Homekit not working properly

Discussions about RaZberry - Z-Wave board for Raspberry computer
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maob79
Posts: 8
Joined: 16 Feb 2020 16:08

Homekit not working properly

Post by maob79 »

I am using the latest release (v3.2.2) and I am using the Apple Home Kit Gate app in version 2.2.1.

When I open the Home Kit Gate app in z-wave smart home, and click on save. Everything works nicely in the home app on iOS. I can see the status and turn on and off lights. After a few minutes however the status of the away-devices change to "updating" in the home app. They might still react to my commands, but sometimes extremely delayed (like 20-30 seconds later). sometimes they don't react at all.

If I access z-wave smart home directly (web interface), everything is working fine. If I open the Home Kit Gate app on z-wave smart home again and just click on "save" without changing anything, the devices immediately work again in the home app. But again only for a few minutes.

Is there a log file regarding HomeKit anywhere? I really have no clue what's going on.

Home Kit Gate was never very stable for me, but after the upgrade to 3.2.2 (probably already 3.2.1) it got really bad.
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PoltoS
Posts: 7562
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Re: Homekit not working properly

Post by PoltoS »

Hm.. that sounds weird. We have fixed a lot of issues in v3.2.x so it should work better, not worse.

The only idea I have is to enable logging in the HK app and check the log. I send you a patch to apply
maob79
Posts: 8
Joined: 16 Feb 2020 16:08

Re: Homekit not working properly

Post by maob79 »

Thank you for the patch. I can see the HomeKit Logs now.

I am still trying to figure out why this happens. It could also be a strange network issue on my side, related to HomeKit. But so far nothing makes sense.

Whenever I have problems I tend to see entries like that:
[2021-12-07 19:49:52.095] [core] "HK<<<","PUT","/characteristics",{"characteristics":[{"aid":2,"iid":15,"ev":true},{"aid":2,"iid":16,"ev":true}]}
[2021-12-07 19:49:52.095] [core] "HK>>>",null
[2021-12-07 19:49:52.106] [core] "HK<<<","PUT","/characteristics",{"characteristics":[{"aid":15,"iid":14,"ev":true}]}
[2021-12-07 19:49:52.106] [core] "HK>>>",null

What does that mean?
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PoltoS
Posts: 7562
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Re: Homekit not working properly

Post by PoltoS »

This is "set" for characteristics

Do those lines appear right after you click or with a delay.
maob79
Posts: 8
Joined: 16 Feb 2020 16:08

Re: Homekit not working properly

Post by maob79 »

not consistently, no.

I have a feeling it is a network issue. If I use the home app on my MacBook and I run wireshark, I don't see any packages going out when I try to turn on a light. As long as it is working, I can see connections from my IP to the raspberry, also with expected commands. All of a sudden it seems as the home app does not know where to connect to anymore, to reach the devices that are in zwave.

That doesn't make sense, because as soon as I open the HomeKit App on Zway and I click "save",everything works again... for a couple of minutes, sometimes longer.

The raspberry is connected with an ethernet cable to my wifi router. I even have that issue from my iMac, which is also connected with an Ethernet cable to the same router.

Any idea where I can start looking for the issue?
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PoltoS
Posts: 7562
Joined: 26 Jan 2011 19:36

Re: Homekit not working properly

Post by PoltoS »

It might be an mDNS/Bonjour issue. Please check on the Pi

Code: Select all

avahi-browse -a
during the problem and on normal operation.

You can also do something similar on Mac
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