Passive BLE Monitor integration

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296

thank you both for the suggestion :slight_smile:

the problem is that I an not so much technical and I am not sure how to startā€¦ is there a step by step guide?

starting form HW, SW and finally configurations? (sorry to ask hereā€¦ if OT, I will open a new topic :slight_smile:

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297

For hardware you will need an ESP8266 or ESP32 device. Something like the Wemos D1 Mini (ESP8266) should work fine and will cost you maybe 2 USD.
Sorry didnā€™t think. You will need an ESP32, the ESP8266 does not support BLE. Then searching for something like ā€œESP32 WROOMā€ should point you to the correct device, there are several variants - just get one with a USB port. The price will be less than USD 4.

They are programmed and get power from USB, so no extra hardware is needed.

For software you will need ESPHome, which integrates nicely with HASS - as described here:

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298

Found out the issue. it was pycryptodomex lib. Version 3.12.0 crashes on armv6 "Illegal instruction" on armv6l / RaspberryPI Zero Ā· Issue #585 Ā· Legrandin/pycryptodome Ā· GitHub

299

great! now I get it :stuck_out_tongue:

last question, how do you enclose it? 3d printing? or how?

300

A 3d printer is useful for an enclosure, yes. :slight_smile:

301

thank you!

last question, and I promise I will not bother anymore for this topic :stuck_out_tongue: is:

my configuration has:

  • Xiaomi Honeywell BT smoke detector
    - one in kitchen - next to the Raspberry Pi
    - one in upper flor - the one I would need to connect with ESPhome/BLE Gateway

  • Switch Bot BT button (using SwitchBot Integration)
    - one in kitchen - next to the Raspberry Pi
    - one in upper flor whcih is not connected at the moment because the BT signal does not get there)

While the Passive BLE Monitor integration will fix the Xiaomi Honeywell BT smoke detector in upper floor, it seems that I would need to have another ESP 32 for the SwithcBot - I have found the following integration/project to extend SwithcBot Range:

Question:

is there any way I can use only one ESP32 or I need to have two of them? (not about the price, but I am keen to have a "klean infra/setting/configuration :slight_smile: )

thank you all!

302

You can combine several different integrations in the same ESPHome device, but currently there is no native Switchbot integration in ESPHome.

I see that this is discussed in this thread. There is also an example on how to integrate a Switchbot thermo-/hygrometer using the template/lambda functionality in ESPHome.

At the moment you would probably be better off with two ESP32 devices.

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303

Thank you ! you are a legend!

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304

Great Component, thank you!

I also have a question:

I would like to scan for BLE messages for like 20sec and then pause the scan (power-off the HCI scanner) for 60sec, in order to save energy, then start scannig again for 20sec. How can this be done?

Thank you for your input,

Fred

305

Passive BLE monitor is a passive scanner, so it wont affect battery life (with active scan set to False). It is just listening to BLE advertisements, it does not send anything to your sensors, like is being done with sensors that require a connection.

306

@Ernst you misunderstand where I want to save energy: At the scanning device, not the BLE sensor devices that are scanned by this device.

307

A, sorry. That isnā€™t possible at the moment. It is also a bit tricky if you have e.g. motion sensors, in that case it will need to run the scanning continuously. There are also sensors, like LYWSD03MMC, that update pretty rarely, like once per 10 minutes (with default firmware).

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308

6.7.1 release

Since the last update I mentioned in this topic (6.4.3), we have added several new sensors and fixed some bugs.

new sensors

  • Govee Meat Thermometer (H5183)
  • Inkbird IBS-TH2
  • Switch and opening sensor for LYWSD03MMC with ATC firmware (sensors are disabled by default, but can be enabled via the UI)

bug fixes

  • Fixes in auto-restart logic

Other
We have also found a solution for this nasty bug

HCIdump thread: Runtime error while stop scan request on hci0: Event loop stopped before Future completed.

If you are facing this bug, please check the faq, especially step 3, which is refering to another article in the FAQ. We have added the following note, which seems to solve it for some people.

Note 2

When Home Assistant is installed in pyenv, the output of the command which python3 looks like /home/homeassistant/.pyenv/johndoe/python3 but this is not the real link to actual python3 interpreter. The actual binary is placed in a folder like /home/homeassistant/.pyenv/versions/3.9.9/bin/python3.9 (it might slightly differ depending on the installed python version). So to grant root access to python, it is required to run the setcap command with the correct path, i.e.

setcap 'cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin+eip' /home/homeassistant/.pyenv/versions/3.9.9/bin/python3.9
309

Hi,
New to HASSOS and keen to add BLE devices. Iā€™ve followed the instructions on a clean install using HACS on HASSOS but I keeps reporting the error. Added debug but this just keeps reporting no device advertised every 60 seconds. (also, I canā€™t putty in and using Terminal add-on I canā€™t work out how to copy text. Itā€™s making me feel very dumb)

ble-ERROR
ble-ERROR1675Ɨ674 86.4 KB

Seems everyone else with a similar error once had it working but Iā€™ve never been able to get past this point.
Hope someone can point out where Iā€™m going wrong?
Cheers
Martin

310

@mjb183
There is an FAQ article about this error, which you can check for possible solutions. But, normally, this issue occurs on HA core, venv or docker installations, that have issues with the access rights to Bluetooth. In your case, you are running HA Os, which makes it difficult to run most solutions. Canā€™t remember that I have seen this issue on HA OS before.

You can install the SSH & Web Terminal add in in HA to gain access to the terminal, although the terminal is still limited (as in, you canā€™t run every command). In that way, you could run some of the tips in the FAQ. Otherwise, check this issue on github

311

Thanks for getting back so quick!

Hmmm, I didnā€™t find that FAQ so thanks. Seems this might some digging as bluetoothctl command canā€™t see any controllers even though the log shows a mac address. As you say, sadly I have very limited command available through the Terminal add-on.

Iā€™ll persevere for a bit longer and see if I can find the solution.

Thanks
Martin

312

Right after midnight today I started getting an error that just says:

SensorPush device type id 83 unknown

The error is occurring hundreds of times a minute. I just cleared my logs and within 3 minutes it was already up to 500 times. Does anyone know what this error means? I donā€™t have any SensorPush devices at all, and it looks like the only SensorPush devices supported by this integration are temperature/humidity sensors, which I also donā€™t have (from any brand).

Iā€™ve never gotten this error before in the year Iā€™ve been using this integration, and I definitely didnā€™t get any new devices since midnight.

313

@scoutamis Try updating to 6.9.2, I thinks this should fix the issue.

314

Weird, it seems to have stopped on its own at exactly midnight. Just as strangely as it started at exactly midnight. Either way, I will update to 6.9.2 in case it comes back. Thanks!

315

I am sorry if there was an answer already but I cannot find it using search.
Can I use this integration without having bluetooth on my HA host? My HA is running on a virtual machine and I do not have any bluetooth dongles on that server nor I want to spend time making it available for my virtual machine if I attach one.
I have several ESP32 in my apartment up and running and I want to use them as a source of data from BLE devices for this integration. Is it possible?