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    (Last Updated: 24 September 2021)
    • How to reset kwh

      B

      Aften some testing I watt to clear KWH how ?

      Regards Bjarne

      General Discussion
    • ChatGPT - finally I can now retyre in piece and quite, knowing everting is in goof hands.

      A

      ChatGPT samples:

      Me:

      Tell me about an iot program called openLuup.

      It:

      OpenLuup is an open source home automation system that is built on the VeraLuup platform. It is designed to be easy to install and configure, and provides users with a powerful and versatile way to control their home automation devices. OpenLuup offers a wide range of features, including support for many popular home automation devices, scheduling, scripting, and integration with other services. OpenLuup is designed to be customizable, allowing users to create their own home automation systems. It is an excellent choice for those looking to create their own home automation system without spending a lot of money.

      Me:

      Write an iot program using openLuup.

      It:

      --openLuup IoT Program-- -- Initialize Variables -- local device_id = "MyHomeDevice" local temperature_sensor_id = "MyTemperatureSensor" local temperature_threshold = 75 -- Create Devices -- luup.create_device("OpenLuup Temperature Sensor", 0, device_id, "D_GenericSensor1.xml", "I_GenericSensor1.xml", "S_TemperatureSensor1.xml", "") luup.variable_set("urn:upnp-org:serviceId:TemperatureSensor1", "CurrentTemperature", 0, device_id) -- Start Timer -- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) --Function to Check Temperature-- function check_temperature() local current_temperature = luup.variable_get(temperature_sensor_id, "CurrentTemperature", 0) --Check Temperature Threshold-- if current_temperature >= temperature_threshold then --Send Alert-- luup.call_action("urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:HomeAutomationGateway1", "SendTextMessage", {PhoneNumber="1234567890", Message="ALERT! Temperature exceeded threshold!"}, 0) end --Reset Timer-- luup.call_delay("check_temperature", 10, "", false) end

      Me:

      Write an iot program using openLuup.

      It:

      Write an iot program using openLuup. -- openLuup IOT Program -- -- Variables local lampState = false local lampTime = 0 -- Functions function lampTimer() if lampTime > 0 then lampTime = lampTime - 1 if lampTime == 0 then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 0, lampDeviceID) lampState = false end end end -- Setup luup.call_delay('lampTimer', 60, 0) -- Main Loop while true do -- Check for motion if luup.variable_get('urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:MotionSensor1', 'Tripped', motionSensorDeviceID) == '1' then if not lampState then luup.variable_set('urn:upnp-org:serviceId:SwitchPower1', 'Status', 1, lampDeviceID) lampState = true -- Set lamp timer to 5 minutes lampTime = 300 end end luup.sleep(1) end

      What??

      luup.sleep(1)

      Not good - looks like I still have some semblance of a job to fulfill.

      Me:

      An iot program called openLuup was written by akbooer. Who is akbooer?

      It: (note: answer redacted and as I understand it, also incorrect re: AltUI):

      akbooer is the pseudonym of the software developer and home automation enthusiast. He is the creator of the openLuup home automation software, which is an open-source version of the Vera home automation system. He is also the creator of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.

      Me:

      Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for openLuup.

      and

      Me:

      Who created of the AltUI graphical user interface for the home automation system Vera.

      Names two different people - mmmm.

      Regardless very impressive - give it a few more years.

      General Discussion
    • Short survey

      P

      Hi,
      I am a student and recently i am working on smart home project and writing a seminar paper about the way users handle and manage IoT devices. I you have 3 min, please fill below survey. Its really short.
      Thank you in advance, I really appreciate everyone's help.

      General Discussion
    • Need help in finding the right smart switch for my kitchen lights

