Possible to disable Z-Wave Firmware Updates?

I just got version 2022.9.1 and a bunch of Z-Wave firmware notifications popped up. I applied a bunch of them and it turns out that the behavior of my “double pressed” and “triple pressed” functions on my Jasco/GE/Enbrighten switches changed. These switches are: In-Wall Paddle Switch, QFSW, 500S and previously I could double or triple tap without the load turning on.

With firmware 5.54 (Which HA suggested I install) the load turns on or off with the first press, even if you’re doing a double or triple tap. I was able to go into some of the entries in the Z-Wave JS dashboard in Home Assistant and manually downgrade the firmware back to 5.53.

I’d like to know if there’s a way to disable the notifications without going to each one and clicking “Skip”.

Also, this is just a heads up that the latest firmware for these switches breaks the double and triple tap functionality.

Funnily enough, if you search for this, there are one or two people online who reported this happening back in February: GE/Jasco switches - double tap behavior change in 5.54 firmware - Devices - Hubitat

Also, it’s worth noting that the dimmers I have of the same model and family (In-Wall Paddle Dimmer, QFSW, 500S) are already running version 5.54 and do not have this issue. I’m wondering if perhaps 5.54 was never intended for the non-dimmer QFSW, 500S models?

Anyone else?

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There are a couple different versions of that switch, but it seems they’ve been working on a fix: https://github.com/jascoproducts/firmware/issues/82. Perhaps drop a comment if yours is a different model.

Good to know you are able to downgrade, at least for some devices.

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I too am having issues after pushing the FW update to my Jasco Wall Paddle Switch (model ZW4008). I do not know if it was 5.54 that was pushed, it shows as current FW is 5.53 and that no updates are available. Anyways after pushing the update, HA cannot see or control the state of the switch. However the switch still functions when physically pushed. I have tried the Z-wave heal and re-interview. All succeed, and i can see z-wave connection is solid to the device. I just cannot control it. Unfortunately i am not seeing the option to roll back FW.

You can skip on each dialog (or use the service call which you add all the entities you want to skip), this will hide it until a newer version becomes available.
Or you can disable the update entities, then you will not get any notifications until you enable them again.

OK got it working… I had to remove device from network and then re-add it after doing the FW update…

Power cycle teh switch. There is usually a little tab that can be pulled out that cuts the power. You can always turn off the breaker also.

If you had reloaded the zwave_js integration you would have regained control without a problem :wink:

Most of my switches are older versions that don’t support double or triple tap, but I’m too afraid to do firmware updates on them. I wish there was a changelog so I can see the changes- and it would be nice to know what firmware was shipped with them initially.

It seems though that between the older ZWave and the newer ZWave plus models, they’re all on the same firmware - so I dunno.

The update entity shows all of that information: the current firmware version, the version it will upgrade to, and the release notes for the upgrade version. Of course, the release notes are only as good as what’s provided by Jasco.

Sorry, I could have been more clear. These are the extent of the release notes that I see. I don’t know what this means:

  1. Add Parameter 84
  2. Valid Value 0 – No specific behavior necessary Valid Value 1 – Reset Switch to Factory Defaults
  3. Valid Value 1 – Reset Switch to Factory Defaults
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That’s what I meant by “Of course, the release notes are only as good as what’s provided by Jasco.” That’s the only information Jasco has provided to the firmware update service (which is what HA shows in the update entity). If you’re referring to the source release notes provide by Jasco, I fully agree, they could be much more clear. Take Zooz or Inovelli as examples.

Duly noted. I agree these are completely insufficient, which is why I’m shying away from the update. I wish they were more clear, but I feel these firmware updates are only provided under duress. If I remember correctly, they were only releasing firmware with companies they had partnered with anyway, which is super disappointing.

With regards to firmware updates. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” - meaning if your device is working fine, don’t feel like you have to update it. All code has bugs. New code has new bugs. Upgrading anything should be done for a reason

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Regarding skipping the update: it appears that every time you update HomeAssistant, all the updates come back, which is pretty annoying.

At the least, it should remember I don’t want to update an entity basically forever. In my case, I have a bunch of fairly old Jasco/GE switches that I have no desire to update (they work fine and have never given me issues).

TBH, I’m a bit concerned about the ZWave updates in general, since I’ve done a lot of updates to my various Zooz devices with mixed success. Some of them I’ve had to downgrade because they stop working correctly, but the bigger issue is I often have to factory reset the switch after the update and then repair it, which is generally not a smooth process.

I like the idea, but I hope it doesn’t cause more issues than help for the less-technical HA users out there.

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Regarding skipping the update: it appears that every time you update HomeAssistant, all the updates come back, which is pretty annoying.

This is where I am being frustrated at the moment.
I want to be able to have Z-Wave updates displayed in their own spot if I want them. I don’t necessarily want them to persist, return after being dismissed, and crowd the spot in the UI where more critical updates reside.

I want this gone:
image

And my reasoning is also upsetting: The first Jasco update I applied basically destroyed my favorite feature of the Z-Wave switches (double tap and triple tap). So at this point I’ve been burned and will happily stay on whatever firmware I’m currently on forever.

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Why don’t you disable the update entities then?

Because that’s a bit user hostile (especially for someone else who may have 100 entities to disable) and that seems a bit heavy handed when what this feature needs is a global on/off switch.

When I chose to skip the updates, they just came back. Will these come back with different entity IDs? I’m not sure.

To be clear: The little orange circle isn’t hurting me. I’m just seeing if there’s a better way to handle this.

Edit:
I just realized you can disable them all at once by going to the Z-Wave integration, clicking the hyperlink to the number of entities, then searching that filtered list for update then selecting all, then choosing Disable Selected so this is a workable solution. Having said that, it still leaves one blind to future updates.

In either case, thanks for repeating the suggestion to disable them @freshcoast

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When I chose to skip the updates, they just came back.

I would consider that a bug and submit an issue. Looking at the code, it’s supposed to persist that a version was skipped.

Having said that, it still leaves one blind to future updates.

You did say you “will happily stay on whatever firmware I’m currently on forever”, hence the suggestion to disable the entity as that is somewhat permanent. :wink:

I’ve got a PR up to fix this

How does one downgrade the switch? Or is there a fix?

I’ve been unable to do double press for almost 2 months now.