All Philips Hue bulb are unavailable (ZHA)

Configuration Zigbee
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1

Hello,

Some time ago, after a Home Assistant update, all my Philips Hue started to be unavailable.

Their are still known by my instance of Home Assistant, but their switch is disabled. If I click on them, nothing happens.

If I display the details about one bulb, Home Assistant say it’s unavailable.

I thought that is was a small bug that will disappear after another update, so I updated my Home Assistant a few time since. And I haven’t noted at which version the problem appeared.

I run Home Assistant OS at versions:

  • Core 2024.11.3
  • Supervisor 2024.11.4
  • Operating System 13.2
  • Interface utilisateur 20241106.2
  • Hardware Raspberry Pi

The bulbs are connected directly to a ConBee II, itself connected to the Raspberry.
I use the Zigbee Home Automation (ZHA) integration.

I tried to reset 2 bulb with a Philips Hue dimmer switch, like described in the official guide. The bulb blink to confirm it’s reset, but when I add a device on the ZHA nothing appear in the search.

The other Philips Hue devices are still seen. Like the dimmer switch and other detectors.

The only error I see on the logs are from when I set the Zigbee chanel to automatic. But I’m verry not an expert in Home Assistant. Maybe it’s not the correct log.

2

I just deleted all my Zigbee devices and tried to add the bulb after a factory reset.

I tested all of them, without success. It’s like they doesn’t existe any more from the Conbee point of view.

Here is the log of the scan for new Zigbee device:

Feeding watchdog
[<Task pending name='global-updater_GlobalUpdater' coro=<periodic.<locals>.scheduler.<locals>.wrapper() running at /usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/zha/decorators.py:78> cb=[set.remove()]>] executing periodic task [zha.application.helpers::GlobalUpdater.update_listeners]
Global updater interval starting
Global updater interval finished
[<Task pending name='device-availability-checker_DeviceAvailabilityChecker' coro=<periodic.<locals>.scheduler.<locals>.wrapper() running at /usr/local/lib/python3.12/site-packages/zha/decorators.py:78> cb=[set.remove()]>] executing periodic task [zha.application.helpers::DeviceAvailabilityChecker.check_device_availability]
Device availability checker interval starting

I tried on different channels, with no success.

I also tried to remove the Zigbee integration and re-add it, still no success.

3

Have you tried to “restart” the conbee-II-(Stick?) - just unplug/plug it in.

4

Yes, I also tried to connect it to another USB port.

5

I tried to remove a Philips Hue dimmer switch, reset it and add it again. With success.

So, it’s only the light bulb that don’t work.

6

And right now, I tried with an Philips Hue Light Bar, with no success.

Like with the light bulb.

I apply a reset by holding a Philips Hue dimmer switch close to them and holding the top and bottom buttons until the light blink.

Then I try to add the device from Home Assistant, but the scan for new Zigbee device detect nothing.

7

I finally found a solution.

TL;DR

After:

  • Deleting the light bulbs from Home Assistant
  • Reset factory the bulbs
  • Add them again to Home Assistant

I got different results depending of the procedure used to reset the bulbs

The factory reset of Philips Hue light bulb:

  • Don’t work with the Philips Hue dimmer switch procedure
  • Work with the power ON/OFF sequence procedure

Preparing Home Assistant

First, I deleted all Philips Hue light bulbs from Home Assistant. As no one was working.

Reset bulbs with dimmer switch don’t work

So, the procedure I was testing until now was the reset factory of Philips Hue light bulb by using the Philips Hue dimmer switch.

The procedure is described on an official Philips Guide (method number 3).

To quote the official Philips procedure:

  1. Using a Philips Hue dimmer switch:

For this option, you’ll need to have a Philips Hue dimmer switch.

  • Disconnect the light from power, and connect it again. You can factory reset the light within 30 minutes of it being powered off and back on.
  • Press and hold the top and bottom buttons simultaneously for at least 10 seconds while holding the dimmer switch nearby the light.
  • Release the buttons after the light flashes.

For me, I needed to turn off the light at least 5 second before turning on again an reset it.

When the light bulb blink to confirm a reset, it first goes to a more cold white light then the bulb turn off its light and turn it on again.

After that, I start a scan for new Zigbee device on Home Assistant Zigbee Integration (ZHA) but no new light where found. I tried this procedure multiple times, with different light bulb and different dimmer switch and get the same result

As all the battery of my dimmer switches finished by being empty, I needed to test another method.

Reset bulbs with power on/off sequence work

The second method to factory reset the bulbs that I have tried is the on/off sequence.

The sequence is simple, but a bit long.

  1. Power off the bulb for 5 seconds
  2. Power on the bulb 8 seconds
  3. Power off the bulb 2 seconds
  4. Power on the bulb 8 seconds

Repeat the steps 3 and 4 until the bulb blink it’s light to confirm the factory reset.

When the light bulb confirm its reset factory, it blink 5 times:

  • 2 long
  • 3 short

After that, when I scan for new Zigbee devices from Home Assistant, I can see the light bulb.

Note: I started by pairing the bulbs physically the closest to my Zigbee USB stick then continue with the bulbs physically near the previous bulb. I leave in an old place, the wall are thick and each new bulb extend my Zigbee network.

Conclusion

The reset factory explained by Philips didn’t work and I still don’t know why. And I still don’t know why my bulb went unavailable suddenly.

Reset factory the bulb with power off/on sequence work, but I hope to not have to do it regularly.

I hope my explanation are not too long an can help other people with the same problem. If what I wrote is unclear, do not hesitate to tell me.

1 Like
8

Thank you for this.
Yesterday I came back from work to find that both my Phillips hue bulbs disappeared from HA. I was too tired and lazy to try to fix it last night. It also happened after I updated HAOS.

At least now I know it happened to other people as well.

My bulbs and dimmer switch are like 6 years old and I struggle to pair them… e.g. the lights off/on method doesn’t always work, and I never managed to pair the switch with anything ZigBee other than the original Hue hub… But this far I have managed to use it to reset the bulbs… If my experience ends up being like yours, then I’m a bit screwed.

I’ll answer to this post if get any new insights that might help others.