GS-T3E v1 - DISCONTINUED PRODUCT !!

[htvekov]

DISCONTINUED DEVICE - NEW T3E v2 SKU AVAILABLE

CHECK THIS DISCUSSION THREAD

This thread is made to gather all possible info on the GS-T3E device with the goal to get openHASP implemented.

Alibaba Link

Link to various pictures of the device.

This device is in exterior completely identical to the WT86-32 device, as the outer casing and dimensions are 100% identical.
Device is marketed as an in wall multi-function scene panel and a 3(or 4) gang relay switch. The T3E is one of three devices in a series. Both the T6E & T8E devices have Tuya zigbee gateway capabilities, where the T3E can only act as a 'slave' device and smart scene panel display. These devices can only be used with the 'Smart Life' / 'Tuya Smart' apps. No local control - only cloud based control through these apps.

EU backplate version:

• 3 gang relay switch
  • An EU backplate 1 gang relay switch + 1 way light dimming version should also be available (0-10V Dimming Wiring Port)
• Max load: 200W pr. gang (600W in total EU version)
• Dimensions: 86x86x36mm
• Device pcb version: v1.23 (20220817)

T3E compared to WT86-32:

PROS:

• 4" Capacitive HD IPS LCD
  • Resolution: 480 x 480
  • Display driver: ST7701S
  • Touch controller: Goodix GT911
• CPU: ESP32-S3R8 (Xtensa-LX7 dual core 240MHz)
  • 8 MB PSRAM - In package
  • GigaDevice 128mb flash (16 MB) - External flash
• EU backplate
• Micro USB power connector

CONS:

• Tuya device with 'standard' ZS3L Tuya chip on pcb
• ESP32 antenna IPEX connector not populated on pcb
• ESP32 flash header pins not populated on pcb

U13 EU backplate connector (marked with yellow in picture below):
Numbered from right (marked with a white dot) to left

1. GPIO46 = L1 relay
2. GPIO45 = L2 relay
3. GPIO44 = L3 relay and RX
4. GPIO43 = L4 relay and TX
   (Not connected in the EU 3 gang relay switch version. L4 & L3 are low voltage outputs in the dimmer version)
5. GND
6. GND
7. VCC (+5V)
8. VCC (+5V)

J1 ESP32 flash header (marked with red in picture below):
'Standard' flash header available on the pcb for easy flashing. The actual header pins are not populated, so you have to solder these on yourself.
NB ! The white pcb cover plate actually has holes that match the header pins, but only short profile female header pins will fit under the cover plate. Standard Dupont male pins won't fit into these female headers. But the commonly used breadboard pins do fit. If you solder in 'regular' male header pins, the backplate can't be fitted, unless you modify the pins in height.

I flashed my device using a USB serial adapter CH340G and flash download tool v3.9.3.
Note that RX & TX are NOT cross wired !
GND <--> GND
5V <--> 5V
RX <--> RX
TX <--> TX
IO0 pulled low (to GND) during power on to enter boot mode.

K1 button (marked with orange in picture below):
Connected to EN on the ESP32-S3 and acts as a RESET button

ANT1 IPEX antenna connector (marked with purple in picture below):
The ANT1 is unfortunately not populated from supplier. Without adding an external antenna, the wifi quality is not sufficient, unless device is within a few meters from the AP. It's difficult, but not impossible, to solder in an smd ipex connector on the pcb pads. As an alternative, an antenna can just be soldered directly on the pcb instead. That is a much simpler solder task.

With the connector and a 'standard' AliExpress 5Dbi gain flexible antenna you'll get decent signal strength, but still with room for approvement. Signal strength is adequate to keep device connected without dropout issues at the furthest distance in my house from the AP.

Note: C16 & C17 decoupling capacitors are also not populated. This has also been noticed as well on other similar pcb designs where ESP antenna actually is part of the design. So perhaps not that important after all. I haven't experienced any wifi dropouts or quality issue with my external antenna, even though C16 & C17 are left unpopulated.

