Firmware update of devices in Homey

Have Homey any functions to update devices that support over the air (OTA) update of the devices firmware? For exampel if you have a new firmware in an “.ota” file?

Would be nice though if they implemented that feature.

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Yeah indeed. Would be nice if the manufacturers of all those devices would let Homey update their devices. Like we could update our Sonos speakers with Homey! Or the Hue bulbs, IKEA bulbs and Fibaro devices. Then we could get rid of all the hubs needed for that. :wink:

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Discussed here on the old forum already long time ago,
imo best answers:



And that would be Probably the same for all companies…

(But if all other priority issues are solved and they could hack it into Homey in some spare time it would be nice :wink: )

Athom should Implement OTA support (Zwave plus) within homey.
Of course you need to use the manufacturers fw files, its their device/module…

To me, “OTA” means “Over The Air”, not specifically something that is limited to Z-Wave.

And that’s where it goes wrong!

Yes its “Over The Air”, and we where talking Z-wave och device firmware.
FW-upgrade “Over The Air” is possible with Z-wave Plus.
So whats your point?

Feel free to elaborate your statement, what goes wrong?

well for one… how to get those files if the manufacturer does not make them available publicily? And what about Responsibility? What if the OTA fails on Homey? Is it the responsiblity of Athom? of the original manufacturer or the user? I can guess the view of the manufacturer in this matter :wink:

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Looking for OTA files for Z-Wave I came across this:

imho vesternet explains the real world problem around this option to do OTA firmware upgrades

https://www.vesternet.com/knowledgebase/technical/kb-112/

Please show what Z-Wave brands provide firmware to download (free for their end users) for their devices and support updating it using other controllers.
If there are enough it makes sense to implement this in Homey and I think Athom maybe would consider making this available in Homey.
Until then I see it as lost time for Athom to implement it.

I only know, that Aeotec provides public Firmware Updates.

If I have to believe vesternet…

Aeotec

Aeotec do release their firmware files to the public, but unfortunately not directly in a raw form that can be used in Z-Wave Controllers that support OTA updating.

if that changes and Aeotec provides FW updates to be used with other controllers this is great!

Have to say that the following on their site caught my eye:
For updating using Homeseer:

**Please note.**

Over-the-air firmware upgrades for [Aeotec devices](https://aeotec.com/homeautomation) are described on Aeotec.com and the downloadable files provided for your convenience. The upgrade functionality itself is provided and warranted / supported by HomeSeer directly. If experiencing issues with firmware upgrades, please [contact HomeSeer](https://homeseer.com/support-home/) for further, specialised support.

and

Warning : downloading and activating the wrong firmware will brick your Dual Nano Switch without Energy Reading (ZW140) and render it broken. Bricking is not covered by warranty.

that brigs us back at the issues mentioned earlier fe by @Jeroen_Somhorst

I imagine that Athom does’t want to much risk in this and providing this option and with many vendors would cost a lot resources to make it work and supported by both parties (Athom with each other Z-Wave brand)

Public is relative, they are embedded into programs that you need to run on your windows pc (no Linux or Mac is possible), with a zwave stick attached to it.
The update file/information themselves (which is a hex file) that homey or any other controller would need, are unreachable and encrypted in the application.

There are some smaller companies that do give out update hex files/information, but all the (non Chinese) big ones.
Fibaro, aeotec, qubino, Philips hue, ikea;
All won’t.

Neo Coolcam for example might.

I recently ask NodOn if their devices was able to by updated with OTA with Homey as controller/gateway the answer i got was:

“I am sorry but I am not aware with HOMEY gateway… Do you know if it is possible to load *.ota files on it ?”

Well, that answer was already answered as the first comment here, no.

Long answer, the time it takes to create a reliable core add on that will not brick any/very little amount of devices (yes this can happen, and is not covered by any warranty, if homey does it) is not just a few weeks, but will take a few months to create.
That time can easily be used for something else that is more important, like a rewrite for zigbee.

That was an answer that some companies are willing to share .ota files.

sure, and i already said smaller companies might do it, as i already knew that nod-on gave out .hex files for updates, but NodOn is a really small company with practically only 3 different software devices (the smart plug (which can’t update), micro plug, and the remotes (all 3 are pretty much the same firmware inside)).

If you then look at the real big boys, which have 30+ for fibaro and 30+ for aeotec (that can update) makes like 5% of the devices we can could update with homey (and only >1% of usage under the users), cause they release the update files into the public.

Not sure i would spend several months on creating something for such a small amount of devices unless i had more then 48 hours in 1 day, and nothing else todo.

You can update your NodOn devices if you plug in a z-wave stick into your pc, and update it with official z-wave sigma software (think it was also in the download folder NodOn gives), just not with Homey.

I have read this thread and the thread in my point of view is created to have upgrades for devices that are connected with homey.
I really hope one this will happen but the next best thing is just buying the gateway(hue and tradfry isn’t that expensive)
The way a device gets its upgrades is up to the manufacturer and has nothing to do with a standard.
And like said before OTA means over the air I do not see the link with zwave.
Zigbee is updated in the same way as zwave ota

Is it? Did you even read what was offered in the links?

Guess not…