T i m wrote:
On 22 Dec 2020 12:56:44 +0000 (GMT), Theo
wrote:
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?
I get to select it by name, which is handy because all the Aqara sensors
have entity IDs of 0x153..... which isn't very obvious.
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).
For me all the devices come up with the names I've assigned them, and that's
the 'Device' column in Configuration - Devices.
Although, I did notice it doesn't always rename some of the child entities.
If you click on the device in that list, it shows the entities in a box.
For example my list for the Garage sensor is:
Garage_temperature
Garage_pressure
Garage_linkquality
Garage_humidity
0x00158d00058a613f_battery
so for some reason it hasn't renamed the _battery entity. If I click the
0x0015..._battery I can add a 'Name Override' to be Garage_battery (being the battery
level in the temperature/pressure/humidity sensor in the Garage).
(I don't really care about these readings, but renaming them saves them
cluttering up some of the logs with unidentifiable things)
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?
You have to think in terms of 'when X happens then do Y', but once you have
decided that it's just filling in the boxes? Like you said 'at sunset turn
light on'.
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.
It's more complicated, but that's because it gives you more control.
Also it isn't designed for a small range of products, so has to be more
generic. Vendor-specific apps are designed for the handful of things
they sell and for a handful of use cases.
Did you read the docs on Automations:
https://www.home-assistant.io/docs/automation/
(I didn't, and yet I figured it out thus far)
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?
I'd guess you need another one if that's what you wish (maybe you wanted
something else, like turning off at midnight). I don't know if there's a
way to pair actions:
If Sunset then Turn On;
If Sunrise then Turn Off
I don't know if there's a common thingy to do both at the same time - maybe
there is.
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?
HA is a generic platform so there are 57 varieties of newbies, trying to do
all different kinds of things, with all sorts of different products over all
sorts of different platform. Your best bet is to find videos/blogs/etc of
someone who has done something similar.
(It also appears the manual is based on writing snippets of YAML
configuration, and separate to that there's a UI that can do most of it. It
seems the way to do the same with the UI isn't always as clearly documented)
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.
There's also the HA forum which is quite extensive.
Theo