Aeon Labs Minimote

Configuration Z-Wave
1

Hi All,

Trying to get my Aeon Labs Minimote to work through automation scenes like on the zwave component page. So far I’ve been able to add the minimote as a secondary controller using ozwcp but I seem to be unsuccessful in changing it to scene mode which will allow me to have HA detect when I press a scene button. Any have this device working that can help?

Thanks,
Kip

2

Hello, I am experiencing what appears to be the exact same issue. Have you been able to get it to work?

My case is as follows: Hass + Minimote Gen 5

I think I successfully added Minimote as a secondary controller because:

  • By examining zwcfg_xxxxx.xml, I see that my Minimote seems to be detected fine. It is a “Portable Remote Controller” device with node id=2

However, when I go to 192.168.1.8:8123/devState I don’t see any entity_id for my remote

  • so I assume it is natural that hass does not react to clicks: there is no entity_id for the trigger.
1 Like
3

I haven’t had any luck, basically exactly where you’re at. I see it in my zwcfg_xxxxx.xml file but HA shows no entity ID.
I’m using a raspberry pi3 with a aeon z-stick gen5 and the v1 minimote (latest firmware).

4

Ok, so we are the same page! Mine is also Rasperry Pi3 but it is a black minimote without numbers on it (it might be v2?)
I played with it a little bit and it seems that HA detects Minimote as a light (but only on the very first clean run right after factory-reset!) Once you restart it, it is gone and does not show up anywhere other than .xml.

I opened a Github issue with the developers. See Github issue #2188 (I can’t create a link as a new user).

5

UPDATE: SOLVED!

The advice of @philhawthorne on Github was perfect: what was needed is to go back to ozwcp (Open Zwave Control Panel) and play with it more.

The trick is twofold:

  1. You need to change Minimote from Group Mode (default) to Scene Mode
  2. But the time window for making that change is extremely short
    • Minimote is a battery device so goes to sleep in a few seconds after pairing to main controller
    • When you pair it with the main controller using ozwcp for the first time you only have a few seconds to click Configuration and switch from Group to Scene.
    • To keep Minimote awake, you can click “Learn” button on it again (as per manual)
    • If you miss the awake window you would end up in the forever “Probe(Sleeping)” or “CacheLoad(Sleeping)” state where the remote would not listen to anything no matter how much you click it
    • If you succeed you would see HA Console popping with events from aeotec_minimote_2 and it will survive multiple restarts.

The rest of configurations in configuration.yaml is just about following the instructions above

automation:
- alias: Minimote Button 1 Pressed
  trigger:
    platform: event
    event_type: zwave.scene_activated
    event_data:
      entity_id: aeotec_minimote_2
      scene_id: 1
  action:
    service: switch.toggle
    entity_id: switch.aeotec_smart_switch_6_switch_3

By the way, HA assistant would still not show any entity_id for Minimote. Nevertheless, all the scripts work and the console clearly shows that the events are acting as triggers correctly!

3 Likes
6

Awesome!! Thanks @Akh and @philhawthorne!!!

I’ll give this a shot tonight and report back on my luck with the v1 model!

7

Depending on your experience I will likely clarify my post. For now, I am assuming the reader has some familiarity with Open Zwave Control Panel (installing, launching, typing /dev/ttyACM0 as a device name and clicking “Initialize”) and also assuming both the Z-stick and minimote are freshly reset so that they have no prior history of each other.

8

It worked! Strangely the event id I’m getting in console is __60 (it is node 60), seems the manufacturer and device name haven’t updated in the database yet.

I removed and factory reset the remote before every attempt to pair it, one change I did have to make was “Add Device” didn’t work, “Add Device (Secure)” did. That may mean the only way to get it to work is if someone has added a security key to their openzwave config file? I had already done this for another device on my network so I’m not sure.

Thanks again @Akh!

9

How do I save the change? I feel like it should be saving but everytime I refresh, all the buttons go from scene to default, and mode from scene to group.

edit So what I’m experiencing is, I can pair the minimote and I see that it is awake. I get to configuration and change the mode to ‘scene’ and my minimote starts blinking blue. Sadly not sure what to do next?

10

@cmsimike, are you using ozcwp (Open-Zwave Control Panel) ?

