homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble

[moritzmhmk]

Link To GitHub Repo

https://github.com/moritzmhmk/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble

Link To NPM Package

https://www.npmjs.com/package/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble

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[bwp91]

Hi @moritzmhmk

How does your plugin handle cases where abandonware/noble has not been able to install - does the plugin properly catch the error in this case?

[moritzmhmk]

Hi it will log an error message here and since the accessory never receives a value for temperature and humidity it will be marked as unreachable in the Home App.

[bwp91]

alrighty thank you for confirming.

also, does this plugin offer any more functionality than the already verified switchbot plugins?

It might be worth a note in your readme about how your plugin is different.

Whilst there is no official plugin verification rule against multiple plugins with the same functionality, I think it would be helpful for users who are looking for their right plugin to see (e.g. in your readme) how yours is different from the others

[moritzmhmk]

When trying to get the sensor to work on my Raspberry Pi 4 with Docker, I kept getting the error adapter is not ready: unknown, while other (non switchbot) BLE devices in the setup worked fine. Tracking down the error, I found that the node-switchbot library used by the other plugins was causing the error. Looking into creating a PR for node-switchbot, I found that it is easier to create a new plugin from scratch that only handles the device in question and does not rely on dependencies (besides noble).

So, unlike the other alternatives, my package is written according to the philosophy of doing only one thing but doing it well and having as few dependencies as reasonably possible. I tried to hint towards this in the README, if you have a suggestion on how to better communicate this to other users I will be happy to adjust the README accordingly.

[moritzmhmk]

I updated the README.

[moritzmhmk]

After some communication with the creator of the other plugin, I looked at the problem again.

The node-switchbot package indeed has a BLE initialisation that is not compatible with my (and others Docker based) setup. Furthermore, and this is what made the troubleshooting so confusing, there is no support in node-switchbot at all for the sensor in question and additionally a wrong identifier used in the homebridge-switchbot plugin.

I have created corresponding PRs in both repos. Nevertheless, I will keep using my plugin due to its few dependencies and the concise code. For all those who also only use the hygrometers from Switchbot, it might be a lightweight alternative.

[bwp91]

One more small thing, after installing the plugin and configuring an accessory with the ble address of a thermometer sensor with a different brand (yes, I wasn't expecting to work!) but it does throw homebridge into a crash loop:

[03/09/2023, 14:16:17] [Hygrometer] Restarting Process...
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] [Hygrometer] Launched child bridge with PID 11611
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] Registering accessory 'homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble.SwitchBotSensorBLE'
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] [Hygrometer] Loaded homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble v1.3.2 child bridge successfully
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] Loaded 0 cached accessories from cachedAccessories.0E7C2D126D68.
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] [Hygrometer] SwitchBotSensorBLE finished initializing!
[03/09/2023, 14:16:19] Homebridge v2.0.0-beta.1 (HAP v1.0.0-beta.8) (Hygrometer) is running on port 44449.
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading '10')
    at SwitchBotSensorBLE.updateFromAdvertisement (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/src/accessory.ts:86:13)
    at Noble.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/src/accessory.ts:72:12)
    at Noble.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Noble.onDiscover (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/noble.js:218:10)
    at NobleBindings.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at NobleBindings.onDiscover (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/bindings.js:213:10)
    at Gap.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Gap.onHciLeAdvertisingReport (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/gap.js:175:10)
    at Hci.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Hci.processLeAdvertisingReport (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/hci.js:1148:12)
[03/09/2023, 14:16:22] [Hygrometer] Child bridge process ended
[03/09/2023, 14:16:22] [Hygrometer] Process Ended. Code: 1, Signal: null
[03/09/2023, 14:16:29] [Hygrometer] Restarting Process...
[03/09/2023, 14:16:30] [Hygrometer] Launched child bridge with PID 11626
[03/09/2023, 14:16:30] Registering accessory 'homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble.SwitchBotSensorBLE'
[03/09/2023, 14:16:30] [Hygrometer] Loaded homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble v1.3.2 child bridge successfully
[03/09/2023, 14:16:30] Loaded 0 cached accessories from cachedAccessories.0E7C2D126D68.
[03/09/2023, 14:16:31] [Hygrometer] SwitchBotSensorBLE finished initializing!
[03/09/2023, 14:16:31] Homebridge v2.0.0-beta.1 (HAP v1.0.0-beta.8) (Hygrometer) is running on port 44449.
TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'data')
    at SwitchBotSensorBLE.updateFromAdvertisement (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/src/accessory.ts:91:38)
    at Noble.<anonymous> (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/src/accessory.ts:72:12)
    at Noble.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Noble.onDiscover (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/noble.js:218:10)
    at NobleBindings.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at NobleBindings.onDiscover (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/bindings.js:213:10)
    at Gap.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Gap.onHciLeAdvertisingReport (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/gap.js:175:10)
    at Hci.emit (node:events:514:28)
    at Hci.processLeAdvertisingReport (/usr/local/lib/node_modules/homebridge-switchbot-sensor-ble/node_modules/@abandonware/noble/lib/hci-socket/hci.js:1148:12)
[03/09/2023, 14:16:31] [Hygrometer] Child bridge process ended
[03/09/2023, 14:16:31] [Hygrometer] Process Ended. Code: 1, Signal: null

[moritzmhmk]

Thanks for the feedback, this is now fixed in v1.3.3.