U2 connector/pads (marked with indigo in picture below):
VCC: +3.3V
GND: GND
RXD: GPIO48
TXD: GPIO47
NRST: NC (no connection)

P1 USB Micro-B connector (marked with rosa in picture below):

1. VCC: +5V
2. D-: GPIO19
3. D+: GPIO20
4. ID: NC (no connection)
5. GND: GND

Other useful pin connections identified:
GPIO38 = Display backlight (LCD_BL)

[htvekov]

Current status: Tasmota 'standard' downloadable binaries running smoothly. No issues observed
Display status: Conducting tests with the Arduino_GFX library and examples: https://github.com/moononournation/Arduino_GFX/blob/master/examples/PDQgraphicstest/PDQgraphicstest.ino

[htvekov]

With (a lot of) help from 'puppet master' 😆 @fvanroie, I managed to get the pcb traces sorted correctly and the T3E device running the Arduino GFX library graphics test 🎉

Below the working pin configuration:

#elif defined(ESP32_S3_RGB)
#define TFT_BL 38
// Note. BO & B1 share ESP pin connections with SDA & SCK !!
Arduino_ESP32RGBPanel bus = new Arduino_ESP32RGBPanel(
    39 / CS /, 15 / SCK /, 14 / SDA /,
    18 / DE /, 17 / VSYNC /, 16 / HSYNC /, 21 / PCLK /,
    4 / R0 /, 3 / R1 /, 2 / R2 /, 1 / R3 /, 0 / R4 /,
    10 / G0 /, 9 / G1 /, 8 / G2 /, 7 / G3 /, 6 / G4 /, 5 / G5 /,
    15 / B0 /, 14 / B1 /, 13 / B2 /, 12 / B3 /, 11 / B4 /
);
Arduino_ST7701_RGBPanelgfx = new Arduino_ST7701_RGBPanel(
  bus, GFX_NOT_DEFINED /* RST /, 0 / rotation /,
  true / IPS /, 480 / width /, 480 / height /,
  st7701_type1_init_operations, sizeof(st7701_type1_init_operations),
  true / BGR */);

[fvanroie]

This is the ESP32-S3 pin usage: (click to zoom in)

[fvanroie]

Some updates:

• I contacted the seller about a WiFi version of this device, and they expect to have one by the end of the year. 🤞
• The ST7701S display chip is only supported in the Arduino_GFX library, or a specific driver needs to be implemented for openHASP

[dmsherazi]

@fvanroie would it be possible to share the contact details of the manufacturer of this device?

[htvekov]

@fvanroie would it be possible to share the contact details of the manufacturer of this device?

The initial vendor we had contact with is Global Security. Now there are numerous T3E vendors out there.
Here's the Alibaba link to the T3E device. Just message Maggie Tang from that page.
I expect the WiFi version of the T3E will be available shortly. No specs yet though from GS.
Hopefully they haven't completely revised the pcb layout or even worse changed mcu from ESP32-S3 to something odd...

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2022-new-smart-home-220V-wall_1600560432462.html?spm=a2700.galleryofferlist.normal_offer.d_image.74b562a7xzasIQ

[nagyrobi]

• ESP32 header pins not populated on pcb

Does this mean there's an empty location on the board to solder on an ESP32 module perhaps?

[htvekov]

Nope. The flash header is available on the PCB, but not populated with pins from supplier.

The pcb already has an ESP32-S3 onboard, so I don't really understand your question ? 🙂

[nagyrobi]

ESP32 header vs flash header I guess that wss confusing for me...

[htvekov]

T3E fitted with low profile female flash pin headers, Ipex connector and a flexible antenna.

[fvanroie]

Making progress with this device: I've got an openHASP display driver prototype working for this board.
The Touch driver still needs some work though...

[fvanroie]

[htvekov]

Looks great ! 🙂Really looking forward for the touch driver part 😉

[nagyrobi]

How does the ESP32-S3 in this device compare to good old ESP32? Does it have enough PSRAM? Will we be able to display complex pages, with animated objects like we can on Lanbon L8 for example? Or will TTF fonts work?

[nagyrobi]

Thank you for the details. Do you think this will be an officially supported device?

[htvekov]

Really looking forward for the touch driver part.

Touch is working but with some hacks in the driver which need to be cleaned up.

Best sentence I've read so far today! 💪😎

[htvekov]

I would say the apparent performance is comparable or better, which is very good considering the display is pushing 3x the amount of pixels. The GS-T3E is using a 16-bit parallel bus to drive the display, where the regular ESP32 uses SPI or in rare cases 8-bit.

I guess the T3E will be faster than the future WT86-32-SZ01 SKU (if ever released) as the specs for that device is a 8-bit MCU (8080). So that device will most likely struggle quite a bit moving same amount of data to the screen (also 480x480 res.) than the T3E ?

[htvekov]

Thank you for the details. Do you think this will be an officially supported device?

Hopefully, yes. @fvanroie probably has the very first and only device here in western Europe equipped with an ipex connector, external antenna, low profile header pins and a matching 'quick flash jig' 😁

But I guess that future 'official' device support will be closely related to the device wifi capabilities IRL -> production environment.