      M

      Hello,
      I have a kitchen light that can be controlled by two switches, using either to turn it off or on. I have been slowly changing things over to be a smart home but this is the first switch I am attempting to install.
      I am in a double wide modular home (mobile) that was built in 1994.
      At first I thought I would need a 3 way switch but when taking the normal switches apart I realized that was incorrect because the wiring on my switches are different than anything I could find online.
      For one a 3 way smart switch requires 5 wires and there are only 2 wires going into the primary switch with 3 wires going into the secondary switch from the primary switch (at least I think the 3 wires connect the two switches together). Images will be attached of the wiring.
      There are two wires (one black and one white) going into the first switch and 3 wires (black, white, and red) going out of that and into the second switch (I assume). The odd thing is the red wire going to the second switch is connected to the white wire going into the first switch and the white wire going into the second switch seems to be a bridge wire or a traveler wire. Not exactly sure. You will see what I mean in the images.
      I need to know what kind of smart switch I can use in this set up with one remaining a normal switch.
      Note that for some reason the images got switched around when uploading them. The image with 2 wires on one side and 3 on the other is what I think is the primary and the image with just 3 wires is the secondary.
      Primary.jpg Secondary.jpg

      General Discussion
    • OT: Universal Remote

      CatmanV2

      You lot are more likely to have a view than most I know. Our much used Logitech Harmony is (not so) slowly dying.

      And Logitech have discontinued the entire line.

      And no one else appears to be making something similar.

      Was going for a Sofabaton X1, but no numeric keypad. Sofabaton U1, but no favourites.

      Anyone got suggestions?
      Needs to have those features, oh and not be only a phone app.....

      C

      General Discussion
    • The Home Automation Controller Pyramid

      rafale77

      Since one member asked at one point about the "front end" and "back end", I drew this showing the controller from the base to the tip along with what I have found to be the best options from my testing. Almost every controller will try to integrate all elements, especially commercial ones but... they all have strengths and weaknesses so if one can have a medley of the best ones...

      Screen Shot 2020-05-14 at 07.11.06.png

      General Discussion
    • Thread removed - why?

      Black Cat

      I was just going to add my support for a Update Button for the bare bones version of MSR and find the thread has been removed.
      I'm wondering what was so provocative that required it's removal?
      Have we become as paranoid as an owner of another forum?

      Anyway +1 for an Update Button.

      General Discussion
    • 3-way smart switches in separate buildings.

      D

      So, I think I'm in a bit of an unusual situation. I work at a camp & retreat center that has wifi throughout. I want to put a few switches in the office that can control outdoor lighting throughout the camp. We currently have switches in each of the buildings, but it is a particularly frustrating job to get all the lights on in the evening when it is brutally cold out or we are short staffed.

      Most of our staff is not very tech savvy (my boss literally has his wife print out his emails for him each day!!!) so, I'd love to avoid having to set up any sort of raspberry pi or new phone app.

      Is there type of 3-way switch that can connect to the wifi, turn on a light in another building AND turn on an indicator light in the office, without having any sort of wire running between the buildings? Hopefully looking for a simple solution without breaking the bank too.

      I greatly appreciate any input that you can give. Thank you!

      General Discussion
    • X-10 replacement for a new wall switch (HomeKit)

      G

      I have a X10 wall switch system and I want to get rid of it. What would be the easiest transition to something more modern and easy to use with either wifi/homekit capabilities? My current X10 controls 3 zones in my bedroom. All zones are dimmable.
      Zone 1 is 4 canister ceiling lights. LED bulbs
      Zone 2 is 1 canister ceiling lights. Halogen Bulb
      Zone 3 is 1 canister ceiling lights. Halogen Bulb
      I have an old plug-in remote from Radio Shack and a wall switch with 3 buttons, each controlling one zone. (images attached)
      My wall switch has one two wires from the wall. One black, one white.

      Is there any solution easy to install without the need of an electrician? Thanks for any feedback.

      ij455pd333061.jpg.jpeg ttsjhpd333061.jpg.jpeg

      General Discussion
    For those who registered but didn't received the confirmation email, please send an email to support@smarthome.community with the email you used

    Controller shift - How do you do it ?

    General Discussion
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    • parkerc
      parkerc last edited by

      A while back the z-wave module on my veraplus stopped working and as it couldnt be fixed, I bought an external usb z-wave dongle UZB1 (which I plugged in and setup on ‘port’ /dev/ttyACM0 ) which made it operational again, and I’ve been using it again since.

      Recently I picked up a new (well 2nd hand) VeraPlus unit and tried to do a full system/zwave network restore from the original one, but it didn’t work.

