US - NEW! iblinds Kit v3

Yeah, the calibration @bertabcd1234 refers to has worked perfectly on my blinds...once calibrated they closed and opened to the right spots w/out issues.

Ah, that makes sense, I can see that. I agree, the devices I've seen that use this type of calibration use a current measurement to determine end of stroke. I'm just pondering that maybe some shades are more 'springy' than others causing some back force on the motor causing the squeal. Setting the 'closed' position to 5 instead of 0 to see if the squeal goes away would answer that question.

I did modify my automation for tonight to use 'set level 2' instead of just plain 'close'. We'll see if that does it.

Z-Wave paramter 1 would probably do the same and allow you to use standard open() and close() commands without needing to worry about specifying a level; it's supposed to adjust the "interval" (guessing this was translated into English and "gap" might be the more commonly used term for what they mean here) or "tightness" of the blinds/slats when in the closed position, or really how sensitive the calibration feature is at detecting closure. So the procedure would probably be: set this parameter, then calibrate. Or at least that's my interpretation of the manual. :slight_smile:

I don't think Hubitat's driver exposes this, but the Basic Z-Wave Tool could do it: parameter 1, size 1. Possible values are 15-30, with 15 being the tightest closure and 22 the default. I will upload a version of my v3 driver tonight that also exposes this.

Still not sure if it will really help me, as my blinds are once again responding as expected with no whirring. But I guess that's good!

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FYI, I've updated the iBlinds FW download link that I had posted above...support provided me w/an updated format (gbl) that is evidently "more compatible" than the hex version I used on to update one of my blinds. Using the GBL file todayI was able to update the first blind that I had received that hadn't been able to take the update previously. I had also reset my UZB stick in the PC Controller app today on a suggestion from iBlinds so that may also have contributed to my newfound success.

Also a note - my apologies, but I didn't know this at the time - the 3.02 release is a beta FW version, so if you install it and your dog starts howling and your chickens won't lay, don't go crying to me or to iBlinds. 3.02 has been running great for me on the blind I updated last week, but as always YMMV, and there are no warranties, implied or expressed. :smiley:

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@bertabcd1234 has updated his driver, just as he said he would. :slight_smile:

His summary: [RELEASE] Unofficial iBlinds driver - v2 and v3

Thanks very much! Just LOVE this community.

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So I'm having some problems w/my second blind I've set up.

It had a bad pairing the first time I tried to pair it, routing info disappeared from Z-Wave Details, entire Z-Wave mesh went to pieces, got it removed using the Remove button.

Since then I've included and excluded it several times, as each time I included it, it would seem to pair and be OK, but would only respond to one single open or close command, and then become non-responsive and take my mesh down to a crawl.

The interesting part is that even if I get what looks like a good exclude "Kitchen Blinds excluded..." message on the exclusion screen, and exclude it a couple more times "Unknown device excluded," the next time I pair it w/the hub it joins using @bertabcd1234's driver, rather than the built-in Hubitat driver. My other iBlind always joined using the Hubitat driver (HAB Home Intel Blinds V3) and then I would later switch it to Roberts (or the iBlinds 3.1 driver before Robert updated his driver). See below:

2020-11-24 22_46_53-Device Discovery

It seems like either the Hub can't let go of the info from the previous pairing, or the blinds can't. Since I've done the exclude repeatedly (and also used the command on the blinds motor to set all Z-Wave parameters to default values (7-10s press of CLBR button) I'd think that the blind was properly cleared. I've always ensure the Z-Wave table was clear of any entry for the blind before trying to pair it again, no ghost left-behinds.

Last night I finally got a pairing where things seemed to be OK, the blinds responded to a few open/close commands. But woke up this AM and it's non-responsive/not updating status on any driver. Luckily it's not taking my mesh down again but it's gone to "NOT_RESPONDING" in the Z-Wave table and fails when I try a repair.

Used PC Controller to remove it after it came up failed:
image
image

Anyone seen this before, where a device defaults to a community driver when re-joined after exclude, and doesn't pick up the HE built-in driver? I don't remember seeing this type of behavior before, and clearly the blinds aren't joining properly as they keep becoming non-responsive/failed. Also tagging @bcopeland for thoughts on when/how a device would pick up a community driver rather than the built-in driver.

If a community driver has the fingerprint for it, it will always select the community driver.

