Hey guys, there's another 42 page thread discussing where Apple HomeKit (Siri) stands, but I'm sure most of you won't want to read all of that. So, before I give you some good news, I'll give you a quick summary on where things currently stand -
There are two pieces involved -
First - HomeSeer can work with Siri through this thing called HomeBridge and a HomeSeer plugin (developed by some very smart people). Through extensive effort this can work on Windows too, but it works much better on Linux. However, Linux is not effortless either. There are many components involved.
Second - Once you have HomeBridge working, then there's the second very cumbersome part, where you have to find all of your devices in HomeSeer one by one, and create this file called the "config.json" file. It is extremely error prone and takes forever to setup.
There used to be some plugins for HomeKit, but HomeSeer decided to pull those off due to some Apple licensing issues. Fragel (the plugin developer), has been trying to get certified by Apple, but it's been months and that may or may not ever happen.
That brings us to now -
While we wait for a plugin, in order to make HomeKit as effortless as possible, I decided to bundle all the current development into a preconfigured Raspberry Pi image and to create a Windows app to generate the config.json file for the most common device types (Dimmable Lights, Non-Dimmable Lights/Switches, Door Locks, and Garage/Gates). My Windows app also controls the Raspberry Pi, so you won't even need a monitor/keyboard plugged into it.
The First Piece -
- This is the FULLY configured Raspberry Pi image. It already has the latest version of everything, and it's shrunk to fit on a SD Card as small as 2GB (compressed image is only 279MB).
- HomeBridge will automatically start when it boots, and it's designed so you don't even need a monitor & keyboard for it.
- Download the RPi image from here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...WlVc054QmZZNFk
- Extract it with WinRAR - http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm
- Burn to a mini SD Card with - Win32 Disk Imager - https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
The Second Piece -
- This is the Windows app that automatically generates the config.json file.
- The latest version has an Advanced option, where you can customize the strings and values, and decide which type of devices it should query (I'll be adding more device types soon). I have numerous Z-Wave devices by different vendors, and it works with all of them, but for non-zwave devices, you might have tweak the strings and values a bit.
- Once you have the correct JSon file, the app can automatically upload it to your RPi
- Download the app from here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...ThDbTRsOHJRRjg
- Then extract and run it.
Little more detailed instructions
Raspberry Pi -
- I've tested the Image on a Raspberry Pi 3. I'm hoping it works on older models too, but I'm not sure.
- You shouldn't have much trouble creating the image. You just extract and burn. But if you need detailed instructions on how to create an RPi image, have a look here - https://www.raspberrypi.org/document...ages/README.md
- Once you have your image burnt on a SD Card, stick it into your RPi, plug in your network, and power it up.
- It takes less than a minute to boot up.
Windows App -
1. Click on the "First Boot" button. All this does is to expand your Raspberry Pi image to take up the entire SD Card space and reboot the device.
2. Enter your HomeSeer information
3. Click on "Advanced" button and select the device types you want to generate config file for
4. Click on "Generate Config"
5. If all goes well, it should generate. If not, it should tell you which device caused an error. Locate the device with that reference ID in HomeSeer.
- Click on the device in HomeSeer
- Click on the "Advanced" tab, make sure the "Device Type String" matches what's in the app.
- Also, click on the "Status Graphics" tab, and make sure your values match what's in the app (on, off, heat, cool, auto, etc.)
6. Once the config is generated, click on "Upload Config"
Hopefully, that's it. Now you just need to configure the Home app on your phone. If you can't figure it out, let me know and I'll write up some basic instructions.
This has been under development for 2 months now, and a lot of issues have been ironed out (I'm sure there are many more issues), but if you want more detail and to see how others have gotten it working, start on this page - https://forums.homeseer.com/showthre...177016&page=38
Let me know if u have any issues. I'll be happy to help.
There are two pieces involved -
First - HomeSeer can work with Siri through this thing called HomeBridge and a HomeSeer plugin (developed by some very smart people). Through extensive effort this can work on Windows too, but it works much better on Linux. However, Linux is not effortless either. There are many components involved.
Second - Once you have HomeBridge working, then there's the second very cumbersome part, where you have to find all of your devices in HomeSeer one by one, and create this file called the "config.json" file. It is extremely error prone and takes forever to setup.
There used to be some plugins for HomeKit, but HomeSeer decided to pull those off due to some Apple licensing issues. Fragel (the plugin developer), has been trying to get certified by Apple, but it's been months and that may or may not ever happen.
That brings us to now -
While we wait for a plugin, in order to make HomeKit as effortless as possible, I decided to bundle all the current development into a preconfigured Raspberry Pi image and to create a Windows app to generate the config.json file for the most common device types (Dimmable Lights, Non-Dimmable Lights/Switches, Door Locks, and Garage/Gates). My Windows app also controls the Raspberry Pi, so you won't even need a monitor/keyboard plugged into it.
The First Piece -
- This is the FULLY configured Raspberry Pi image. It already has the latest version of everything, and it's shrunk to fit on a SD Card as small as 2GB (compressed image is only 279MB).
- HomeBridge will automatically start when it boots, and it's designed so you don't even need a monitor & keyboard for it.
- Download the RPi image from here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...WlVc054QmZZNFk
- Extract it with WinRAR - http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm
- Burn to a mini SD Card with - Win32 Disk Imager - https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
The Second Piece -
- This is the Windows app that automatically generates the config.json file.
- The latest version has an Advanced option, where you can customize the strings and values, and decide which type of devices it should query (I'll be adding more device types soon). I have numerous Z-Wave devices by different vendors, and it works with all of them, but for non-zwave devices, you might have tweak the strings and values a bit.
- Once you have the correct JSon file, the app can automatically upload it to your RPi
- Download the app from here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3...ThDbTRsOHJRRjg
- Then extract and run it.
Little more detailed instructions
Raspberry Pi -
- I've tested the Image on a Raspberry Pi 3. I'm hoping it works on older models too, but I'm not sure.
- You shouldn't have much trouble creating the image. You just extract and burn. But if you need detailed instructions on how to create an RPi image, have a look here - https://www.raspberrypi.org/document...ages/README.md
- Once you have your image burnt on a SD Card, stick it into your RPi, plug in your network, and power it up.
- It takes less than a minute to boot up.
Windows App -
1. Click on the "First Boot" button. All this does is to expand your Raspberry Pi image to take up the entire SD Card space and reboot the device.
2. Enter your HomeSeer information
3. Click on "Advanced" button and select the device types you want to generate config file for
4. Click on "Generate Config"
5. If all goes well, it should generate. If not, it should tell you which device caused an error. Locate the device with that reference ID in HomeSeer.
- Click on the device in HomeSeer
- Click on the "Advanced" tab, make sure the "Device Type String" matches what's in the app.
- Also, click on the "Status Graphics" tab, and make sure your values match what's in the app (on, off, heat, cool, auto, etc.)
6. Once the config is generated, click on "Upload Config"
Hopefully, that's it. Now you just need to configure the Home app on your phone. If you can't figure it out, let me know and I'll write up some basic instructions.
This has been under development for 2 months now, and a lot of issues have been ironed out (I'm sure there are many more issues), but if you want more detail and to see how others have gotten it working, start on this page - https://forums.homeseer.com/showthre...177016&page=38
Let me know if u have any issues. I'll be happy to help.
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