[OBSOLETE] SmartLife (H801) RGBW LED Strip Wifi Controller & Bulb

I’ve gotten one of my H801’s flashed and connected to my Wifi. I can discover it using the SmartLife RGBW Light (Connect) SmartApp… but when I go to rename that device, I enter the new name and then tap below where it says “click here to change.” The app says the name was changed, but it never actually changes the name of the device. I’ve tried deleting it and rediscovering it, I’ve tried a few different times.

Am I missing something?

hi guys

in the programs option can I set pwm signal based on time of day and for hours not milliseconds

I am looking to use this to control led drivers and run on a weekly schedule so not sure if its right for my needs

does anyone also know if the Lixada 5-24V WiFi APP Controlled Smart Dimmer has a 5v pwm signal on the 5 chips

Thanks Antonio

This feature doesn’t work on iOS at the moment. You can rename the device though in your things list just as you would any other device.

@trodrigues There are several SmartApps available that let you turn on a light at a certain time of day. They could be used with the H801 or even one of its individual channels. Not sure if that is what you are asking, but it can do that.

Yea im looking to have seperate channels come on automatically based on a set time , ,i also want to be able to control the output setting, basically have 1 channel at 100% and say channel 2 at 50%

Yes, you can do it. After you define all five separate dimmer switches using Virtual Device Sync then control them with whatever smartapp you wish to do your control. CoRE is the smartapp that will give you the most flexibility but depending on your needs one of the more basic smartapps might be a good fit as well.

Awesome thanks guys!

Guys,
What am I doing wrong here?
I have flashed a couple of sonoffs before, all I did was change which firmware file was in the main folder…

It does this over and over. I have quadruple checked the connections, I have tried to flash 2 801s. This is what I keep getting.
I’m on com3, co I properly set it in the command. And again 2 h801s.
I have restarted, plugged into a direct USB port.
Do i have a bum FTDI adapter?

Try swapping the RX and TX. I havent worked it out but sometimes they are labelled wrong. Other than that check that the COM port is correct and the device is installed correctly in device manager (sometimes the cheap ones need a restart in order to install properly).

done all that.
swapped tx/rx on both boards.
restarted machine 2x
literally no idea what else to do. it worked previously with my sonoff

Its doing the same as mine was for a while - which was that it doesnt detect anything (either COM doesnt exist, or there is nothing on the end of the COM port).

A combination of restart, checking the COM port (it kept on changing), swapping RX/TX and changing the cable worked for me. If you connect the power pins but not the Serial ones does it work as expected (i.e. LED flashes and broadcasts a wifi point)? That would tell you the voltages are at least reaching the board.

It looks like there is no communication. When you swap the Tx, Rx you only do it on one not both boards right? Doing it on both negates the swap.

Make double certain about your connections because the connection you make on the Sonoff are NOT the same as the H801. I actually made up two separate syncing cables and labeled them because I was having connection issues not realizing the connections were different between the two devices.

If you are certain the cabling is correct for the H801 then I would check for a loose connection at the H801 by applying light pressure on the pins to force them to maintain a good connection during the entire time its flashing. I have had a nit picky H801 that I had to babysit that way.

You say this is happening to both H801’s? That really does point to the connection being the likely culprit.

It could be the FTDI but not as likely. You could verify the FTDI and try re-flashing another device to see it works there? I have a spare H801 and Sonoff that I keep around for emergency stock. This stuff is so inexpensive in fact I just ordered a spare FTDI off eBay for backup.

I’ve had one H801 dead from the factory, powered and worked “normally” but wouldn’t flash at all, and one bad FTDI adapter, so both are possibilities. @dalec has become the pro in this group, his suggestions are spot on.

Also it’s good to know plugging the usb cable into a different USB port will generally yield a different COM port, I always keep all my serial adapters relegated to a single marked USB port to avoid this annoyance.

Remove the driver and reinstall, make sure it’s really the one you first had success with. If the FTDI adapter is fake, probably is as most of the cheapies are, then the official driver can fry them if it’s an older official driver.

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Excellent tip!

Hey I just noticed something in @cozdabuch screen captures that may give a clue to the issue? The COM3 is set only at 9600 baud.

In the command script we are saying to communicate at 115200. I wonder if he needs to change the COM3 setting up? I can’t remember what mine says when I do it since I don’t have it setup currently so I am just pulling at straws here.

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You can hard-code the COM # for each adapter, so that they stay consistent if you move USB ports or plug multiple adapters in. It’s a little tedious, but once you do the initial setup it makes things easier.

Just enumerate all your USB ports and all your serial dongles… Start with dongle A in USB 1. Go into Device Manager, properties for the COM port, port settings tab. You can set a COM port there, choose the first one (like COM3). Then close out of that, move dongle A to USB 2, it will get a new COM port #, but go into device manager and set it to the COM # that you assigned in the previous step. Once you get through all your USB ports, that dongle will always be COM3. Then, repeat the process with dongle B (COM4), and so on.

I keep a small label on my USB-serial dongles so I can tell at a glance if I have multiple plugged in which is which. I have to connect to a lot of network devices (switches, routers, firewalls, etc.) so being able to connect to multiple simultaneously and keep track of which is which is a lot easier.

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Ftdi devices are serialized so keep the com port number across all the ports of the computer most of the time.

You can check if the device is working by doing a loop back. Connect the TX and RX of the ftdi/whatever usb adapter together and run and terminal app. I use terraterm. What you type should come back when the port is right. Nothing else should come back. Some drivers for the ftdi will output something about fake device to the computer sometimes and this messes up uploading in anything.

How would I do this. I’m somewhat amateurish…

That is SOOOO much work! :slight_smile:

I’ll just stick with a dedicated COM port essentially. Miss having com ports on laptops…

I have a little cisco out of band server with 12 ports just sitting at my desk (well in my rack), so I have zero need anymore for actual serial dongles with IT gear. Talk about making things easy…

Quick question, my led lights only have a blue, red, green and white cable so does that mean I will not be using the w1 and w2 connectors on the controller?
Thanks in advance
You guys rock

Correct. You can think of the controller as having 5 channels. Your RGB strip will use 3 of those channels (R,G,B, and VCC), leaving you two additional channels to connect perhaps a second strip. For example, I have one RGB strip (4 wires) and 1 warm white strip (2 wires) connected to one of my H801 controllers, and I still have the W2 channel open. I spliced the VCC to both my strips. Remember that the VCC on the RGB side is “out” to the LED strips, the VCC on the W1/W2 side is “IN” – as in power from your power adapter. Don’t get the two confused.

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Thanks for the clarification