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[How-To] Z-Wave Devices

casedacaseda Member
edited May 2016 in Questions & Help

Association Groups when adding your device (Non-Secure):

When adding your Z-Wave device that don't support Secure communication, you are asked to what Association Group it needs to send its Data to.
This can be 2 choices:
  1. Directly to other Nodes (not the controller) to let them go on, and/or off.
  2. To the controller, and let the controller handle all the Data (This option is the most Common).
To know which Group the controller is, you need to look in the manual as to what Group the Controller is at.
As this is different for every Device and Firm-Ware, for now, you will need to look it up in their corresponding manual.

Most of the time this is specified as:
  • Association Group that should not be modified.
  • Report status to just one/single device.
  • Lifeline.
Adding it to a Group to directly control other Nodes, just don't bother... with Homey this is practically impossible at the moment.

Association Groups after adding your device:

In the settings menu after you added your device you can still add Homey's Node ID (which is most of the time: 1), to different Association Groups.
This is ment for the different things you want to be sent to your controller, like:
  • Motion
  • Tamper
  • Temperature
  • Lux
  • Watt
  • Kilo Watt per Hour
This does not always work though, and not always homey's fault, as not all devices receive these settings properly all the time.
Sometimes it is Homey's fault, just like (most of) the Parameters they are just not send properly.

But sometimes, it does work properly, just Trial and Error at the moment.
You can't do anything wrong here without it being able to be corrected again afterwards.

It is also not always stated very User Friendly in the manual's, just look for Key words like the ones given above.
If the description of the said Associate Group is still unclear, just don't change anything in that Group, it's most likely like "Note 1".

Note 1:
The default settings should be sufficient for most devices, so nothing needs to be configured.

Wakeup Interval:

This is the amount of time, in seconds, the Device wakes up to:
  • Recieve Parameters
  • See if there is still a (stable) connection between the Device and Controller
  • Send all data it has to the controller
At the moment, it is not recommended to put the amount of seconds below 1800 (half an hour).
Putting it lower can cause the Device to crash.

Parameters:

Then there are the Parameters to "Advanced Configure" your devices.
And are just to tweak the behavior (cosmetic/measurement/send interval) of your device.
Some parameters other then the Default Settings, can be bad for the battery life.

Parameters are constructed in 3 parts with the parts being separated by a comma ( , ), also in this specific order:
  1. Parameter, this ranges from 0 to 255
  2. Byte, this specifies the amount of bytes that are being send, either 1, 2 or 4.
  3. Value, this is the value that is send to the device.
When adding multiple parameters, the parameters should be separated by semicolons ( ; ), for example:
20,1,0;80,1,0

Note 2:
Parameters are different for every device, and firmware.
So make sure you consult the appropriate manual.

Note 3 (Edited on: 13-05-2016):
Pre v0.8.33:
Homey does have some trouble to send the parameters correctly until Firmware v0.8.32:

All 1 Byte Parameters are being send properly.
This means all the (simpel) parameters can be changed like:
  • Tamper Sensitivity
  • LED Signaling
  • LED Brightness
  • Tamper Indication
All 2 Byte and 4 Byte parameters are being send with the bytes flipped front to back.
This can be solved manually by changing your seconds to Bytes with a decimal to byte converter (link below), and just flip the Bytes (8 bits per byte) around.

v0.8.33 and later:
The Byteflip bug seems to have been resolved from this update onward, so all parameters are being send to the device properly again.

Troubleshoot:

If no data is being reported back to the controller (Homey) at all,
look into the Association Groups to see if the right associations are being made.
If the right associations are being made, at the wake-up of the sensor (triggered manually, or at the wakup interval (Default: 7200 Seconds)), 
the full data set should be send to controller (Homey), and thus visible in Insights or Device Data.

Parameters are just for tweaking the behavior of the sensor and do not determine the (main) communication with the controller (Homey).
So do not need to be looked at for this.

