I’m a bit confused regarding Z-Wave JS (official HA add-on) vs. the Z-Wave JS UI (community add-on).
First of all, based on the naming, it would appear (in my mind at least) that the UI add-on is a companion to the non-UI add-on. But that doesn’t appear to be the case.
After some experimentation it seems that they’re either/or components. If the community add-on starts first then the official one doesn’t “see” the devices and vice-versa.
The official one seems to be better integrated with the rest of the HA and appears, like everything else, in the integrations, while the community version doesn’t. But community version seems to offer more control over the devices themselves.
I hope that the above summarizes the situation accurately. Because my questions result from above description:
What are functional differences (which one is better )?
Is there a way to run both at the same time and have them “see” and operate the same Z-Wave devices?
If simultaneous operation is not possible, does it make sense to normally run the official version and on occasion switch over to the UI version if some advanced config would be needed? Or would that risk messing up things?
I personally don’t use add-ons But I use the docker equivalent if zwavejs-ui. It gives a better control panel and user interface. So I think it’s better.
no you can’t run them simultaneously
no it doesn’t make sense. Switching isn’t hard but it’s not trivial either. Just run zwavejs-ui if you think you might need the better control panel. There’s no downside that I can think of. Or if you don’t need the control panel and the HA biult-in control panel is adequate then run the official add-on.
I’m stuck on a very old version of my controller firmware and cannot do an NVM backup/restore because of it. EDIT: (I also can’t update my controller firmware , my only recourse is to redo my entire network…)
So… if you have a 500 series z stick circa 2015, you don’t get this benefit.
FYI (and for anyone else), there are FAQs in the integration docs for those exact questions. If you have ideas for making the docs clearer, anyone can submit updates.
Man I’m glad I’m not the only one. I struggled to figure out how to use both of them for a few hours, then gave up. The documentation is still unclear even almost a year after this initial post was made.
So, if there is no NVM for me on z-waveJS UI, I guess there is no way of creating the network all over again for upgrading to a z-wave 700 (or if the stick is broken)?
The original Z-Stick came with fw v1.0. If you have v1.1, my guess is that it’s a newer model that can upgrade. But again, Aeotec support would be the best place to confirm that.
For NVM backup and restore to another series (700 and 800) using Z-Wave JS UI, what matters is the Z-Wave SDK version. The minimum SDK version required is 6.61. The original Z-Stick with fw 1.0 has 6.51, so that’s too old. Not sure what the 1.1 version has, you can look in the driver debug logs to find out, or switch to Z-Wave JS UI and it will tell you.
With the old SDK version you can use the Aeotec tool to backup and restore but only to another Gen5 stick.
There is another method to move networks using the PC Controller software controller and adding a secondary controller. It’s much more work but doesn’t require NVM backup and restore. I don’t have the link handy but a video is available in another topic here in the forums.
upgrade it to 1.2 (if it’s not already at 1.2) using the Aoetec fw upgrade tool
backup the 1.1 stick using Aoetec tool
restore backup to 1.2 stick using Aeotec tool
use that 1.2 stick in HASS and verify all your devices come up,
Once confirmed. Then you can upgrade the 1.1 stick to 1,2, take a backup from the 1.2 stick using Aeotec tool and restore to the new 1.2 stick. Now you have 2 identical sticks on 1.2
Using the above approach if the upgrade fails and bricks the stick. You will always have a working stick to go back to. While I’ve done this several times without bricking the stick others have not been so fortunate.
)?
, my only recourse is to redo my entire network…)