      The restore looked like it worked fine, as it brought everything over, but when nothing worked, I checked the z-wave ‘port’ settings on the new unit, and it too had been set to use an external usb (/dev/ttyACM0) which it obviously doesn’t have , but when I changed it back to the onboard zwave module (/dev/ttyS0) all the z-wave devices disappeared.

      To fix this, it sounds like I need to do a controller shift to get the details off the UZB1 key and onto the zwave chip on the veraplus board ?

      However not having done one before I’m not sure if the process is - any ideas ?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • rafale77
        rafale77 last edited by rafale77

        I am afraid a controller shift will not help in this case. The problem stems from rigidity of the restore tool of the vera. What you are observing is completely expected.
        The vera controller backup contains two things:

        1. The user-data file along with all your plugin data.
        2. The zwave dongle network backup.

        When you did the restore from backup step on your new vera, your user-data had your port as /dev/ttyACM0 so during the restoration the vera attempted to restore the zwave network to that port which obviously did not exist. What you need to do now that you changed the zwave serial port back to the vera onboard chip, is to manually grab the latest dongle backup file from the old vera (it's in /etc/cmh-ludl) and move it to the new vera in the same location. Use SFTP to do this.
        Then SSH into the new vera and run

        touch /etc/cmh-ludl/dongle.restore
        

        then reload luup. It should normally restore your previous zwave network configuration into the new vera zwave chip.
        Another alternative is of course to just plug your uzb zwave dongle into the new vera.... I actually prefer using USB these days for exactly this kind of moves.

        To be clear on what a controller shift does:
        It is a combination of inclusion of a new controller and moving the zwave master flag from the master controller to the new controller. The problem with this is the node numbering and will leave you with the vera not being node 1 on your zwave network. It could be ok but some devices may not like it. Sensors for example may have issues with their lifeline associations. The lifeline association is essentially a direct relation to the target controller a device reports its data to. The controller shift was very relevant for the time when zwave was just controlling lights from a controller which was a remote control. After that it has become less and less useful.

        parkerc 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • parkerc
          parkerc last edited by

          Thanks @rafale77

          Coincidentally Vera support got back to me with the following instructions. (FYI)

          To do the Z-Wave network shift on the controller, you need to follow these steps:

          • Make sure both controllers are connected to the same LAN.
          • Go to "User & Account info" -> "Security" -> make sure the option "Enable UPnP" is checked.
          • Go to "Settings" -> "Net & Wi-Fi" -> make sure the option "Auto-detect devices in my home network" is checked.
          • On the controller that will send the network, go to "Settings" -> "Z-Wave Settings" -> "Advanced" -> click "Go" on "Controller shift."
          • On the controller that will receive the network, go to "Settings" -> "Z-Wave Settings" -> "Advanced" -> click "Go" on "Copy Z-Wave network from a primary controller."
          • The process should take place in the next few minutes.
          rafale77 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • rafale77
            rafale77 @parkerc last edited by rafale77

            @parkerc

            Nope, not the best answer. That will get you a new controller with a new zwave node ID. It will work for switches and lightbulbs but anything which needs instant status or sensor reporting will fail.

            You will have to do a lot of reconfiguration of devices and some devices may not work. When I migrated my vera zwave network to z-way, I ended doing a lot of cleanup because of the number of times I had migrated from vera to vera. The screenshot below is one of the reason why I favor z-way. I have full visibility of what the associations are, what they are and I can update them. They are configuration parameters inside the devices. Not in the controller just like the neighbor node information.

            Screen Shot 2021-03-02 at 09.25.23.png

            In your case "cloning" the zwave dongle is the best answer but it is not documented or supported officially by vera.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • parkerc
              parkerc last edited by

              @rafale77

              How is the controller shift instructions provided by Vera above , differ from your suggestion to manually grab the latest dongle backup file from the old vera (in /etc/cmh-ludl) and move it to the new vera, into the same location and then run ‘touch /etc/cmh-ludl/dongle.restore’

              The both seem to be copying the Z-Wave network from a original (primary) controller to the new one ?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • rafale77
                rafale77 last edited by rafale77

                No it is actually very different.

                The controller shift is an actual zwave protocol function, not a vera function. What it does is:

                1. include new controller (meaning add new controller to network and give it a new node ID, send network data to new controller over zwave (RF))
                2. assign new controller as master, unassigned current controller master flag.

