Zwave-js has introduced NVM Backup and restore function inside zwavejs2mqtt controllpanel.
There is no documentation of this function that i can find, i was interested to know if its possible to backup a aeotech gen5 stick and restore it to gen7 stick in order to upgrade the stick used?
have anybody tried backup and restore on to different sticks?
Plus 1 for this.
I have just fully moved 200 devices off my vera system to HA and Z Stick 5+ and I am hoping this NVM backup is actually a backup of the ZStick. Does anyone know?
And if I get a Z stick 7 one day, I would like to upgrade too, natively in zwavejs2mqtt interface.
I only have Macs, so cant use the Aeotec software easily…
i asked same question in another post
That’s not actually the same question. Your question was about upgrading the firmware of a USB controller. This question is about upgrading from a 500-series controller to a completely different 700-series controller using the NVM backup and restore functionality in zwavejs2mqtt.
It sounds like node-zwave-js will support this use case in the future, as long as the 500-series controller is on Z-Wave SDK v6.61 and up. Prior versions are incompatible. If your Gen5 stick is on the latest firmware, which has a new SDK version, it should support it. Not sure when it will happen, but it sounds like “soon”.
From an end user perspective there isn’t much benefit to moving to a 700-series controller (at least not yet). If you have an older Gen5 stick and upgrade the firmware, you’ll get SmartStart, which is the biggest differentiator between 700 and older 500 series. So don’t feel like you absolutely need to move unless that’s something you want to do. If starting from scratch, definitely go with a 700. Most of the 700-series improvements are in the end devices (range, battery, performance, etc.), so you still benefit even with 500-series controller if you purchase those devices.
BTW, I would not rule out node-zwave-js supporting OTW controller firmware updates in the future either, it just doesn’t support it right now. After all, you can upgrade the controller firmware in Linux with minicom and xmodem, so I’m sure it’s technically possible.
Trying to accomplish this same thing (restore devices from aeotec Gen 5 to zooz ZST10 700). Has anyone successfully done so?
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
You can’t restore a 500 backup to a 700 using PC Controller. It doesn’t perform any conversion between the different NVM formats. Only a backup and restore from the same stick is supported there.
Z2M will perform the 500-to-700 NVM conversion now, but the first requirement in your case is that the Aeotec Gen 5 stick is running firmware v1.2 (1.02). The NVM backups from earlier versions are not supported. Assuming then that you are using v1.2, the 500 to 700 conversion is still not always working yet. See issue 3992.
Wow, thanks for the info. Really appreciate it!
I’ll double-check the firmware on the stick before trying the z2m route again. Fingers crossed for success
Thanks to your tip, upgrading the Gen5 firmware at least got the nodes to show up on the new ZST10 stick, but as expected, I ran into the same issues on the Z2M github (nodes show, but they’re all dead).
I’ve reserved myself to the fact I may have to build the zwave network from scratch on the new stick. I created it originally in Z2M then added it to HA through native integration. Is there something I can do to at least preserve the entity and device IDs?
Thanks in advance!
Why not just stay on the 500 stick until they get the 500 to 700 conversion issues worked out?
There is very little benefit to a 700 series controller versus a 500 series one right now anyway - “slightly” better range (depending on the antenna config!) and support for Zwave LR (which no devices exist for yet). That’s basically it. Yes, there are some other behind the scenes/SDK side stuff, but nothing user facing.
Lots of benefits to 700 series DEVICES, but not many for the controller.
Good question.
The reason for picking up the 700 was because my old 500 series controller has gotten spotty and unreliable.
I even rebuilt the entire network of 40 devices fairly recently, and several devices have been dropping off or pinging slowly on the old aeotec.
Was hoping the upgrade would bring back reliability, but that wasn’t the case, haha.
Hi,
How did you get on? Did the 700 series controller help?
I’ve just moved from Vera, after that started having issues, and with the limited non z-wave device support to home assistant.
Initially the network was reliable and worked really quickly. Then with no config changes, devices would show as alive, but the attributes would be greyed out, rendering the devices unusable. Network heals have been running for ages, to no avail. Now wondering if I should just go back to the Vera, and run home assistant with the Vera integration.
I’d love to stop with home assistant on its own, but currently the z-wave reliability is just not there. Vera has been running successfully for about 10 years, with very little change.
Thx
I have to say the 700 stick is unreliable, unavailable devices, slow and all kind of trouble.
I think the best is to stick with the 500 controller
Sounds like problem with your network.
I have never had issues with HA Zwave even when open Zwave was used. Only trouble I had was caused by node with bad connectivity. After fix the connectivity issue no problems
Any idea what would cause problems with the network?
The main device I’d like to get working, is a pump fibaro dual relay, which is about 30m down our garden.
In between, the z-wave controller and the relay, there are at least 4 repeater sockets.
Thx
No i have verified the network, this issues i see is related to heavy traffic and S0 and S2, devices tend to go unresponsive. There are also problems with S0 and locks, alot of nonce issues.
I do have my 500 stick and I have changed back to that one, and the result is 100% stable operation.
So I am very interested in your teory that its the network and end devices that has a problem and how you can explain by changing to 500 stick seems to resolve all the issues as it has been running 3 years without problem.
My conclusion is that there are alot of issues with the 700 stick and zwavejs2mqtt.
We agree, 700 has problem and 500 is good
I understood your previous post to mean you had error with both 500 and 700.
Sorry for the delay. Didn’t see this notification!
Just wanted to report back that after upgrading the firmware the 700 stick is working very reliably for me now.
Eventually, this was all sorted out. New 700 series firmware got more stable, and zwavejs2mqtt devs released the ability to upgrade from a 500 series NVM to a 700 series.
Glad to say this current iteration with the 700 series controller (I’m on the zooz stick now) is at least as fast and as (maybe even more) reliable than any other zwave network I’ve tried in the last 10 years. I’ve tried vera, openhab, zwavejs2mqtt 500 controller
Iam happy it works for you, you probably are one of the few, zstick gen 7 is broken, it has severe software or probably hardware also error. Its very unstable
I was easily able to update the Zooz 800 firmware in HA. Right now I am focussed on making sure that I can restore a backup in case I need to replace the Zooz 800 USB.
@freshcoast has given me useful guidance on Zwave JS UI, even though I am still struggling with finding the correct URL address in step 4 of this . But with or without ZWave JS UI, my priority is to have a Zooz 800 USB backup. Any guidance on that would be most appreciated.
@freshcoast helped me and now I have Zwave JS UI running and backups should now include the Zooz 800 USB (hopefully).