If you still can't get your device to work, please search the Forum AND Github if your issue is already been submitted.
If your issue is not in there, please submit your issue on github

Useful Links:

Athom Github:
   https://github.com/athombv/homey/issues
Wikipedia Z-Wave:
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z-Wave

Commenly Used Brands:
   Fibaro Manuals:
      http://manuals.fibaro.com
   Aeotec (Aeon) Manuals:
      http://aeotec.com/support
   Qubino Manuals:
      http://qubino.com/downloads-pdf

Device Libraries (configuration websites):
   Z-Wave Alliance:
      http://products.z-wavealliance.org/regions/1/categories/
   Pepper One:
      http://www.pepper1.net/zwavedb/

Parameter Issue pre-v0.8.33:
  Github Issue #464:
    https://github.com/athombv/homey/issues/464
  Testing Results:
    https://forum.athom.com/discussion/comment/21342/#Comment_21342
    https://github.com/athombv/homey/issues/492#issuecomment-217574766
  Decimal to Byte Converter:
    https://www.mathsisfun.com/binary-decimal-hexadecimal-converter.html

If you know more, have suggestions or something is still unclear, just ask/suggest.
So i can edit this post for future references.

Contributors:
Forum:
Fire69; BasVanDenBosch; TedTolboom; DaneeDeKruyff;
Github:
Robinyoh;
«1

Comments

  • BasPostBasPost Member
    Thank you very much for this excellent How-to!  
    If possible, please make this a sticky topic!
  • DaneeDeKruyffDaneeDeKruyff Member
    I don't think the parameter range is 1 to 99, I've seen higher numbers, in my best guess they range 1-255.
    On an Aeotec MultiSensor 6 it is also possible to change the report frequency (111,4,1800 set z-wave wakeup interval to 1800)
    Also, humidity is reported @ 0.8.30
  • casedacaseda Member
    @DaneeDeKruyff ;
    That actually makes a lot of sense, the range being 0 - 255 = 1 byte. 
    Changing it.
  • MarcoFMarcoF Member
    edited April 2016
    Nice How-To and great you guys put time into this!
    Lets now hope the How-To will, accept from the parameter part, soon be unnecessary :smile: 
    (which means Athom made this whole config/asso thingie a lot more user friendly).


  • phil_sphil_s Member
    great, thx!
  • TedTolboomTedTolboom Member
    @caseda I would add the link to the Fibaro manuals : http://manuals.fibaro.com/ it holds all manuals but also quite illustrative instruction video's (e.g. manual wake-up / reset of module)

    And to complement:
    Aeotec support page: http://aeotec.com/support
    Qubino support page: http://qubino.com/downloads-pdf/?Donald

    For the Greenwave Powernodes, I am only able to find 3rd party websites with manuals...

  • rob_houwelingrob_houweling Member
    edited April 2016
    Awesome, nice work you guys!!!  Hopefully @Emile  or @Stefan can make this a sticky post, well worth it IMHO...
  • casedacaseda Member
    @TedTolboom ;
    Good suggestion. 
    I will add an "Useful Links" section when I get home. 
    Little bit too cumbersome to do this edit on my phone :D

  • MarcoFMarcoF Member
    Why sticky post? Then we can make all "explaining" post sticky. 
    It's possible to make post favorite, so please make it favorite and/or point others to it. Also if people search the forum, the will find it.

  • Henk_KuipersHenk_Kuipers Member
    I configured Homey as secondary controller, Vera Lite as primary, it works very well:
    - Start your Homey
    - In Vera Lite, backup you network and create a full backup just to be safe
    - In Vera Lite (UI7) click on Settings, Zwave-settings, Advanced, Controller Shift
    - Vera will add Homey as a scene controller, Homey will add all zwave devices to your homey environment
    - You need to give names to all the devices, the are new devices to Homey and you need to assign the devices to rooms again
    My reasons to configure this way are:
    - I have several devices of which I suspected that Homey would not recognize them (e.g. Danfoss Thermostats, readings from 'Slimme Meter', IP camera)
    - I have an extensive Z-wave network, this is a quick to start experimenting with Homey without messing up your current working home automation environment
  • DaneeDeKruyffDaneeDeKruyff Member

