Zooz RGBW Zen31 issues and Motion Lighting Apps issues - help needed

mario.ricci · November 3, 2020, 8:47pm

I am pretty disappointed in both Hubitat and Zooz on this one as it seems like there are problems with both. Up until now things have been pretty smooth, but something so simple as adding a RGBW dimmer to turn on white in the day and dim/colored at night has taken hours of my time.

First, I see that the supported Zen31 pairs and has two child devices - one for white and one for color. I can go to the child devices and turn them on and off and they work great. I do see a problem with the parent device - when I look at the State Variables I see whiteEnabled : false, and if I hit on in the parent device screen it does not turn on white, but the last dim custom color. If I set the Level to 99 in this parent screen it still retains the dim Evening setting. Here are the devices:

Second, here's my Motion Lighting Apps rule:

THE MAIN PROBLEM: When I walk into the room during the day, the dim evening color comes up, not the white that is supposed to. By looking at the logs you can see it knows it's daytime and that it is setting the level to 99, but you can also see by the logs that it's actually turning on the RGB, not the white:

I believe what is happening is even though I selected the child device Master Bath - Light Strip - White to turn on, the app is actually using the On button on the parent device (Master Bath - Light Strip)

For troubleshooting I have:

Tried the default driver
The user driver recommended by Zooz which didn't work at all (can't even get things to turn on and off): https://www.support.getzooz.com/kb/article/387-how-to-access-advanced-settings-for-zen31-rgbw-dimmer-on-hubitat/ hubitat/zen31-led-controller.groovy at master · djdizzyd/hubitat · GitHub
Another user driver mentioned a few months ago, but it spews errors right away: Zooz RGBW controller driver issue (with simple fix) Hubitat/fibaro-rgbw-controller-advanced.groovy at master · erocm123/Hubitat · GitHub
Created a temporary simple automation rule to turn on the white - that works just fine which seems to tell me that this is a Motion Lighting App problem.

Here are some Hubitat bugs I discovered (I am on 2.2.3.148):

When adding a brand new Motion Lighting App it somehow configured my GE Enbrighten switch to not turn on it's own light (occupancy mode). I couldn't just click occupancy mode to get it to work again, I had to reset all configurations to make it work as normal (light goes on by itself automatically when sensing motion).
My rule wasn't turning the light strip on at first. In the logs I would see not turning on, already on until I rebooted the hub.
Simple Automation rules is lacking the Custom color in the drop down for the RGBW Dimmer that are present in Motion Lighting Apps and RM4.0. This is pretty infuriating since it prevents me from using this App as a workaround unless I want to use a preset color.

bravenel · November 3, 2020, 8:55pm

Motion Lighting can't do this. It just sends commands to the device -- it can't configure it.

This may have been a leftover state condition from previous attempts to control the light strip. Reboot in and of itself does not touch the state of apps or devices.

That's why it's called "Simple Automation Rules".

You only have Color Per Mode set for Evening and Night mode, and only have Dimmer Per Mode set for Day mode. The logs say that Motion Lighting is not turning on the color, so that may be coming from the driver. It's not coming from Motion Lighting.

I suggest that you try the same steps the app takes directly from the device page. For example, do a Set Level command for 99%, and see what is logged. That's what the Dimmer per mode is going to send to the light.

mario.ricci · November 3, 2020, 9:06pm

Thanks for all the info!

I did, as outlined in my original post. Again, I think the Motion app is hitting the parent device and not the child device that I have selected since that's the way the parent device works (seems like a bug to me). The second reason I think the Motion app is hitting the parent device because when I do Simple Automation and select the child device (just as I have in Motion), it turns on the white like it is supposed to.

I have no idea how it did what it did, I just know that the moment I added the motion app the switch stopped working.

bravenel · November 3, 2020, 9:14pm

Please post the App Status page for this Motion Lighting instance (gear icon).

Please notice in the logs you posted, at the bottom, where it says

Setting dimmers [Master Bath - Light Strip - White] to 99. That sends a command to that child device, not to the parent. Motion Lighting does not know this is a parent-child device, it just sends commands to the device you have selected.

This does not establish causation. Sorry you're having trouble, but the idea is to troubleshoot to discover the true cause of these problems. Installing an app does not do anything at all to a device, sends no commands, and certainly is not capable of reconfiguring it. Something else is going on to make this device not function. I can only really help you troubleshoot Motion Lighting -- which is fairly easy to do because it logs pretty much everything it does.

mario.ricci · November 3, 2020, 9:27pm

Again, I called this out specifically in my original post. Even though the logs say that, it still turns on the dim Evening setting. Seems like a bug.