[fvanroie]

Thanks for that! 😺 The missing ipex connector and sub-optimal WiFi signal are some of the drawbacks to make it into an "officially supported device". I guess its use will be limited to the hardware hackers and soldering wizards like @htvekov .

The reason for this effort is because there should be some comparable WiFi devices in the near future that will make for much better candidates... But we know that Chinese seller will say about anything, so untill those devices actually materialize this is the only hardware we have atm.

There seems to be an influx of new ESP32-S3 display boards on the horizon with larger display sizes, so it's better to prepare in advance...

[nagyrobi]

Don't see on Aliexpress... Where advised to buy?

[htvekov]

Don't see on Aliexpress... Where advised to buy?

All device specs and Alibaba link in first tread entry. Not available on AliExpress - yet.
Be aware that ipex connector and flash download header pins are not soldered in. There are link examples to those as well.
Also note that even with external antenna fitted via ipex connector, wifi strength is only acceptable and not as good as expected.
No real 'in production' tests has yet been done, as @fvanroie is still tweaking device config - especially the touch part

A 'proper' wifi version of the device should be available within this year, but nothing yet confirmed from supplier.

[fvanroie]

There is this link on Alibaba, and some other vendors are also selling the T3E under their own brand, so it is likely a rebranded OEM device.

I've asked about a WiFi version and the first seller (Shenzhen Golden Security Technology) replied that it is in the works... Let's hope this is actually true. The more people ask about WiFi versions instead of the Tuya $#[£ then they might see the need for such a device for the European market.

[htvekov]

First 'useful' plate to utilize the T3E's 4" 480x480 res. almost ready designed. Took like forever...
Solar energy plate only missing some connecting lines, and logic that changes the spinners speed and arc angle according to values and the mix of energy consumed from grid and solar panels.

Tweaked HA's Energy component design to fit the LVGL possibilities in openHASP.

[htvekov]

Sonos media plate, utilizing the large 480x480 res. display, also mostly redesigned and done.
Progress bar moved in between title/artist objects and all objects lying on top of the image with varying opacity

[dmsherazi]

HI All , First of all I would thank you all for all these efforts.
Secondly I have this board and woulld like to work on it, I tried to get some code examples from a similar board. https://github.com/W00ng/ESP32-S3-RGB-Panel and tried to flash an example on it, It did got flash but there is no display on the screen. May be the board has diffrent pin configs or I am doing something wrong . Can you please share your bin file for the T3E so I can test?

[fvanroie]

You can download the artifact from the latest workflow Actions or flash it directly from the development web tools.

[htvekov]

HI All , First of all I would thank you all for all these efforts. Secondly I have this board and woulld like to work on it, I tried to get some code examples from a similar board. https://github.com/W00ng/ESP32-S3-RGB-Panel and tried to flash an example on it, It did got flash but there is no display on the screen. May be the board has diffrent pin configs or I am doing something wrong . Can you please share your bin file for the T3E so I can test?

Well, @fvanroie has made a tailor fit, downloadable binary from the Action flows.
Artifact name is globalsecurity (first vendorname for that device) and not T3E if you were looking for that.

If that binary doesn't work for you, then please check the pcb version on your device and compare to the pcb version found in pictures in the start of this thread (Device pcb version: v1.23 (20220817))

[dmsherazi]

Thanks for the help and it did work. Even the . https://github.com/W00ng/ESP32-S3-RGB-Panel examples also now are working .. Thanks to the details and information provided in this discussion.

I have a question : Is this a 32bit display , or a 16bit ?

[htvekov]

Thanks for the help and it did work. Even the . https://github.com/W00ng/ESP32-S3-RGB-Panel examples also now are working .. Thanks to the details and information provided in this discussion.

I have a question : Is this a 32bit display , or a 16bit ?

No worries 😎
The T3E device has a 16bit display (rgb565)

[htvekov]

All needed files for my openHASP multiple plate - Sonos group media player config have now been revised and uploaded here

Documentation still needs to be revised somewhat from my old config setup.
For now only prerequisities has been revised.
Note: When doing entity_id search and replace in config files, search for t3e_02 instead.

I'll get a decent documentation done ASAP 😅

[htvekov]

Documentation complete now 🙂

[shavermcspud]

I have a version 2.3 board, flash has worked fine, configured the WiFi but have no display, I can access the web gui just fine.
Any thoughts

[htvekov]

I have a version 2.3 board, flash has worked fine, configured the WiFi but have no display, I can access the web gui just fine. Any thoughts

Hard to tell, as display pin connections could have been altered or display driver revised since v1.23
Could you upload a close-up high-res picture of the pcb ?

