General Migration from ST DTH to ST Edge Drivers

Devices & Integrations
1

This is probably the wrong place for this, but I’ll put it here to start with.

I set up my ST hub 3-4 years ago and have made mostly minor tweaks along the way. It has just worked for me reasonably well. I’m dismayed by the daunting task to migrate from ST DTH architecture to the ST Edge Driver architecture. I’ve read everything I can on this, but I am still very confused and don’t know what to do. My options are to 1) stay with the Samsung hub and migrate ST DTH/Groovy to ST Edge Drivers or 2) abandon ST Hub, move to Hubitat Elevation Hub, unpair all my devices and re-pair them to the HE hub, and build all my automations from scratch.

I’ve read everything I can on ST Edge Drivers and installed one into a new Aeotec TriSensor. That was an absolute nightmare and a hugely frustrating exercise.

I have 45 physical devices (all Z-Wave) with 18 Routines in Devices, 70 Smart Lighting automations, three WebCore automations (to handle DST and handle some living room lighting randomization when we are away), two integrated Honeywell thermostats, 24 scenes, three Aeotec NanoMotes (with four buttons each).

I’m getting the feeling that I’m going to have to migrate almost all of this manually to the new platform. I have yet to find a clear answer on how much of the Smart Lighting automation (if any) will transfer to the new system.

It really hacks me off that I have to do this. When I bought into the Samsung ST platform, I thought I was getting a system I could stay with for many years. I was previously somewhat orphaned by X10 and somewhat orphaned by Universal Powerline Bus. The UPB installation still works in another house and is nicely integrated to my Elk security system, but the UPB platform still languishes. I also experienced problems with Honeywell home automation and home security when they exited the business and spun those products off to a new company Resideo. After 30 years, all of this home automation and security environment still doesn’t feel mature and give me warm and fuzzy feelings about longevity.

I’d consider staying on ST Edge if I got a better feeling about the long-term survivability of the platform from Samsung. I also need MUCH MUCH better guidance on how to migrate, where to find Edge Drivers, how to install them, how to monitor my system, etc. The new beta ST Dashboard at my.smartthings.com is unbelievably primitive, especially since we are so close to the cut-over / shutdown date. None of the materials I’ve read here on SmartThings Community gives me a good sense on how to migrate. There are no well organized materials or tutorials that I can find, and not dates for when different pieces will be shut off for good. The lack of a coherent Groovy environment where I can see everything is also a real negative.

So, enough of my woes and back to my original question: what do I do? Throw in the Samsung towel and switch to Hubitat? Or tough out what seems to be an extremely unprofessional and immature switch to Edge Drivers and migrate all my automations?

Sorry for the negativity and dismay I’ve expressed, but these are my true feelings right now.

1 Like
3

@jkp The default pairing process kept installing it as a door/window sensor. Multiple times. I’d unpair, reset to factory settings, re-pair and it always got installed as a door/window sensor and would not work. I did that so many times that the mfgr-included battery went to zero. It took multiple back-and-forth with Aeotec support to get them to acknowledge “oh, yeah, we know it does that.” Then I couldn’t find the way to install the Edge Driver. Finally, somebody here nicely provided me a link where I could authorize the Aeotec EDs on my hub (not sure if that’s the right language). When I finally figured that out, it worked smoothly. I probably spent three to four frustrating hours over two days to get one device working. That’s why it was a nightmare.

4

a good reference for finding Edge Drivers:
Quick Browse Lists for Edge Drivers - Things That Are Smart Wiki
You can also ask questions on the forum and someone will step in to offer assistance.

good threads to read on Edge:
The End of Groovy Has Arrived

Platform Transition FAQ

quick answers to some of your questions:

Smart Lighting - the new version has been released and any existing Smart Lighting rules you have in the old version will be automatically converted before the end of the year.

Manually migrating devices - It will be done automatically by ST but you have the option of doing it manually if you are concerned on any of your devices.

Routines - those should be fine except in the case a device does not migrate over to a Driver with the same capabilities. In the rare case, the Routine might be deleted.

WebCore and IDE will cease by the end of this year. You should start now switching them over to: Routines/Scenes, Rules API or some users opt to use SharpTools for some of their more complex pistons.