I assume you are.
If you went to Configuration, changed the minimote from group to scene but it stayed at group - it means you failed to change it. Most likely, you were too late. You have to unpair them and start over.

I think you only have a few seconds to change it immediately after adding minimote as a node. Any “change” after that is not going to be saved as you noticed.
There are also several places where you can change it: there is an item for each button (group vs scene) + there is an overall item (group vs scene). I changed all 5 of these very quickly after adding a freshly-reset minimote and it worked for me.

Also, try clicking “Learn” button on minimote as you are changing its status in ozwcp – this will keep Minimote awake.

11

Ah yes, I am using ozcwp.

So I have more info. Using your clicking ‘learn’ suggestion, it seemed to have worked! I noted in the ozcwp logs that previous clicks on the button emitted an unknowncommand log, however after making the change it was now emitting a sceneactivated event!

However home assistant did not seem to work still.

I’m using ozcwp in a docker container so i made the scene mode change again, saved (using the upper right save button) and this time copied the zwcfg file into my home-assistant’s version of zwcfg. However no event seems to get fired in hass.

So I am unsure what I need to do to persist the changes I make in the docker container to hass. Or, maybe a better question, is there a better way to verify whether or not the remote is setup correctly in hass? I’m assuming I should see an event in the log when any of the buttons get clicked.

edit it does seem like my zwcfg file gets reset after hass shuts down and writes out the zwcfg. so there is something i am still missing here

12

Finally got it!
I just re-added the remote using the add node hass service and it now works. I don’t know why I had to re-add it this way but now I am getting scene activation clicks

Thanks for the help! I’ve been stuck on this problem for a while now. Very glad to have it resolved.

13

Sorry for the late reply. Awesome!

I think ozwcp is only used here to change the Minimote from Group mode to Scene mode. I think once you changed it, you can add it using hass interface or any other interface.

I also noticed that sometimes my devices do not appear immediately in the next session of hass after being paired successfully using ozwcp. Hass may require one more restart before seeing the device. Given that you run it in Docker I assume persistence/volumes may have had something to do with it but I am not sure.

14

I wanted to see if I could get any help with my z-wave stick/minimote. I too would like to run my minimote in scene mode. I cannot for the life of me switch the mode to scene from group.

I have tried the steps in the thread to no avail. I see the remote in OZWCP and can switch it to scene from group - but it never works. I have tried holding the #8 button while clicking all the drop downs to Scene - no work. I have tried using the Zensys tool to change parameter 250 - but all it ever does it queue the commands - no changes.

Any ideas/thoughts?

Thanks!

15

I remember needing to upgrade the firmware on the remote before it would work properly.

16

Thanks for that tip - I’m currently at 1.19 which I believe is the most current firmware. But I think you’re right - older versions didn’t offer this functionality.

17

I just bought 2 minimote v1 and having a similar issue. Cannot get OZWCP to change it… After several attempts I got one of the remotes to change to Scene mode and got it working with HA, still trying to get the 2nd remote to change though. Didn’t know about the Zenesys tool! Going to try that tonight it might work better.

To keep the Minimote awake so it will receive commands the manual says to press and hold the Learn/Join button for 3 seconds. It will then stay awake for 30 seconds. When I did this I was able to get the first remote to stay awake long enough to accept the configuration commands.

18

also - I just got this email response back from the support @ Aeon Labs - which corresponds to what I’ve read, but I could not get to work - so I’ll try this as soon as I get a chance.

Email contents here:

Using the Zensys tool, after you have queued the command, you must wake up the Minimote by pressing and holding the “Learn/Join” button to complete the queued command.

Just press and hold down the Learn/Join button, and you should see the minimote sends a wakeup command under the Zensys tool.

The configuration setting you will need to set is:

Parameter FA
Size 01
Value = 01

Cheers,
Chris Cheng
Field Application Engineer
Aeon Labs
[email protected]

19

Asked them also - how to confirm it has been set - their response:

Pressing and holding any scene button is the easiest method.

Group mode - LED blinks rapidly

Scene mode - red and blue led blink one then no more activity

It should confirm on the zensys logs tht the configuration was sent and configired too.

20

I used this to get mine connected.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/openhab/oNCqqO2tYQ0
Once connected and set to scene mode, the log will show the button press as Scene Id 5 or whatever button you pressed.