Alexa shows wrong device type for Qubino DIN Dimmer

MrFarmer · August 10, 2022, 3:37pm

Hi,

Taking my first steps with Hubitat, but have long experience with other (Z-Wave) platforms.

I included two Qubino DIN Dimmers without a temp sensor. Hence only a dimmer device on the Hub.

However, when I enable the dimmers on Alexa they show as device type Temperature Sensor. They do respond correctly to spoken on/off commands, and when in a group, but you cannot control the device in the Alexa app.

Looking at the Amazon Echo Skill status page I see three lined for the Qubino Din Dimmer for level, temperature, and switch. As these devices do not have a temperature sensor, that entry should not be there.

Is there a way to change how the Amazon Echo Skill reports the device type to Alexa? Or do I need to wait on a code update from Hubitat?

Cheers Rene

aaiyar · August 11, 2022, 11:11am

Not to my knowledge.

The work around would be to create a virtual dimmer corresponding to each of your Qubino dimmers.

Expose these virtual dimmers to Alexa, and not the Qubino dimmer. Then setup automations (using the Mirror app) where changes to the virtual dimmer are mirrored by the actual dimmer).

ritchierich · August 11, 2022, 12:28pm

Another alternative to @aaiyar’s mirrored device option is to use a custom driver instead where you remove the temperature capability. Most of SmartThings Groovy device handlers can be ported with a few edits. I found Qubinos device handlers on their support website and the DIN DTH here:

github.com

kjamsek/SmartThings/blob/master/DeviceHandlers/Qubino/DIN_Dimmer/QubinoDINDimmerDeviceHandler.groovy

/**
 *  Qubino DIN Dimmer
 *	Device Handler 
 *	Version 1.0
 *  Date: 4.9.2017
 *	Author: Kristjan Jam&scaron;ek (Kjamsek), Goap d.o.o.
 *  Copyright 2017 Kristjan Jam&scaron;ek
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 *
 * |---------------------------- DEVICE HANDLER FOR QUBINO DIN DIMMER Z-WAVE DEVICE -------------------------------------------------------|  
 *	The handler supports all unsecure functions of the Qubino DIN Dimmer device, except configurable inputs. Configuration parameters and

This file has been truncated. show original

ritchierich · August 11, 2022, 4:32pm

@MrFarmer I don't have a Qubino DIN (I have a Flush 1D) but happy to attempt to modify this driver to attempt to get it to work for you. Let me know.

aaiyar · August 11, 2022, 4:36pm

This is a much better option, and eliminates the need to keep a virtual device in sync with a physical device - definitely the way to go!

MrFarmer · August 11, 2022, 8:53pm

Thanks for the pointers. I copied the driver took out the temp capability and related functions. I had to replace "physicalgraph"with "hubitat" in the zwave events, but other then that it seems to be working. This driver now also exposes all the configuration variables.

I looked at the development documentation, but that seems, eh well, minimal at best. Any other sources I could use?

Cheers Rene

ritchierich · August 12, 2022, 1:16pm

Awesome glad you got it working.

Other than what’s in the Qubino support site you can always reach out to them for further questions.

MrFarmer · September 9, 2022, 10:13am

Hi,

I updated the driver code and it is found on github here Qubino DIN Dimmer Driver no Temp

Cheers Rene

MrFarmer · December 1, 2022, 10:03am

Hi,
Did some enhancements to my custom DIN Dimmer driver:

Added ChangeLevel support
Changed on/off commands from set level to basic on/off. Rewrite of some functions.
Added sure support. However, do not! include with S0 security as DIN dimmer will drop from network.

For me it this driver works like a charm, also with Alexa.

phjalmarsson · October 21, 2023, 12:02pm

Hi @MrFarmer ! Thanks for putting the driver out there for the community. Just wanted to let you know that there is an extra "}" on line 609 of your code.

Any updates on the driver situation? I'm still fighting with the unresponsiveness of some lamps when turning several on/off at the same time through scenes or similar.

Rgds, Peter

MrFarmer · October 23, 2023, 8:08am

Thanks Peter, i corrected the github code.

i am not turning many on or off through a scene, so I do not see the issue you do. Only tip I have is to check the logs for anything.

Cheers Rene

phjalmarsson · January 7, 2025, 8:26pm

Just wanted to let you and anyone else fighting with this know: the issue is with the firmware Hubitat is using in their Z-Wave stick. I also assume its the same issue in their integrated solution in newer boxes; I have the same issue in both my EU C-5 boxes using the external stick, and both my EU C7:s using box-integrated Z-Wave.

How do I know? Well, after fighting with this for YEARS, on first Smartthings, and then three different Hubitat boxes Hubitat, I decided to start a Home Assistant instance on my Windows server and try to get that to work. And as soon as I did, it let me know that the firmware on the stick from Hubitat had severe known bugs, and needed an update. Which of course Hubitat never managed to tell me; neither in the user interface nor from support. I can only assume they don't have a clue...

The forware upgrade was not entirely painless, but that was just because I was stupid and decided to upgrade to the latest (stable) version instead of the recommended version, and downgrading was a pain in the #¤%.

But once the correct upgrade was in place, the warnings disappeared, and everything has been smooth sailing since. All my devices has now been migrated to Home Assistant, scenes and automations created, and everything works perfectly. Honestly, Home Assistant is just so much ahead of Hubitat in nearly everything that it is not even funny. HA is just as easy (although different...) to work with as long as you don't need to do anything super-complicated*), and driver support is unparallelled. I have some weird stuff that I never got to work on Hubitat, and in HA it just works. Amazing.

I still keep my Hubitat around, but just as a gateway to Google Home, because I'm to cheap to pay for the service in HA.

*) Just about everything that you can do on Hubitat can be done easily with HA. The complex stuff that really takes you into the dreaded .yaml config files is generally not possible with Hubitat anyway.

oldcomputerwiz · January 7, 2025, 8:46pm

Glad you found a platform that works for you.