                The old controller will remain node 1 until you use the new controller to exclude it. Actually I can't remember with if it actually excludes itself. I don't believe it does. You end up with 2 controllers on your network. One master, one slave and you have shifted the master from one to the other.

                The process I gave you clones all the data from one controller chip to the other using the backup file over the serial API of the zwave dongle. It means that they will both have the same node ID "1" and you don't need to do anything to your devices. You however have to take down the old controller or your network will be confused with 2 controllers with the same ID. Or if you tinker like me, keep the old USB dongle as a backup in case the internal one fails so you can stick it in just in case but in any case, you should unplug it and not use both at the same time.

                The whole upnp think they ask you to do is to make sure the two vera see one another so they can transfer your user-data... including your security key but you can do that using backup/restore.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • parkerc
                  parkerc last edited by parkerc

                  Does the version of z-wave firmware play any part in this ?

                  My UZB1 usb stick is on 4.05 L:1 - Role: Suc SIS: YES PRI: YES
                  The new Vera is on 6.01 L:1 - Role: Master SIS: NO PRI: YES

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • rafale77
                    rafale77 last edited by rafale77

                    The vera upgrades from SDK to SDK very well(unless the new chip has an even newer firmware which the vera did not know of). It is part of their firmware update process. It is downgrading which is more of a challenge. I don't think you'll have any problems.

                    Fun fact, I had even upgraded my vera's zwave chip firmware far beyond what vera officially supported and had no problems.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • parkerc
                      parkerc last edited by parkerc

                      Hi @rafale77

                      With your help, could we make this ‘shift’ run almost like a batch like process on the same device, by that I mean.

                      After doing a backup of the old Vera and a restore onto the new one.
                      Could I move the UZB1 USB dongle onto the new VeraPlus, ensuring it’s operational and working first under /dev/ttyACM0
                      Then is there a set of commands I could run that does the cloning straight off from /dev/ttyACM0 (UZB1) onto to /dev/ttyS0 (onboard) ?
                      And then ideally at the end of that, could it update the new Vera z-wave config to now look at /dev/ttyS0 (onboard) allowing me to move the UZB1 dongle (and store it away) ?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • rafale77
                        rafale77 last edited by

                        It's not a very hard thing to do but I unfortunately gave away most of my veras and only have a couple of bricked ones left so I can't test this.
                        There was another way which was to manipulate the zwave serial port inside your backup user-data.json which is what I had to do but it takes decompressing your backup and the user-data.json.lzo and the compress it back and then restore that backup.
                        The silliness of the backup restore process is that it is very rigid and doesn't allow you to restore to a different serial port than what your original backup file. What I gave you should work though... manually grab the last dongle file from one unit, move it to the other one and with your UI already showing the new target serial port, start a dongle restore.

                        As I previously said, I also highly recommend you stay with the usb stick. It likely has greater range and upgradeability.

                        parkerc 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • parkerc
                          parkerc @rafale77 last edited by parkerc

                          @rafale77 said in Controller shift - How do you do it ?:

                          I also highly recommend you stay with the usb stick. It likely has greater range and upgradeability.

                          I’d actually seriously consider that, but the upgrading route for the z-way UZB1 dongle, seems so unnecessarily complicated .

                          One of the reasons for getting the new Vera was because a Fibaro RGBW Module was appearing as many multiple nodes, and Vera support had a look and seemed to suggest it was due to the z-wave version I was running.

                          parkerc said in Controller shift - How do you do it ?:

                          My UZB1 usb stick is on 4.05 L:1 - Role: Suc SIS: YES PRI: YES
                          The new Vera is on 6.01 L:1 - Role: Master SIS: NO PRI: YES

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • rafale77
                            rafale77 last edited by

                            upgrading firmware on a UZB is actually quite easy...
                            what is the brand of your stick?

                            Sep 28, 2018

                            Updating firmware on Silicon Labs Z-wave UZB USB sticks

                            Updating firmware on Silicon Labs Z-wave UZB USB sticks

                            There may be occasions when it becomes necessary to update the firmware of Silicon Labs Z-wave UZB controller USB sticks. Firmware updates may be needed when new SDKs are released or a change in UZB functionality is required. UZB firmware can be updated using Silicon Labs Windows based Z-Wave...

