After the veralert service was shut down and Richard confirmed that it will not be available again, I searched for a new notification service to use in my vere secure. I signed up for the PushOver service.
I want to take a snapshot from a camera with camera snapshot address “192.168.4.37/img/snapshot.cgi?size=4&quality=1” and video address “192.168.4.37/img/video.mjpeg” according to a trigger.
Actually, someone (Tlex) did a work about this years ago on the vera forum, but I couldn't understand that script. I also wrote to him to be more descriptive, but I didn't get an answer. Can you help me with this?
I have an older Vera Plus controller that has been collecting dust for a little while. I know the hardware is no longer supported but I would prefer it to go to a good home vs the eWaste center. No charge, just pay for shipping and it's yours. If you are interested, let me know.
With their awesome new X10 switch!
dbe7408f-dc86-4932-bf71-f0528f5384c1-image.png
I'm hopping in my 1980s time machine to go see whether this is exactly what I think it is. 🙂
(Srsly, tho, I love(d) X10 and did everything humanly possible to keep that old equipment perking along with Vera, and almost succeeded.)
LibraP.S. Just got banned for the 9th time from Hubitat Forum, so had a little extra time to throw shade.
P.P.S. The boilerplate 5-star reviews for this brand-new product come from bots with names like Avery, Phoenix and Owen (two from Mateo!). Sheesh.
Let's assume you have done the following:
Downloaded and installed Z-Way following these instructions. No Zway license is required to do the following. The software is now all up and running with your UZB stick (whole other post). Dial up this Zway web page: http://<Zway_server_IP_address>:8083/expert/#/network/controller Under the heading "Firmware" take note of the "SDK version" and the "Serial API Version". Say they equal 6.71.01 & 05.23 respectively like it shows here.Now on to Vera:
Go to the Vera UI --> Z-Wave Settings and taken note of the "Version" shown for Vera's internal Zwave IC. For example purposes, say it equals "6.01". You plug your UZB stick into Vera. In the Z-Wave Settings you set the port to "/dev/ttyACM0" You've rebooted Vera, so that it starts using the UZB stick.OK, so what "Version" will Vera now display and the version of what? The version shown by Vera is the "Z-Wave protocol" version or the "Serial API" version - it's unclear which but I suspect the former. However on most occasions the numbers are the same. It's not the Software Developers Kit (SDK) version number.
Knowing the UZB firmware version you can identify what Vera will show with the following table.
From the example above: Zway stated the version as 5.23. It will show in Vera as version 4.61 - see table. However the Vera internals showed up as 6.01. So using this method to copy the Zwave configuration to the stick will not work, as the stick represents a downgrade and you can only do same to same or upgrades. So in this case you need to update the stick firmware from 5.23 to 5.32 as a minimum. Then the stick will show up in Vera with version of 6.01.
Which is great. So you then use the Zway software to upgrade the stick firmware. And that's the last you hear from it because this happens:
"Sorry to inform you, but there is a known issue in some UZB manufactured by our partners on license base that after upgrade they become bricked."
And you have to do this to unbrick it. So time to try someone else's stick. Sigh.
ZWay UZB version Vera version SDK version 5.39 6.09 6.82.01 6.08 6.82.00 6.07 6.81.06 6.06 6.81.05 6.05 6.81.04 6.04 6.81.03 6.03 6.81.02 5.37 6.02 6.81.01 5.36 6.02??? 6.81.00 ???? 5.33 6.02??? 6.81.00 ???? 5.32 6.01 6.81.00 5.03 6.71.03 5.02 6.71.02 5.27 BL 48059 4.61 6.71.0? 5.26 4.61 6.71.0? 5.23 4.61 6.71.01 4.6 6.71.00 5.2 4.6? 6.7?.00 5.16 4.6? 6.70.00 4.62 6.61.01 4.33 6.61.00 4.54 6.51.10 5.07 4.38 6.51.09 4.34 6.51.08 4.24 6.51.07 4.05 6.51.06 5.06 4.01 6.51.04 3.99 6.51.03 3.95 6.51.02 3.92 6.51.01 3.83 6.51.00 3.79 6.50.01 3.71 6.50.00 3.67 3.35 6.10.00 3.41 6.02.00 3.37 6.01.03 2.78The table is based on page 434 of silabs app INS13954 and the UZB firmware revision information found here. The table may have errors!
