The MAC address changes on every reboot on Raspbian Lite after installing Home Assistant

Installation
37

Exactly! And that is the issue. That that page isn’t mentioning this issue, caused by installing a package that that page tells you to do.

1 Like
38

5 minutes google :

Network-Manager will reset your mac address during the wifi scanning.

To permanently change your mac address:

Edit your /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf as follows:

[main]
plugins=ifupdown,keyfile

[ifupdown]
managed=false

[device]
wifi.scan-rand-mac-address=no

[keyfile]

Edit your /etc/network/interfaces by adding the following line:

pre-up ifconfig wlp68s0b1 hw ether xx:xx:xx:yy:yy:yy

The xx:xx:xx:yy:yy:yy is the new mac address obtained from the output of macchanger -A wlp68s0b1

Reboot and verify your settings.
2 Likes
39

I’m not the only one confused about incomplete documentation:

And guess what, they’re on Home Assistant’s GitHub repos, not on Raspbian forum.

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40

Do you want to create a PR for this?

I added it: https://github.com/home-assistant/home-assistant.io/pull/12342.

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41

As others have already found a solution, I just wanted to note, why I was asking the way I did.

It is not easy, to pinpoint an error, if you do not have that “first sight” moment. Most of the times, I just have an idea, what may cause the problem. In some cases, like yours, it is not even a guess. It is simply a feeling, where to look. And this is why I did ask for more information. I didn’t have any idea, but in looking at code examples, config files and such things, most of the time it is a stumbling over something, that just doesn’t feel right. That’s the point, where one can dig in and investigate further.

So the more detailed your description of everything you have down is, the better someone stumbles upon something.

So, yes, if the answer to the problem isn’t “directly” visible, I for one want as much information as possible, even the small things, because I’m sure, there will be something… :slight_smile:

No hard feelings, if it’s not obvious, one has to ask. :slight_smile: Hope now all is working for you.

42

I understand. But seeing that I didn’t do anything crazy or extra, and just followed the instructions, I expected for someone to tell me that it’s a known issue, meaning that I used the wrong keywords when looking for an existing thread. Like

Hey, of course it changes, because we’re telling people to install network-manager, and it does this by default.

And again, I can not understand how am I the only one in the world stumbling upon this issue.

I understand. But I, again, thought that it’s a known issue with a simple solution, that I could simply not find, not that others didn’t think of it. That’s why I asked the question before testing again as I did for this comment.

Same, and thank you all for your time.

1 Like
43

Maybe this help - https://blogs.gnome.org/thaller/2016/08/26/mac-address-spoofing-in-networkmanager-1-4-0/

44

Unfortunately I ran into the same problem. Luckily I found this thread and want to thank revolter and others for efforts to help others. I understand both parties in the discussion here.

3 Likes
45

I’ve also run into the same problem. Thank you @Revolver for this thread, and the patience to post your steps in addition to your private investigation.

And again, I can not understand how am I the only one in the world stumbling upon this issue.

I can assure you that’s not the case, most people will just not bother to create an account here to reply/like. I almost failed to do so myself, and only changed my mind because of how painful reading through this thread was…

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46

Very few people use wi-fi so it had probably not been noticed.

47

I’ve also run into the same problem installing HA Supervised according these instructions:

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48

I would also like to thank @revolter for his patience in answering this thread, despite relatively hostile criticism and apparent lack of ability to read from other members of the forum.

5 Likes
49

I do have the same issue. And I will upload my router’s DCHP record. I’m a Chinese ,and I cannot find any chinese issue by the source in china. So I used google to search for the issus. Luckly, I found your issue. Hope now all is working for you.

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2 Likes
50

Just created an account to thank @revolter for documenting the issue.
I encountered the same problem using Raspberry Pi 4 and following the official installation instructions of Home Assistant Operating System on Raspberry Pi - Home Assistant.

I observed a change in MAC address on eth0 after a power outage, which resulted in a reboot. I do not observe a change in MAC address after a controlled reboot pressing the button “reboot host” in Home Assistant Supervisor.

The version of Home Assistant OS that was installed was release 5 build 12.

3 Likes
51

I’m just another regular folk that, after a power outage, found all systems went into the red because of this exact same issue. Found the cause of the problem thanks to this thread by @revolter

I’m still trying to find the best way to run Home Assistant. I’m mostly fine with HASS but it’s very, very inflexible with the smallest of changes. The machine is basically just for HA, but it has severe limitations that make it impractical in quite a lot of use-cases (such as plugging in a zigbee usb receiver, or running the neolink daemon). I shouldn’t need a second machine to run these.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m very happy with the work that the team has put on the HA project! But as-is is too much of a “tinkerer” setup, rather than a “plug-in and forget” kind of thing.

Created an account exactly for this:

Just created an account to thank @revolter for documenting the issue.

I would also like to thank @revolter for his patience in answering this thread, despite relatively hostile criticism and apparent lack of ability to read from other members of the forum.

I can assure you that’s not the case, most people will just not bother to create an account here to reply/like. I almost failed to do so myself, and only changed my mind because of how painful reading through this thread was…

2 Likes
52

Thank you for your support, and sorry for not being able to make it better for people coming after me.

The thing is that I didn’t only report it, but I even tried to personally contribute a fix to the documentation, but it was declined, with no valid reason IMHO: Add missing MAC address randomization warning by revolter · Pull Request #12342 · home-assistant/home-assistant.io · GitHub.

I don’t know what else I could have done…

2 Likes
53

Kind sir, you’ve done 24 times more than I would ever have the patience to. I don’t think there’s anything more you could’ve or should’ve done. And as you can probably tell, by all the people actually creating accounts here just to thank you, this thread is quite appreciated :bowing_man: .

Pity they can’t add a brief note to save us all unnecessary research, but luckily this thread is getting quite high in search results :blush: .

2 Likes
54

I think to be fair for HA team, this issue is happening towards those who used RPI + WIFI which is not recommended in the first place. Unsure regarding MAC address changes since this never happens to me. Yes, I run RPI3 and 4 without any big problem. As some suggest it’s better to check on RPI forum on why MAC address of your WIFI changes.

55

From someone via email:

Thank you very much for this PR on GitHub: Add missing MAC address randomization warning by revolter · Pull Request #12342 · home-assistant/home-assistant.io · GitHub

You saved me a lot of time! Thank you again and wish you all the best!

1 Like
56

This is the exact point that should be understood. Which is, not everyone has all the available knowledge regarding Home Assistant, not everyone is an expert, not everyone wants a professional setup, etc. So, for some of us, RPI + Wi-Fi is actually the perfect solution.

1 Like