Support of OTA firmware updates for Z-Wave / Z-Wave Plus devices

Wiki FAQ
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Iris z Wave devices!

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Will all updates need to be managed and provided by SmartThings? My concern is that there will only be updates for officially supported devices and that there will be no way to get updates for other Z-Wave devices.

Will there be a generic way for manufacturers to simply provide files to customers and then the customer can install the updates at their own risk?

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I think the very initial goal will be to provide OTA firmware updates for a selected few devices, afterwards we can expand and perhaps provide a developer friendly API to allow developers/manufacturers to provide files for their customers

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And i’m guessing those selected few will be Official WWST devices.

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To the best of my knowledge, no one is doing Zwave plus OTA firmware updates well except homeseer. They have a utility Included free with their pro line of controllers which can do z wave plus OTA firmware updates, it allows you to update files that you get from other manufacturers to do their updates.

You can also get it as a standalone utility which can run on a laptop with a USB zwave plus stick. You should be able to add that as a secondary to your SmartThings network.

Compatible with a variety or systems including HomeSeer, SmartThings, Wink and many others.

The One that works with SmartThings is a laptop utility. You will also need a USB zwave stick for the same laptop, but you can add that as a secondary controller to your SmartThings Z wave network and then update the software that way. But you will need to get the files to use from the device manufacturer, and they are not all releasing them.

Vesternet did a good roundup article at the beginning of the year about how various controllers/device manufacturers are handling zwave plus OTA updates. It’s not a pretty picture. :disappointed_relieved:

@Kianoosh_Karami

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I was asked for the link to the HomeSeer kit that includes the Z wave USB stick and the zflash software. $50 for the kit at the Homeseer store. You do not need to have other HomeSeer products: You put the USB stick in a laptop And add it as a secondary to your SmartThings Z wave network and you should be able to update OTA for any zwave plus devices that you have the update files for. Be aware, however, that not all manufacturers release their update files to third parties.

Link to buy the kit:

Link to a HomeSeer forum discussion which has a video tutorial on how to use it as a secondary.

https://forums.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=188772

You should be able to get answers to further questions from HomeSeer support as they are advertising this in their shop as being compatible with SmartThings.

@Automated_House

@Kianoosh_Karami @tpmanley @duncan

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Aeotec Smart Switch 6
Firmware

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Here is a partial list of devices I would like to see supported for OTA firmware updates and local device handlers:

As others have said, the OEMs have not been interested in providing firmware to us in most cases.

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+1 for the Dome Siren

Also, OTA for the Dome Door Sensor Pro would be great too.

I have 2 of the Dome sirens and triggering a chime or alarm on both of them simultaneously based on a door opening is a mess. The chime keeps going repeatedly when it’s not supposed to and when a door is closed during the chime/alarm being active, the closed status is almost always lost so the door reports itself as open when it’s really closed.

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According to the FCC number on the stick, it’s the exact same model as this on Amazon:

And Amazon has it for $12 less. Think I will get it through Amazon!

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Same hardware, but the “kit” at HomeSeer includes the Z flash utility program, which is what you will need to do the firmware updates. And if you buy the utility software separately, it’s $29.

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Schlage Connect Touchscreen Deadbolt (BE469NX)
Iris Smart Plug

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Nice catch. Definitely want the update utility. Thanks!

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I don’t know JDRoberts, I do not think requiring a separate software with a separate USB Z-Wave stick associated to your network that only works for he very few manufacturers that do provide raw firmware files is doing it right…

This may be all wrong but what I’ve heard is that Device Manufacturers do not want to release firmware updates to the public because there is no functionality in the Z-Way chip to update from an encrypted file so they need to distribute them raw and that’s their IP so they have to protect it…

With this limitation in mind I think building a mechanism to update the firmware through the Hub from a non customer accessible repository and allow manufacturers to submit firmware updates to this repository would be doing it right. No additional devices or software and given the SmartThings market share and reach I would think manufacturers would be a lot more open to use this mechanism to get firmware updates to a big share of their customers in a fairly safe way… Maybe including some kind of NDA agreement between the Manufacturer and Samsung / SmartThings would help too…

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Sorry I wasn’t clear. HomeSeer includes that same utility on their own Zwave “pro” controllers, And they are the only one I know who allow their customers to upload firmware files received from other manufacturers and then run the utility. So that’s what I meant by “doing it right.” ( i’ve updated my post above to make it clearer.)

I just included the information about the standalone utility in case there were people looking for a workaround for the current SmartThings situation. :sunglasses:

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Oh, ok, that is much better then, more in line with what I’m suggesting…

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Are there known issues that newer firmware will fix on these devices? It seems there’s an avid interest but is this a case of ‘I must have the latest’ or is there something specific people are looking to get fixed/improved? Is there a list of what’s updated/fixed in these firmware updates?

I ask because most of my issues seems to be ST platform related, not the fault of the device but I could be wrong.

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Please include Update for Aeon Wallmote

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Yes, there are known issues with Leviton switches dropping off the network and not reporting status incorrectly, especially bad in 3-way configurations. There are also know issues for inovelli switches and they have released firmware for these issues.

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Leviton, GE, and Aeotec all had early issues with their 2017 Z wave plus devices which were corrected with firmware updates. (with GE, for example, double tap didn’t work in the first firmware generation.) Inovelli also added more features with a firmware update.

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