Home assistant hard restart by unpluging power to rpi-> use smart switch?

[Gussir]

Hello everyone,

Sometimes my home assistant instance becomes completely unresponsive remotely. When I come back home I have to plug/unplug my Rpi to restart the OS.

I was wandering if it was possible to use a smart switch to do that from another app (other than HASSIO).
Obvioulsy it has to be extreemely reliable and safe since all my home automation systems are completely dependant of the Rpi working completely.
Did anyone try this?

Maybe have a dedicated HA instance for this to specifically switch? a second rpi?
Thanks in advance for any (better) suggestions !

[ferbulous (Shaq)]

You don’t really need another ha instance running
If you have smart plug that can be flashed with tasmota or esphome.
Setup an automation/rules, something like if the relay is off, starts a 1 minute timer, once it’s up then turns on the relay.

Also, i have another rpi zero running with wireguard/tailscale so i can access the plug remotely

[nickrout]

It is a really bad idea to simply unplug any computer. How about getting to the bottom of what is locking it up?

[Gussir]

Yes, it doesn’t happen very often… I just want to have a way, if I’m not home for a while, to restart my automation system if HASSIO is not responsive anymore

[ferbulous (Shaq)]

One more thing, you can refer to the ‘Watchdog for Wi-Fi router or modem’ section in tasmota rules page.

https://tasmota.github.io/docs/Rules/

This willl turn off and on the plug after unsuccessful ping

[orange-assistant (the real one)]

Check this thread here as it sounds like to be the thing you are looking for:

How to restart the smart plug that host the internet box?

If it’s need another device again that switches the plug it’s not “fail safe” and kind of a setup @noiwid already experienced and likely wants to get rid of. The only go to solution imho is a solution that can work completely independent from the a wireless (or wired) connection and can be configured in a way that does everything “on board” (on the device itself). The line in the esphome yaml to achieve something like this can be simple as: esphome: # ... on_boot: then: - delay…

Instead of a “full blown” AC smart plug like in your picture @Gussir such a cheap device can not only save maybe a watt while running but also be powered from the same power supply as your pi

@orange-assistant

You could also think of a DIY ~$3 setup like this and (because it’s always on anyways) even just use it to switch the DC line:

Wire it using the NC contact will even save some energy as the relay is not energized always then but only when disconnecting the load