Is it possible to support zigbee remote controls for RGBW, like this one?

📢 Feedback Feature Requests
21

Just received an RGBgenie ZigBee Remote. Looks decent, has a nice solid feel to it and not cheapo slick plastic. I also really like the magnetic mount that (whether intentional or not) also acts pretty well as a stand. The only thing I think I could wish it did (without it actually working properly, more below) is if it had a bigger status LED that was also RGBW. That way when you select something from the color wheel it would give you immediate feedback regarding what it was TRYING to set the color to.

As for whether it works... No idea yet. It was not recognized as any particular type and a couple Generic ZigBee drivers I tried did not get anything to show up in the current state. BUT I was expecting this from posts in another thread, but there is hope that it will work in the future.

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22

It does work, but not with any current drivers.

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23

Ok... maybe I should have phrased it as "functional with my Hubitat". :slight_smile:

It did pair readily, but I do not plan on using Touch-Link so I will patiently wait for drivers (I am just gaining some confidence in simple drivers, dealing with ZigBee is quite beyond me). I have enough other projects to keep me busy even if I ignored my HE for a bit (which is not possible, too interesting and "fun" to mess with).

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24

I got hopeful when I saw Update 2.1.2 listed an RGBGenie... but it is for the ZB-512x not the ZB-5028 I have, and nothing appeared to be working. But wait! I removed the remote, factory reset it, and paired it again and it was detected by the new driver. It showed the correct model and reported it as a 5 button remote.

I am guessing the driver is designed to work more with the plain button models (like https://rgbgenie.com/?product=rgbgenie-3-zone-4-scene-remote-zigbee rather than the RGBW model (like https://rgbgenie.com/?product=rgbgenie-rgbw-remote-zigbee.

In any case... button presses are recognized, somewhat. Checking the log I found that the following presses are detected (what is reported = what the button is listed as in the remote manual):

  1. Button 1 = NONE
  2. Button 2 = S1, S2, and S3 (Any scene control button triggered as button 2 in the log)
  3. Button 3 = NONE
  4. Button 4 = All on/off (when first pressed on)
  5. Button 5 = All on/off (when pressed off, if the red LED was still on)
  6. The following buttons and color wheel (per the remote manual) did not get registered in the logs:
    White
    Color Wheel
    Zone 1 to 4
    Decrease brightness
    Increase brightness
    Built in effects (short or long press)
    White Light Temperature
25

Yeah, wrong driver, the color remote isn't done, but you will get some functionality using the driver written for the wall mount decora controller.

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26

No problem, I mean it IS specifically labeled as such so I was not expecting much. The fact that some of it works might help if you folks are working on a separate driver for the RGBW remote.

27

It's 90 percent done already...

28

Any chance this driver was finished? Just picked up a ZB-5008 remote and would like to use via hubitat

29

It should work..

30

Are you sure it's a 5008? The model number they have been selling for a while is 5028, which I believe is the exact same remote with newer firmware. There is a driver for the remote, just look for the one for the 5028.

31

The amazon order says ZB-5008, maybe its the 5028 and they didnt update the amazon listing? How can I tell?

32

When you get the remote it should say which version it is. @Gnant, Are you guys still shipping the ZB-5008 or are they all ZB-5028s now?

If anyone will know, it'll be this guy. :slight_smile:

33

this is odd, the model number on the website still shows as zb-5008

34

is the same as zb-5028, same firmware with the exception of the manufacrurer and model number.

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35

@mike.maxwell, thanks for the help, one last question. In your opinion, should I pair the rgbgenie products directly to hubitat and use a hue bridge?

36

There are two ways to go with this particular remote. You can pair it directly to the Hue bridge and use touchlink to bind the remote to the Hue lights. This is a more complex process than adding directly to Hubitat and you can only control items on your Hue bridge.

If you pair it directly to Hubitat, you can control the hue bulbs, plus any other lighting on your hub. Even Z-wave and WiFi enabled devices.

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37

@Gnant I just got a ZB-5008 to control Z-wave RGBW bulbs with it via Hubitat. I'm not seeing how to connect the remote to the bulbs though? I tried the button controller app but that seems to only expose the scene buttons on the remote. Any idea?

38

Use the built-in Mirror app.

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39

As @aaiyar said, the built-in Mirror app needs to be installed to map devices to the remotes 4 zones. It has been helpful to me to rename the endpoints created (EP01, EPO2, etc.) as I have multiple remotes and it makes it easier to find them in Mirror.

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40

Thanks @Gnant and @aaiyar, that worked :slight_smile: The problem now is that my hub is too far and I'd need to have repeaters or something. And even in hub range, there is quite some lag and missed commands between remote button presses and bulbs updating.

So I'll probably replace the Z-Wave bulbs with Zigbee bulbs which apparently can be paired directly to the RGBGenie ZB-5028/5008 remote so that should give me no lag or range issues, but no hub integration which is ok for the room this is for.

I'm still very surprised by the lack of good remotes in the smart home world. I can't even find a single RGBW Z-wave remote.