OSRAM Lightify RGBW Bulbs a NO NO

For a while I have been wanting to try the OSRAM Lightify RGBW light Bulbs for two reasons. 1. For color changing, and 2. As a ZigBee Repeater.

Issues started when setting this bulb us as they do not have an A19 profile which causes you to use a generic ZigBee RGBW profile, or another OSRAM profile, both of which are not made for this bulb. My plan was simple, to change light color of two bulbs when one of my Smartthings Multi sensors trigger. The app makes it look easy to do with home security, in my case choosing to change the color to Red. In practice it worked infrequently. Sometimes one bulb would change Red and one yellow, blue or another color. On two occasions out of about 30 tests did they ever both turn Red.

Early this morning whilst I was sleeping, someone tried to break into my house with the back door. One bulb did not change, and the other turned a very light pink which was hardly indistinguishable from the normal color. The only reason they did not get in is they tripped the back Garage door which has a lot of stuff behind it. But it could have been a scary situation if they had.

The other issue with these bulbs is they loose sync or lockup very easy. So then the only way to remedy this is to uninstall, reset the bulb and reinstall. However in my situation I used these bulbs in 7 routines, and the not so SmartThings makes you remove them from each Routine or smart app before you can remove it to then re-install it.

Also, Smartthings said the sensor tripped about three hours after the attempted break-in (other camera) so the idea of this Smartthings security system that still requires the cloud is pathetic. Supposedly ST are releasing a V2 Hub Firmware update on Feb 29th, so it will be interesting to see what that does.

Note the OSRAM Lightify RGBW bulbs also run very hot.

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What version Hub do you have. I’m running V2 & I have the A19 RGBW. & yes mine locked up 1 time but all you have to do is don’t delete from the hub , but reset the light by unplugging it & plugging it in 5 times waiting 3sec each time. Then just connect the device again & wait from the blinking confirmation & your golden.

By doing this you are resetting the ZigBee network sometimes with ZigBee it doesn’t connect to other Zigbee’s correctly & you have to reset them. It happens when adding new devices or changing old devices. But once the network is in place with no device changes it works fine.

The issue with the bulb is you also have to remove the bulb from all routines and smart apps before you can remove it. So when it frequently locks up it becomes a real pain. Also when you add the bulb it does not add the Osram A19 RGBW profile like it implies. It actually adds a generic ZigBee RGBW profile as Osram does not have the correct profile for the A19 bulb yet. The only have the correct profiles for the Garden Light, FlexStrip and White Light.

Trust me you don’t have to remove it from any routines or your hub, & yes it may be with the hub it self other than the network. But it’s not with the routines only with the config & by connecting it to the hub again (without deleting it from hub) will fix it. I have 15 of these bulbs & everytime I added a new bulb I would hav to reset that specific bulb each time because of lockups. I only had three bulbs that I did not have to do it to & of course these were the closest to the hub.

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I have over 35 rule machine routines if I had to remove each bulb from them I would pull my hair out.

Kevin has the right of it here. Do not delete or remove the bulb from ST. Simply complete the on/off cycle bulb reset procedure, then turn the bulb on and use the mobile app to ‘Connect New Device’. After a short bit, the Osram will blink to let you know it rejoined the ST network. Then you can back out of the connecting new device in ST. It won’t find a new device because the Osram will rejoin as its old self.

As for the device “profile”, the A19 Osram RGBW is intended to identify as Zigbee RGBW. The Osram “profile” is loaded onto that device handler. Moving forward you will probably notice lots of zigbee devices identifying as generic device handlers like this. It’s intentional because the devices all conform to the zigbee standard. This makes it easier and less confusing to add new devices that aren’t official yet, as well as decreases the code maintenance by reducing the number of device handlers. There is nothing special that any of the Osram specific device handlers do that the Zigbee RGBW does not.

Any connectivity issues you’re seeing are either the bulb, your zigbee mesh or the hub causing problems. The device handler has no part in that.

I am not sure why people say do not delete the bulb when no other option works. I have the bulbs. I have tried numerous different ways to fix them. My system has over 60 switches and bulbs so I have an idea what I am doing.

Also, resetting the bulb also resets the encrypted code link between the ST Hub and the Bulbs Zigbee chip, hence why it is called a reset. Unless you want the bulb to just turn on and off with a manual switch the options mentioned do not work.

I run them across the house and never had any issues with them after I performed an initial upgrade of all bulbs - they just work - however there is a slight difference in how some of the apps set the lux and sat I am afraid which sometimes resulted in not exact same lighting but apart from that I use rule machine and set the bulb color rather than switch on - which works perfectly fine 
 as I said I did a full software upgrade which took like 12 minutes per bulb and requires the osram hub which I got for £20 off amazon 
 never had issues since 


Hell, I could buy a Nascar ride, but that wouldn’t make me good enough to win a race. Just sayin’


I’ve had the same experience that others posting here have had. I have never deleted them from ST or from any of the SmartApps that use them. Reset the bulbs, upgrade the firmware using the Lightify hub and App, then delete them from that App and re-add them to the ST hub. Works every time.

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The idea with these is so you do not have to use the Lightify Hub. Using the hub is a whole different setup as the Osram hub is then creating the Zigbee link and encryption keys for each bulb. Once you reset the bulb the encryption key is gone with the ST setup,

Also running osram almost exclusively and add is mentioned, you don’t have to delete anything. Simply resetting the bulbs and scanning with ST adds then back, all with settings and everything else still in tact.

@Aricsdaddy You don’t have to delete Zigbee (or Z-Wave for that matter) devices from the app to fix your problem.

  1. Reset the device to factory defaults following the manufacturers instructions.
  2. Go into the SmartThings app and choose “Connect New Device” just as if you were adding the device for the 1st time.
  3. Wait for the device to indicate that it has been added (SmartThings WILL NOT show that it added a new device).
  4. Exit the “Connect New Device” screen.

At this point the Zigbee device has renegotiated the AES security key and has rejoined the Zigbee network under the previous Zigbee ID. The device will now work in all of your Routines and SmartApps without you ever having to remove it from them

EROCM1231 - And when the OSRAM Bulb refuses to be re added and the bulb does not function at all, not even with simple on / off commands. Thought so.

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@Aricsdaddy If it refuses to be re-added, then how do you re-add it after removing it from all routines & SmartApps?

There are several of us (@chowder007, @Sticks18, @K03045) just trying to help you out with a better way of fixing a problem you are having. If you want to keep doing it your way then that is up to you.

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The problem is many of you do not even have these lights. So when I spoke to ST and OSRAM and they all say these bulbs have an issue, maybe they have an issue.

Or maybe the problem is that you’re just not listening to those of us that do. Just sayin’


Are you in the US or in Europe? I ask because Osram has released their bulbs with different firmware: US bulbs were ZHA and European bulbs were ZLL. This has led to various issues in the past.

So myself, OSRAM and ST are wrong? (USA bulbs by the way)

The problem is that people who have responded to you, trying to help you with your issue are being told that you disagree with their answers, and then you insult them as well. Each one of the users trying to help you have indicated that they have this bulb, and how they have worked to resolve the VERY issues that you are complaining about.

I know you are frustrated, but let us help you. You are obviously technical and have HA knowledge. Given that you should also know that talking to support of any type, if the fix is not easy they will tell you anything to get you off the phone or to close the email ticket. Listen to those who use the product in their system.

Also, you were using ST and these lights as a security measure. ST is simply not robust nor reliable enough to count on for security. You might want to reconsider that direction.