Viron Astral Pool ChlorinatorGo integration

My info message (on EQ) only every mentions warning states, like low salt.

Earlier in this thread i mentioned to disable the HA Intergration before upgrading, and after the unit resets due to interesting data. It should have resolved itself none the less.

Yeah, the Halo has 4 Message status’s. I only had 3 presented.

image

Low Salt (and a hundred of other messages) will appear here on the Error Message.

image

If your Halo is still showing Low Salt in the App, Can you validate the HA Intergration once upgraded, is also showing Low salt with a screenshot please?

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Nice! Thanks. No longer in LOW SALT mode but I’ll keep you posted.

Working well, currently showing NoError and I’ve set up an automation to alert me when this changes.

Interestingly it just triggered. Shows most values as UNKNOWN, however some values like set points show correctly.

Strange?

Fixed itself…

Our of interest, what are the possible values for ORP status, PH status and Error message?

The possible values can be found in the halo_parsers.py file, denoted by the lines below. You’ll have to open the links, as the forum preview doesnt show all values.

Info Message

Chlorine status

pH status

Error Message. (which i will be renaming to status given the inconsistency with above.)

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DO NOT UPGRADE YOUR HALO TO FIRMWARE V2.4. It is no longer compatible.

Upon further investigation, it appears that the security measures in Halo firmware v2.4 have changed, effectively locking out the integration in its current state.

The mobile app now performs a challenge/response with their cloud server to authorize local Bluetooth connectivity. While implementing this is relatively simple, it would require contacting their cloud server for a challenge/response for every new session key acquired locally via Bluetooth.

Their stance on this HA integration is clear. Given the new requirement for an internet connection to establish local Bluetooth connectivity, I empathize with end users and pool technicians who have poor or no internet coverage and are now unable to connect locally via Bluetooth to the Halo device in front of them as a result of this change.

Until then, we can only hope for the promised public API like they have with the connect 10.

But for now, I’ve got no interest in playing cat and mouse.

It’s also ironic that this post number 404

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This is really dissapointing by Astral, considering how they market the Halo Chlor as the ‘gold standard’ coupled with the effort you put into this awesome integration @nagyOUT

Let us know if there’s anything we can do, there’s many here that would happily write to them to convey our dissatisfaction.

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Thanks - agreed, very disappointing.
Is it worth a few of us reaching out to Astral? Do you have a tech contact there?

This challenge/response - if it’s relatively straightforward to implement, then is it not worth implementing?

Any idea what else is new in 2.4? I hadn’t even noticed it. Lucky!

To implement it is easy.
I’ve already validated it by manually hitting the cloud end points.

But it’s just going to start a cat and mouse game I’ve got no interest in doing. If it’s Bluetooth, it should stay local, not poll cloud server every 60 seconds.

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nagyOUT, whilst I agree with your thinking, it is possible Astral added this for other reasons - rather than blocking this integration. I also suspect many people will be forced to update to 2.4 and newer versions for other reasons (bugs, new features). The idea of losing your integration depresses me!

Yep, that’s right. As there’s been no official word. It’s just speculation right now as to why they’ve done this.

Theyve just released 2.5 Daniel, ill upgrade and see what (if any) difference it makes.

*update- I seem to have basic chlorinator control back (auto/low/med/high) but no sensors or light control.

Its a step in the right direction!

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@nagyOUT
Hi Daniel,
I know you said you’re not doing any more dev work on this project, but hopefully this is a quick question.

Is there a sensor that we can see for the Low Salt Time statistic?

This is the only place I can see any information about low salt warnings.

Hrm. I don’t recall to be honest. You can check by enabling debug mode for the integration and see what data is returned. Given it’s in the mobile app, it should be there.

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I find that strange that you can control it. Can anyone else confirm that? Was your halo still paired from old firmware? Or were you able to pair it again ?

So, looks like their cloud server is currently offline…

And guess what, we’re unable to connect via local Bluetooth to our halo…

From the limited contacts we have with Fluidra and associates, does anyone know if there will ever be a solution? Be it API or otherwise? It’d be nice to know that they’re generally heading in any given direction.

Im at 2.5 and find it strange that my previously working and paired configuration has now regained some temporary and limited control of the pump speed only, which suggests they may have dialled it back to some extent?

Cheers
Mark