[BK7231N] BTF-Lighting FCOB CCT Strip: OpenBeken Setup, Pin Configuration & Physical Buttons

I recently ordered a BTF-Lighting FCOB CCT LED strip (3000K - 6000K tunable) from Amazon for an under cabinet project. I'm very inexperienced when it comes to home IoT and home automation but I figured this would be a good starting point!

My goal was to keep it local and not use the Tuya cloud and I was happy to find out I could run tuya-cloudcutter and install OpenBeken. I managed to successfully flash OpenBeken but discovered I'm pretty lost. Randomly playing with pins I was able to turn it on/off, dim, and change the light color by setting Pin 7 to PWM 0 and Pin 8 to PWM 1.

I'm not sure how to get the physical buttons to work and if the lighting is unplugged from power, I need to adjust the color temperature before it will turn on. As I said, I have NO idea how to figure out correct pin configuration to get everything to work as it should. I'm just happy I was able to get this far!!!

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Hello, I will try to help you. There are several thing you might need to do.

1.

Quote:

I need to adjust the color temperature before it will turn on

There was indeed such a problem, I fixed it now, can you update to latest build and check?

2.

Quote:

. As I said, I have NO idea how to figure out correct pin configuration to get everything to work as it should. I

Do you have a multimeter? Disconnect strip from power, use continuity test to check which pin goes to which button.
Try to do the same for IR receiver.

Pin number	Symbol	I/O type	Function
1	P14	I/O	Common GPIO, which can be reused as SPI_SCK (Correspond to Pin 11 of the IC)
2	P16	I/O	Common GPIO, which can be reused as SPI_MOSI (Correspond to Pin 12 of the IC)
3	P20	I/O	Common GPIO (Correspond to Pin 20 of the IC)
4	P22	I/O	Common GPIO (Correspond to Pin 18 of the IC)
5	ADC	I/O	ADC, which corresponds to P23 on the internal IC (Correspond to Pin 17 of the IC)
6	RX2	I/O	UART_RX2, which corresponds to P1 on the internal IC. (Correspond to Pin 28 of the IC)
7	TX2	I/O	UART_TX2, which is used for outputting logs and corresponds to P0 of the internal IC (Correspond to Pin 29 of the IC)
8	P8	I/O	Support hardware PWM (Correspond to Pin 24 of the IC)
9	P7	I/O	Support hardware PWM (Correspond to Pin 23 of the IC)
10	P6	I/O	Support hardware PWM (Correspond to Pin 22 of the IC)
11	P26	I/O	Support hardware PWM (Correspond to Pin 15 of the IC)
12	P24	I/O	Support hardware PWM (Correspond to Pin 16 of the IC)
13	GND	P	Power supply reference ground
14	3V3	P	Power supply 3V3
15	TX1	I/O	UART_TX1, which is used for transmitting user data and corresponds to Pin 27 of the IC. For the MCU solution, please refer to CBx Module.
16	RX1	I/O	UART_RX1, which is used for receiving user data and corresponds to Pin 26 of the IC. For the MCU solution, please refer to CBx Module.
17	P28	I/O	Common GPIO (Correspond to Pin 10 of the IC)
18	CEN	I/O	Reset pin, low active (internally pulled high), compatible with other modules (Correspond to Pin 21 of the IC)
19	P9	I/O	Common GPIO (Correspond to Pin 25 of the IC)
20	P17	I/O	Common GPIO, which can be reused as SPI_MISO (Correspond to Pin 14 of the IC)
21	P15	I/O	Common GPIO, which can be reused as SPI_CS (Correspond to Pin 13 of the IC)
Test point	CSN	I/O	Mode selection pin. If it is connected to the ground before being powered on, enter the firmware test mode. If it is not connected or connected to VCC before being powered on, enter the firmware application mode. Correspond to Pin 19 on the internal IC.

3. You can configure device however you want, but the easier configuration would be:
- first button - set role Button (this will power on or off)
- second button - set role Button_NextDimmer - this will change dimmer when held
- third button - set role Button_NextTemperature - this will change temperature when held
If you don''t want the "hold the button for long to change" behaviour, we can script something else.....
You can configure hold button times etc by SetButtonTimes command.
For IR pin, set IRRecv role.
We can configure IR later, after device restart you should get IR logs in Web App while using IR remote.

