I have recently bought a new lightbulb that connects using Matter. It is branded “Moes” and “works with Tuya”. I have a rpi4 running openHAB 5.1.3 (upgraded from 4.3.6, originally installed with openHABian. I have installed the Matter binding and created a matter controller thing. When I try to add the new lightbulb device using the code provided, I see the message “No device discovered using identifier xxxxxxxxxxx. Please check that the relevant device is online”. What am I missing?
After reading through the Matter thread in this forum, it seems that I may have to pair the bulb with the “Moes” app on my phone first, then use a code from the phone to pair the device again with openHAB. is this correct? What setting do I need for bridge mode on the controller thing - bridge mode on or off?
It is not impossible. It depends on the brand.
Some like Ikea allow to pair their Matter devices to any Matter controller even without considering Ikea app/bridge.
Some others don’t. I remember that for my Tapo light bulb, I encountered the same issue as yours, I was not able to pair it to openHAB or Google Home directly, I was forced to add it first in the Tapo app and then I was able to pair it with any Matter controller. So maybe it is the same with Moes.
I had a similar experience (could not pair a Tapo Matter Smart Dimmer Switch with openHAB 5.1), but I think it was because it wasn’t running the latest firmware. I say this because I added the device to the Tapo app, performed a firmware upgrade after the app told me it wasn’t running the latest firmware, deleted it from the Tapo app, performed a factory reset (by holding one of the two buttons [the one on the left] for several seconds), and then I was able to add it openHAB with the device knowing nothing about the Tapo app (keep in mind that I performed a factory reset after the firmware upgrade).
I repeated the same process on a second Tapo Matter Smart Dimmer Switch and exact same result.
So, I’d say the moral of the story is: make sure you are running the latest firmware; it can make a difference, especially these days when all things Matter and Thread seem to be influx.
Replying to myself to say the question is answered. As noted in another post and mentioned in my post, I paired the device to the mobile app then shared it to openHAB. I then scanned/paired it using the matter binding and it appeared in the inbox as described by the binding docs. The confusion is that the docs do not say you may need to pair with the mobile app first.
