Sonoff NSPanel Blueprint - Configure your own custom NSPanel easy via a Blueprint

petersuba · March 5, 2024, 5:11pm

Hi all,

great blueprint, much appreciated.
After much work and research, I am finally in a state where I have my NSPanel flashed and set up properly. Took me an upgrade of my HA machine as I could not build on a rPi, a second USB-serial adapter that I could use with Mac, many updates to entities/helpers etc.

It works - what is remaining is the physical install (at the moment it is rigged up at my table), but before I do that, one thing is not clear to me.

Let’s say I have used the Blueprint to set up the NSPanel. Lots of things set up across the blueprint and then it was deployed onto the NSPanel.

Whenever I am trying to change something, is the Blueprint supposed to populate itself with the current config so I don’t need to build the whole blueprint from scratch again? Or is there a way to extract the current config manually to get the same result? Maybe it’s an oversight from me, I was somehow expecting to come back to the Blueprint page and see the various fields be populated the way I did them at the setup. But now (for me) they seem to be all back to the default (or empty) values.

Now that I searched this topic I did find a comment from a long time ago that suggests (when doing the config the first time) to switch to yaml view and copy/paste and save the text to be reused next time. I obviously can’t go back in time to do that… but I also wonder if this has been solved with a more elegant solution since. I also can’t find anything on this in the documentation (maybe I wasn’t reading properly?).

Any help is much appreciated.

ladaowner · March 5, 2024, 5:25pm

[17:24:33][D][script.check_versions:1861]: ESPHome: 4.2.6
[17:24:33][D][script.check_versions:1862]: TFT: 4.2.6
[17:24:33][D][script.check_versions:1864]: Blueprint: 4.2.6

EU version

the Button page 01 - LABEL are not appearing on the display. Any idea on why?

Also can you remove empty button pages. AKA delete page 2 and 3 as they have no buttons

ladaowner · March 5, 2024, 5:28pm

did mine today and it worked fine with (however I had to remove the friendly name option or it failed to work).

esp32:
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

Might want to try a clean build

ladaowner · March 5, 2024, 5:41pm

how do we flash the DEV version of nspanel?

Is it change main to ref: main to dev


packages:
  remote_package:
    url: https://github.com/Blackymas/NSPanel_HA_Blueprint
    ref: main
    files:

bowhunt24 · March 5, 2024, 9:29pm

People keep saying “do a clean build”. I’ve cleaned the files using the menu option but get the same result. What kind of machine did you compile on? I’m wondering if the idf framework just plain won’t run on a Pi4.

bowhunt24 · March 5, 2024, 9:30pm

Same question here re: removing unused pages.

daywalker03 · March 5, 2024, 9:37pm

It should work fine as long as your Pi has at least 4 GB of RAM, as I couldn’t do anything on my Home Assistant Yellow until I replaced the original 2GB CM4 with an 8GB model.

ladaowner · March 5, 2024, 9:44pm

Synology (amd) and docker

bowhunt24 · March 5, 2024, 10:19pm

Lol, daywalker. Cool handle

I’m running on a Pi4 with 4gb of RAM. Based on the errors I was seeing (posted above) it doesn’t seem like a system resources type thing, but maybe I’m wrong. Like I said, Audrino ran perfectly. But looks like I will be forced to move over at some point here in the near future.

sparkydave · March 5, 2024, 11:24pm

You can put ESPhome on your PC and compile it there.

ladaowner · March 6, 2024, 7:13am

How do I get the thermostat that looks like the nest dial? My current thermostat on the nspanel is a bar.

This is what I’d like

ladaowner · March 6, 2024, 7:38am

Is it possible to control the relay from home assistant directly?

bowhunt24 · March 6, 2024, 7:54pm

Yup, I was controlling the physical relay with the entity controls. Could here it switching on and off too, so I know it was actually affecting the physical relay. Find relay 1 and relay 2 controls under entity.

ladaowner · March 6, 2024, 9:53pm

Of course there are relay switches in the esphome device for the panel, d’oh.

EdwardTFN · March 9, 2024, 12:58pm

Everything should work fine with Arduino, but our goal is esp-idf, where most of our tests are done, so I highly recommend you looking on what is preventing you using esp-idf and solving that.

About wake-up page, there’s a selector for this under Settings > Devices & Services > ESPHome.

EdwardTFN · March 9, 2024, 1:01pm

The automation created using the blueprint should retain your changes to the settings. There’s not need to deal with yaml in the Blueprint side.

EdwardTFN · March 9, 2024, 9:14pm

Guidance on Reporting Issues for NSPanel Users

Hello NSPanel Community,

I hope this message finds everyone well, thriving in our shared endeavor towards enhancing our home automation experiences. As many of you know, our discussions take place within the broader Home Assistant forum, a testament to the vibrant and supportive community we belong to. Your contributions and engagements here are immensely valuable, underscoring the collaborative spirit that propels our project forward.