The vera can run both its zwave and zigbee network off of external USB radios instead of the onboard ones. This could have advantages in terms of portability, facilitating migrations or recoveries in case the vera craps out. It could also enable testing of newer radio firmwares.
Zwave is pretty straightforward as its serial API is standardized and the protocol is the same regardless of what brand of USB stick you use. I have run my vera off of USB sticks of various brands for years going from Aeotec, Zooz, Homeseer and even the most generic silabs/Sigma Design. You just insert the stick in the usb port, find out which serial port it created (under the /dev/ folder) and use that port (ie. /dev/ttyACM0, /dev/ttyUSB0 etc) in the zwave advance menu.
Zigbee is a little trickier as the protocol and chipset was not quite as standardized as zwave. The vera only works with ember Znet protocol and you will need to find a usb stick with an EM35x chip in it which already has an ember zigbee firmware loaded. One example of such a stick is the Go Control HUSBZB1 (dual zwave-zigbee stick). The port is not readily accessible on the vera UI but can be accessed either through editing of the /etc/cmh/user-data.json or through ALTUI by going into the hidden zigbee radio device through the "table devices " menu and changing modifying the port variable there.
You can also upgrade the onboard zwave and zigbee radio firmwares from the command line SSH...
incalzire.png
Hello everybody.
I would like to automate the underfloor heating. At the moment I have the gateway from vera secure and thermostat with receiver from SRT SECURE with z-wave. I would like to connect to the gateway a receiver with 4 channels from sonoff and 3 temperature and humidity sensors from aliexpress as a thermostat. do you think it is possible?
and one more question... how can I change the name of the wireless network and the password from the gateway?
Thank you very much!
Script to disable all the mios/vera proprietary program and broadcast its zwave and zigbee radio serial ports in your network so it can be picked up by another controller... For example z-way.
GitHub - rafale77/Nuke-Vera: Script to neuter the vera and broadcast its zwave and zigbee serial ports
GitHub - rafale77/Nuke-Vera: Script to neuter the vera and broadcast its zwave and zigbee serial ports
Script to neuter the vera and broadcast its zwave and zigbee serial ports - rafale77/Nuke-Vera
Good morning all,
I've got a stable Home Assistant running on a RPI 4 with a Aeotec Z-Stick 7 Plus, and of course the Z-wave JS integration. I've manually moved a handful of devices, and I'm overall much happier with the HA z-wave capability than I am with Vera. There are still some things I'm trying to figure out that I have in Vera that I'm not sure how they'll work in HA, but no deal breakers.
I've got all of my automation on MSR and off of luup Reactor, so really the only thing left for me is to migrate my Z-wave network. I saw @rafale77's post about using a Zwave.me UZB1 to Zway, but of course that's not what I'm using.
Is there a similar method that I can use my Aeotec Z-Stick 7 plus to Home Assistant? I have around 70 Z-wave devices (give or take devices that generate multiple instances in Vera), so manual unpairing, including, etc, would be quite a chore.
So ... I am trying to do the following:
Current setup:
Vera Plus (1.7.4955) Zwave only -> HASSIO VM (full control via Vera Integration)
Future Target:
HASSIO VM (leveraging zwave.me UZB1 dongle via USB)
I have done the following so far:
Updated UZB1 dongle (via RPi SmartHome) to latest 5.39 FirmwareI followed the following steps to try and migrate my existing Z-Wave NW (currently on Vera) onto the UZB1 dongle following the steps listed here:
Problem:
Steps 1-3: went fine (although the dumps are labeled as dongle.6.1.dump.x)
Step 4: went fine and the UZB1 was recognized as it should be (per dmesg)
Step 5: updating the port to /dev/ttyACM0 went fine, although I didn't see any indication of luup reload (or a save button for that matter when updating the port mapping)
Step 6: I did the touch for dongle.restore, but wasn't sure where to trigger a luup reload (I assumed it was Z-Wave Settings > Advanced > Reload Engine). I believe I got an error message when trying to do that step
Step 7: verify dongle.restore.go I don't recall being in the directions when I was going the test, but I rebooted
Post Reboot: None of my previous z-wave devices were listed. I also checked dmesg via ssh and noticed the following items:
[ 4.328000] Unsupported Device! [ 4.328000] Vendor=658 ProdID=200 [ 4.328000] Manufacturer= Product=I saw that item a couple times which almost seems like Vera is blocking the UZB1 or at least complaining about it.
