USB serial console

The USB-C port is not only a power input. It is also a serial console, and ZiggyMeter uses it to narrate what it is doing: boot, configuration, network state, every meter readout and every failure.

It needs no network, no login and no configuration. When something is not working, this is the fastest way to find out why.

Connecting

Plug in a USB-C cable and open the port your operating system assigns.

Setting	Value
Baud rate	115200
Data bits	8
Parity	None
Stop bits	1
Flow control	None

Any terminal program works — PuTTY or TeraTerm on Windows, screen or minicom on Linux and macOS, or the serial monitor built into VS Code and the Arduino IDE.

# Linux / macOS
screen /dev/ttyACM0 115200

Example output

1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Booting up...
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Firmware version: 1.0.629-release
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Reset reason: Power-on
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Clock is not synced, time is not correct
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Configuration loaded
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Timezone: UTC (default)
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Daylight Saving Time: inactive
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Schedule: enabled=true unit=hours value=4 trigger=00:00 day=1
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Home Assistant integration: disabled
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Power save mode: auto (power save on battery only)
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Power source: external
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Power save mode: disabled
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Zigbee disabled
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z WiFi activation mode: always on
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z WiFi mode: Access Point
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z WiFi enabled
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z Starting meter readout
1970-01-01 00:00:00Z WiFi Access Point started, waiting for clients to connect
1970-01-01 00:00:09Z Failed to get meter identification. Check if meter is connected and compatible.
1970-01-01 00:00:09Z Meter readout failed

Reading it

Line	What it tells you
Firmware version	Which release is running, without logging in
Reset reason	Power-on is normal. A different reason after an unexplained restart is worth reporting.
Clock is not synced	Timestamps start from 1970 until the clock is set, over Zigbee, NTP or by hand — expected on a fresh boot
Schedule: ...	The full reading schedule as the device understands it
Power source	external for USB-C, battery otherwise
WiFi mode	Access Point or the network it is joining
Failed to get meter identification	The device is not hearing the meter at all — an alignment or optical problem, not a protocol one

That last distinction is the one that saves the most time. If identification succeeds but the readout still fails, the optical link is fine and the problem is protocol configuration — see Meter protocols rather than remounting the device.