Foreward and Backstory
OpenHAB is incredible, and the community surrounding it is even more incredible. The setup described below is made of bits and pieces that other people figured out. I was just able to put it all together and then make a story about it . . .
When I purchased my shiny new (well, new to me anyway) Mini Cooper Countryman, I was excited to ditch the garage door remote that I kept in the glove box and set up the spiffy HomeLink transmitter installed in the rearview mirror. My garage was equipped with a state-of-the-art LiftMaster 8355 opener with “MyQ” remote operation, so what could go wrong?
After trying in vain to try and program the HomeLink transmitter with the LiftMaster 893MAX remote controls that I had, and after reading several internet testimonials saying these LiftMaster remotes were operating on a frequency that was incompatible with HomeLink, I gave up trying the direct route. Some Web research seemed to indicate that a “Liftmaster 855lm Chamberlain OEM Homelink Compatibility Bridge” was necessary.
Tried that. Didn’t work. Wasted money.
That’s when things started to get fun.
System Information
I’m running OpenHAB 2.3.0 Release Build on CentOS 7.5.1804.
Installing the Linear NGD00Z-4 Z-Wave Garage Door Controller in OpenHAB
The thread OpenHab2 and Linear NGD00Z-4 Garage Door Controller contains a lot of good information about how to get this working. After a little bit of fiddling and installation of the updated Z-Wave bindings that include Z-Wave security (OH2 Z-Wave refactoring and testing… and SECURITY), the unit would beep and flash, like it was trying to open a garage door.
OpenHAB Configuration
For reference, the NGD00Z-4 is set up in the PaperUI as a ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState. It is a Number Item that can be one of the following values:
0 = CLOSED
252 = CLOSING
253 = STOPPED
254 = OPENING
255 = OPEN
The following entry in the sitemap (/etc/openhab2/sitemaps/home.sitemap):
Frame label="Garage" {
Text item=ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState icon="garagedoor" label="Garage Door [MAP(garagedoor.map):%s]"
Switch item=ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState icon="garagedoor" label="[MAP(garagedoor.map):%s]" mappings=[0="Closed", 255="Open"]
}
and the following transformation in /etc/openhab2/transform/garagedoor.map:
0=CLOSED
ON=CLOSED
252=CLOSING
253=STOPPED
254=OPENING
255=OPEN
OFF=OPEN
-=Unknown
NULL=Unknown
results in the following panel appearing in the site map:
Clicking on the OPEN button opens the garage door and clicking on CLOSED closes it.
Connecting the NGD00Z-4 to the LiftMaster 8355 Motor
This door opener is so advanced that even the switch wired to the wall is smart, so you can’t just connect a normal switch to the opener motor. The information at LiftMaster non-MyQ Integration, explains how to wire the NGD00Z to the LiftMaster 880LM Smart Control Panel. Essentially, the NGD00Z acts as a contact switch which is wired in parallel with the button in the control panel.
Integrating HomeLink with OpenHAB
Wayne Dalton Z-Wave Gateway
The video Wayne Dalton Homelink to Z-Wave Gatway Setup with Mi Casa Verde (Vera), looked promsing; however I never figured out a way to add it to the Z-Wave network. The messages seemed to indicate that it either wasn’t in the database or wasn’t initializing correctly. I gave up on that approach.
KR22A X-10 Contoller with X10RF Tranceiver and Insteon Hub
The page CONTROL INSTEON DEVICES WITH HOMELINK, describes the final setup:
- An Insteon 2245-222 Hub from Amazon
- A KR22A X-10 Credit Card Controller from SMARTENIT
- An EZX10RF – Model # 5010G Wireless X10/Insteon Transceiver from SMARTENIT
The Web site referenced above describes how to set up the equipment without a Hub. The instructions that come with the KR22A and EZX10RF also don’t apply. The information Insteon PLM Binding, especially the section on X10 devices is key to configuring the system with an Insteon Hub and OpenHAB. The configuration that works for me is:
-
/etc/openhab2/services/insteonplm.cfg:
port_0=/hub2/<username>:<password>@<hubhostname>:25105,poll_time=1000 -
/etc/openhab2/items/insteon.items:
Switch x10MiniRemoteButton1 "Mini Remote Button 1" {insteonplm="A.1:X00.00.01#switch"} Switch x10MiniRemoteButton2 "Mini Remote Button 2" {insteonplm="A.2:X00.00.01#switch"} Switch x10MiniRemoteButton3 "Mini Remote Button 3" {insteonplm="A.3:X00.00.01#switch"} Switch x10MiniRemoteButton4 "Mini Remote Button 4" {insteonplm="A.4:X00.00.01#switch"} -
/etc/openhab2/garage-door.rules:
val String this_filename = "garage-door.rules" rule "Open/Close Garage Door using Button 1" when Item x10MiniRemoteButton1 received update then logInfo(this_filename, "Mini Remote Button 1 pressed") logInfo(this_filename, "State: " + ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState.toString()) // If Closed, then open if ( ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState.state == 0 ) { ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState.sendCommand("255") // if Open, then close } else if ( ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState.state == 255 ) { ZWaveGarageDoorController_BarrierState.sendCommand("0") // Hmmm. . . } else { logInfo(this_filename, "Garage Door is neither open nor closed. Don't know what to do.") }
EZX10RF and Insteon Hub Placement
The EZX10RF and Insteon Hub seem to need to be on the same electrical circuit. Thus, I couldn’t put the Insteon Hub in the rack with the rest of the servers and plug the X10/Insteon Transceiver somewhere else. In the end, I put them both in the bedroom above the garage on the same plug.
Results
With the configuration above, pressing the “1” button on the KR22A remote control opens and closes the garage door. There’s a several-second delay while the NGD00Z-4 flashes and beeps to warn everybody in the garage that the door is about to open (or close).
After following the HomeLink instructions to program the button on the rearview mirror to mimic the “1” button on the remote control, the HomeLink button will now open and close the garage door. It seems the HomeLink button needs to be pressed for about two seconds to activate.
Acknowledgement
Many thanks to all the people who wrote the blog entries/tutorials/forum posts that I’ve referenced above. Without all their prior research and work, the HomeLink buttons in my car would still be useless and I’d still be cursing all this advanced technology as I dug through the glove box to find the garage door remote.
Hopefully someone else finds this information helpful when faced with a similar problem to solve. Please feel free to ask questions, point out something that I may have missed, or suggest corrections.
