I don’t think it’d be quite that bad… yes, you’d need to manually re-pair every device, but no re-naming is needed. I think it’d be the same as a zigbee channel change: delete the config backup json file and start pairing… devices will grab their old names as they’re added
That is far less work than what you propose doing, and will actually work… Also you dont have to rename… The friendly names are not what is used by z2m/zwave/mqtt/NR, they are literally just there for making it easier for you to know whats what 
BINGO
I’m not sure what you’re proposing, but if you simply use another controller, it will work. I have 2 controllers which I alternate between. I manually update 1 to the latest zigbee controller software, and leave the other as a spare. Then, next time, I upgrade the spare. Works for me.
@mike that Is exactly what I would like to do. I was curious about what you Need to do After you insert a new controller into an existing CORE environment. You plug It and then ?
And then start ZigBee2mqtt. It’s pretty simple really.
All the data is stored in ZigBee2mqtt
I’ve been following this thread and have just ordered another Sonoff zigbee dongle.
I’ve gone through this thread and think I have covered everything.
I’ve installed python on my win 11 pc.
I’ve been doing a dry run by putting in a non-existant com port in expecting it to fail with com port does not exist but I’m getting the following.
Here is the command.
py cc2538-bsl.py -e -w -v -p com20 --bootloader-sonoff-usb CC1352P2_CC2652P_launchpad_coordinator_20221102.hex
Here is the response.
C:\Users\bobgo\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe: can’t find ‘main’ module in ‘C:\Users\bobgo\cc2538-bsl.py’
I have defined the directory above and put the unzipped hex file and into the address as shown above.
As someone who can follow instructions relatively ok but cannot debug very well because of my lack of knowledge, I’m obviously missing something perfectly obvious and wondered if someone either had more comprehensive instructions for a thicko like me or can point me in the right direction.
Thanks.
EDIT: As I could not get this to work, I went down the ‘Flash Programmer 2’ route.
Unfortunately my win11 pc doesn’t appear to have a driver the recognises the Sonoff zigbee dongle.
I found a driver for it after much searching but this does not install. When I click on the *.inf fie to install the driver it opens a dialogue box asking if I want to continue. When I click yes it just opens a text file showing the contents of the file.
I totally flummoxed.
Any thoughts peeps?
Thanks all, the python method wasn’t as scary as it could’ve been. 
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Hi All,
I noticed there was a new Z-Stack firmware out see here. I applied it using the ZigstarGW here all working fine without issue.
Anyways just thought i’d let you guys know.
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Just following up to say the newest firmware works fine with CORE as expected. I haven’t encountered any problems with it.
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Just updated using the Python script and all seems to be working well. Not sure why I bothered… things were working just fine. Guess I was looking for a little excitement
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Smooth upgrade here too.
Correction - unable to see any of my zigbee devices… Investigating! 
Error I’m seeing:
Data request failed with error: ‘No network route’ (205). Firmware updated with no errors (CRC checksum fine). Have reverted firmware and getting the same error. Hmmmm
Am I being too impatient…? Does the Zigbee network just need to settle down…? I don’t recall having these issues when I upgraded last time (apart from plugging it into USB3).
Push buttons work - lights go on/off… I think I’ll leave it for an hour or two to settle…
Resolved Looks like I’ve had to power off/on the Lnnr plugs to bring them back to life! Odd. Anyone seen this behaviour? I’ll see what happens over next hour and then may pluck up courage to upgrade the firmware again! 
Final update: All working. Upgraded to 20230507 with no incident nor any restarting of Innr plugs required. Pass. Off to get a stiff drink!
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