Problem with state about homebridge-mqttthing

[matej]

The inverse is also true. If the Switch is updated if homebridge is offline, the state will not be synced up - if you want the device to hold the ground truth of the system.

you would like mqtt-thing to republish all MQTT topics at start-up with current values in Homekit?

What I would find useful would be to have the plugin get the current state of the device on homebridge startup. E.g., with mqtt-switch-tasmota you could use the startup command for this:

"startCmd": "cmnd/lights/POWER1",
"startParameter": ""

[arachnetech]

Hi,

What are you using "stateGet": "tele/sypialnia/STATE" for, if anything? This isn't a valid topic configuration setting for mqttthing. Is this the subject used by the physical switch on the wall?

If you want to control a light from a switch, you have two options:

1. Publish the setOn topic from your switch to drive the light directly, and make sure that the light responds to a setOn with a corresponding getOn to update the homekit status.

2. Add the switch separately to homekit (perhaps using mqttthing type Switch), and configure automations in Homekit to switch on/off the light when the switch state changes.

If your light doesn't publish to confirm that it's state has changed (through its getOn topic), you might be able to configure a simpler version fo the first option by using the same topic for the light and the switch and configuring this as the light's getOn and setOn, but I haven't tried this.

[hejsiri]

I do not know how to configure it correctly :(
In the console in tasmota I have such topics:

16:14:07 MQT: stat/sypialnia/RESULT = {"POWER":"OFF"}
16:14:07 MQT: stat/sypialnia/POWER = OFF
16:14:13 MQT: stat/sypialnia/RESULT = {"POWER":"ON"}
16:14:13 MQT: stat/sypialnia/POWER = ON
16:14:27 MQT: tele/sypialnia/STATE = {"Time":"2018-08-15T16:14:27","Uptime":"24T22:48:40","Vcc":3.219,"POWER":"ON","Wifi":{"AP":1,"SSId":"Tenda_2G","RSSI":100,"APMac":"C8:3A:35:2B:E2:01"}}

[hejsiri]

This work property with plugin "mqtt-switch-tasmota" :

   {
         "accessory": "mqtt-switch-tasmota",
         "switchType": "light",
        "type": "light",
        "url": "mqtt://192.168.99.100",
        "username": "",
        "password": "",
        "topics": {
            "statusGet": "stat/salon_lampa/POWER",
            "statusSet": "cmnd/salon_lampa/power",
            "stateGet": "tele/salon_lampa/STATE"
        },
        "onValue": "ON",
        "offValue": "OFF",
        "activityTopic": "tele/salon_lampa/LWT",
        "activityParameter": "Online",
        "startCmd": "cmnd/salon_lampa/TelePeriod",
        "startParameter": "120",
        "manufacturer": "Itead",
        "model": "Sonoff Basic",
        "serialNumberMAC": "5C:CF:7F:7A:6C:4D",
        "name": "Salon Lampa Switch"
    }

How do I properly set the light bulb accessories with mqttthing?

[hejsiri]

OK I already know :) The meaning is case-sensitive in topic. Not "Power" but "POWER".

This is the correct configuration:

    {
        "accessory": "mqttthing",
        "type": "lightbulb",
        "name": "Salon lampa",
        "url": "mqtt://192.168.99.100",
        "username": "",
        "password": "",
        "caption": "",
        "topics": {
            "getOn": "stat/salon_lampa/POWER",
            "setOn": "cmnd/salon_lampa/power"
        },
        "integerValue": "true",
        "onValue": "ON",
        "offValue": "OFF"
    }

I do not understand the "integerValue" parameter until the end. Is he supposed to be "true" or "false" in my case?

[arachnetech]

integerValue: true can be used as a shortcut for onValue: "1", offValue: "0" - as the default on/off values are "true" and "false". (If I remember correctly, integerValue was a configuration setting supported by one of the add-ins that I looked at before writing mqttthing - and I implemented it for compatibility before onValue and offValue.) However, since you're setting them to "ON" and "OFF" it will have no effect. Configuring onValue and offValue takes precedence over any integerValue setting.