That's what I would expect, but I have given two reasons it appears it doesn't. Maybe it still does somehow, I'm just trying to tell you how it works in other apps and give you the most info I can. That being said, I have a hard time figuring out how Simple Automation Rules works as I'd expect (turns on the white child) and Motion doesn't (does the same exact thing as if I interact with the parent, not the child). I'm all up for whatever makes this work.

Here is the status page (not sure how to paste it in other than this):

Master Bath - Light Strip - On With MotionBuilt In App
Settings
Name	Type	Value
activeMotions	capability.motionSensor	Master Closet - Dimmer and Sensor
colorEvening	enum	Custom color
colorEvening_Hue	number	3
colorEvening_Level	number	30
colorEvening_Sat	number	97
colorM	capability.colorControl	Master Bath - Light Strip - Color
colorModes	enum	["Evening","Night"]
colorNight	enum	Custom color
colorNight_Hue	number	3
colorNight_Level	number	6
colorNight_Sat	number	97
ctLevel	number	99
ctTemp	number	3000
dimLevel	number	99
dimM	capability.switchLevel	Master Bath - Light Strip - White
dimmerModes	enum	["Day"]
dontTurnOff	bool	false
enableX	enum	A specific time
endingX	enum	A specific time
endSunsetOffset	number	20
levelDay	number	99
levelEvening	number	30
logging	bool	true
offDelay	number	1
origLabel	text	Master Bath - Light Strip - On With Motion
startingX	enum	A specific time
startSunriseOffset	number	21
useModes	bool	true
Event Subscriptions
Source	Event	Handler	Filter
Master Bath - Light Strip - Color	level	manualTurnOn	true
Master Bath - Light Strip - Color	switch.on	manualTurnOn	true
Master Bath - Light Strip - Color	switch.off	lightsOff	true
Master Bath - Light Strip - White	level	manualTurnOn	true
Master Bath - Light Strip - White	switch.on	manualTurnOn	true
Master Bath - Light Strip - White	switch.off	lightsOff	true
Master Closet - Dimmer and Sensor	motion.active	motionActive	true
Master Closet - Dimmer and Sensor	motion.inactive	motionInactive	true
Application State
Name	Value
alreadyOn	false
btnTable	{}
contactOffDisabled	false
contactOnDisabled	false
contactUpdated	true
firstRun	true
installedCapabs	[Polling, PowerMeter, PushableButton, IlluminanceMeasurement, ReleasableButton, FanControl, LightEffects, Outlet, Battery, MotionSensor, ColorTemperature, SpeechSynthesis, AudioVolume, Light, Thermostat, AccelerationSensor, Refresh, RelativeHumidityMeasurement, ThreeAxis, TamperAlert, EnergyMeter, ColorMode, MusicPlayer, TemperatureMeasurement, HoldableButton, SwitchLevel, Switch, ChangeLevel, Configuration, Actuator, ColorControl, Sensor, ContactSensor, DoubleTapableButton, VoltageMeasurement]
modeLevel	99
modeOffDisabled	false
noModes	true
notTurnedOn	false
offDisabled	false
offEnable	false
on	false
onEnabled	true
override	false
paused	false
pauseUpdated	true
switchOffDisabled	false
switchOnEnabled	true
Scheduled Jobs
Handler	Next Run Time	Prev Run Time	Status	Schedule
enableTimeHandler	2020-11-04 1:32:26 PM MST	2020-11-03 1:32:26 PM MST	PENDING	26 32 13 * * ?

bravenel · November 3, 2020, 9:29pm

Please take a Screenshot.

bravenel · November 3, 2020, 9:29pm

I don't know what post you are talking about.

bravenel · November 3, 2020, 9:37pm

Appearances don't reveal causes. Motion Lighting logs every action it takes. From what you've shown, it doesn't even have the parent device selected, so it would not be possible for it to send a command to the parent device. And nothing in the logs suggests that it is sending a command to the parent. The fact that the parent device is responding as if it received a command, does not in and of itself implicate Motion Lighting. I would like to find the cause of this, and for now I want to rule out the possibility that Motion Lighting is the cause. If it is the cause, as you've pointed out, that would be a bug. Hence my request to do this from the device page and show the logs from doing that here (don't refer me to your original post). Also, please post a screenshot of the device events log for the device overlapping a time frame in which this problem happens. Those can be found under the Events button on the device page.

Also, what driver is in use?