I ended up switching the Z-Wave back to the embedded controller, and restoring configuration from backup.
Any suggestions what I did wrong??
Having trouble getting a Vera 3 to recognise a Z-Wave.Me UZB stick.
WinSCP indicates it's mounted at /dev/ttyACM0, so the Vera Z-Wave settings were adjusted to match. On a Luup engine reload Vera UI states: "ZWave : Failed To Start". Ditto for a complete Vera reboot.
Has anyone successfully used a UZB stick with a Vera 3?
Hello Everyone,
I am using iPhone locator on Vera, and yesterday it stopped working. Looking at the logs, I can see the connection is refused, but nothing on my end changed. iPhone locator is really important in my particular setup, so I guess I have two questions.
Is it broken, or is it me?
I don't see anyone else saying there is an issue, but I am not sure how many people are still using it (or Vera for location) at this point. I installed it on a blank Vera test controller, same issue. It might be something with the iCloud account, but it works everywhere else.
Is there something similar on another platform?
Mainly what I would like is the ability to force a poll of iCloud location on demand. I have a bunch of triggers setup, including magnetic sensors in my driveway to sense vehicles and determine if the motion is egress or ingress. These triggers in conjunction with MSR have been a great way to double check phone location, and I would hate to lose this functionality. It looks like HA might have something with "iCloud3". Is anyone using it?
Thanks,
Mike
@akbooer said in
The only thing left on Vera is now electricity meter readers, and I simply can't find any suitable WiFi replacement.
My hem stopped reporting this august and I’ve replaced it with a Shelly EM. I’m using another one on my solar and they’re amazing fast to report and quite precise. They’re WiFi, and mqtt based. Recommended!
Long story short: I need to tweak some parameters for Fibaro Plugs, to remove frequent notifications about watts (I just need a very good approximation, in order to detect the cycle of washer/dryer), but the parameters depend on the firmware version, and I have:
271,1554,21554
and the other one has:
271,4102,0
Any help is apprreciated.
Hi all! I am almost relieved from Vera 🙏. Around 65 decices to go. Of which some are on very hard places (under floor etc.). Is there any way to easily get the vera devices on the zwave network without repairing them per piece?
I think I knowthe answer, but I am asking 😉
Anyone installed the new beta f/w on their Vera unit and liking it?
Read https://community.ezlo.com/t/7-32-vera-firmware-beta-release/217060
Have Aeotec Smart Switch 6 in use with Vera Plus (fw 7.31 - 1.7.5186, decoupled) and now as I'm trying to change its configuration, it seems impossible.
Screenshot 2021-09-07 at 11.21.28.png
"Save changes" just initiates luup reload, but parameters stay the same. "Configure node right now" does not help either, Vera informs that command sent, but nothing happens. Hard refresh of the browser done.
Device itself is working, e.g. it reports current wattage.
"Automatically configure" is set to "No", if set to "Yes", configuration change is initiated but fails with the message "Failed at: Setting special association"
EDIT: in the end this was solved by unplugging the switch and then plugging it back, some internal state corrupted...
Hi there,
I know this was floating around on the other forum but just hoping someone can post the steps as I’m finally biting the bullet and moving to a USB stick and Zwave JS in home assistant.
Thanks!
So, I recently added Pi-Hole (pi-hole.net) to my networked clients for its open-sourced Ad and Tracker Blocking. Essentially, it’s a DNS Blacklisting solution and it can display the Domains being accessed.
To my dismay I’m seeing the VERA+ attempting calls to facebook.com on a regular basis between 20 – 70 minutes each.
The Active apps on VERA are Sercomm IP Camera, Amazon Alexa Helper, Garage Door, Foscam HD, Reator, SiteSensor and Ezlo Cameras. I just recently removed AltUI before disconnecting from the cloud services.
Any ideas on how I could track down the culprit caller?
Thanks for your consideration.
I've got a Nokia/Withings bathroom scale on which I weigh myself daily. I used to use IFTTT to push every weighing result into a Google Spreadsheet in the cloud, but now that I use MSR, I'm more interested in integrating this data into that workflow.
Has anyone figured out a way to move data from a WiFi-connected scale into the Vera environment? I don't mind trying something indirect, as for instance I've already linked the weights over to my Google Fit app.
Open to suggestions!