    Usefull to find configuration capabilities:

    http://products.z-wavealliance.org/regions/1/categories

    http://www.pepper1.net/zwavedb/device

  • RobinVanKekemRobinVanKekem Member
    Henk_Kuipers said:
    I configured Homey as secondary controller, Vera Lite as primary, it works very well:
    - Start your Homey
    - In Vera Lite, backup you network and create a full backup just to be safe
    - In Vera Lite (UI7) click on Settings, Zwave-settings, Advanced, Controller Shift
    - Vera will add Homey as a scene controller, Homey will add all zwave devices to your homey environment
    - You need to give names to all the devices, the are new devices to Homey and you need to assign the devices to rooms again
    My reasons to configure this way are:
    - I have several devices of which I suspected that Homey would not recognize them (e.g. Danfoss Thermostats, readings from 'Slimme Meter', IP camera)
    - I have an extensive Z-wave network, this is a quick to start experimenting with Homey without messing up your current working home automation environment
    When I start a controller shift, shouldn't I already have Homey included?
  • PeaoPeao Member
    I don't know where this question fits the best and I didn't want to create a thread for it because it is very specific, but I guess here someone with z-wave knowledge will read it ;):

    I bought two D-Link Door/Window-Sensor and did setup them exactly the same way (different nodes, though ;) ). But one of them stop working (submiting changes of alarm/temp/lux) when the other one is included in the z-wave network. From that point it will only submit if I wake it up manually. But when I exclude the other sensor it is working fine again.

    The other sensor requires always a manual wakeup to submit anything, no matter if there are two D-Link sensors connected.

    Here is a screenshot from the working sensor. The otherone looks the same besides it is node 45.
    Note: I already did to set the association for group 2 to homey (1), but it vanishes after I close the window/wakeup.

    Thanks in advance. 


  • casedacaseda Member
    edited April 2016
    @Peao ;
    You've put the wake up interval on 86400 = 24 hours.!
    default = 7200 = 1 hour
    I think this is your problem. 

    Plus adding Homey's I'd to group 2 gets removed thanks to the UI.
    Because it states that there cannot be any id's (see the information icon on the right) and shouldn't be changed. 
    Which is fault, it should standard be homey's I'd, not empty.
    If you add homey's I'd here and save it will still be submitted though (most of the times) 
  • PeaoPeao Member
    ok thanks, will try it. When i added the sensors the 86400 was as default in there :neutral: . 
    But I am still wondering why one sensor is affected by the other one.
  • casedacaseda Member
    @Peao ;
    I will try to look into that when I can find a spot for it today :smile: 

    Maybe d-link is using different default values, including one for communicating to other nodes
  • ReemsterReemster Member
    Are there people here, who has already successfully use there Fibaro Motion sensors with Homey? when i add them there is no response (so no Generic Alarm, when motion) or the Generic Alarm is always ON  :/ and never goes OFF.. 
  • casedacaseda Member
    edited April 2016
    @Reemster ;;

    Before you read on, first tell us what version you are using of the sensor.. 2.5 - 2.8, or the new 3.2 with z-wave+.
    If 2.5 to 2.8 version (then it's probably 2.7) please read on

    If you got the new version, read this threat:
    https://forum.athom.com/discussion/comment/19555/

    FW v2.7:
    I am using them, 7 in total

    When you add it, are you using Group 3? Like the manual stated

    If you do, do you wake up the sensor once, after adding it to homey (it really need this) 

    If so, did you wait 30 seconds for it to go in alarm off. 

    If so, did you try to add a parameter in the range of 1 to 12, if you did you need to delete the sensor, reset the sensor, add again and don't use any of these parameters they will brick your sensor in always alarm mode. 
  • arthurarthur Member
    Hi Caseda,

    Can you post your Fibaro Motion sensor settings for us to reference?
    I'm using one (V2.7), motion reporting works but as of a sudden Luminance and Temperature settings are not being received anymore by Homey. It used to work, and I suspect yesterdays experimental  firmware update is the problem but i'm not sure.
  • casedacaseda Member
    @arthur ;
    There have always been problems when it comes to lighting and temperature reading of the Fibaro Motion sensor to homey.
    Most of the times only on every wakeup interval.
    (don't try to put this below 1800 seconds it will cause problems)

    I am not using these because I don't want to use them at the moment for this exact reason.
    Am testing it with every new release for changes, however nothing changed up until now. 

