Long Range (LR) protocol capabilities.

• Primary Scope: Handles standard NVM storage management and standard routing table structures.

Upgrade to 7.35

• Routing & Retry Improvements: Improved frame retry mechanics and route-repair efficiency across high-density mesh networks.

• Buffer & Memory Bug Fixes: Resolved heap allocation edge cases during rapid sequential commands (e.g., rapid scene execution involving multiple nodes).

• SmartStart Inclusions: Fixed intermittent timeout issues when including battery-powered S2 devices during initial provisioning.

Upgrade to 7.45

• Z-Wave Long Range (LR) & Multi-Region Support: Fixes and enhancements to regional RF channel handling (US LR frequency shifts and European LR frequency preparation).

• OTA Firmware Transfer Reliability: Fixed controller-side packet-dropping issues when executing Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware updates to target Z-Wave end-devices.

• Network Recovery & NVM Safety: Enhanced Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) backup/restore reliability—reducing network table corruption during ungraceful reboots or power loss.

Upgrade to 7.46

• Maintenance & Patch Build: Minor point release specifically aimed at stability fixes post-7.45.

• Serial API Stability: Resolved rare serial communication lockups between the host controller software (IoX / eisy) and the ZMatter radio chip under heavy packet bursts.

• S2 Boot Bootstrapping: Fixed rare failures during the S2 security key exchange process for 800-series end nodes.

Key Takeaway for eisy/ZMatter Users

Progressing through these versions systematically resolves controller lockup issues, network routing drops, and S2 inclusion failures. Keep your eisy IoX software up-to-date alongside board updates, as IoX relies on matching controller driver commands to fully leverage these underlying protocol fixes.

And when I searched on Bootloader version .. mine is on 02.01.00.00

The version sequence 02.01.00.00 $\rightarrow$ 02.04.00.05 corresponds to Silicon Labs' Gecko Bootloader (GBL v2.x) releases. While the Z-Wave application firmware handles network commands and mesh routing, the Gecko Bootloader handles hardware initialization, secure boot verification, and low-level serial communication.

Moving from version 2.1.0 to 2.4.0.5 includes the following bootloader-level changes and fixes:

Core Changes & Enhancements

• Enhanced GBL Image Verification & Decompression: Improved validation of payload signatures and CRC checks before flashing application firmware, preventing partially downloaded or corrupted images from flashing. Added support for improved LZMA/LZ4 decompression routines for compressed firmware payloads.

• Improved UART DMA & Flow Control: Upgraded Direct Memory Access (DMA) handling for the UART serial driver. This resolves baud-rate synchronization glitches and packet overruns during high-speed serial updates between the eisy host processor and the ZMatter chip.

• Secure Boot & Hardware Root of Trust: Updated cryptographic libraries (upgraded mbed TLS integration) for hardware Root of Trust verification on Silicon Labs EFR32 Series 2 (800-series) chips.

• Shared SRAM Reset Info Handling: Fixed edge cases in how software reset reasons are stored in the first word of SRAM (0x20000000). This ensures that when the eisy sends a command to reboot the ZMatter board into bootloader mode, the board reliably registers the reset command without hanging.

• Power-On Reset & Stability Patches: Fixed stability bugs where specific brownout or low-power state transitions could cause the bootloader to trap in a boot loop instead of jumping to the main application image.

Do You Need to Update It?

• If it came bundled with your controller firmware image: Modern flasher tools often bundle the matching bootloader image alongside application releases (e.g., SDK 7.45/7.46 streams). Flashing this updated bootloader is safe when updating via PC/web tools as long as the tool explicitly recommends or requires it.

• If everything is currently running fine: If your eisy successfully communicates with the ZMatter board and accepts OTA/firmware updates, you do not need to manually force a bootloader rewrite.

AFTER update of bootloader unplugged from USB for 10 seconds to ensure it started back up on new bootloader.

Why are there two identical 00.00.07.46 - Controller choices?

When updating through the z-wave.me web flasher:

1. First 00.00.07.46 - Controller: Standard production firmware release.

2. Second 00.00.07.46 - Controller: Regional frequency variant (e.g., US LR vs. EU/AU static frequency configuration) or a duplicated channel build provided by the tool repository.

