New installation of homegear for MAX! .. I am lost

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:10pm

how to do this?

I see the file, but I did not change it

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:11pm

which you recommend for a pi3?

pmayer · February 2, 2017, 4:23pm

That depends on you. In general the CC1101 attached directly to the SPI of the Pi3 is technically the best solution. See: https://doc.homegear.eu/data/homegear-homematicbidcos/configuration.html#config-ticc1101

The simplest way is the busware CUL: http://www.busware.de/tiki-index.php?page=CUL

Maybe this is a good starting point: http://www.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Teaching/Unix/
Basicly you edit the file on the command line (CLI) with an editor like nano or pico.

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:23pm

I know how to edit … I don’t know what to write in it

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:26pm

ohh but that’s 60 Euro … then I go for a MAX hub … no? What’s the point

A MAX Cube used is 30 EUro …

pmayer · February 2, 2017, 4:26pm

Well, the file is documented very well

github.com

Homegear/Homegear-MAX/blob/master/misc/Config Directory/max.conf

___________________________________________________________________________

---------------------------------- MAX!  ----------------------------------
___________________________________________________________________________

#######################################
################# CUL #################
#######################################

## The device family this interface is for
#[CUL]

## Specify an unique id here to identify this device in Homegear
#id = My-MAX-CUL

## When default is set to "true" Homegear will assign this device
## to new peers.
#default = true

## Options: cul, coc, cc1100

This file has been truncated. show original

It depends on the communication module you want to use to “communicate” with the thermostat.

pmayer · February 2, 2017, 4:29pm

I personally use a Max!-Cube flashed with CUL-FW which then act’s like a CUL. See https://github.com/heliflieger/a-culfw and https://github.com/heliflieger/a-culfw/tree/master/culfw/Devices/CUBe (maybe use google translate).

pmayer · February 2, 2017, 4:33pm

If you want to use the CUBe with it’s original software, which will be lost if you flash it with the a-cullfw, you can get it to work directly with your visualisation/automation.

For example there is a binding for openhab which communicates directly with the CUBe using the original software: https://github.com/openhab/openhab2-addons/tree/master/addons/binding/org.openhab.binding.max

But then you won’t need homegear for that

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:33pm

Let me see if I understand.

I need 13 valves, I can get

13 dumb valves 99017.
MAX Cube, to transmit/receive RF from/to the valves and connect to the LAN
change the MAX Cube firmware (I see original firmware is very buggy, look Amazon.de reviews)
connect MAX Cube to the LAN where my pi3 is

Like this with the new firmware, I can connect to homegear that is on my pi3, and then to Home Assistant and I can control all 13 thermostats.

Correct??

claudioita · February 2, 2017, 4:33pm

I use Home Assistant, which supports the homegear, but not the MAX! cube

pmayer · February 2, 2017, 4:41pm

nearly
The CUBe flashed with a-culfw will act as a CUL and will be connected via USB to the pi where homegear is running. IIRC it is possible to use it via networtk, but I havent tried yet.

So:
Thermostat -> 868MHz -> Cube with CulFW -> USB -> homegear -> BinRPC -> home-assistant

Homegear will act as a CCU2 towards home assistant, so home-assistant will think it’s talking to a real CCU. Normally the CCU only handles homematic thermostats. So please check if the Max!-Thermostats are fully supported by home-assistant.

And please be aware of the 1%-rule: https://wiki.fhem.de/wiki/1%_Regel (use google translate again)

claudioita · February 4, 2017, 9:51am

thanks, I could not write back, since I am new in the forum (strange limitation)

I understand now how it works (more or less )

WHich are my other option to control the valves from home assistant?

a) RF868 transceiver (cheap, but need an enclosure)
b) MAX Cube with modified firmware (good solution)
c) eQ-3 MAX! Wandthermostat+ could this also be used???
d) use the intelligent valve
https://www.amazon.de/Max-105936A0-MAX-Heizkörperthermostat-plus/dp/B00B6ZY23E/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1486201665&sr=8-8&keywords=MAX!

d) other solutions?

claudioita · February 4, 2017, 9:49am

means I can send signals only 36 times per hour, correct?

pmayer · February 4, 2017, 3:01pm

I’d go with the original homematic valves like HM-CC-RT-DN as these are the better supported by third party home automation software and they are “the better hardware”.

Use the CC1101 directly attached to homegear and connect homegear to home assistant as CCU2.

These are relatively cheap: http://www.ebay.de/itm/172116131449 - you only need someone who can solder some wires to it and plug it into your raspberry.

Not really. As far as I understand 36 Packets per 15min per device… but I’m not an expert on this.

This list is a little bit older, but yes, it should: https://www.homegear.eu/index.php/MAX!_Device_Support_List

jannau · February 8, 2017, 8:19pm

MAX! radiator and wall thermostats are working with homegear/pyhomematic/home-assistant.

It’s at most 9 commands per 15 minutes. Single command takes ~1 second. 1% of 900 secnds are 9.

claudioita · September 8, 2017, 8:50am

the link does not show any device list …

claudioita · September 8, 2017, 8:57am

will the Max!Cube work with Home Assistant without flashing a firmware?

claudioita · September 8, 2017, 8:54am

which is better. The original firmware or the flashed firmware? Principal differences?

pmayer · September 8, 2017, 1:59pm

sadly with the new Website, the reference is gone atm, @sathya is working on it.

As I’ve never used the Max!Cube with it’s original Firmware I can’t answer that question.

Same as the question above, but this looks promising: https://home-assistant.io/components/maxcube/

claudioita · September 27, 2017, 8:29am

Hi!

I finally received the Max Cube. It worked well in Home Assistant with its component. but … a big BUT … after few days the conncetion disappears. I do have to repeat the pairing of the HUB and Thermostats in the MAX!Cube app.

It happened already 3 times, and I do not know what was the cause.

At this point I seriously think to flash the firmware and then use the homematic/homegear component in Home Assistant