I was trying to edit a very simple automation. Previously, my automation was working perfectly, and I can still control the switch manually using iPhone with no troubles. I want a switch to turn off at a certain time. I was having difficulty so I deleted the automation and started it again. (I have done this many times in the past with no fuss.) I selected the device I want to control. Under “Actions" “On” was pre-selected. I don’t want to turn it on, I only want to turn it off. (This switch is successfully turned on with a different automation.) I can select “off”, but it is not possible to deselect “on”. My only choice then was to select both. I tap “done”. I then go to “Set Conditions” > Time. I Can program my specific Off time. Finally, I can see a turn on time, and a turn off time. I leave the turn on time as “Not set”. I program the turn off time. I Tap “OK”. However, “Done” is grayed out and I cannot tap on it. Seems impossible to program a simple switch to turn off.
can you provide a screenshot?
I assume you are using Smart lighting?
Hi, Yes, Smart lighting. In the first image you can see both on and off selected. Tapping on “on” will not deselect it. The second image shows my turn off program time. But “done” is grayed out, and I cannot select it. It’s almost like it is forcing me to create an on-time. However, the switch is turned on with a different SmartThings automation. I just want an automation to turn the switch off and nothing else. Arguably, this is the simplest possible automation that can exist.
have you tried using a Routine instead?
Brand and model of the switch?
And if it is using an edge Driver, which one?
You can find this information from the API Browser plus if you need it:
OK… I think I can replicate it partially. Try Tapping on the text Off (may need to tap twice) and do not tap on the selector. tapping on the Off selector does not deselect the selector for On.
THANK YOU !!!
Your little trick worked perfectly. The automation is now working again. I will keep a note of this procedure for future reference. I think we can agree. The app is not working in the best way in this regard. When the screen first comes up, neither ON nor OFF should be pre-selected. The user should select which one, (or both) they want. Thank you very much for helping me. You are a wonderful resource for SmartThings, and an asset to all of humanity. Please use your power and influence to encourage them to come up with a way to back up our hubs. My V2 hub is getting old I would like to buy a V3, which I would do immediately IF there was a back up and restore method. Thanks again!
Hi,
It is a Honeywell UltraPro Z-Wave Plus Outdoor Switch
I don’t know what an edge Driver is. (Sounds like something above my pay grade.) It looks like jkp has me going again. Thank you for trying to help.
Glad you have things working again!
Prior to 2023, the SmartThings architecture was based on Device Type Handlers (DTHs) written in the groovy programming language. That was how the hub would format the messages that were then sent to Z wave devices like your switch.
They are now in the process of changing to a new Architecture, which will replace the DTHs with “Edge Drivers” written in the Lua programming language. Again, they’re basically like printer drivers: they just help the hub format the messages to be sent to zwave devices.
The hope is that the new architecture will be somewhat more reliable, and a bit quicker, but it’s early days yet.
That’s really all you need to know as long as everything is working well. If you do want to use any custom code or you run into any problems, you might want to dig a bit deeper into the details, but it doesn’t sound like that applies to you right now.
I predict, It will take working things that I have created and can not back up to break. About a year ago, my wife had a two month old iPhone and it turned into a brick. We went to the nice people at the Apple store and they gave her a new $1,600 iPhone. We brought it home, plugged it into my Mac, and with two or three clicks and 20 minutes the iPhone was completely restored and exactly like her old one was before it broke. It is completely shocking that SmartThings does not have a way to back up all the work that people have done on their hubs. I have a V2 hub, it’s getting old, I would like to buy a V3 but I dread going through all of the re-coding. If my hub were to break, I have absolutely zero incentive to stay with Samsung (except for the nice people like you that are in this user group). It would be just as easy for me to start over with a different hub, a hub that can be backed up. From a marketing standpoint alone, the ability to back up the hub is an absolute necessity.
To sum it up: this particular issue appears to be a UI bug… you can tap on two areas of the OFF row and get two different responses. Tapping on the selector for Off does not deselect the ON option above it but if you tap on the word Off in the row, it works fine and deselects ON. If you tap the Off selector first, then double tapping the word OFF is needed to disable On.