Zwave controller suite

I was poking through the habmin interface and options to include zwave devices…

Needless to say it leaves a bit to be desired.

I’d like to set up my aeotec z-stick as the primary controller and I have a second aeotec mini remote I’d like to add as a secondary controller. Additionally, there seems to be a dead node on my network and my minimote isn’t connected…

Anyone know of a good utility (windows or linux) I could use to set up the z-stick with tools to optimize the zwave network and so on so I can re-insert it into my openhab installation and continue on about my merry way.

I’m not sure it’s ‘needless’. If you want a particular feature, then you should say so - or better still, contribute to the project :wink:.

That should be fine. Just use the z-stick as your controller (ie plug it in to the openhab computer and configure it appropriately).

Dead nodes are typically caused by lack of response from the device so you probably have holes in the network that you should look to fill. You can use the network view in HABmin to help visualise this, but it depends heavily on the topology.

If you want the use the minimote, then include that into the network. You can either do this using HABmin, or using the button on the controller. You will find a number of threads around this forum on how to configure it as it can be a bit temperamental I believe.

I think we got off on the wrong foot, but I can understand that. I should have been a bit more clear, but for the sake of brevity it looks like I left out the most important part of the OP. Sentiment is hard to get through when you’re typing so I hope you’ll forgive me.

Habmin is an excellent tool. I think it’s even more amazing that one person can take nearly singular credit for it.

The main z-wave functions are there but things like joining a secondary controller (from what I gather it’s not just an include it involves sending the network topology from the primary to the secondary), forcing the primary to send the network information to the secondary or vice versa (lots of z-wave controllers allow you to wander around your house with the secondary controller including devices in your network, then taking it back near the primary and having the primary learn/sync with that new network topology), switching the minimote to scene mode, etc. Aren’t all there. Although the logging options are great from the logfile the lack of a realtime status in the webapp of including a device or removing one is a bit of a bummer as well.

I realize it looks like I expected all of this to work. I’m not. There’s only so much one person can do at a time and as I understand it the focus on development for habmin has shifted to habmin2 which has at least some of the features I mentioned as I’ve gathered from the forums.

There is criticism, but it’s meant to be constructive, it’s also understanding that nothing is perfect.

Don’t get me wrong though, this project openhab in it’s entirety, is amazing. I think with a few tweaks it could be a pretty strong competitor for the other automation software available and habmin is a big part of that. I switched first from revolv, to smarthings, to homeseer, and now to openhab. Openhab is the first product where I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway thanks for your work.

No problem at all.

There are methods available for sharing the network topology between controllers - I implemented this a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t finally added to the binding (the source is there though). It hasn’t been something people have asked for, so I’ve not focussed on adding it. It can be done though - it’s not hard. This is why I said if you want a feature, you DO need to ask since I will prioritise work based on what people ask for.

Adding this to HABmin is literally a 5 minute job - most of the work is in the binding. I should also add that it’s not something I would intend to add to OH1 since the focus is really on OH2 at this time.

Unfortunately I can’t help with the suggestion of other software though - maybe OZWCP can do this if you can get it to run (I’ve never been able to) - I’ve only ever run OH (other than when I had a Vera) and where I needed a function, I’ve added it.

Cheers
Chris

Yeah I wouldn’t ask you to add anything to habmin 1.

I’m not a hot-shot java programmer by any means in fact I’m struggling just with debugging my rules right now, so I don’t think there’s a chance in the near future I’d be ready to beta openhab2 and be a productive member of the community. For now I’m stuck with openhab1 which isn’t so bad as I mentioned. At least there’s a WAY to do anything you can think of. It may take some tinkering but you CAN get it right and it will work. I think, given the industry for home automation, a well thought out open source piece of controller software is really the only product with a chance of taking off in any meaningful way.

I’m getting off topic.

You mentioned sharing topology between controllers. This is a feature I would like. Consider being asked by one consumer.

However, If I only wanted one of the features I mentioned it would be some sort of realtime feedback that would help with debugging during include, exclude, and healing procedures. Turning on and off the logging options isn’t that much of a pain really, but it would be a nice luxury I think beginners who are afraid of the command line would appreciate. I suspect, whether it’s intentional or not, you’re likely to attract these kinds of users with habmin because it avoids much of that and eases the process a bit. It’s also likely to generate more helpful forum posts because it would be that much easier to grab useful debugging logs and paste them into a post.

For that matter, including comprehensive logging features for all of habmin/openhab would be worthwhile. Often I don’t want days of debugging logs I want a few minutes. If there was a way to pop a new window that would stream the various openhab logs this would be exceptionally useful ESPECIALLY if you could drop sendCommand() or postUpdate() deals into the openhab bus to see what would happen. Or if you could echo/print/output the contents of an item/variable. You could debug rules sooooo much easier with a feature like that.