On 22 Dec 2020 12:56:44 +0000 (GMT), Theo
wrote:
T i m wrote:
Again, with advice here and in the hope of keeping it all local and
doing more powerful things, I've installed the Home Assistant system
(v Hassos) on a RPi3B and with a TI CC2531 ZigBee2MQTT (Coordinator
firmware) dongle ... and that also connects ok to a smart switch and I
can toggle that manually from the dashboard but I'm yet to get the
hang of any of the automation stuff.
I assume you or somebody reprogrammed the CC2531 with the zigbee2mqtt
firmware?
Yes, I bought it like that so reduce the level of variables I'd have
to deal with.
So you're getting status and control of your devices OK in Home
Assistant?
I am.
Did you rename the devices to 'friendly' names, rather than 0x1583753737 or
whatever they come as?
I did.
Whenever I pair a new device I immediately rename
it, otherwise I couldn't tell the individual devices apart (there's no IDs
printed on the outside).
Makes sense (and what I did). There is a 'Name' field that I believe
you edit to give it a friendly name and an ID that is how it's seen by
the system (that you probably shouldn't edit?). It's the ID that seems
to appear when creating an automation?
https://ibb.co/jzTmGSK
Like when you go though creating the automation it doesn't seem to use
the 'friendly' name for the devices but the complex discovered names
(is that right?) and it seems to be un-intuitive / settings overload,
compared with the Lidl / Tyua 'Smart Life' app in any case.
I've not set this up before, but when I go to Configuration - Automations
there's a '+' button in the bottom right (sometimes this is hidden by a
popup which you need to dismiss - a bit of bad UI there).
Yup, that's where I go.
Click + and it pops up a thing that says
"Type below what this automation should do, and we will try to convert into
a Home Assistant automation"
Seen.
I don't trust such things, so I press SKIP.
I've tried it both ways Theo.
Then it pops up a 'New Automation' box with:
Triggers - select a source of events. For example I could go with:
Trigger Type - Device
Device: 'Garage' (my name for it)
Then appears: Trigger: Garage_temperature temperature changes
Above: 0C
Below: 0C
Duration hh:mm:ss
(set to whatever thresholds and press 'Add Trigger')
I don't know how the 'Above', 'Below' and 'Duration' boxes work exactly, but
I could RTFM.
Ok, I se a trigger as 'Sun' that popped up a Sunrise / Sunset option,
I chose Sunset.
Actions:
Action type: Device
Device: 'Ikea power socket' (my name)
I would have to select '_TZ3000_00mk2xzy TS011F' as that's how what I
called 'Socket 1' comes up in the list (because I know it's in the
lounge).
https://ibb.co/vJzWHsw
Action: Turn on Ikea power socket_switch
(press Add Action)
And there I see Turn on Socket 1, Turn off Socket 1, Toggle Socket 1
etc. (I've selected Turn on Socket 1 (at Sunrise))
Click the floppy disc icon (bottom right) to save.
Yup.
Seems simple enough to me.
Erm, because you have made something work, it always easy once you
have done that or maybe you are more familiar with programming or all
the concepts than I?
Yes there are lots of boxes, but that's because
there's lots of possible things you could do.
Understood.
(I later went back and tried the 'we'll guess for you' thing - I typed in
something like 'turn on garage socket when temperature is below freezing'.
It guessed right about making a trigger based on a temperature sensor, but I
had to select the garage one. It seemed to think I wanted to turn on a
light, and my setup doesn't have any lights connected, so it left the rest
for me to set up.
Ok. I've tried using their Wizard thing but because it wasn't obvious
what device was what (other than in this case I've only but one switch
in an Area I could differentiate it) .
Doing it manually is less hassle)
Oh sure, when you realise what's what and what you *need* to add /
adjust / set and what you don't.
My point, with the Smart Life app I was able to do everything I
imagined you could with only a brief glance at the instructions that
came with each instance of a device, if it wasn't / already in pairing
mode when I started. After that I have been able to switch between
apps, unpair / pair and automate everything I wanted (and was possibly
able) intuitively ... without having to resort to instructions or
Youtube etc.
So, can anyone point me to a very basic user guide / walkthrough for
say adding a smart light and remote control or making a smart switch
go on and off randomly please? I'm hoping if I have something that
works I'd be able to tweak it bit by bit and then understand it
better?
Just search 'Home Assistant automations' and there are YouTube videos.
Yes, I've watched a few, it didn't help because none seemed to cover
what I was trying to do and anything similar didn't look like mine (re
the device names etc)?
I haven't watched them, but I'd be surprised if they didn't show you.
So, now I have what appears to be a complete automation (turning
Socket 1 on at Sunset), do I have to create a new automation to turn
it off at Sunrise or would it be combined in the same automation?
As mentioned I was able to get the Lidl app hooked up to all the
devices (Inc the Sonoff PIR) and doing exactly what I wanted and it
was all reasonably intuitive.
Home Assistant seems to be something, a bit like OMV or TVHeadend
where it was written by a Linux geek / programmer but without running
it past a newbie and dealing with all the newbie stumbling blocks?
Like, 'how did I get to that screen that let me ...' sorta thing.
Maybe they aren't aimed at newbies?
I'm not complaining you understand (I can see it's pretty powerful)
but feel many would get as far as I did (most may not even get that
far etc) but then give up with the lack of logic, intuitively or
context sensitive help.
Reading the manual has rarely worked to help me better understand how
it works (because if it's got to that position the chances are it's
not intuitive etc) and might only answer the odd question re what
something is or how it needs to be seen / reset etc.
I'll persevere though and thanks for the help. I think I just needed
to get *something* automated and hopefully it will be full ahead from
here / there. ;-)
Cheers, T i m