Today, I want to address the optimal approach for reporting and managing issues specifically related to our solution for the NSPanel, which enriches the Home Assistant ecosystem through our dedicated firmware and blueprint.

Why GitHub for Issue Reporting?

1. Structured Issue Tracking: GitHub’s environment allows for meticulous issue tracking. Each concern is isolated, enabling more manageable prioritization and resolution, ensuring comprehensive attention to every report. You can report issues directly at our GitHub Issues Page.

2. Transparent Status Updates: Issues on GitHub are systematically tagged, assigned, and tracked through their lifecycle (open, in progress, closed). This process provides clear visibility on the progress being made, helping to minimize redundancy and clarify resolutions.

3. Direct Developer Communication: Utilizing GitHub positions you directly in conversation with our developers. This proximity significantly accelerates problem identification and resolution, benefiting from targeted inquiries and feedback. For direct access to our issue tracking, please visit our GitHub Issues Page.

4. Unified Discussion Threads: GitHub’s platform facilitates a consolidated dialogue around individual issues. This singular focus enhances our problem-solving efficiency and informs better decision-making processes.

Challenges within the Home Assistant Forum:

Although the forum serves as a fantastic medium for general discussions and sharing, it presents certain limitations for issue tracking:

Consecutive Post Restrictions: A limit on consecutive posts can occasionally stall ongoing discussions or delay critical updates from our team.
Scattered Conversations: When multiple issues are debated within a single thread, it can lead to confusion and make it challenging to track resolutions and ongoing concerns.

Considerations:

We recognize that not everyone may be comfortable or willing to create a GitHub account for issue reporting. While we fully understand and respect this preference, we kindly ask for your patience as responses and resolutions through the forum may inherently take longer. We sincerely apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Nevertheless, the advantages of streamlined issue resolution and direct engagement with our development team on GitHub are compelling reasons to consider this step, especially for users keen on contributing to the NSPanel’s continuous improvement.

In Conclusion:

While the Home Assistant forum remains an invaluable platform for community interaction, we advocate for the use of our GitHub repository for specific NSPanel issue reporting and tracking. This method promises a more efficient resolution process and ultimately contributes to the enhancement of the NSPanel experience within the Home Assistant framework.

We appreciate your understanding, cooperation, and active participation, which collectively drive the evolution of NSPanel. Together, we are set to ensure it continues to stand as a premier choice for home automation aficionados.

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment.

Warm regards,

Edward

bowhunt24 · March 10, 2024, 3:40am

oh my gosh, thanks. Not sure how I missed that one…

bowhunt24 · March 10, 2024, 3:41am

Thank you Edward. Without folks like you doing all the hard work, folks like me would never get to fully enjoy HA and learn as much as we do. THANK YOU!!!

EdwardTFN · March 10, 2024, 7:29pm

v4.3 - Call for beta testers

Hello NSPanel Community,

We are thrilled to invite you to the beta testing of NSPanel HA Blueprint v4.3, a milestone release that not only transitions to the ESP-IDF framework for improved performance and flexibility but also introduces the Utilities Dashboard for enhanced utility tracking, significant localization improvements, and an array of other enhancements to enrich your smart home experience.

Key Highlights of v4.3.0:

Utilities Dashboard: Monitor essential utility metrics directly from your NSPanel.
Expanded Localization: Enhanced user interface with user-defined decimal separators and translations of values for a global audience.
Comprehensive API Documentation: Detailed service documentation to facilitate customization and integration.
Enhanced Personalization and Visibility: From hardware button bars across all pages to user-defined decimal separators and translated values, v4.3.0 brings you a personalized experience.

We’re particularly excited about the feedback on the Utilities Dashboard and the expanded entity selection for Home and Climate pages, combined with state_translated for a richer, more customized user experience.

Joining the Beta Test:
Dive into the beta branch for all necessary files and instructions. For those new or needing a refresher on beta or other versions, our Guide to Using Different Versions of This Project is a great resource.

We’re Listening:
Share your testing experience directly in our GitHub Discussions. Whether it’s a feature that enhanced your NSPanel’s functionality, a bug that needs squashing, or a suggestion for future updates, every bit of feedback is invaluable. Here are some key areas we’re keen to hear about:

How did the Utilities Dashboard enhance your monitoring experience?
Did the expanded entity selection for Home and Climate pages improve your control and visibility?
How have the localization improvements impacted your use of the NSPanel?

Feedback Submission:
While we’re not using polls, we encourage detailed feedback in the discussion area. Here’s how you can help:

Report issues on our Issues page.
Suggest enhancements or submit fixes via Pull Requests to the dev branch.

Thank you for being an active part of the NSPanel HA Blueprint community. Your insights and contributions are crucial for the continuous improvement of this project. Let’s make NSPanel HA Blueprint v4.3.0 the best version yet!

Happy testing!

NSPanel HA Blueprint Team