Ratgdo - local mqtt control for your Chamberlain/Liftmaster security+ 2.0 garage door opener

Hardware
453

If you have installed the ESPHome firmware on the ratgdo and installed the ESPHome Addon in Home Assistant, it should prompt you to Adopt the device and it will generate a device .yaml entry in the ESPHome Addon UI, where you can edit it.

1 Like
454

Unfortunately this adopting thing only works with the ESPHome as an addon for HA. If he were to use ESPHome in a separate container then there is no way to import the YAML.

There is an easy fix however, on the RATGDO Github page you can find the ESPHome YAML code. Next add a device in ESPHome, just select anything you want and then skip everything else.
Once the device has been created you can edit the YAML and paste in the code found on github. Check if you want to change anything and then validate and install either wirelessly (if you had flashed it with the flasher tool first, this only works if you specify a fixed IP in the YAML code or use the same mDNS name as the one created by the flash tool). Otherwise just use a cable and upload the firmware through your browser.

I really like the flasher tool, however I do not like the fact that it doesnā€™t show the YAML code after flashing to use in ESPHome itself. This way works like a charm, but it is a bit of a pain in the behind to do this. But then again you only do this once and then forget about it (but now we have the added bonus of having updates).

455

So I have to set up an ESPHome? My parentsā€™ garage is detached and has existing wires to the main house for a dry contact buttons that operated their old garage doors. A member gave some instructions previously on editing the yaml for this but they donā€™t need any smart home functions, are there other ways to upload a firmware with edited codes through the web browser?

456

Is there a way to provide a family member a simple toggle button on their phone that doesnā€™t require HA? Or is there a way to install the Android companion app and then use a shortcut to the toggle button or something like that? This is for my mom whoā€™s not interested in anything other than a single button to toggle the door from her phone. Has anyone else done something like this?

457

Thereā€™s probably a more convoluted way to do it without the app by using some integration, but with the app, you can just create a widget on the phoneā€™s homepage that can be used for toggling.

Set up a Service button widget to use the cover.toggle service using the appropriate entity. You can also adjust the label, icon, and appearance.

If you want to make it more complicated and add conditions, you could have the widget call a script instead that would control the behavior of the toggle.

458

That should work just fine, thank you! I think Iā€™ve used a widget before but forgot how.

459

For family i created a js webpage with simple button for doorbell and button if they have code.

For the code I use OTP and shared the qrcode so I donā€™t have issue with random people having the code. At least they must have told them within past few seconds

This all connects back to HA through the web api and bearer token. It is not the best but works well

EDIT
Forgot to mention the api calls an automation that opens gate and notifies me with photo. In the case of doorbell I pop up input box so they can put in name or phone number and I get that in the notification with a photo

460

If her phone is an iPhone, there is a HomeKit firmware for ratgdo now. That wouldnā€™t require Home Assistant at all. GitHub - ratgdo/homekit-ratgdo: A native HomeKit implementation of a Security+ 2.0 garage door controller based on ratgdo hardware

Or could probably use the ESPHome firmware and use the REST API to make calls directly to the ratgdo without needing Home Assistant Web Server API ā€” ESPHome

461

Thanks, itā€™s android, and the gdo is dry contact, so no ESPHome for herā€“yet. I just saw the branch today thatā€™s working towards implementing ESP firmware for Sec+ 1.0 and dry contact, but Iā€™ll wait until itā€™s pulled into the main branch.

462

Thanks Iā€™ll look into that. I have no experience with js, but Iā€™ll see if I can rope my son into working on this with me since he has some from school.

463

Hi All - looking for some help with ratgdo in HASS. Iā€™ve got it all wired up and its working, however at times it doesnā€™t properly update the state of the door (open/closed) and my automations that trigger the cover.close service donā€™t work.

Iā€™ve also got a button on my hass app that triggers close if you press, and close if you hold - however it never works on first press/hold. I have to press/hold twice and then it worksā€¦any insights on what I can do to fix my automations and service calls so this is actually reliable?

464

Iā€™m starting to see frequent WiFi dropouts now that the ratgdo has been online for about a week. Itā€™s not consistent will connect and be connected for anywhere from a minute to thirty minutes and then drop offline. No network changes and there are other wifi devices in the garage that are staying connected, so itā€™s a bit odd. Anyone else seeing similar? This is with the v2.5 board on v2.7 MQTT firmware. Going to get a ladder and climb up later today and swap the power supply to rule that out, but just thought it was odd.

465

Iā€™ve updated the Ratgdo firmware which seems to be more stable, however the ratgdo fails to update state correctly sometimes. Sometimes when ratgdo opens the door, it fails to register it as open and then in HASS as the cover is ā€œclosedā€ I cannot issue the cover.close command. Any ideas on debugging this?

466

I think I might have ESPHome finally set up. When I go add a new device, which chipset should I be using? And which yaml from GitHub should I copy? My board is v2.53i

467

Doesnā€™t matter since thatā€™s just trying to set up the base .yaml file for you, which you are just going to edit anyway.

I think @jimz011 meant to copy the entire esphome-ratgdo/static/v25iboard.yaml at 17fad73613cc76d2ab16283a5be66b76a5832f64 Ā· ratgdo/esphome-ratgdo Ā· GitHub and use that, but you will be missing some stuff at the top. If you adopted it in the Home Assistant ESPHome Addon, it would start with something like this:

substitutions:
  name: ratgdov25-11999c
  friendly_name: ratgdov25
packages:
  ratgdo.esphome: github://ratgdo/esphome-ratgdo/v25iboard.yaml@main
esphome:
  name: ${name}
  name_add_mac_suffix: false
  friendly_name: ${friendly_name}
api:
  encryption:
    key: iWx8Hghy47j8zEC4IVqJousYsomethingreallylong


wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

I suggest you start with this and edit your own preferred name/friendly_name/key as you want.

468

The EU models will have the same wiring as US ones, the main difference for them is the power grid requirement. I am building a AC Mains powered RATGDO for EU now like the US one I designed. The EU requires an isolated PSU. This is what the US build looks like and thereā€™s a guide page which shows what wires you would connect. Gelidus Research AC Powered RATGDO Compatible Board

469

I have Home Assitant green and trying to connect to my Ratgdo. I have the Ratgdo software loaded from the web installer but can not find the Ratgdo software in HA or ESPHome. I know the Ratgdo works as i can enter the IP adress and can controll the door. Also I can access HA from my PC but not from my phone, both connected tothe same WIFI. I bought the HA Green because i thought it would be easy without any programming required. Im a noob so please be gentle.

470

I donā€™t use this yaml?

471

Why not just power it from the battery backup/charging connector I. The gdo?

472

You can if you want, but the usual way is to include it via the package option.