Custom firmware and set all the bulbs the same for the win. MQTT control for world domination.
Findin[quote="digitydogs, post:113, topic:34681"]
Custom firmware and set all the bulbs the same for the win. MQTT control for world domination
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Updating Zigbee devices to custom firmware is not always possible, nor easy. I have a hard enough time finding firmware updates for Z-Wave devices, and have been unsuccessful finding anything to make my life easier with Zigbee. But let's assume I did update the firmware, how might this solve the state transition issue? With Hue, my GE+Link bulbs can be commanded to a set brightness, and then turned on. It will not go back to 100% then adjust down. All the SMART+ Zigbee bulbs I have tried behave the same, as expected, the Hue hub will handle the sequencing of the instructions so the bulb transition from off to desired state. It makes it simple. Those same bulbs on HE do not work like this as smoothly.
I love to experiment and find better alternatives, so if you have suggestions, please share. I don't mind throwing $30 or $40 down to test a new device or two. My pile of throw aways is growing. I have yet to try the Eria, but have tried generic LED lighting controllers with hue with great success.
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On my bulbs (over 64 of them) with custom firmware i can adjust the behaviors so all the bulbs act the same at all times. I can set if they turn on or not before a state change, i can set if they retain levels when turned on or not, i can even set the color name values and brightness/dimmer range on them to ensure that when i set the lights to green or 50% they are the exact same brightness and color (or as near as the human eye can tell anyway)
I can even tell the bulbs to always use a fade between states if i want, so issuing a color or dimmer change will always result in fading to that by default, or not to.
I think I am a bit of an odd man out, I'm using WIFI bulbs, so i can't recommend a zigbee bulb that can be flashed, BUT i believe Tasmota does support some Zigbee devices so check out the Tasmota supported list and some of your bulbs may already be on it.
Beyond that you'll have to hope someone else could point you in the direction of info on zigbee and flashing as I'm still looking into if there is anyway short of a ST hub to be able to reflash/update my iris devices.
I would have put a like, but none left today.
The zigbee support in Tasmota is as a controller. So not the same.
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Correct. But Hue has opened their hub to work with more devices. Hue traditionally required Zigbee Light Link, whereas some others chose to use Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA). Today, Hue supports Zigbee 3.0 (which is backward compatible with ZLL). SMART+ is supposed to be Zigbee 3.0 and ZLL compliant. But, Sylvania does something to their SMART+ to prevent usage in Hue hubs. I haven't managed to get those two to talk, but what is clear is the party blocking the integration is Osram, not Hue.
Point is, as long as the bulb is SMART+, Zigbee 3.0, or Zigbee Light Link, it will work with Hue provided it was not produced by OSRAM.
This is what I understand the issue to be. I tried working with OSRAM and Sylvania, but they play dumb. Hue on the other hand recommended all sorts of way to try and force the lights to pair up. Given where my home automation is today, I will only use Zigbee 3.0 bulbs, and only those that work with Hue.
Now I understand the context of your MQTT reference. Makes total sense in a Wifi device setup.
That you use WiFi is the key. Zigbee bulbs is where my issue is, and what I was addressing. I have considered flashing my one Tasmota LED light strip that is a TV mood light. But it is less work to just replace it with a Zigbee one and call it a day. 
Hey man,
That’s really interesting. Are you creating the firmware yourself ?!!
Can you please explain how are you getting “custom firmware” into Zigbee lights ???
Does anyone know of any Zigbee bulbs using CC2530 or the newer model I can't remember the number of right now? Those could potentially be flashed with custom firmware since the toolkit is available.
I'm not, i'm using Wifi bulbs. Missed the part where he specified zigbee when skimming the thread.
Ah, ok. Though that’s somewhat disappointing because if you’d somehow cracked open the Zigbee device firmware you’d really be onto something. LOL
ATSAMR21E which you find in Cree bulbs, for example, should be flashable with a firmware built on Riot OS. There is no such thing readily available as far as I know, but it is possible and would be cool. It would be fun if someone put the time in and does that.
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The current Smart+ bulbs available in the US aren’t zigbee 3 and won’t be. The newest, available only in Europe apparently, are zigbee 3 and advertised to work with Hue. The firmware of these starts with 00103 instead of 00102. I found this out on the European Sylvania/LEDvance website.
Exactly. Not the fault of Hue. Deceptive marketing by Sylvania. Point is, Hue is as compatible as can be expected, but not all Zigbee is the same. Still, of all the Zigbee hubs I have tried, HE included, Hue manages Zigbee bulbs the best in my opinion.
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"Alexa, good night!" does this for me - every night. And it's an omnipurpose sensor to boot:
- Alexa, good morning!
- Alexa, lock the front door
- Alexa, set foyer chandelier to 50%
- Alexa, turn on the Keurig
- Alexa, turn on The Boston Channel
- etc.
And of course, Siri can do pretty much the same things...it's all just a simple matter of software. To the original point of this thread, once you get over your resistance to the clunkyness, the platform is extremely customizable...
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After looking at that typo for over a month I snapped and had to edit the title.
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Love the new title. I pretty much spend all day, every day, in some sort of whelmed. You get used to it, eventually.
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For me, I have "Alexa, I'm going to bed" which:
- Locks the doors
- Activates "Bedtime Scene" (turns off all lights, turns on upstairs hallway light)
- Sets HE mode to Nighttime
- Arms HSM to "Armed Home" (via Mode)
By linking the Bedtime Scene" to my Hue Group 0, which is all devices, I can turn off all Zigbee lights in synchronous, but unfortunately, the Z-Wave light switches and dimmers power off one-at-a-time... so annoying.
Then I have rules based on modes. When mode it Night Mode, all my dimmers power one to 10% when motion is detected, and when in evening mode (or when ambient luminance is < 100 lux and not in night mode), they power to 100%. There are better ways to manage this, but this works for me.
I do the same, only I run most of my lights at 75-100% on motion during the day (bath rooms, bed rooms, etc.), and then only 25-33% in the evening (I prefer my house not to be too bright at night, except for task lighting for cooking, etc.). We almost NEVER touch a switch or dimmer any more...
Everyone's preferences are different, but it's cool that we can customize to such a degree. Although i do get a chuckle when my wife "informs" me that the lights didn't go on - usually when she is standing an arm's reach from the physical switch.
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| We've released smartly.
If you're not happy with the stock dashboard or are just bored, take a look!
https://community.hubitat.com/t/release-smartly-the-hubitat-dashboard-skin-engine/36681
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