A Room Lighting Dim mystery

I used to do this in WebCore but the Fade function is a bit weird as it calls itself on every transition step and seems to run through the piston each time it does. It doesn't just Fade and go to the next command so it messes with the rest of the piston.

So, I thought I would try RL.
I can't seem to get the Fade/transition to happen.
I have modified the Devices in the group as they have transitions times from ASAP to 5s in combination with the RL transition setting - none to 5 s and mainly get the switch to just turn off instantly.
Has anyone cracked the combination that allows the devices to dim without conflict?

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The settings like "level transition time" in your second (device) screenshot just provide a default time if one isn't specified for the matching command, like "Set Level" (which allows passing an optional transition time). The "device transition time" setting in RL (your first screenshot) will provide this value. So, the device settings probably won't do much for you, but this should work from RL if your device supports this value on the command. Test that directly from the device detail page first.

Many devices do not support transition times for "Off" commands, and the RL option you've specified is just for activation, so it wouldn't affect that. It would probably be helpful to explain more of what you're trying to do. Rare drivers, apparently including the one you're using (one of the Advanced Zigbee light family of drivers, from a guess -- this can be good information to share, too), might support this as a device preference. I'd again use the commands on the device detail page to test this with your specific device, as particularly with the aforementioned driver, not all bulbs will work with all features of this driver, and you might be running into that.

But basically, make sure you can get what you want with the commands (and maybe preferences) on the device detail page itself. If it doesn't work there, it's not going to work with any app, either -- they just call the same commands for you. An exception is the options phrased like "Transition time in seconds", which use an in-app mechanism to evaluate the desired outcome versus the current state and send repeated commands -- at your specified interval -- to get there at the specified time. This can be useful if your device doesn't work with the device/driver-dependent commands, but it does depend on accurate state reporting from the devices to work reliably.

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Well for one, I stand here stupid.
Duh, transition is in the Activate Lights paragraph!
I'll fiddle with the individual devices first and see if I can get them to actually work as the driver prefs indicate.

So they operate via the driver when dimming with a delay but instant when using the RL group actuator.
The key seems to be a mix of Set Level (nn), Start Level Change (down) | Run and then Off as the fade stops at 1 or 0 but doesn't issue an Off command at that point.
None of this faffing around seems to translate into an Off command in Room Lighting so I'll have a go at doing this in WebCore if all the Group Activator commands are available.

Do you have Zigbee group broadcasting enabled, assuming these are all Zigbee devices (still guessing without the information, but at least that one screenshot looks like it)? If so, that will cause the activator to use Zigbee group messages, which will basically ignore any device/driver-specific preferences for these kinds of transition time since it doesn't go through the individual device drivers (but is almost always more reliable if you have a bunch of devices to control at the same time).

Yes, RL has the ZB activate group commands.
I have managed to get it to work in WC but it's messy.
Seems dimming to 0 ust means off so you can only dim to 1 and then Off.
You also need a delay otherwise the Setlevel 1 over 4 seconds jumps to the next command - Off and just stops the fade and turns off; then the incomplete fade turns the light back on. Lovely.
I'll play with not having the Group Commands on.

This works but you have to match the delay with the fade timing.

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I didn't realize turning off the Group messaging frees up the devices to use their preferences. :slight_smile:
With that off the bulbs do what they are supposed to with one line of code; setlevel to 0%. :slight_smile:
I always had that on as I found the groups were never behaving in sync.
I'll leave that one ZB Groupless and see what happens with it's behaviour.