1 Like
5

Give us a list of your devices (by group, as in 10 of GE Zwave plus dimmers, etc). Most likely, these should migrate automatically depending on their age and if they are Works With Smart Things certified. The routines supporting them will migrate. Worst case is you’ll need to install a community driver and those should migrate automatically too. We’re all holding our breath to see that last point happen.

Smart Lighting has been replaced by “Smart lighting”, a replacement app that should be 1:1. They are automatically converting existing SL routines to the replacement over the coming weeks. So far mine have all migrated without me doing anything.

WebCoRE is dead under Edge. If you can’t write these automations under the existing Routines or Rules API, you’ll likely want to look for another platform (HE is popular for those wanting to keep using WebCoRE.)

Cloud integrations will continue to work, I assume these are WiFi based with Honeywell<->SmartThings already handling the communication.

Scenes won’t change.

Not sure on these.

1 Like
6

Lol, i’m slower than @jkp.

2 Likes
7

At this point I would let the automatic migration happen, it’s happening over the next six weeks and worry about what needs fixing after that. I don’t see why another platform would be a smoother solution. I don’t think Samsung are giving up with SmartThings any time soon.
The faq better explains your options, smartlighting is getting migrated.

I’m even slower!!

2 Likes
8

I believe a couple of users experienced the same issue with the TriSensor so you are not alone. Probably not the device I would suggest starting with. :slight_smile:

1 Like
9

Here’s my device inventory. 36 physical devices are shown below with 34 installed and paired. My count is off for some of these as the total should be 46 physical devices. I need to prepare a more accurate inventory. But I’ve included at least one of each device running on the network which is the important thing.
4 x Honeywell (Jasco) wall switch 39348
8 x Honeywell (Jasco) wall dimmer
4 x Honeywell (Jasco) plug-in dimmer module 39339
2 x Honeywell Plus Outdoor On/Off Light and Appliance Switch 39346
2 x Enbrighten (GE) Smart Receptacle 55256
3 x Aeotec Nanomote, 4-button (2 paired as ED, 1 paired as DTH)
3 x Aeotec MultiSensor 6
1 x Aeotec TriSensor (one more has been purchased but not installed)
1 x Aeotec Recessed Door Sensor 7
1 x Aeotec Door / Window Sensor 7
1 x Ecolink Garage Door Tilt Sensor (not yet installed)
1 x GoControl Door/Window Sensor WADWAZ-1
1 x Ecolink Z-Wave Plus Door/Window sensor DWZWAVE2.5-ECO
1 x GE Enbrighten Z-Wave Plus Heavy Duty 40 Amp Smart Switch, Indoor/Outdoor
1 x FortrezZ MIMOlite
4 x Virtual Switch
1 x Sonos Play: 5

It appears that Jasco is now retailing its products directly under the “UltraPro” brand.

10

That is good news. When you say a “replacement app,” how will that work? Do I need to load a separate app? Is it a new component of the existing Samsung ST app?

How did you get yours migrated to test?

I knew WebCoRE was dead. Fortunately, my three pistons are “nice to haves,” not mandatory. Two handle lighting randomization and it’s not a huge loss if I lose those. The other one deals with smooth transition to/from daylight savings time / standard time (I’m not sure if that will still be needed. I think that was needed only for WebCoRE.) So preserving the WebCoRE automation is not sufficient justification to switch to HE.

Yes, these are WiFi thermostats with existing integrations. I use the Honeywell “Home” app to manage the programming of the thermostats and putting them into “Vacation” mode. I’ve got a Honeywell security panel that has a built-in Z-Wave hub, but it is not Plus and has limited programmability, so I’ve never used it as a Z-Wave hub. I have been meaning to try to set up a slave hub, but that seemed complicated, my Samsung hub would have to be a slave to the Honeywell hub, and I never got around to it. So we have to separately put the security system into “Armed Away” mode (sets thermostat back and arms security) and the Z-Wave system into “Vacation” or “Away” mode (more randomized lighting automation when we are away). It isn’t that big a deal to “arm” the two different systems.

11

@jkp @csstup @Andrew_Bartlett Thanks for your help. What do I do about the virtual devices? I’ve got four, two dealing with low-light levels from the Multisensors that (I think) activate scenes. I can’t remember why I had to use virtual devices as an intermediary to do this. Two other virtual devices are for setting Christmas Season and Fountain Season (summer) so I can suspend some routines and activate others. For example, “Christmas Season” dims the porch lighting and turns on the Christmas lighting. When we put the Christmas lighting away, I turn off that virtual switch, and the Christmas lighting switch isn’t activated and the porch lights are brought up to regular nighttime brightness.

