[RELEASE] Unofficial iBlinds driver - v2 and v3

I have a few v1 and v2 v2 and v2.1 modules (I think these are the exact same aside from a translucent case on the v2.1 and possibly other hardware changes that don't affect functionality; software-wise, they seem identical, and both are 500-series Z-Wave, and I'm not sure what "v1" was if it ever existed publicly). I just pre-ordered a v3 because I can't help myself (and I'm curious what's different; 700-series Z-Wave sounds promising, as do some of the touted features, though most seem like ones already doable on the driver side if you use Hubitat). Don't tell my SO. (Yes, I have a couple v2 modules I haven't even installed yet... :grimacing:)

As for your questions:

  • Hubitat's "Set Level" comand specification requires an optional duration (meaning the command must accept one if provided, but you do not have to provide one; notice the lack of asterisk on the device page for this parameter). I'm just following the standard command requirements here, but I have yet to see the duration actually matter, so you might as well leave it off. I pass it along in what should be the standard Z-Wave fashion (Z-Wave, I think, also requires this for the command class I'm using), but the devices just move at whatever speed they want and apparently the only speed at which they can move.
  • "Set Level" and "Set Position" are identical and used to set the slat position, open or closed (or some percentage in between, with 0 being closed down, 50 being flat open, and 99-100 being closed up). The "Set Position" command is the "real" Hubitat command for this (coming from the standard "Window Shade" capability designed for this purpose), but "Set Level" is there (coming from the "Switch Level" capability most often seen on dimmers and bulbs) because it makes the device much more widely compatible with apps that expect dimmer-type devices. It also helps with some voice assistants (or did; Alexa can probably handle real Window Shade devices now, but I'm not sure about Google).

and:

  • You can tell Alexa to set a specific level (because mine is a dimmer, something I can probably adjust now but left this way, I say "dim the living room BLLLIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNDDDZZZZZ to 99%" to close them; I assume Google could do the same). Yes, I have to say "blinds" like that or it insists on hearing "lights" instead. :slight_smile:
  • Picos don't support "dimming" commands per se, but any app that can use a Pico may be able to send them. Button Controller or Rule Machine would work well here--that's what I'm using for many of mine. I'm also using my custom Dimmer Button Controller app on some but want to re-work that into a "Blinds Button Controller" app to accommodate some things that might help it work better (like the fact that these devices don't report their status back and this driver just requests it after it's likely to be done moving...kinda curious if v3 are different here, and I hope they are).
  • Yes, my driver also implements the "Switch" capability ("On" and "Off" commands plus the "switch" attribute/state). "On" is configurable but by default opens to 50%. "Off" will close them to level 0.

I'm mostly happy with mine, except one or two I seem to need to "reboot" on occasion to get responding again (turning the battery off for a few seconds and back on). I've also had to un-join and re-join one to my network once when it stopped responding and this didn't help. I hope this is just bad luck on my side and not a common occurrence...

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Thanks for all the excellent info. Your secrets about dozens of unused iBlinds are safe with me, as long as you send me one. :wink:

You've sold me, I'm going to order one of the v3 and see if it works well enough to be our main blind control for some new windows were adding to the house.

Hopefully this works out, if not, as usual I'll blame the internet. :sunglasses:

One thing I forgot...can I connect a wall charger to the charging port 24\7, rather than having to charge it up every few months?

They don't say you can, but I don't see why not--physically you definitely can, though it might be a bit ugly and hard to hide the cord (but to mitigate that, you could keep the "external" button and USB port inside the headrail; I pretty much ended up doing this on a couple blinds where it didn't really fit in the old tilt string cutout anyway). You may have seen that they sell a solar panel for more or less this same purpose, keeping it charged, and I have a couple of those too that seem to work well so far.

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Just ordered one of the v3 for initial testing. Happy to do any testing for any updates you may make to your driver when they arrive. :slight_smile: Assuming it works out and has reasonable WAF, we'll get these for all the blinds when we do our remodel (start is still 2-3 months out).

Forgot to mention, they do list some new features w/the v3 blinds. Maybe opening/closing speed really will be configurable (like setting dimming speed). I assume "Direction" means they will support what you already have, making the blinds close upwards.

Configurable:

  • Direction
  • Speed
  • Calibration
  • Preset Open

See this thread for info on the new features in the V3 iBlinds shipping in November 2020.

Orders up to 10/23/2020 are discounted from $149 to $119 on the iBlinds site.

For anyone with the new v3 units, I've updated my original post in this thread. Hubitat now has a built in driver for the v3 units, so if that works for you, there's no reason to use anything else. iBlinds is also providing a driver for v3 from themselves, but I'm still not a fan of it for reasons similar to their v2 driver (notably, it reports state changes as soon as you send a command, so Hubitat may not accurately reflect the real device state; this is less excusable on v3 than it was on v2 since the v3 units actually report state back on their own--and it also means that if you're using my v2 driver that tried to work around this, I would use either my v3 driver or Hubitat's driver instead on those rather than the v2 driver, as it does not need to work around the oddities that v2 has).