3. 03.13.4709 - Z-Uno / repeater: DO NOT select this. That firmware is designed exclusively for Z-Uno custom developer boards acting as standalone sub-nodes/repeaters.

Great stuff, thanks for the post! A few questions:

You mention Firmware Update, is this actually the API you're updating?

As shown in Protocols / Z-Wave / X-Ray / DH Controller:

String   DATA controller.data.APIVersion = "07.32"
Integer  DATA controller.data.APIVersionMajor = 7 (0x00000007)
Integer  DATA controller.data.APIVersionMinor = 32 (0x00000020)

Now that you completed this update, have you noticed any changes or improvements in operation?

And finally, I assume this update can be made regardless of the controller being used (EISY vs. Polisy)?

Edited Monday at 05:48 PM2 days by peterathans

Thanks for this post. I’ve just been researching the FW on the dongle as I prepare for ZWave LR.

One question: did your existing Zwave network stay intact after doing these updates, or was a backup first needed then a restore?

Also, any updates pertaining to zigbee?

Cannot speak to better performance or anything yet - my efforts here are in prep to "move" my old Insteon + Zwave network from ISY994 over to EISY. My current old Zwave stuff here is very old so will be "rebuilding" the zwave from scratch.

I did the update on Windows 11 PC - installed the universal driver on the 1st link (in UD WIKI) and then ran the web tools from edge browser (links here

ZMatter USB Dongle Firmware Upgrade - (Eisy:User Guide - Universal Devices, Inc. Wiki) /)

Sorry cannot answer IF this wiped my controller as I also did a dongle factory reset afterwards

The instruction was from my own Z-Wave upgrade, on mac so glad to hear it works on windows.

Nothing was lost in my case, needed to fix long range bug.

12 minutes ago, Javi said:

The instruction was from my own Z-Wave upgrade, on mac so glad to hear it works on windows.

Nothing was lost in my case, needed to fix long range bug.

Thanks, Javi. I'm planning to install 3 Long range devices soon. So I'm clear, you're saying I'll need to update the ZMAtter FW to be able to use it -- correct?

1 hour ago, hart2hart said:

Thanks, Javi. I'm planning to install 3 Long range devices soon. So I'm clear, you're saying I'll need to update the ZMAtter FW to be able to use it -- correct?

Yes we locked out z-wave long range unless at a min version (7.42) as other version had too many issues. eisy-ui is currently the only interface which gives you the option to choose mesh or long-range.

Tip: take a picture of the QR code and upload to pc, then select the image instead of trying to scan with a PC camera.... or use eisy-ui on mobile

16 hours ago, Javi said:

Yes we locked out z-wave long range unless at a min version (7.42) as other version had too many issues. eisy-ui is currently the only interface which gives you the option to choose mesh or long-range.

Tip: take a picture of the QR code and upload to pc, then select the image instead of trying to scan with a PC camera.... or use eisy-ui on mobile

Thanks, @Javi Did you update yours to the latest version 7.46? Alos, did you update the bootloader?

3 minutes ago, hart2hart said:

Thanks, @Javi Did you update yours to the latest version 7.46? Alos, did you update the bootloader?

Only tested to 7.42,

Also as a reference to others the direct link to instructions is https://wiki.universal-devices.com/Eisy:User_Guide#ZMatter_USB_Dongle_Firmware_Upgrade

3 hours ago, Javi said:

Only tested to 7.42,

Also as a reference to others the direct link to instructions is https://wiki.universal-devices.com/Eisy:User_Guide#ZMatter_USB_Dongle_Firmware_Upgrade

Did you update the bootloader as suggested by original poster?

51 minutes ago, hart2hart said:

Did you update the bootloader as suggested by original poster?

No, was not needed from 7.32 to 7.42, which is the min requirement for Long Range.

To add a data point:

I just completed this update from 7.32 to 7.46 (with a stop at 7.42 to update the bootloader). Aside from a couple of hiccups (connection failures and retries), everything worked well and my Polisy (running 6.1.2) is back up and working great.

I have no need for the 800LR capabilities as I have a mixture of 700 and 800 devices, but appreciate the bug fixes and stability with later releases.

