homekit_controller: Support custom characteristic for Koogeek Smart Plug EU "Watt" data

[pilot1981]

Home Assistant release with the issue:
it isn't possible to integrate koogeek smart plug EU

Last working Home Assistant release (if known):
0.99.3

Operating environment (Hass.io/Docker/Windows/etc.):
HASSIO

Integration:
homekit controller

Description of problem:
sometime, HA don't find plug, sometime after inserted PIN it answer not correct; I already tried with plug in AP mode or after removing it from apple home app...

Problem-relevant configuration.yaml entries and (fill out even if it seems unimportant):
NA

Traceback (if applicable):
NA I don't fine anything useful, if you need some log please say where find it...

Additional information:
NA

[probot-home-assistant]

Hey there @Jc2k, mind taking a look at this issue as its been labeled with a integration (homekit_controller) you are listed as a codeowner for? Thanks!

[Jc2k]

Thanks for raising this ticket. I have Koogeek light strip working with Home Assistant so hopefully we can figure out what is wrong with your smart plug.

I'm not sure what AP mode is - I have assumed it is "Access Point" mode. If not please ignore those points.

You have made a few different points and some of them may or may not be related, for example if HA can't see the plug when in AP mode - that is expected. If it can't see it when you have it paired with Apple Home - that is also expected. If it can't see it after you have done a hard reset of the device itself - that is also expected. But there are other cases when its not. So we need to construct a timeline of what you try and in what order and what happens.

When pairing with Home Assistant the device should not be in access point mode (if thats what AP mode is). And it should not be paired with your apple devices.

The normal pairing flow for a Koogeek device seems to be:

• to first pair it with HomeKit on an iOS device. This will get it to be a wifi client on your network
• to then unpair it from within the Home app. But do not do a hard reset on the device itself. The device should remain on your wifi but no longer appear in your Home app as paired.
• at this stage as a debugging step you can optionally use your router admin to find the devices ip address and verify it is still on the network by pinging it.
• at this point the device should appear in Home Assistant. If not you could try restarting Home Assistant. If still not, then try disconnecting power from the Koogeek and connecting it again. Give it a minute.
• If it's still not showing at this stage, try waiting. mDNS is over UDP and unreliable, some users have had trouble with the packets arriving due to weak wifi signals.
• If it's still not working, try monitoring mDNS on your home assistant box. Something like tcpdump -i eth0 udp port 5353 where eth0 is the interface that you are using as your primary gateway. Try restarting the KooGeek again. You should see tcpdump events as the Koogeek announces itself on your wifi. If you don't then you have a network problem.
• If you get to the stage where you can enter a pairing code, make sure you include the dashes when entering the PIN code. The Koogeek will reject the cryptographic handshake if you don't put the dashes in.

When paired, future communication is over TCP and the protocol is less reliant on mDNS, so hopefully if you do have reliability issues they will be greatly reduced after pairing is complete.

If you are still having trouble after following these steps then can you give a timeline of what you tried as bullet points. Try to capture as much information as possible. We don't have access to your device, your HA instance or your network setup so we only have what you tell us to go on. Ideally try and monitor your Koogeek starting with mDNS as described ^ as this can rule out networking issues quickly.

mDNS (the mechanism used for discovery) may not be fully functional depending on your network setup. So please also include details of your network. Do you have vlans? Do you have one flat subnet for wifi and ethernet? Or are there 2 subnets? What brand of networking gear do you use?

I do not use HASSIO myself, i use Home Assistant directly. And i only ever run it in a custom Docker container or from the command line of my development machine. So all the logs I look at are on stdout. I can't help you find where they are for your particular environment, unfortunately.

