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Third-party tools

The hardware pages use a small set of tools that the project does not make. This page lists each one, what it does on these panels, and where it comes from. Nothing here is required to run Panel Assistant on a supported panel; these are for gaining access, updating the WebView, analysing firmware and backing up or restoring partitions.

Tool Used for Where
adb (Android Debug Bridge) Every procedure on these pages: connecting over USB or the network (port 5555), adb root on userdebug builds, installing APKs, pulling partition images, adb reboot loader. The Android shell commands the pages use (getevent, dumpsys sensorservice, dumpsys webviewupdate, pm list features, wm density) run through it. adb is already included in the Home Assistant SSH add-on. Android developer documentation
SuperSU su 2.76 A persistent su binary installed to /system/xbin/su on the Sonoff NSPanel Pro, so that the panel app can reach root from its sandbox. See Gaining adb and root access. Not linked; a static binary copied with adb push
ultra-small-launcher A minimal launcher APK installed during the recovery-boot window on NSPanel Pro firmware 1.4 and later, so developer options can be reached again. Also used to recover a panel stuck on the vendor QR screen. Not linked
Tuya diagnostics app A vendor engineering app on the Tuya TPA10, reached from Developer options. While it is open, adb over USB is allowed without the password, which is the first-access route on that panel. See the TPA10 page. On the panel
Shizuku An approved shell identity that lets the panel app read climate input devices on the ZHICAI SMT1019 and ZX-SMT156 where no root helper is installed. It provides only a narrower subset than root. RikkaApps/Shizuku
Tool Used for Where
LineageOS System WebView The recommended replacement WebView (com.android.webview): version 138 for Android 8.1 (NSPanel Pro) and 150 for Android 10 and later (TPA10, S9E). Vanilla Chromium, so Home Assistant camera streams autoplay. Panel WebView mirror release
Cromite SystemWebView A fallback WebView (Cromite 147 on the TPA10). It blocks autoplay, which stops camera streams from starting without a tap. Use the SystemWebView build, not the Cromite browser app. Panel WebView mirror release
APKMirror An alternative source for the LineageOS WebView 138 APK. Its direct download links expire within the hour, so link to the page. APKMirror
Magisk OpenWebView A community route reported for updating the WebView on the Smatek S9E. Not linked
Shelly WebView update ZIP Shelly’s own package installing com.google.android.webview 119 on the original Wall Display. repo.shelly.cloud

See Updating the system WebView for which build suits each panel.

Tool Used for Where
rkdeveloptool The open-source, cross-platform Rockchip USB tool. Lists devices in Loader or Maskrom mode and restores a partition by name on the TPA10 and WF1589T. See Firmware backup and restore. rockchip-linux/rkdeveloptool
libusb The USB library rkdeveloptool is built against. libusb.info
WSL2 and usbipd-win Running rkdeveloptool on Windows: build it inside WSL2, and use usbipd bind and usbipd attach --wsl to pass the panel’s USB device through. WSL2, dorssel/usbipd-win
Docker An optional way to run rkdeveloptool from a container on a Linux host. It cannot reach USB from Docker Desktop on macOS or Windows. Docker
RKDevTool and AndroidTool The legacy Windows-only Rockchip GUIs, which need a special driver. The backup guide avoids them in favour of rkdeveloptool. Community NSPanel Pro reflash reports use AndroidTool in Maskrom mode. Radxa’s overview of Rockchip flashing tools
RKDumper Used with AndroidTool in community reports of raw NSPanel Pro reflashes over USB. Not linked
Tool Used for Where
nspanel_pro_roottool_apk (seaky) Rooting and recovery tooling for the NSPanel Pro 86P and 120P. Its issue threads are the source of the vendor storage, QR-screen and factory-reset facts. seaky/nspanel_pro_roottool_apk
nspanel_pro_tools_apk (seaky) NSPanelTools: NSPanel Pro tooling that includes firmware restore and can side-load the Sonoff Zigbee gateway package. Panel Assistant now supersedes it on almost every count; see Migrating from NSPanelTools. Its issue threads also document proximity firmware behaviour, the TPA10 access route and the Smatek S9E control paths. seaky/nspanel_pro_tools_apk
nspanel_pro_zigbee (seaky) Replaces the NSPanel Pro’s Zigbee host stack to run a full Zigbee2MQTT or ZHA coordinator on the panel. The panel app does not do this; it drives the vendor gateway as a router. seaky/nspanel_pro_zigbee
Tool Used for Where
curl and od Verifying a CDN firmware URL without downloading it: a range request returns 206 and the ZIP magic 50 4b 03 04. See NSPanel Pro firmware. curl
brotli Decompressing the .new.dat.br system images inside block-based OTA packages, as done for the Smatek S9E firmware. google/brotli
lpunpack Unpacking the Android dynamic-partition super image so build.prop and init scripts can be inspected. AOSP partition tools

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Build 93 · cb91a53