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

There was indeed such a problem, I fixed it now, can you update to latest build and check?

I just loaded OpenBK7231N_1.15.136 and it seems to be fixed. Thank you!

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

Do you have a multimeter? Disconnect strip from power, use continuity test to check which pin goes to which button.
Try to do the same for IR receiver.

Yes, I have a multimeter and I'll map this out. I'm traveling for a few days starting this afternoon so I may not get back to it until later this week.

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

3. You can configure device however you want, but the easier configuration would be:
- first button - set role Button (this will power on or off)
- second button - set role Button_NextDimmer - this will change dimmer when held
- third button - set role Button_NextTemperature - this will change temperature when held
If you don''t want the "hold the button for long to change" behaviour, we can script something else.....

I like this option better than "click to change". Once I get this sorted I'll let you know and you can add this device to your database if you'd like.

One item I would like to see adjusted is the dimmer setting. It goes from 0 (off) to 100. For the dimmer, I'd rather see it go from 1 to 100. This way the dimming function does not turn it off. I'd like on/off to be controlled by the power button and not by setting dimming to 0.

Thank you much!

Thanks, feel free to request any features you want, also remember that any IoT device teardowns are welcome here. We need to make our database bigger.

aargvark wrote:

One item I would like to see adjusted is the dimmer setting. It goes from 0 (off) to 100. For the dimmer, I'd rather see it go from 1 to 100. This way the dimming function does not turn it off. I'd like on/off to be controlled by the power button and not by setting dimming to 0.

Actually, we already got it, but it seems that the value 2 is too small to be visible in your case.

Hmm can you check and tell me which smallest dimmer value is visible for you?
Try in console: "led_dimmer 5" etc and check if it's visible

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

Hmm can you check and tell me which smallest dimmer value is visible for you?
Try in console: "led_dimmer 5" etc and check if it's visible

I can go as low as led_dimmer 1 without it shutting off. It will shut off at led_dimmer 0. It seems with the slider it will take it to 0.

@aargvark ah, so your suggestion is to make the slider on our HTTP page start at 1 instead of 0?
Well... that's a good idea.

p.kaczmarek2 wrote:

ah, so your suggestion is to make the slider on our HTTP page start at 1 instead of 0?

Yes, I guess that is my suggestion! :D

Added after 1 [hours] 18 [minutes]:

How does one know what channel to use for the pin?

@aargvark the standard is RGBCW, so R = 1, G = 2, B = 3, C = 4, W = 5
but it will also work if you start numbering from zero.
For CW, you can also just do C = 1, W = 2 (or again, it will also work if you start numbering from 0).

Firmware is flexible and autodetect current device type.

I've had a chance to map out the pins and how they correspond to buttons and IR.



Top is the button furthest away from the connection wires and Bottom is the closest. The IR and IR have continuity with the corresponding wires coming from the IR receiver at the base. I guess I'm a bit confused how this maps to the pin fields in the web interface:



This setup makes the Top button the power, Middle the color temperature, and Bottom the dimming.

Button behavior is a bit difficult because it registers actions for Button_OnLongPressHold, key_short_press, key_double_press, etc. For example, if the middle or bottom button issues a key_double_press command, the lights will turn on but can't be dimmed or have the color change. If it's powered on with a standard press, the other buttons work as they should with Button_OnLongPressHold dimming or changing color.

At least in my case, ideally I'd have:

Top button: Power on press (no other functions, no long press, double press, etc). Middle button: Press and hold to change color temperature (does not power the lights on or off). Bottom button: Press and hold to dim/brighten (does not power the lights on or off).

I guess to be a little more advanced, a double click of the middle or bottom button could take the lights to the highest color temperature or brightness, but my usage is for under cabinet lighting and I'd like it as simple as possible if someone in the family wants to adjust it.

I'm happy to run any tests or gather more data if it helps. Next I need to figure out the IR but first need to find the correct mapping.

Thanks!

Following up on this.... Is there anything I can help with to get this controller more documented?

Thanks!