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Thanks for that. I guess my memory is faulty as usual. I could have sworn on previous joins that it was picking up the built-in driver.

Any suggestions on getting the blinds to pair properly and stay connected?

May not be.. He might have added the new fingerprint since the last time you included.

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This. :slight_smile:

But also, the driver in use won't affect the device's ability to pair, so something else must be going on. I always wonder about mesh issues with these since they're stuck in usually metal headrails. iBlinds does have a trick in their support docs where you can lift thr antenna out of the casing, but making sure you have a repeater (or the hub) nearby might be easier. Just a guess!

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Thanks for confirming about the driver fingerprint. :slight_smile:

Yeah, I've tried pairing it in the room where it's going to be used (through one wall and across an 18' wide room), and with the blinds a few feet from the hub. With and without security. Regardless, it just will not stay connected/happy. My other blind in the same room and probably 15' farther away from the hub is happy as a clam. Strange...

Found the bit about extending the antenna. May try that...not looking forward to uninstalling and re-installing the motor in the blinds.

Just tried another pairing, and it paired, but no S2 security prompt appeared. Looks normal in Z-Wave Details, no security of course.

What does joining w/out the S2 prompt appearing indicate - poor connectivity on the Z-Wave mesh, or ? And does that necessarily mean that the pairing isn't a good one?

It could have timed out waiting for S2 bootstrapping

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Thanks...thought I finally had a good pairing, initially responded to multiple close/open commands fine. However, went for a walk and when I got back the blinds were non-reponsive, showed Failed in Z-Wave Details, and mesh was super slow/non-responsive. I had to remove the blinds using PC Controller. (Too lazy to pull the blinds off the wall and turn off the battery so that the Remove option in Z-Wave Details would work.)

So frustrating that this blind just can't get a good connection, while the other one has been just fine for days now.

Is your motor solar or always plugged in? Does anyone see any issue with it being plugged in all the time via the charge adapter?

The one that I setup first and have no troubles with is on power full time - I have the cable from USB wall wart plugged into the charger adapter.

The second one (that isn't connecting well) is on battery. However, several of my connection attempts were before I had it installed and it was sitting next to me on the couch. In those instances it was usually plugged into power.

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Welp.

All three blinds stopped communicating for no reason.
The single push makes them open and close but they are dead to Hubitat.

I tried removing one and doing an exclude/ include but Hubitat didn't see anything.

:neutral_face:

So in my seemingly futile (yet never-ending) attempts to get the second set of blinds connected, I did the following:

  1. Moved the blinds so that they were poking into a doorway, about 8' from the HE hub.
  2. Excluded them twice.
  3. Reset Z-Wave parameters on the blinds using CLBR and IN/EX buttons
  4. Included blinds to HE again - no security (unchecked all boxes)
  5. Put blinds back in window and ran manual calibration (10s press on charge adapter button)

Blinds showed up on Z-Wave Details screen and as always looked normal at first. Default driver is @bertabcd1234's iBlinds V3 Community driver.

On the device page the blinds lacked some of the normal data:

I waited about an hour or so, data wasn't showing up, was thinking that might be a symptom of a bad pairing that was going to go south like the other ones. I then cycled through two other drivers (HE built-in and iBlinds 3.1 from iBlinds) and then back to the iBlinds V3 community driver. Each time after saving the driver I hit "Configure," (except for the iBlinds 3.1 driver from iBlinds which does not have a Configure option for some reason). I set/saved some preferences in the iBlinds 3.1 driver since there was no "configure" option.

After returning to the Robert's iBlinds V3 (Community Driver) I noticed that the missing values had appeared.

Now about 3 hours later the blinds appear to be properly connected and my mesh has not been slagged. The blinds shut as expected (along w/my other set) when an Event Engine automation ran to close them just after sundown.

I am cautiously declaring victory, finally, w/the second set of blinds...(no jinx, no jinx!). I'm relieved, and I'm sure you all are also relieved that you hopefully won't have to see another 18 posts about my connection issues. :slight_smile:

Odd that I followed pretty much the exact same process last night and was not successful. The one difference last night was that I didn't cycle through the drivers like I did today. Hard to think that would make a difference in the Z-Wave connection, though. :man_shrugging: More likely dumb luck...

Is your mesh working OK? Can you turn lights on and off from their device pages and they respond promptly?

When my blind began losing connection it would bring my mesh to a crawl, slow reactions for simple on/off of lights.