Weird question was HAOS 17 better for Z-wave the HAOS 18

Configuration Z-Wave
1

This is a dumb question I know it is BUT I have been at this for about 10 day. I have been having MAJOR issues with Z-wave Inclusion since I upgraded from HAOS 17 to HAOS 18. I am running Home Assistant on a Linux Virtual Machine hosted on a macOS silicon host. With a ZWA-2 interface I have been trying to rebuild my z-wave network. and my zooz zwave device always seem to get stuck in provisioning. From what I ‘understand’. scanning the QR codes (after excluding the device to be sure) is the 'best" way to do inclusion but not for me.. It has turned out to be a road to provisioning hell. This an earlier post I did on that . Need help with my setup - Provisioned devices never include - #6 by nonsholant. Any suggestion would be appreciated. I once had a more the adequate network

2

probably not “17 was better” so much as the stick path changed under you after the HAOS bump.

youre on a linux VM on mac silicon with a ZWA-2. after 17->18 the usual killers for inclusion/provisioning stuck are:

  • usb passthrough broke or got rebound as something that isnt a real usb device (check the HAOS host hardware / Supervisor USB list, make sure ZWA-2 still shows, reboot the VM with the stick plugged in before power-on)
  • powered hub / different usb controller. apple silicon hosts are picky. try a powered hub and a different port
  • soft reset / failed interview spam in Z-Wave JS UI logs while zooz sits in provisioning. open Z-Wave JS UI, look at the controller logs during an include attempt
  • S2 QR inclusion can hang if RF is trash. try a plain classic include with the device 1-2m from the stick first, then move it

HAOS 18 itself is fine for zwave for most people. paste a short chunk of the Z-Wave JS log from one failed include + whether the stick still shows under hardware and we can narrow it.

3

thank you! that is more of a surgical approach then what I have been doing . The only thing that concerns me as I think I understand what you are saying. I will see what I can do

4

After an exclude I always also reset the zwave device to make sure there is nothing from the previous inclusion left on it. Not sure is you tried that too.

5

That was an excellent idea. and that helped get two of my ZSE 11 motion detectors back in service. Z-wave has become pretty much a full time job for me..What doesnt;'t is the disconnect between device names in the integration and js-app

6

OK I reconnect the ZWA-2. directly to the host giving it one of the limited ports I have cleared the device stuck in provisionIng. I am factory resetting the devioes as suggested by MrFrarmer I avoid the QR process, choose no encryption and the manual inclusion seach from the AP not the integration and have had 100% success for the 4 ZEN 76 switches and about 33% success with the ZSE11 motion detectors. I am going to continue working with motion detetectors. If I finish those will go abuse myself with my z-waves lock. I think moving the ZWA-2 cable got me. after a well, back on track,. MrFrarmer suggestion on factory resets. REALLY helps I am going to stay away from the QR can and security. The only thing I have which seems to require security is the locks .

7

I would suggest always using S2 security on any device that supports it. Not for the encryption but for the full packet checksums that are performed on any speed link with S2. Without S2, only 100Kbps connections have full CRC checksums. For things like sensors, this can cause updates to get corrupted and send all kinds of random results.

I know you’re having issues with S2 and SmartStart but I would highly suggest figuring that out for the most reliable zwave mesh possible.

8

I understand these issues lost me five days. Might be beyond my capabilities I do their smarscan and I am banished to provision purgatory . I might give it another shot with some other switches and when I have :LOT of daylight to scan the QRs

9

Do you have any pre-500 series routing (powered) devices between your controller and the devices you’re trying to include/exclude? Previous to Zwave-plus (500 series) devices didn’t participate in NWI (network wide inclusion) and thus inclusion had to be right near the hub/controller. Slower links (9.6kbps especially) between the inclusion point and the controller could also make S2 handshaking time out and either fail or fail back to no security.

10

You don’t have to use SmartStart to get S2 security. Just Go through the normal inclusion process and select S2 as the security protocol for the devices that support it.

11

I will have to double check but I don’t think so. Thanks for the heads up !

12

ok I misread/misunderstood something somewhere. that seemed to say I had to scan to get security On my ZSE 11 I can no longer read the piin and the covers are mixed. I do have two S2 switch to restore I will give them a try. I have nightmares of provision purgatory

13

S2 supports several types.
S2 ACCESS CONTROL: requires DSK (full or 5 digit prefix), used for locks and other high security.
S2 AUTHENTICATED,: also requires DSK (full or 5 digit prefix/pin)
S2 UNAUTHENTICATED, encrypted but does not require the DSK to be scanned during inclusion.

So if you go thru the normal inclusion process, a device that supports S2 can be included as unauthenticated (as long as its not a lock) and won’t require the DSK to be scanned or the pin entered.