(In the past few weeks I've been updating a lot of my Zooz devices, many of which have new firmware out this month updating their API from 7.19 to 7.24, and have noticed improved performance)

@junkycosmos , can you provide the link you used to get to the release notes? (I have been digging around and can not seem to find them)

I was able to update to 7.42 but have not been successful trying to upgrade to 7.45 (the first one in the pulldown). The first couple time I tried to update to 7.45, I kept getting failures, so I then updated the bootloader to 2.04.00.05 . I then kept trying to update to 7.45 , and it is failing each time. I have tried many times. The messages indicate that the fail is occurring while trying to write the updated firmware: I am getting Connect device failed: 24 or Connect device failed: 23 messages. The highest percent complete I have reached before having a failure is about 80%, but the failures have occurred a lower percentage complete than that as well. I have tired a different USB port, both the CP2105 enhanced com port and the CP2105 basic com port, plugging the ZMatter dongle directly into both of my laptop USB ports, and both Chrome and Firefox web browsers. I have also tried leaving the ZMatter dongle unconnected for 20 sec between tries to be sure it is fully powered down.

@wmcneil - I asked Gemini and it gave me those details. Surprised you could update to 7.45 but not 7.46 / did you confirm the bootloader version updated? You noted the failures are during the % # counting up? For some reason my guess what that the % counting up (was pretty slow for me) was download of firmware from their site to the USB dongle then the dongle restarting to load it. Only reason I think to note this is IF the DL process is still in the flow where you are seeing failures brings their servers back into factor.

@Javi - Thank you for chiming in here. Have a question about your earlier statement (of EISY allows you to choose between Mesh and LR) and also what I see in EISY UI (in Zwave region of US or LR) - from what I read on LR it is listed as fully backward compatible to prior ZW. Is that incorrect, or more to the point - IF we set EISY to LR do we expect our mesh ZW devices to keep working as before?

Also, in terms of enabling LR - on my EISY UI Zwave page I saw region was set to US LR - however - when I checked z-wave.me web tools page (with USB dongle in PC) the LR option showed unchecked (dongle on 7.46) - So with that in mind I did go to the more options link and "ordered" the option to enable LR, received the email which only included a link order # (no hex code and no QR code) . Clicking the link in the mail gives ""error":"License not found"}"

https://service.z-wave.me/hardware/capabilities/checkout/?zme_order_id=##### (redacted my 5 digit order)

AND of course, when I go back to the more options link their system shows that my UUID has the LR feature licensed.

Any creative ideas on how to push the LR license into my USB dongle ?

Thank you again for the inputs

J

ps. I do see that the web tools page now lists 7.47 but Gemini notes (pasting here since our G buddy can be rather wrong sometimes too)

No, do NOT flash 00.00.07.47 - Controller if you intend to use this USB dongle with your Universal Devices eisy.

Here is why:

• IoX Compatibility: Universal Devices' IoX engine on the eisy specifically expects the official Z-Wave 7.42 firmware. Newer Silicon Labs SDK builds (like 7.47) alter low-level Serial API definitions that will cause IoX to fail to initialize the Z-Wave chip or stop communicating with the stick.

Edited yesterday at 02:00 AM1 day by junkycosmos

11 hours ago, junkycosmos said:

@wmcneil - I asked Gemini and it gave me those details. Surprised you could update to 7.45 but not 7.46 / did you confirm the bootloader version updated? You noted the failures are during the % # counting up? For some reason my guess what that the % counting up (was pretty slow for me) was download of firmware from their site to the USB dongle then the dongle restarting to load it. Only reason I think to note this is IF the DL process is still in the flow where you are seeing failures brings their servers back into factor.

I was able to update to 7.42, but have not been successful in updating to 7.45

The bootloader pull down shows 2.04.00.05 grayed out, and so clicking on it does nothing. I assume this means bootloader 2.04.00.05 was installed successfully.

I agree the count up percentage is most likely showing the progress of writing the firmware update to the dongle. The release notes that you posted for the 2.04.00.05 bootloader include "Improved UART DMA & Flow Control", but I am wondering if the retry mechanisms have actually been worsened by the update?