[dmsherazi]

Can you share the images of the PCB?

[shavermcspud]

To add, it was purchased from golden security and is listed as a GS-T3E

[fvanroie]

This board has an ESP32-S3 as module, which is significantly different from the previous PCB version.
It has the potential for WiFi communication too, so that is hopeful.
We need a pinmapping of the traces like my post above in order to compare/create the LCD pins.

Where did you buy this device with PCB 2.3 ?

[shavermcspud]

Hi, I got it from Alibaba, golden security, I was under the impression speaking with the seller it was the version listed above and not 2.3 revision, unfortunately I have bought quite a few of them and its a little above my level of knowledge to map things out.

[htvekov]

@shavermcspud & @fvanroie

Well, this is crazy as both me and fvanroie has been banging this vendor (Global Security) about the T3E Wifi version availability and now it seems to have been available for months as the pcb clearly has been redesigned 🙄 I really don't care whether or not the pcb is still populated with a Tuya chip or not.

But new pinmapping apparently is needed if display is not working with the new pcb v2.3
Please check the 40pin display FFC cable and check if it's still same part no. marked with BH040I-01 and populated with a Goodix GT911 touch chip in the corner.

[dmsherazi]

It seems to me that Global security might not be the manufacturer. @shavermcspud can you let us know from where you got it?

[htvekov]

It seems to me that Global security might not be the manufacturer. @shavermcspud can you let us know from where you got it?

Sorry my bad. I meant to write 'Golden Security' not 'Global Security'
@shavermcspud already stated that is was bought from GS (text above the image)

[shavermcspud]

Can confirm the touch is populated with a Goodix GT911 and the ribbon cable shows BH040I-01, see photos
Purchased from Alibaba Global Security three weeks ago, unit flashed just fine with your T3E bin file, WiFi works unit is programed and seen in HA as a plate.

[htvekov]

Well, seems like the display/touch part is unrevised 😅😅
Is backlight working correctly ?
You can also check if touch is working. Just touching the display should change mode from idle to off on the info web interface page.

Seems that you'll need to check the traces to the display as @fvanroie wrote earlier. Start with all other traces than the actual color bits (DB0 to DB17). If backlight and touch is working these pins below are the most interesting ones

[htvekov]

Are you familiar with Arduino? The first step is to compile a default sketch to get the display working with Arduino_GFX. #383 (comment)

Yep, I agree. Easiest way to check pin config with device. Also quite easy to revise pin config and recompile quickly

[shavermcspud]

Unfortunately not, its a little beyond my skill level. The last interaction I had with Arduino was for my 3D printer to re-flash the filament cartridge to accept 3rd party filament. But that was a pre made sketch from memory a long time ago. For the $30 these units cost me, they seemed like a great addition to finish off my Home assistant setup, but not sure the vendor was 100% honest with their sales pitch as these are clearly different units to the ones I had wanted.

[htvekov]

I can mock-up that pin config in the sketch for you to compile. Just have to locate sketch again. Haven't used it since last fall 😆
A few traces are still unknown. Could you provide a high-res picture of the pcb backside ?
@fvanroie has traced all connections that is visible from your picture, but a few would be pure guessing without that flipside image

[htvekov]

As i can't upload INO file types here, I've instead added a link to the test Arduino GFX sketch for the T3E v2.3 pcb here
I've configured according to @fvanroie trace config further up in this thread.
Two color bit have unknown traces, so they might be wrong. But sketch should run anyway and display fire up, unless I've made errors in the entries 😉

Give it a spin and let us know the result.

The pin configuration for the ESP32RGBPanel is from line 88 to line 97 in the INO file.

[shavermcspud]

Bottom PCB image

[htvekov]

Noticed that your WiFi signal strength was quite terrible at -82dBm ?
Is that value comparable with other esp devices you have close by ?
Original T3E device had WiFi issues as no antenna was on the pcb and no IPEX connector populated.
But this is now a ESP32 module with built-in antenna, so I would expect 'normal' signal strength with this

[shavermcspud]

My WiFi point is quite far away unfortunately

[shavermcspud]

Just to add, I have re-enabled a new access point in my computer room about 20 meters away and now the WiFi is good to the plate

Wifi

BSSID | B8:EC:A3:DF:C3:55
SSID | The Schads
Signal Strength | -44dBm (Excellent)
IP Address | 10.0.1.19
Gateway | 10.0.1.254
DNS Server | 1.1.1.1
MAC Address | F4:12:FA:E7:1D:B4