Boolean types like on/off use true/false unless integerValue: true is configured, in which case they default to 1/0. Alternatively, specific values can be configured using onValue and offValue. Integer and string types are not affected by these settings.

... so in your configuration, you can leave out integerValue altogether.

[Kepete]

@mientki Did you solve the problem with state?
I can switch the light but it won't update the state if used with a wall switch.

My config:
`

    "accessory": "mqtt-switch-tasmota",
           "name": "NAME OF THIS ACCESSORY",
            "url": "mqtt://ip",
            "username": "",
            "password": "",
            "topics": {
                    "statusGet": "stat/sonoff_d_tuba/POWER",
                    "statusSet": "cmnd/sonoff_d_tuba/POWER",
                    "stateGet": "tele/sonoff_d_tuba/STATE"
                      },
            "onValue": "ON",
            "offValue": "OFF",
            "activityTopic": "tele/sonoff_d_tuba/LWT",
            "activityParameter": "Online",
            "startCmd": "cmnd/sonoff_d_tuba/TelePeriod",
            "startParameter": "60",
            "manufacturer": "Itead",
            "model": "Sonoff Basic",
            "serialNumberMAC": "11:11:11:11:11:11",
            "name": "test142"

`

What for are "startCmd": "cmnd/sonoff_d_tuba/TelePeriod", and "activityTopic": "tele/sonoff_d_tuba/LWT", ?

[hejsiri]

try:

"statusSet": "cmnd/sonoff_d_tuba/power",

"power"small letters.

[Kepete]

@mientki Didn't help. Still not updating the state.

[hejsiri]

It uses the addition of mqttting. It is much easier to configure. With a large number of accessors, the configuration file is more transparent. My configuration for the sample accessory is:

 {
   "accessory": "mqttthing",
   "type": "lightbulb",
   "name": "Salon lamp",
   "url": "mqtt: //192.168.99.100",
   "username": "",
   "password": "",
   "caption": "",
   "topics": {
          "getOn": "stat/salon_lampa/POWER",
          "setOn": "cmnd/salon_lampa/power"
          }
   "onValue": "ON",
   "offValue": "OFF"
   }

[Kepete]

@mientki
So I also tried mqttthings plugin. Set it up and exactly the same problem. I can switch the light, but I can't get the state. The state is not updating.
Is there any possibility to make sure that the topic is correct? I'm running mosquitto MQTT server.

[arachnetech]

I recommend issuing a wildcard MQTT subscription externally to see what messages are being sent and when if you haven’t already tried this. For example:

mosquitto_sub -v -t "#"

It’s also possible to enable logging of the messages received by mqttthing by adding "logMqtt": true to your configuration.

[Kepete]

@mientki problem solved. Easy mistake. As I was using Sonoff dual, it had to be power1 and POWER1 (or power2 and POWER2).

The only problem now is if I restart the homebridge then the default is always light off. Even if it is actually on. Is there a possibility to fix this?

[hejsiri]

The only problem now is if I restart the homebridge then the default is always light off. Even if it is actually on. Is there a possibility to fix this?

I noticed now that it is the same for me.

[Kepete]

Might not be possible to read older MQTT messages. If it is so, than it doesn't know the state and default is off until a new MQTT message comes...
But this is just a guess, maybe there is a fix

[Kepete]

Also, if a Sonoff is offline, then the status is not updated in the home app to not responding. Is there a fix for it?

[deon-wentzel]

Hi, homebridge-mqtt-switch sees the status after a restart. Could this not be implemented into this plug-in?

[arachnetech]

Just confirming the feature request here: you would like mqtt-thing to republish all MQTT topics at start-up with current values in Homekit?

[deon-wentzel]

Hi, yes and to check the status of devices status continuously.

[mosaid88]

Yes I believe we need the extra start cmnd,

"startCmd": "cmnd/lights/POWER1",
"startParameter": ""

startParameter is really handy as it can be used in 2 ways, Empty: will return current switch state, or if value provided (ON or OFF) then it can be used to set a default value on start of homebridge.

[arachnetech]

Closing as feature request is now in separate issue #31.