17 hours ago, junkycosmos said:

@wmcneil - I asked Gemini and it gave me those details. Surprised you could update to 7.45 but not 7.46 / did you confirm the bootloader version updated? You noted the failures are during the % # counting up? For some reason my guess what that the % counting up (was pretty slow for me) was download of firmware from their site to the USB dongle then the dongle restarting to load it. Only reason I think to note this is IF the DL process is still in the flow where you are seeing failures brings their servers back into factor.

@Javi - Thank you for chiming in here. Have a question about your earlier statement (of EISY allows you to choose between Mesh and LR) and also what I see in EISY UI (in Zwave region of US or LR) - from what I read on LR it is listed as fully backward compatible to prior ZW. Is that incorrect, or more to the point - IF we set EISY to LR do we expect our mesh ZW devices to keep working as before?

Also, in terms of enabling LR - on my EISY UI Zwave page I saw region was set to US LR - however - when I checked z-wave.me web tools page (with USB dongle in PC) the LR option showed unchecked (dongle on 7.46) - So with that in mind I did go to the more options link and "ordered" the option to enable LR, received the email which only included a link order # (no hex code and no QR code) . Clicking the link in the mail gives ""error":"License not found"}"

https://service.z-wave.me/hardware/capabilities/checkout/?zme_order_id=##### (redacted my 5 digit order)

AND of course, when I go back to the more options link their system shows that my UUID has the LR feature licensed.

Any creative ideas on how to push the LR license into my USB dongle ?

Thank you again for the inputs

J

ps. I do see that the web tools page now lists 7.47 but Gemini notes (pasting here since our G buddy can be rather wrong sometimes too)

No, do NOT flash 00.00.07.47 - Controller if you intend to use this USB dongle with your Universal Devices eisy.

Here is why:

• IoX Compatibility: Universal Devices' IoX engine on the eisy specifically expects the official Z-Wave 7.42 firmware. Newer Silicon Labs SDK builds (like 7.47) alter low-level Serial API definitions that will cause IoX to fail to initialize the Z-Wave chip or stop communicating with the stick.

US LR is compatible with both Mesh and Long range. Select when including a new device.

I'm not sure what you ordered, this is a hardware distributer's upgrade, similar to using zooz site to update your zooz dongle. The region is set in eisy-ui > Menu > Zwave. US LR required for Long Range.

Being of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought, I thought I'd wait a bit to see how this played out for the others trying it first. But thanks to @junkycosmos for taking the plunge and getting a discussion going on this previously overlooked subject. After seeing the discussion for a few days, I thought I'd take the plunge today. I have two of these ZMatter boards, one on my production eisy, and another one on one of my test Polisys. So I went ahead and did the test Polisy first. Both of my boards were originally installed as internal boards on Polisys, so I figured they would have the older firmware. Both have since been "donglized", so easy to upgrade. The ability to confirm it in the xray, DH controller screen showed they were both 7.32.

A few notes about the upgrade process: for the virtual serial port I chose the "CP210x Windows Drivers" option (4th choice down), unzipped it to a new directory on my PC, and then opened that directory and ran "CP210xVCPInstaller_x64" on my Windows 11 PC.

The program found my ZMatter dongle and confirmed it was 7.32. The upgrade choice was 7.45. I didn't get the intermediate version 7.35 others have seen. That went well. I then not only needed to reboot (unplug and replug the dongle) but also exit and reenter the upgrade program in order to detect the upgraded dongle again. That made for a few tense moments...) Then as suggested by the original poster, I had to upgrade the bootloader in order to finally upgrade to 7.46. I also clicked on the additional features link to enable the long range and faster communications options, and as @junkycosmos noted, the options aren't stilll checked as installed in the updater, though the options link show them as installed. That's not clear.

After all that was done, I put the dongle back on the test Polisy and rebooted it. It worked 😊. And my existing devices were still there, both zwave and zigbee. Emboldened, I then proceeded to do the same with my eisy dongle, and everything worked the same way.

PS I didn't know I could hold my breath for so long!

7 hours ago, wmcneil said:

I was able to update to 7.42, but have not been successful in updating to 7.45

The bootloader pull down shows 2.04.00.05 grayed out, and so clicking on it does nothing. I assume this means bootloader 2.04.00.05 was installed successfully.

It might be that if you upgraded the bootloader prematurely, that intermediate version upgrades might not be compatible. That kind of thing can happen.