(Need Help) Migrate off Vera
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Current Hardware: Vera Plus, HA in Synology Docker
Firmware: v.7.0.31
Available SW / HW: Multiple RPi's, Z-Way UZB w/lic, Z-Way Razberry board
ZWave Devices: 30-ish early gen GE/Jasco light switchesIssue: I've gotten myself into a spot that I'm not quite sure how to safely get out of, and I'm hoping someone on this forum can help me. I would ultimately like to get to a point where I'm using Home Assistant in Docker on my Synology as my UI for turning on/off lights, but I've read the "Pyramid" post and am open to other options. I can currently ssh to my Vera Plus, but cannot access the web UI (get a 403).
How I Got Here:
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Back in Feb'19, I followed @rafale77's instructions to take my Vera off the grid. At the time, it looks like I was running version 7.0.26. This worked great.
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I installed HA in Docker w/socat on my Synology NAS, and things were running perfectly for a long time, but I was forced to upgrade HA in tandem with an upgrade to the iOS app. So, I chose to use a Docker build that already had socat built in.
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Then, I saw that there was a new version of firmware for Vera, and decided to upgrade to Firmware v.7.0.31 around Apr'20. This was a mistake in a big way, and I sought help on the new version of the Vera forums, which eventually led me here. I also re-ran @rafale77's mod files on the newer firmware version, and I think I shot myself in the foot there. I knew it was gamble, and take full responsibility. I've learned a lot and have benefitted greatly from his work.
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I tried to run the Nuke Vera script, as that sounded exactly what I needed my Vera to do - take commands from HA and nothing else. This seems to be working, but I'm unable to control my network with HA.
Additional things I've done / tried / worry about:
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Validated that HA is sending and receiving responses via socat from the Vera in the HA openzwave logs. I see logs that seem to indicate that a message is sent, and a message comes back from the Vera, but lights don't turn on/off. I've clicked the Heal Network, Test, Network, and Soft Reset buttons in the HA UI too.
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I purchased a razberry. Then, I ordered a UZB, after seeing this post about migrating, assuming that it was best to try to follow that guide verbatim and not have to exclude / include a bunch of devices. I'm leaning towards completely divorcing myself from Vera.
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I'm not 100% sure I have a valid backup of my zwave config. There are no dongle.dump files in /etc/cmh whch may make sense, as I was using after an external drive w/extroot. I do have some in ./mnt/sda2/etc/cmh/. It looks like I've got extra, actually, as it looks like I probably made backup copies some where along the way.
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I shutdown the Vera and removed the extroot drive, reversed all of the changes Nuke-Vera made to the init.d start up files, and rebooted. I did this because the migration guide mentions to set the path of the z-way UZB in the UI settings, and I couldn't find how do this over ssh. I also don't know how to backup the zwave config from the CLI and was going to do this via the UI. As mentioned previously, I'm getting a 403 "Access Denied" message. Looking at logs and the config for lighthttpd, I think it is trying to follow some symbolic links that no longer exist, but I'm hoping I can get out of the mess I've made without troubleshooting and solving the HTTPD issues. I think I just need to know how to follow the steps to clone the Vera to the UZB via the CLI?
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I found a command online method that allows me to view the zwave keys with hexdump. The keys on the device are different than the keys in on the drive that i was using for extroot, and that concerns me a bit.
If you've made this far, thanks for your time! Does anyone know the best way for me to get myself out of the mess I've got myself into?
All the best,
Michael -
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Welcome Michael,
You have a pretty convoluted story here. I think the best recommendation I can give you given the fact that you "only" have 30 zwave devices is to start from scratch using z-way since you already have a license for it.
There are other options: as you have already explored, making the vera a dump wireless bridge for HA but even I have given up on this, not so much because it doesn't work, it actually worked quite well, but because of the maintenance around it and the brick prone nature of these arm based embedded devices.
Once you have moved your devices on z-way, you have several options to bind them to home assistant:- Homebridge which has a z-way component allowing your z-way devices to all show up on Homekit. You can then use the HA Homekit component to connect them.
- Wait for the openzwave integration of z-way which is work in progress from the z-way team and will enable any controller using openzwave to talk to the z-way API.
As for your problem, as I was upgrading my vera firmware, I started noticing what I suspected was active efforts to undermine my improvement hacks to the vera, breaking functionalities etc and accelerated my abandonment of the platform. There are of course other complications to the migrations as well with the vera zwave backup/recovery tool not supporting newer versions of zwave SDK and causing the migration to fail. Not sure how you lost your zwave network config backups either and how up to date they maybe but again, for 30 devices, I would just start from scratch. If it was more, I would probably spend more time trying to recover the network data.