    I have just the default settings except for 2 parameters (20,1,0;80,1,0, tamper off and led when motion off)

    I can't make a screen of the settings though, because my homey crashed yesterday evening (now 7x already in 9 days :neutral: which only fixes with full reset & wipe unfortunately)
    And still trying to figure out the exact reason. 
  • arthurarthur Member

    @caseda;

    Good to hear your experience on this as well, but sad that light and temp reading is still unreliable. Hopefully the guys at Athom fix that soon. I will do some more testing and I will post any notable findings as well here.

  • ReemsterReemster Member
    edited April 2016
    caseda said:
    @Reemster ;;;

    Before you read on, first tell us what version you are using of the sensor.. 2.5 - 2.8, or the new 3.2 with z-wave+.
    If 2.5 to 2.8 version (then it's probably 2.7) please read on

    If you got the new version, read this threat:
    https://forum.athom.com/discussion/comment/19555/

    Thanks for the info. i didnt know that i must wakeup the sensor after adding it. 

    The problem is, it worked only for a couple of time.. now its always on, ON... so boehoe. .. I have version 2.7 btw.
    Z-wave is just not stable at the moment in Homey. 
  • ReemsterReemster Member
    Weird, its working again  :o .... 
  • casedacaseda Member
    edited April 2016
    Be careful, at the moment the sensor stays on for 30 seconds before turning off the alarm, it can not be changed yet because of a bug

    Or maybe you are moving the sensor around, the sensor has a tamper option that is on by default and triggers the same alarm as the motion. (it triggers when you move it)
    You can turn the Tamper off by adding this parameter : 20,1,0
    in the configuration window of the sensor
    Or leave it on but don't move it around :)
  • ReemsterReemster Member
    caseda said:
    maybe you are moving the sensor around, the sensor has a tamper option that is on by default and triggers the same alarm as the motion. (it triggers when you move it)
    You can turn the Tamper off by adding this parameter : 20,1,0
    in the configuration window of the sensor
    Or leave it on but don't move it around :)
    No, that's was not the case. i use your parameters : 20,1,0;80,1,0, 

    I don't know why its not working before.. its working perfect now  :# for the first time! next project are the Fibaro fire sensors.  
  • Henk_KuipersHenk_Kuipers Member
    RobinVanKekem said:
    Henk_Kuipers said:
    I configured Homey as secondary controller, Vera Lite as primary, it works very well:
    - Start your Homey
    - In Vera Lite, backup you network and create a full backup just to be safe
    - In Vera Lite (UI7) click on Settings, Zwave-settings, Advanced, Controller Shift
    - Vera will add Homey as a scene controller, Homey will add all zwave devices to your homey environment
    - You need to give names to all the devices, the are new devices to Homey and you need to assign the devices to rooms again
    My reasons to configure this way are:
    - I have several devices of which I suspected that Homey would not recognize them (e.g. Danfoss Thermostats, readings from 'Slimme Meter', IP camera)
    - I have an extensive Z-wave network, this is a quick to start experimenting with Homey without messing up your current working home automation environment
    When I start a controller shift, shouldn't I already have Homey included?
    No, when I started controller shift it included Homey in my Vera Lite and it was set up as a scene controller. In homey all z-wave devices started to appear.
  • RobinVanKekemRobinVanKekem Member
    Thanks!

    But how does the other controller know where to shift to?
    And which command do I give Homey?
  • Henk_KuipersHenk_Kuipers Member
    edited April 2016
    Thanks!

    But how does the other controller know where to shift to?
    And which command do I give Homey?
    I didn't give any command on homey, I did a fresh boot and when it was up I performed the controller shift. Vera included homey after that... (sorry I should have written the post right after performing the inclusion, see next post)
  • Henk_KuipersHenk_Kuipers Member
    Henk_Kuipers said:
    RobinVanKekem said:
    Thanks!

    But how does the other controller know where to shift to?
    And which command do I give Homey?
    I didn't give any command on homey, I did a fresh boot and when it was up I performed the controller shift. Vera included homey after that...
    Oops, my memory is failing me. No on homey I did: Instellingen/Settings, Z-Wave, Inclusion. Homey can then be included by Vera.
  • RobinVanKekemRobinVanKekem Member
    Ah, great I'll try to include it.
    But I noticed that both me controllers have ID 1, I know that an ID is assigned when being included, but inclusion failed for me.
    Using Domoticz with a fairly old Z-Wave razzberry.

    I'll try some more.
    Thanks!
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