ESP8266 Locking up HA

ESPHome
1

Hello , hope everyone is well.

Could I get a little guidance . I’ve been using HA for a couple of years now but I now want to use ESP8266 to control a Pyronix Alarm via its keyfob. ( link 3 outputs from the ESP to the buttons on the alarm keyfob to set/unset etc

However I have a real problem with setting up ESP as its locking up my HA and I am now to scared to try again in fear of bricking my HA box.

What I did was , after watching a few youtube videos, I installed ESP Home via the add on store easily. That worked.

I then plugged in my ESP8266 board to my laptop (usb port) and tried to add a new device, it finds the device but when I select install it says it doesn’t meet the requirements , probably as I am not using https. It suggested downloading the file, and use ESPhome web.

However when I try that from ESP Home in HA it states that’s its downloading and takes ages and then I see a message to say connection lost as it takes down my HA box.

The HA box doesn’t come back up and then appears to be in a weird state of replying to pings but nothing else and then requires a hard reboot.

So I think I am doing something wrong. Can somebody pls explain the basic steps to get an ESP board working in HA please.

The script to control the alarm I can work out later. ( unless anyone as one already … that would be nice)

All help appreciated , thank you Andy

2

this is how I do it:

first go to ESPHome builder in HA, there you can add a new device by clicking in the bottom corner on “+ NEW DEVICE” , then CONTINUE and give it a name.
next step is to choose the correct board, in your case ESP8266, next step you can choose skip for now.
the device will now show up and be editable.
once your code is complete, click on INSTALL and choose manual download.
when finished, you should now have a firmware file you can upload to your esp module.
now is the time to connect your device to your pc, go to ESPHome builder and edit the device, click on INSTALL and choose “plug into this computer”.
then choose option 2. Open ESPHome Web ( not all browsers are compatible! )
click CONNECT and choose the correct com port.
when the device is connected you can install the firmware file you made before.

3

Let’s start with the basics - what are you running your HA on?

If it’s something underpowered like a Pi3, then compiling ESPHome code is out of the question as it will consume too much resources.

4

Hi

So the HA hub is this one

It’s a quad core A53 cpu with 2gb ram and 32 eMMc storage with 100mbps nic

So not the most powerful of boxes but it does have built in zigbee and zwave which is why I brought it

Do you think this is part of the problem ?

5

Thanks

That’s exactly what I did , it’s when it got to the download bit was when it failed … possibly from the other replies to my post due to lack of compute resources….

6

If possible try with a pc or laptop.

7

Hi

Can I clarify do you mean run HA on a laptop or connect the ESP to a laptop.

As that’s what I did I connected the ESP to my laptop via USB .

Thanks Andy

8

ow ok sorry, I missed that part.
yes I meant connecting the ESP to a laptop.

9

Yeh tried that , in fact that’s was the way I saw in a YouTube video , but it appears that the processing for the download is done on the HA hub and if that’s correct then my hub is probably too low powered. But that said surely there must be another way if doing it …

10

Maybe this can help you?
Never tried in myself tho.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Esphome/comments/zzycu4/any_way_to_compile_esp_home_on_a_machine_not/

EDIT:
tried it myself just now on a windows machine, works perfectly!
used these guides:
https://esphome.io/guides/installing_esphome

1 Like
11

Thank you , I’ll give it a try

12

Do try it. Once I realized I could off-load all my ESPHome compiles to my laptop, instead of burdening HA, it was obvious this is the way to go.

HA is a production machine. I do all my development on the laptop anyway. Why get the HA box involved in ESPHome compiles?

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13

Yeh good point , will try asap

Thank you

14

Hello , update

I tried the suggested method of using laptop with Python in Windows.

All worked very easily and now I have a board working , only with a single switch at this time. But I need to explore the options for yaml file configuartions to make use of the device I can now see it in HA and thus address the switch in automations etc.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions.

And yes agree , off load the ESP setup to a laptop and leave the HA hub just to control and use.

Thank you all … Id say another one resolved…

1 Like
15

In fairness, it was @Krivatri who should get credit for the solution.

1 Like