672southmain · November 3, 2020, 10:00pm

I hate to get in the middle of this, because I can’t figure out what is happening. However, just to remove one variable, I suggest you change the driver for your GE Enbrighten Switch (you don’t say which one, or I’d point you to the particular driver) to one of Jason Bottjen’s (@JasonJoel’s) excellent drivers. They expose the modes and make use of these switches easy.

mario.ricci · November 3, 2020, 11:00pm

Sorry, I don't understand what you are asking for here.

Not sure which logs, so here are a couple:

^ notice there's no 3:33 events, just some a minute before at 3:32 when I was interacting with the device from the device page

The default driver

I keep referring to the original post (the first, very long description at the top of this page). I know it's long, but I put a lot of effort into it to try and explain everything I've seen. You have mentioned a few things like you were explaining something to me for the first time even though I had already explained it in the original post, so I just wanted to make sure you read and understood it. I don't mind posting anything you ask, even the same things again, I just want to make sure we aren't talking past each other.

Appreciate it - I actually found and started using that driver with your suggestion a month ago. I'm specifically calling out the fact that my switch 'quit working' because I haven't done anything in a month, and then the only thing I did was add the new Zooz RGBW device (GE switch still turned on by itself), then added a Motion app and my switch stopped working. I've been in software too long to know that coincidences rarely happen.

672southmain · November 3, 2020, 11:31pm

Ok. We may be on to something. If you use @JasonJoel’s component driver, and then use the (now separate) Motion Sensor component in a Motion app and then have the motion app control the light/load component, you really need to set the GE Enbrighten mode to “Manual”. Otherwise, unexpected things can happen with confusion as to who controls what - the motion sensor can be causing actions directly on the switch while also sending motion events to the Motion app, making the switch seem broken. Could you try putting the GE device in Manual mode?

mario.ricci · November 3, 2020, 11:45pm

I'm not. I expect the switch to control itself. I also expect the motion app to capture motion events and turn on a separate RGBW dimmer.

OK - I have tried more things to try and troubleshoot. I have created and captured a scene, and activated that in response to motion two different ways (motion app and simple automation). What's crazy is it still turns on the Evening color setting.

I can go to the white child device and hit on, and I get bright white. I can go to the scene and activate it, and I get bright white. Now, when I use either app to turn on the scene it doesn't work. I am stumped. This device is supported, I'd love to know if Hubitat has one on hand and if so if they can reproduce this. I'd love anyone else that has a Zen31 to chime in.

And finally, and maybe most importantly, I'd love to know if others have done the same thing I want to (white on RGBW strip in the day, dim color at night) with another device that works reliably and consistently.

bravenel · November 4, 2020, 12:31am

I have ordered one so I can check out these issues. It will be a few days.

mario.ricci · November 4, 2020, 12:34am

Appreciate it. If you think of anything else for me to try let me know and I will do it but I'm out of ideas. For now the wife can use the dashboard to set colors manually.

mario.ricci · November 5, 2020, 1:24am

Now that it's dark, I noticed the paused rule is still running. Not sure what is going on.

bravenel · November 5, 2020, 1:42am

The entry in the logs may only reflect that the logs began while it was paused. Those titles are not updated dynamically. Is the rule still paused? Did you clear the logs from previously?

neonturbo · November 5, 2020, 2:14am

@mario.ricci I think Bruce wants you to go to this page (see below), and try the dimming level as well as the colors/white to see if they respond correctly and what the logs correspond to these commands.

This is a different device, but you should find something similar in your Zen31.

mario.ricci · November 5, 2020, 3:13pm

The rule has been paused for over a day, yet is still executing. I can go to live logs and see the same logs.

Also, I have noticed the zen31 gets 'stuck' somehow - I can't reproduce it consistently, but the child device controls and the dashboard controls will work fine for a few times (or many times for a day or two), and then all the sudden the lights won't do what they say they are, e.g. I turn on white level to 99 and it either won't work at all, or it will turn on super dim. What's weird is the device state changes and it will report power and such, so I know it's not completely crashed. If I unplug/replug, it goes back to working 'normally' for hours or a day.

I CAN reproduce one weirdness with the zen31 consistently - if I use the dashboard to interact with the child devices to: 1) turn on color, turn off color 2) set 99 level on white, turn off, I then see white go off but zen31 reverts to whatever color that was last set.

bravenel · November 5, 2020, 4:20pm

Please show the App Status page, Application State section, in a screenshot.

mario.ricci · November 5, 2020, 5:20pm