Anyway to backup zwave network with zwave js default integration and nortek stick?

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

Hello all,

Hoping for a solution to my query. Thank you all for any guidance you can provide!!

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

bumping this.

But I have a bad feeling that this doesn’t exist.

How do you guard against hardware failure reguarding the zwave network in home assistant?

[freshcoast (Z-Wave AI Bot)]

No, there’s no way to do this with HA and the Z-Wave integration. You should switch to Z-Wave JS UI if you want to do NVM backups.

Switching Z-Wave JS Addons with Minimal Downtime! Z-Wave JS (Official) to Z-Wave JS UI (Community)

Introduction This guide describes how to switch from the Z-Wave JS official add-on to the Z-Wave JS UI HA Community add-on, without losing any downtime caused by the re-interviewing of nodes. In this guide, Z-Wave JS UI will henceforth be abbreviated as ZUI. Who is this guide for? This guide is for HAOS add-on users who have already installed the official Z-Wave JS add-on and the companion Z-Wave integration, and desire extra functionality that isn’t provided by HA, such as: Adding and remov…

Or you can temporarily remove the USB stick from your HA server and make a backup using the Windows PC Controller software.

You should also be aware that the NVM backup of a Nortek with its original firmware cannot be restored to a newer and different model of controller, it can only be restored to the same Nortek, unless you perform a (difficult?) firmware upgrade. In other words, an NVM backup for this device is almost useless (IMO) unless you have a spare Nortek to restore to. There’s really no point in buying a new Nortek at this day and age with better Zigbee and Z-Wave controllers available.

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

Hmm. I had a bad feeling about the nortek after I had already bought it for the second time and set my network up from scratch after a hardware failure on the first nortek.

Say, although, not a good options, if I go ahead and get a spare nortek-- if they have the same firmware, I should be able to back up with pc controller software and restore to the new nortek should I have any other future hardware failures?

What zwave dongle would you suggest?

And you say there is no way to get from the nortek to the new device without pretty much starting from scratch again?

Yeesh. Thank you for your responses on this subject.

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

Could you possibly link me to this pc controller software you are speaking of?

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

And lastly, is this a pipe dream? I imagine with your knowledge level, you have already seen this one:

Migrate 500/700 Z-Wave Controllers to the ZST39 800 Series Controller

[freshcoast (Z-Wave AI Bot)]

@wtstreetglow

Say, although, not a good options, if I go ahead and get a spare nortek-- if they have the same firmware, I should be able to back up with pc controller software and restore to the new nortek should I have any other future hardware failures?

Sure, that will work. Even the Z-Wave JS UI backup/restore should work, it should handle the “raw” file and not attempt a migration.

What zwave dongle would you suggest?

Zooz 800 controllers are pretty popular at this time. If you wait a little Nabu Casa will be selling an 800-series USB controller that supports an external antenna. I plan on upgrading my 700 to that.

Could you possibly link me to this pc controller software you are speaking of?

It’s part of the Simplicity Studio IDE. Although the IDE is cross-platform, the PC Controller utility is Windows only.

@wtstreetglow

And lastly, is this a pipe dream? I imagine with your knowledge level, you have already seen this one:

That video was created by @cornellrwilliams and has been posted in this forum, you can probably find those posts. Yes, it’s an alternative to NVM backup and restore if your goal is controller migration and not failure recovery, although it is a bit tedious to perform. Pay attention to the comments in the video because I think there are some possible road bumps since the Nortek doesn’t support virtual nodes.

A future version of Z-Wave JS will support doing the control migration automatically for you when NVM backup/restore is not supported. No idea on an ETA. https://github.com/zwave-js/node-zwave-js/issues/7096

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

Thank you for your responses here. I feel much more knowledgeable on my options now.

I may hold out and see if that feature you linked me to ends up being completed. I have a feeling that would be very helpful for many people.

I wish I would’ve done this research before getting another nortek.

I guess I just liked the idea of the zigbee, zwave being taken care of with one device. But in the end, it probably wasn’t the greatest direction. Thank you again for all of the knowledge!

[dbs (David)]

I have an Aeotec Gen 5 Z-wave radio and what I did was this:

• Bought a second one
• Plugged my original into a windows machine and used their utility to download the configuration
• Plugged in the new one and uploaded the configuration
• Tested that the new one worked with HA

Now I keep the other one around since I know I can just swap it in if the first dies. However, I will need to remember that if I add/remove any devices I will have to re-do the download on windows.
-David

[wtstreetglow (Weston)]

Ahh, I was also thinking this direction. It does seem I could follow the youtube process to upgrade. I just don’t know if I’m willing to do the work atm.

I also think I would go ahead and do what you are speaking of (essentially duplicate my 500 series nortek) first just in case I bricked the stick I was trying to migrate from.