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@rafale77 said in (Need Help) Migrate off Vera:
I think the best recommendation I can give you given the fact that you "only" have 30 zwave devices is to start from scratch using z-way since you already have a license for it.
For less complicated reasons I abandoned Vera with about this many devices. It wasn’t awful to start from scratch but I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t frustrating to have to get to that point. I moved all zwave devices to Zway with only a few hiccups.
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Thanks a million for the quick reply! I was afraid that a total rebuild might be required. I was hoping to avoid it as I've had to replace a GE/Jasco switch or two, and it's never worked smoothly. But, my fingers are crossed that my troubles were coming from the Vera and not the GE switches. Almost all switches are early generation GE 1272#: paddle switch, dimmer, fan control or add-on/3way. I'll start the process and update this post with my experience. Thanks again!
I forgot to mention, that along with the z-way UZB and razzbery devices, I also have a Aeotec Z-Stick Gen5. I've never used any of those three. I had early intentions of using the Aeotec as backup, but never got around to it. I've got some more research to do, but hopefully I can build something that is resilient out of all these parts.
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@cubs2b23 said in (Need Help) Migrate off Vera:
For less complicated reasons I abandoned Vera with about this many devices. It wasn’t awful to start from scratch but I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t frustrating to have to get to that point. I moved all zwave devices to Zway with only a few hiccups.
Frustrating for sure. So, much so, that I've been avoiding fixing my broken set up for quite a long time .... thanks for sharing your experience!
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I did the full rebuild as well, but i did a smooth transition using VeraBridge to take them over slowly while still having the automation operational (to OpenLuup that is), first the Reactorsensors, then devices.
One thing before you start, check that the firmware on the UZB is up to date! Mine had some very old firmware installed, which made some strange errors combined with the latest Z-Way version which assumes the UZB firmware has latest capabilities. And remember to verify that the FW is "Normal" type, Not "Bridge".
See this post for the route i had to go to update UZB.
Haven't regreted this for a second, Z-way works great! including/excluding works so much better than in vera, and you can monitor the interview process when you do it as well.
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Thanks for the additional advice, much appreciated! Another thing I should note is that I really never got around to “automation”, other than some simple experimentation. In fact, the only event that was ever implemented long term was turning off/on outside lights at sun rise/sun set. So, at least from that perspective, there isn’t much loss or rework to do. The number one use case is allowing my wife to turn lights on/off remotely using HA iOS app. I’ve taught her how to do this via VPN to the home, and have also used the Nabu Casa Remote UI option too, which is arguably less secure, but I wanted to support the project. I digress. It sounds like the work in front of me is:
- getting z-way installed
- getting the correct UZB firmware installed
- walking the house and migrating each light switch
- setting up the integration between HA, homebridge, and z-way
- (future) research and make use of the extra razzberry and/or aoetec to create some sort of fault tolerance. (Maybe even mod the razzberry with external antennas).
- (future) figure what to do with the Vera plus...use it as a personal HW hacking project, factory reset and sell on eBay, or donate to someone who is still fighting for that cause.
- (future) pick up a mini-pc to replace rPI’s for a more robust setup. My Plex setup is running off an older i5 NUC, which I’ve considered upgrading, but it would be overkill if repurposed for this task ... I’m going to need something centrally located.
I’m happy to have found this forum, look forward to jumping back in to things, and hopefully I’ll be able to help the next person that gets “stuck” like me.
All the best,
Michael -
Sorry for not being of much more help. I know how painful it is to start from scratch and it is exactly what I was trying to avoid. It is also a big benefit of z-wave vs other protocols had it not been because of vera's broken implementation. It is just that I can't really get into how to recover your vera and it is likely a lot more work than to start fresh.
When/if you get more into the automation part, you will start running into pretty steep learning curves with HA too which is why I vastly prefer doing it on openLuup and others with HA use node-red. @toggledbits is also working on an alternative: Super reactor. The one ring to rule them all. Which I forgot to mention in my previous post.
PS: I tend to recommend against using the aeotec stick because of its specificities. It has no firmware upgrade path so you are stuck on an old SDK version. They released a new stick with a new SDK but the firmware is not upgradable. I have one and it's been a brick. Reminds me that I should probably get rid of it.
