Zwave.me UZB1, instead of Aeon S2 - works so much better

I have to admit - they fixed / improved something in the FW upgrade (5.02) - last days whole network works much faster, nearly instantaneous reaction.

It can be related to "unlocked" functionality as well.

Hi Shapa,

thanks for your support. The zway is running for a day now and has replicated most parts of the network.
The associatons of the devices have also been replicated which brings me to my next question:

When I exchange the aoenlab stick now for the UZB1 in indigo, how will it be able to react on messages that seem to be associated with the aeonlab stick.
As far as I can see, the old stick is still associated with all devices. The zway doesn't get any messages from the devices, when theey change state.
As it is now, node it 1 ist the controller on UZB1 and Aeonlab as well. The UZB1 also has node id 100. (This is the node it got from the Aeonlab stick when I joined it to the existng network.

At the moment, I have Indigo still running with the Aeonlabs and the raspberry with the UZB1 and Zway.

I hope that makes sense to you. I am very cautious not to break my Indigo installation when exchanging the sticks.
Any additional advice?
TIA

Maybe a stupid question, but do you need to buy the software from Zwave.me? seems that i can add Z-wave devices in raspberry without it?

No, you just have to buy if you want to have the additional features enabled.

Anyways, the Razberry software doesn't seem to be able to read the associations from battery operated devices. That makes it unuable to transfer the network to the UZB1, at least in my case.

Ok, I have bought it now, dont like it:P

Are you just using Indigo then, or another program?

I am using indigo. The goal for me was to try to get the RazBerry to copy the network to the new stick and afterwards switch the sticks, to have the better zwave hardware. That I couldn't do that as the networt transfer didn't copy the associations.

I didn't like what I saw from the UI either. Razberry isn't a replacement for Indigo at least not at the moment.

It is just that Indigo still has no means to backup der zwave stick and that is my concern. The aeotec stick will eventually fail and I really don't want to start over.

I bought a RAZberry too (not the UZB, I mean the RAZberry daughterboard for a Raspberry).

It took me 2 days to get the RAZberry working with Indigo 6. Generally there are many different ways to connect the RAZberry with domotics software of any type. The best way is to use the API provided by zwave.me. In this case we can use the advantages of the Z-Way expert UI for backup/restore ZWave nodes and the domotics software at the same time. Unfortunately an appropriate plugin for Indigo 6 is not available yet.
Another way is to interface the RAZberry daughter board with a simple USB-TTL-converter (with Prolific-chipset) and use it as an local ZWAVE-Interface.

I have chosen a third way . Here is the solution:

On Raspberry (assuming an installed UZB or RAZberry daughterboard and the newest stable version of Z-Way-Server)
1. sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade (to bring Raspberry's OS up to date)
2. sudo apt-get install ser2net (This will install a serial to network proxy, it runs as a service)
3. edit the configuration file for ser2net with "sudo nano /etc/ser2net.conf" (without quotes); insert the following line at the end of the text:
3333:raw:0:/dev/ttyAMA0:115200 8DATABITS NONE 1STOPBIT
4. save (Ctrl-O), exit nano with Ctrl+X and type "sudo service z-way-server stop" and "sudo service ser2net restart" (without quotes)

On Indigo 6:

1. Go to Preferences->Interfaces->Z-Wave->Configure...
2. Choose "Network Socket" from the "Connection Type" popup
3. the second popup will change to "socket address", type "socket://IP_Of_Your_Ras(z)pberry:3333" (without quotes)
4. enable the debugging log for a first test, it can be disabled later; open the Event Log window
5. click "Save", RAZberry firmware information and already with RAZberry included nodes will appear in the Event Log window
Done. Now RAZberry can be used as a ZWave controller with Indigo 6.

Now, the disadvantages:

Please consider that the solution above will only provide the RAZberry as a "remote" ZWAVE-controller to Indigo 6. All device definitions will be handled by Indigo 6.
Z-Way-server UI and ser2net service cannot be used at the same time. If special functions of the Z-Way UI are needed, please stop ser2net service with "sudo service ser2net stop" (without quotes) and start the Z-Way-server with "sudo z-way-server start" (without quotes).

As I mentioned above: A plugin for the RAZberry in Indigo 6 would be nice...

Hi Sieben,

thanks for your detailed description.
I can see that using the razberry this way is an interresting challenge, but aapart from that I fail to see the advantage of doing so.
The UZB1 can be purchased for about 25€ here and can easily work with Indigo. So why would I use an additional hardware to accomplish the same task?
The only thing Indigo is missing, is a way to backup the stick. I would prefer this ability to fiddeling arround with another HA controller.
Cheers
Wilhelm

Hi Wilhelm,

you are right, all of us are waiting for the ZWAVE backup functionality in Indigo (and more important for me: Indigo support Qubino devices please!).

Using the RAZberry in the described way is a proof of concept for me. I use it to cover a larger area of my property with a stable ZWave communication. The RAZberry daughterboard has better receiving/transmitting performance than a UZB and can enhanced with a good HF connector and antenna (some soldering on the daughterboard required). And the solution is cheaper than a reliable USB-to-network converter, which cost around 250€. For future thinking: The Z-Way-Server can provide an interface to more than one domotic system (e.g. in case of a main-backup-scenario)

Greetings,
Matthias

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks

Wilhelm

OK, good news

Everything is fine, works excellent. Sync / pairing process is much faster than Aeon S2.
Nearly instantaneous.

Domoticz beta (not stable!) + OpenZwave works fine with the stick (full reset, inclusion, exclusion, etc), then you can sync on Indigo6.

I started to play with UZB1, but I am not able to remove the already pre-registered devices from the stick and additionally the new ones are not seen at all (FGK-001 by Fibaro).
I can see the logs of the Z-Wave communication in the log window.
Can you please confirm whether:

Q1) You tried a special=dedicated build or it worked for you out-of-the-box?

Q2) Did you have to register your devices first of all with the Domiticz + OpenZwave? and only then use them with Indigo ?

Thank you very much in advance for your comments.

Cheers,
Marian

Indigo is standard

Yes, you need to add / remove devices from a 3rd party app as Indigo currently not supporting inclusion / exclusion modes.

Right now I'm using http://razberry.z-wave.me for that.

Obviosly, you need to migrate your z-wave devices from old controller to the new one, or exclude / include them.

You bet. We'll get the menu items added to include/exclude modules as well, but that will be after Indigo Touch is released.

I presume this is something we can look forward to in Indigo 7?

Given that Indigo 7 has now been publicly mentioned (even if no release date has been given), I am reluctant to invest time in work arounds for the UZB1 if the include/exclude problems will be resolved in Indigo 7.

[jay (support)]

We hope to address it in Indigo 7, though the exact feature list is still somewhat in flux.

New FW for UZB1 released, with nice improvement - it fills "gaps" when adding new devices, i.e. in case you removed some device from a network, there will be an empty slot.

Now UZB1 adding devices to make all "slots" busy.

So far, I've got literally zero problems with the stick, z-wave network reliability is excellent. Was never possible with Aeon...