So, I threw together a v3 driver and updated the original post with that, too. :slight_smile: I haven't used Hubitat's driver much to see how it compares, but off the top of my head it looks like Hubitat went with pure "Window Shade" capability on theirs rather than "Switch" (on/off commands) and "Switch Level" (setLevel command, like a dimmer), which is totally fine and probably ideal except that some apps and voice assistants don't like those as much, so you may find increased compatibility here (and they can still be commented out in my driver if you want to be that pure). I also didn't make use of the "opening" and "closing" states while the device is in transition, as I really only want events to be generated when the device actually reports something (and it doesn't report this, just when it's done).

I haven't tested all of the parameters, but I added them to my driver according to what the manual says. If anyone tries it out, let me know! :smiley: I've been testing it on the one I have and it seems to be working fine for me so far.

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Just started using your v3 driver (thank you!) and so far zero issues. Even little micro-adjustments (e.g., change level from level 49 to 55) are handled smoothly, the iBlinds 3.1 driver from iBlinds didn't handle those types of changes very well.

Looks like excellent work so far, and greatly appreciated.

Any plans to put into HPM for easier install for some, and for broader exposure to HE users?

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Tempting, but I'm guessing Hubitat's build-in drivers would work well for most new users at this point given that they'd probably have a v3, but I certainly could if there is
interest!

I'm not sure why, but it looks like theirs uses 0 for the rate/duration of the "Set Level" if you don't provide one, which is probably just as fast as the blinds can move. Mine just doesn't pass a specified duration on to the command to the device at all in this case, which I will assume use whatever the rate is set to via the Z-Wave parameter (new in v3) for this. Or you can provide your own for "Set Level" (but not "Set Position," per the Hubitat capability definitions; these are otherwise equivalent in my driver and all blinds/shades drivers I know of).

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I certainly have interest in that, particularly when it's so easy when referring folks to it, for them to install it and keep it updated. (And I like the auto-update that HPM enables as well. :slight_smile: )

Woot - Update!

Greetings, everyone! I just updated my v2 and v3 drivers:

  • v2 with some minor fixes (mostly regarding the battery reports--you have to make the v2 units do this because they apparently don't send anything back on their own, ever)
  • v3 with some minor fixes and enhancements (all Z-Wave parameters exposed except the Z-Wave reporting one that must be set to a specific value for the driver to work well with Hubitat; ability to set default "open" level).
  • Both have also been updated to update the "position" attribute, which I appear to have been neglecting before in favor of just "level." (They are synonymous in my driver; using both makes them more widely compatible with apps. You can comment out the Switch and SwitchLevel things if this is problematic, or you could consider Hubitat's built-in driver that is a "pure" WindowShade.)
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This updated version of the driver is working great for me. Both of my blinds installed so far are showing accurate anc consistent status, and respond to commands as expected. Excellent work, @bertabcd1234, thanks very much for sharing this w/us.

@bertabcd1234...is it possible to add an additional preference, similar to the existing "Open Command opens to" setting.

What I'd like is the opposite "Close Command closes to" setting, so that my wife can use simple "open/close" voice commands via GH, and the blind will close to a specific close position w/out her having to tell GH the setting as a dimmer level.

Does the V3 FW support that, and possible to add at some point?

If that parameter isn't available, is there another way to achieve this?

I didn't add that because I figured most people would either want to close all the way up or down, and the firmware already provides a way to set it so that it closes up ("reverse"), and if you aren't really closing them, a "Set Level," as you note, can already do whatever you want. If what you (or she) wants isn't really either of those, it wouldn't be a big deal to add something.

Since my driver also exposes them as dimmer-esque devices, you could also include the blinds in a Hubitat scene with a specific level and then just use whatever device/voice command you'd use to activate that scene. Just another idea. :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the suggestions. I will look at those options.

BTW - I noticed something that seems like a parameter isn't getting set. It's occuring on both blinds, and not sure if it's just a reporting/display issue, or ?

On both blinds Parameter1 (the gap tightness), the State Variable value isn't matching what I set the blinds to. Just a reporting thing, or ?

And, is this another way to get to my goal? If I set a "looser" value here will that result in the blinds stopping before they are tightly closed? That is why I was asking about the close setting, my wife is worried that the blinds will be affected by how tightly iBlinds is closing them. Can't talk her out of her worry, so ... :slight_smile:

I don't modify any state variables in my driver, so those must be left over from a previous driver. I'd suggest using the plain "Device" driver to clear these to avoid confusion, but they're otherwise also harmless to keep. You can check the actual value with the Basic Z-Wave Tool if you're not sure if it got set--it could still indeed be an issue if I messed something up (or their manual is wrong). :slight_smile:

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Thanks for the reminder about the basic zwave tool...

Looks like it's not setting the parameter for tightness of closing gap, it's still on the default, 22.

Putting in the following worked:

parameterNumber = 1
size = 1
value = 26

image

Not sure why it reports the same parameter over and over again...

Thank you so much for all of your effort on this. At this moment all three of my iBlinds seem to be working as expected and I credit your driver as much as anything.

:crossed_fingers:

+1 @bertabcd1234 is the man! :smiley:

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