12

Everything on your list looks like it would work just fine with built in Edge drivers. Those should (will?) automatically migrate over without you having to do anything. The only one I don’t know about is the Nanomote and the Sonos devices.

If you want to go one by one, you can compare your devices to a list that community folks have been trying to keep up to date. Its a good starting point.
https://thingsthataresmart.wiki/index.php?title=Table_of_Edge_Drivers

Jasco licensed the GE/Honeywell name and sells Zwave/Zigbee products under the Jasco, GE Embrighten, and Honeywell UltraPro names. They’re all very similar products. They make devices for other companies too (Control4’s lower end line of dimmers for example).

Its within the SmartThings mobile app, yes. Excuse the use of the word “app”, its a carry over Smart Lighting being a SmartApp.

You can use it right now. Under Automations, +, Create Routine, Discover tab at bottom, Scroll down to bottom of Discover list - see “Smart lighting” (with lower case L in lighting). Thats the replacement for the old Smart Lighting smartapp. You can recreate your routines, or they will migrate over for you automatically over the following weeks.

I’ve had no issues with DST conversions on ST the last few years.

Those will be fine.

You won’t want to integrate those at the hub->hub level. ST can be a secondary zwave controller, but its not recommended. ST will accept adding secondary zwave controllers, that works just fine. But your security panel likely won’t work in that fashion (most are required to be primary for UL conformance) and I’ve found that stuff limited usage at best. Keep your security system separate from your smart home. You may be able to integrate Honeywell to SmartThings thru the cloud via TC 2.0.

1 Like
13

ST supports built in Virtual devices under the new framework. A few options:

  • Under the mobile app you can add virtual switches provided by ST.
  • There are a range of virtual devices that you can add via a community provided API tool, with the “devices” themselves being provided by ST.
  • There are several community provided virtual device Edge drivers you can easily install.
    – [ST Edge] vEdge Creator: a virtual device generator for end users

You won’t likely have any issues with your virtual devices and they MAY even migrate over automatically.

1 Like
14

That’s good news about everything on my list. I tried to buy mainstream devices.

I’ve already manually migrated two of the NanoMotes. One of them somehow got into pairing mode and I had to reset it to factory. Then I was able to use the Aeotec ED to re-pair it. I did the two units we have in our nightstands. I’ve got a third still running Groovy DTH, but I know I can migrate it now.

15

I was unaware of that list. Thanks. That’s probably a very useful resource for me.

1 Like
16

I’ve got lots of Honeywell and GE devices. I had to deal with warranty claims directly with Jasco and they were very good to work with. Very helpful and quick response people. I got a few warranty replacement units from them. I’m impressed with the company.

17

I looked around in “Create routine” a few days ago and I don’t think I saw much there then. It looks like the functionality there has greatly expanded. I didn’t know that “Smart lighting” (lower case L) was in there. There must be some dynamic location-aware customization going on because the last item on my list is “SmartSense by Idaho Farm Bureau.” We live in Idaho and that’s the location of the hub.

Will “Smart Lighting” automations automatically migrate to this new “Smart lighting” location?

18

Yes, now I remember that the Honeywell security panel hub had to be primary and the ST hub secondary. That put me off and I decided against even trying that. I didn’t realize that was for UL conformance, but that makes sense. I will continue as I have been doing with lighting and security separate. It really hasn’t been a big deal.

19

You’ve been MOST helpful, Corey. Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions. I’m feeling a lot better about the migration after getting your input tonight.

I’ve got a few things to research based on your recommendations. Thanks again!

3 Likes
20

I don’t recall what triggers it being available, other than US region. It just showed up for me.

Screenshot_20221119-023319_SmartThings
Screenshot_20221119-023319_SmartThings1080×2005 120 KB

Yep, thats what they’ve been beta testing is the migration between the old SL and the new. In the meantime others have just started using “Smart lighting” on their own.

21

There’s still outstanding questions about what happens when the IDE is finally gone, what we still can’t do for Edge devices without it. But overall I think most people around here are just going to wait it out and see how the migration goes.

Reading thru the FAQ section may help.

I posted this the other day that itemizes the things we still don’t have when moving from DTH->Edge and/or losing the IDE.

1 Like