Alternative firmware for Arilux AL-LC03 for use with MQTT and Home Assistant (RGB light strip controller)

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7

It’s easier to acquire a commercialized LED controller, like

It’s possible with the board you mentioned, but you will need to buy MOSFETs, a box, etc. https://learn.adafruit.com/rgb-led-strips/usage

Sam

8

Hi Sam,

what i mean, is it possilbe with this Board to reflash the Arilux. I don’t know exactly what you mean with FTDI

9

I use this one. I don’t know if it’s possible with an ESP.

10

Newb here.

Buying the AL-LC03, some LED strips, and using your software in HA, and there is nothing else to do to make them work, correct?

11

Buying the AL-LC03, some LED strips and using the build in Flux Led/MagicLight component (whitout mqtt) does work too.

3 Likes
12

@vehsen Do have a AL-LC03 with the Flux LED component running? I have some troubles with the Flux LED component regarding Brithness Slider and changeing Colors. Details here:

13

Good news! I didn’t think about an existing HA component. It’s definitely the easiest and the fastest way to use the Arilux LED controller. Thank you! I waste 1-2 days for nothing […].

Sam

14

@mertenats
Haha!
It is not a waste of time - I like your solution with MQTT - work on!

@outrun
Yes, I guess i’ve got the same fault(s), but I don’t care ^^

15

I think you should continue your development. Their protocol is crappy to say the least. mqtt is a far better way to control these little devices. I have one and have experienced issues with HA. Without delving into it any deeper I’m not sure where the issue is but you’re half way there. Keep going.

The way it works with HA it’s next to useless.

1 Like
16

It seems I have a different handheld controller supplied with my unit.

When I pulled the Arilux apart to add your firmware I realized there was only 1 wire connecting the iR receiver to the Airlux and thought how can this possibly work. Then I quickly discovered that it wasn’t an iR receiver but rather an antenna.

A quick sniff around using my RF Gateway and it’s using the Chinese Protocol 1 to send commands. They must of thought what if the Arilux is mounted in a position where iR cannot get to it and made improvements.

Anyway, just an observation. Obviously your software can still work but would have to be re-written for an RF version of the remote if people still want to use the little controller. I may do that. I have never checked if libraries like RCSwitch work on ESP’s. Was so close to implementing but I want control from the handheld as well cause sometimes it’s a pain to get to HA just to change a colour.

EDIT: The remote sends both iR and RF but only RF is received on my controller.

Kman

1 Like
17

Did you buy the AL-LC03 model? My model comes from AliExpress and it does probably not have a RF antenna. Thank you for the info.

18

LOL

Who would have thought there are so many models of something that essentially looks the same. I just checked with Bang Good. Mine is a AL-LC09. When I ordered it, I just saw a picture and it looked the same so I bought it hahaha. Anyway, do you think you will support RF version with your firmware as well? I can give you all the codes from the controller to save you some time. Let me know.

19

I can try to support RF before the end of December. I would appreciate if you can give me the codes (following if possible the schematic used below) and the name of the library you’re using. Thx.

Sam

/*
 * IR Remote
 * Encoding: NEC
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  UP  | Down | OFF  |  ON  |
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  R   |  G   |  B   |  W   |
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  1   |  2   |  3   |FLASH |
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  4   |  5   |  6   |STROBE|
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  7   |  8   |  9   | FADE |
 * +------+------+------+------+
 * |  10  |  11  |  12  |SMOOTH|
 * +------+------+------+------+
 */

#ifdef IR_REMOTE
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_UP     0xFF906F
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_DOWN   0xFFB847
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_OFF    0xFFF807
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_ON     0xFFB04F
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_R      0xFF9867
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_G      0xFFD827
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_B      0xFF8877
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_W      0xFFA857
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_1      0xFFE817
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_2      0xFF48B7
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_3      0xFF6897
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_FLASH  0xFFB24D
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_4      0xFF02FD
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_5      0xFF32CD
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_6      0xFF20DF
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_STROBE 0xFF00FF
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_7      0xFF50AF
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_8      0xFF7887
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_9      0xFF708F
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_FADE   0xFF58A7
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_10     0xFF38C7
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_11     0xFF28D7
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_12     0xFFF00F
#define ARILUX_IR_CODE_KEY_SMOOTH 0xFF30CF
#endif
20

Here’s the info. All numbers are DEC.

Library is https://github.com/sui77/rc-switch

Codes all come in as Protocol 1, which seems to be the default Chinese standard that a lot of manufacturers use. I have PIR’s, Door Switches, Door Bells etc that all use Protocol 1. Now whether that’s the name for it officially I dont know, but the library that I have attached calls it Protocol 1.