                            parkerc 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • parkerc
                              parkerc @rafale77 last edited by

                              @rafale77 said in Controller shift - How do you do it ?:

                              what is the brand of your stick?

                              Z-wave.me - ZMEEUZB

                              UZB
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • rafale77
                                rafale77 last edited by

                                Ahhhhh then this is what you need:

                                https://z-wave.me/zmeserialupdater-manual/

                                and it is indeed a little more complicated due to the need of following this crazy map:

                                https://service.z-wave.me/expertui/uzb-stats/versions-graph.html
                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • parkerc
                                  parkerc last edited by

                                  Yep, that’s it 🙂 and I think you even helped me a while back, as that ‘crazy map’ was doing me head in.

                                  Trying to follow it drove me crazy !

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • rafale77
                                    rafale77 last edited by

                                    I can help you read through it and break down the commands to upgrade if you want me to. What is your current firmware version?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • parkerc
                                      parkerc @rafale77 last edited by parkerc

                                      @rafale77 said in Controller shift - How do you do it ?:

                                      What you need to do now that you changed the zwave serial port back to the vera onboard chip, is to manually grab the latest dongle backup file from the old vera (it's in /etc/cmh-ludl) and move it to the new vera in the same location. Use SFTP to do this.
                                      Then SSH into the new vera and run
                                      touch /etc/cmh-ludl/dongle.restore

                                      then reload luup. It should normally restore your previous zwave network configuration into the new vera zwave chip

                                      Hi @rafale77

                                      Picking this up again as i have managed to find a bit of time - and looking on my Vera I can’t see that a dongle.restore.sh file, plus the dongle files seem to be in /etc/cmh rather than /etc/cmh-ludl see below..

                                      root@MiOS_55100454:/# find -name dongle*.*
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.0
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.1
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.2
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.3
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.4
                                      ./etc/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.5
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.0
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.1
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.2
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.3
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.4
                                      ./ezmi/cmh/dongle.4.5.dump.5
                                      root@MiOS_55100454:/#
                                      

                                      Any ideas where the dongle.restore file might be or if it’s called something different ?

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • parkerc
                                        parkerc last edited by parkerc

                                        Have looked here too, which has helped a bit.. https://smarthome.community/topic/199/problem-migration-z-wave-nw-from-vera-to-uzb1-dongle?_=1632067117298

                                        The issue seems to be the dongle.restore file requirements

                                        If it helps, i found this within the ./mios/www/cgi-bin/cmh/restore.sh file

                                        if [ "$FORM_dongle" == "1" ]; then
                                                        # LuaUPnP will restore the Z-Wave backup file if it finds the 'dongle.restore.go' file.
                                                        # To prevent LuaUPnP from restoring a dongle backup until the next boot,
                                                        # we'll save the file as 'dongle.restore', and the 'Start_cmh.sh' script will rename it to 'dongle.restore.go'.
                                                        log "Create $MIOS_CONF_PATH/dongle.restore"
                                                        touch "$MIOS_CONF_PATH/dongle.restore" 2>>$log_file
                                                fi
                                        
                                        

                                        And then looking in ./usr/bin/Start_cmh.sh the reference there is..

                                        # to prevent LuaUPnP from restoring a dongle backup until the next boot, 
                                        # the web ui saves .restore and LU looks for .go
                                        mv /etc/cmh/dongle.restore /etc/cmh/dongle.restore.go || /bin/true
                                        

                                        Sadly not much further forward…

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • CatmanV2
                                          CatmanV2 last edited by

                                          I don't want to be stupid, but have you actually made a backup? Unless it's automatic and storing locally.....

                                          C

                                          The Ex-Vera abuser know as CatmanV2.....

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • parkerc
                                            parkerc last edited by

                                            Yep, I have made a local back up. (Inc z-wave network) and have it stored locally

                                            Both Veras are on the network, I first went into the veraplus with the usb zwave dongle and did the full backup, saved it locally and then logged into the VeraSecure and did the restore.

                                            Everything but the zwave devices was restored and based on what @rafale77 had said before my issue is that it’s trying to restore back to an /dev/ttyACM0 dongle, rather than the onboard one /dev/ttyS0

                                            I somehow need to get the zwave records onto the right tty..

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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