[OBSOLETE] GE Motion Switch (26931) and Motion Dimmer (26933)

I was curious if someone could ‘sanity check’ me…I recently reinstalled the new SmartThings app (it appears it is inevitable at this point). Previously (I thought) the motion aspect showed up in the newer app…however, it seems both the dimmer and switch show up as just switches and the motion is NOT accessible on the main device page. Was I dreaming it was there previously or has that gone away?

Michael,

Mine (the dimmer) shows as a motion sensor icon that flaskes green with red lines popping out of the top corner when motion is detected for the icon. No color, no lines when inactive. Looking at the device page itself it has the controls for a non-RGB capable dimmable lamp (on/off button with a dimmer slider underneath)

Motion detection does not get exposed to the Automation UI as a trigger.

Thanks…I would have sworn there was a UI in the dimmer device panel previously that actually said ‘motion’ on it. Also. can you verify that the small icon is for the motion…my appears only when the light is on and doesn’t actually seem that it activates with motion, even though the motion is registered in the log.

It is motion… I was sitting within waving distance when you asked.

The ‘Office Light’ in the screenshot is the Smart Motion Dimmer… The image shown is while motion is detected.

So, are you using the 1.0.8 DTH? What does the actual device interface look like?

I only ask as mine is NOT doing that; the motion sensor works, shows in the log, but the ST interface is not showing it as yours is and no longer shows it as a motion sensor in the actual device. I guess I am curious of you have updated the ST app recently, are you using Apple, etc…very strange.

Guess I am stressing about nothing…I just can’t have these devices not work in the new world order :frowning:

I have 3 of the Motion-Dimmer switches. Two have rounded square icons with a circle in the middle. The other has a circle and square on top and a square and circle on the bottom. When you clock on the icon for any of them, it opens up the dimmer dialog. If you click on the 3 dots to get to settings, you get the DTH settings.

All of them show motion and no motion in the History log.

I’m running the latest version of your DTH.

I have similar use cases to you but I’m using the Smart Lighting smartapp to change the behavior of my motion-dimmers depending on the time of day and the location mode. The primary use case is that from 10am to sunrise, motion will turn the light on at 1% and button push will turn it on at 100%. Not changing the occupancy vs vacancy just a change in the behavior for motion at night vs day.

Without the DTH, I seriously doubt that the Smart Lighting app will be able to support how I have things currently configured. I will be seriously bummed because 1) I like it; and 2) it will decrease the GAF in my house (that’s the Girlfriend Acceptance Factor of Technology).

I agree with your suggestion that Samsung should buy/license this DTH and incorporate it into the platform. Since they have never bothered to create the DTH seems like a no-brainer to take already developed code and get nearly instant support for this device.

I’ve been considering changing out my normal dimmers in the bedroom to be motion-dimmers but without direct support for them in ST going forward, I won’t waste my money quite yet.

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Thanks…I guess that kind of answers my question…something changed as i clearly remember there being a dimmer slider AND a motion box. Oh well…bigger fish to fry right now with Alexa and conversion of things.

I do have one other question since I have your attention :slight_smile: If you attempt to set up an automation (using the new app)…can you see the motion option as something you can ‘key’ or trigger off of. I THINK Nathan answered that previously, but need another set of eyes.

If these are the case, then ST has some work to do :frowning:

I almost bought some more as well and paused only because I don’t want to rip them from my wall (or waste money for a motion sensor that I can’t access).

I have some ideas on how to get the motion sensor to show up…will need to pull out my voodoo kit :slight_smile:

So far, no alternative to groovy has been announced for hub connected devices, afaik, so i think there is some time yet here.

For the occupancy control and use in the new app, you might want to look at the new custom capabilities (currently in dev preview, i believe, and appears to me very much alpha or early beta quality, but seems to be the official way for custom controls and attributes in custom DTHs moving forward).

In Smart Lighting, you can trigger on motion. I testing turning on my backyard lights based on motion in the bathroom and that worked. Now that being said, in basic automation, motion is not one of the trigger conditions for the motion-dimmer; just on, off, on-off, and dimmer at specific level. So you do have to rely on the Smart Lighting app, but it’s doable.

Right…I was actually wondering about the automations (if then one). There you can NOT…but you are correct that SmartLighting will see them.

So, here is what I was talking about:

Unfortunately, I DON’T know how I got this to work…in both the switches and the dimmers…I didn’t change my code, but did change the device DTH from mine to generic to back…

So I WASN’T crazy :slight_smile: Unfortunately, I can’t reproduce what @nathancu shows with the icon changing in the device. Oh well…

I couldn’t reproduce what you show in this screenshot. I changed two different devices to a generic dimmer switch and then back to the DTH and it made no difference.

Interestingly, my dimmer only GE switches look almost exactly like that; On/Off button, Timer toggle, Power on toggle, Power off toggle, and a dimmer slider vs the motion detected in your screeenshot.

I changed my DTHs to generic motion switches or multifunction devices, then back to my DTH…this morning SOME of the device views have the motion sensor dialog shown…some don’t. I think this indicates that the new ST app ‘rebuilds’ the configuration every time you go into it. This makes sense based on how I know the ‘new world order’ will work.

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So, just for fun I suppose, I changed mine from your DTH to the Z-Wave Dimmer Switch Generic. And lo and behold, I have On/Off, Timer, Power on, Power off, and Dimmer level slider! Also, the settings for the motion-dimmer are accessible from the Settings dialog. They are just not intuitive like in your DTH. For example, Operationmode shows as a numeric value instead of a description of the actual mode.

So, while it’s not pretty, it would still be functional without the DTH. But I’d prefer to see them come up with a more user friendly dialog specific to the Jasco/GE model or enhance the generic one to be more intuitive.

The UI is important, but honestly the DTH is integral for providing programmic support. While you see the settings has those numbers, they actually are NOT used and are left over from the setting in memory from the DTH. If you were to remove the device and re-add it with this generic DTH, you would NOT see any of those.

In addition to the variables, there is a programming interface to reprogram those setting without accessing the GUI…without that my house becomes less magic.

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Ah, you clearly have a lot more experience at this than me :slight_smile:

Yeah - the UI will come - but ST has to finalize the custom UI ‘stuff’ first. The developers are currently trying to hit a moving target. As soon as the CLI becomes ‘ready’ and heck, once people can actually make it work (that’s actually a HUGE challenge right now for the early beta testers, it doesn’t seem like the docs match up with real behavior) then those lessons learned can be applied to this and other device handlers (like thermostats, the extra buttons on the GE /Jasco 14xxx switches, the Inovelli Red and black series, etc.) At least right now Michael and co have some of the underlying plumbing licked for Newapp so we can at least access the advanced features and keep the ‘magic’ running.

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I got it looking like this. Like you said, switch to Generic OCF Device in the IDE. Then open the app and view the device (will be offline). Then switch back in IDE. Make sure to kill the app (only once) if you are having trouble.