Also the TOGGLE key just seems to rotate through all the colours. The other keys are self explanatory.

/*
 * RF Remote
 * Encoding: Chinese Protocol 1
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * |   ON   | Toggle |   OFF  |
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * | Speed+ | Mode+  | Bright+|
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * | Speed- | Mode-  | Bright-|
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * |  RED   | GREEN  |  BLUE  |
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * | ORANGE | LT GRN | LT BLUE|
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * | AMBER  |  CYAN  | PURPLE |
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 * | YELLOW |  PINK  | WHITE  |
 * +--------+--------+--------+
 */

#ifdef RF_REMOTE
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_ON       7808513
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_TOGGLE   7808514
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_OFF      7808515
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_SPEED+   7808616
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_MODE+    7808617
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BRIGHT+  7808618
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_SPEED-   7808619
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_MODE-    7808620
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BRIGHT-  7808621
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_RED      7808622
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_GREEN    7808623
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BLUE     7808624
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_ORANGE   7808625
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_LTGRN    7808626
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_LTBLUE   7808627
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_AMBER    7808628
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_CYAN     7808629
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_PURPLE   7808630
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_YELLOW   7808631
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_PINK     7808632
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_WHITE    7808633
#endif

21

Thank you. I updated the sketch on the dev branch. I assumed that the RF receiver is connected at the same pin as the IR receiver (#define ARILUX_RF_PIN 4 ). When you’ve time, can you try it? Thx.

Sam

22

OK

RX pin is 4 for sure. RF receives OK but only ON & OFF is working. No other buttons do anything. Obviously mqtt is working fine. So positive from a RF receive point of view.

EDIT: Checked my codes again. Typo from my behalf. Will change them now and confirm

Also I notice when power is cut to the unit and it turns on for the first time, it actually comes on. This is good for some people but for places like mine where we get power interruptions daily it seems it’s an issue because you come home to lights on :smiley:

All working :smiley: Excellent

These are new codes :slight_smile:

#ifdef RF_REMOTE
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_ON           7808513
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_TOGGLE       7808514
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_OFF          7808515
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_SPEED_PLUS   7808516
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_MODE_PLUS    7808517
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BRIGHT_PLUS  7808518
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_SPEED_MINUS  7808519
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_MODE_MINUS   7808520
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BRIGHT_MINUS 7808521
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_RED          7808522
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_GREEN        7808523
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_BLUE         7808524
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_ORANGE       7808525
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_LTGRN        7808526
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_LTBLUE       7808527
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_AMBER        7808528
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_CYAN         7808529
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_PURPLE       7808530
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_YELLOW       7808531
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_PINK         7808532
#define ARILUX_RF_CODE_KEY_WHITE        7808533
#endif

Oops :smiley:

Edit again. I did notice it reset. Was on Telnet monitoring and telnet stopped, unit came back on full bright default color. I will leave it on and just keep checking. Wasn’t power issue.

23

I disabled the auto “turn on at startup”. The master branch is now updated. Thanks for your work; I mentioned your name in the README file.

24

My pleasure :smiley: Also Sam there is a clearly defined model range for these units. After further investigation I now understand the model lineup. It is based on whether it is an IR or RF based controller, and secondly how many leds it supports. RGB, RGBW, or RGBWW. Maybe what you can do in your Github is tell people clearly what models you support because it caught me off guard basically because they all look almost identical.

AL-LC01 - No Controller, RGB, 5-28V
AL-LC02 - No Controller, RGBW, 9-12V
AL-LC03 - iR Controller, RGB, 5-28V
AL-LC04 - iR Controller, RGBW, 9-12V
AL-LC08 - No Controller, RGBWW, 5-28V
AL-LC09 - RF Controller, RGB, 5-28V
AL-LC10 - RF Controller, RGBW, 9-28V
AL-LC11 - RF Controller, RGBWW, 9-28V

EDIT: BTW the link you provided to AliExpress further up was great. When I clicked it the AL-LC03 was on special for $8USD so I bought 2 more. Great value.

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25

Sam

I’m getting a lot of random resets with the 1 Arilux I have. Have you seen this problem with yours. Of course it comes back straight away but because I default the unit to OFF when I turn it on, I need to go back into HA and turn it back on again. It comes back at full brightness, but hasn’t updated HA with it’s brightness and HA thinks it’s the value before it crashed.

Just my observations.

EDIT: Looking at my comment above it was resetting even back a while ago.

Kman

26

Thank you for your feedback. It’s strange, I didn’t have problems when I was using it. I’m for 3 months in Australia and I didn’t take my stuffs with; I will look at it when I’ll be back.