Anyone know what would cause this java error in smartlife connect RGBW light (connect) smartapp?

my lixada h801 RGBW controller fails to connect ,i can see it in my router dashboard client list
but discovery fails every time and keep seeing this error pop up

" error java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke method startsWith() on null object @ line 646" "

after adding the controller manually in the smart app ,deleting it and re-adding it manually about 20 times it finally showed up once under things but behavior was completely erratic and it was not useable
on/off is the about the only thing that worked state reporting was erratic
SSDP is working for my other devices, HUE bridge, etc