[Jc2k]

Also, if you get HA errors in the UI please include the text or a screenshot. There are many errors, and knowing exactly which one you see is very helpful

[pilot1981]

Hi,
thanks for reply.
I followed your suggestion, but it stop during paring procedure with HA, please see attachment that say HA don't accept PIN code because device seem to be locked form another controller:

I'm able to ping device before and after remove it from apple home app, and with tcpdump I found it:

11:31:17.625492 IP 192.168.1.113.mdns > 224.0.0.251.mdns: 0*- [0q] 5/0/0 (Cache flush) A 192.168.1.113, (Cache flush) AAAA fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2, (Cache flush) SRV hap-B50BD2.local.:80 0 0, PTR Koogeek-P1-B50BD2._hap._tcp.local., (Cache flush) TXT "c#=1" "ff=1" "id=00:9A:13:1E:92:C6" "md=P1EU" "pv=1.1" "sf=1" "ci=7" "s#=1" "sh=RxGD7Q==" (337)
11:31:17.727825 IP6 fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2.mdns > ff02::fb.mdns: 0*- [0q] 5/0/0 (Cache flush) A 192.168.1.113, (Cache flush) AAAA fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2, (Cache flush) SRV hap-B50BD2.local.:80 0 0, PTR Koogeek-P1-B50BD2._hap._tcp.local., (Cache flush) TXT "c#=1" "ff=1" "id=00:9A:13:1E:92:C6" "md=P1EU" "pv=1.1" "sf=1" "ci=7" "s#=1" "sh=RxGD7Q==" (337)
11:31:17.830329 IP 192.168.1.113.mdns > 224.0.0.251.mdns: 0*- [0q] 5/0/0 (Cache flush) A 192.168.1.113, (Cache flush) AAAA fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2, (Cache flush) SRV hap-B50BD2.local.:80 0 0, PTR Koogeek-P1-B50BD2._hap._tcp.local., (Cache flush) TXT "c#=1" "ff=1" "id=00:9A:13:1E:92:C6" "md=P1EU" "pv=1.1" "sf=1" "ci=7" "s#=1" "sh=RxGD7Q==" (337)
11:31:17.830773 IP6 fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2.mdns > ff02::fb.mdns: 0*- [0q] 5/0/0 (Cache flush) A 192.168.1.113, (Cache flush) AAAA fe80::a29d:c1ff:feb5:bd2, (Cache flush) SRV hap-B50BD2.local.:80 0 0, PTR Koogeek-P1-B50BD2._hap._tcp.local., (Cache flush) TXT "c#=1" "ff=1" "id=00:9A:13:1E:92:C6" "md=P1EU" "pv=1.1" "sf=1" "ci=7" "s#=1" "sh=RxGD7Q==" (337)

I found the issue...I don't use dashes inserting PIN: now all work fine!!!!

thanks very much for your help!

You know also if I can take consumption value from it? which parameter I have to use?

regards

[pilot1981]

I tried to obtain Watt data in every way, but I'm not able to do this...it's possible?
there is a way to modify this integration? it need custom integration for Koogeek?

[Jc2k]

Sorry I was out after my last message.

Right now we probably only support the "standard" HomeKit characteristics (the ones apple define).

It might be that Koogeek have defined some custom ones that we could read, but they are undocumented. We don't currently have a way to implement support for them, but I would like to.

In your config directory (where configuration.yaml lives) there should be a .storage folder and in there you should see a homekit_controller-entity-map file. That contains all the characteristics your device exposes. If you can attach that I can see if I can see the data you are expecting.

(You might want to review the file first, it can contain serial numbers etc)

[pilot1981]

Hi,
thanks for reply.

In attach you can find file required whitout real mac address and serial number; I found this lines:

  "characteristics": [
                                    {
                                        "description": "1 REALTIME_ENERGY",
                                        "ev": false,
                                        "format": "float",
                                        "iid": 22,
                                        "perms": [
                                            "pr",
                                            "ev"
                                        ],
                                        "type": "4AAAF931-0DEC-11E5-B939-0800200C9A66",
                                        "value": 0.0
                                    },

could be useful? I can use it to create my sensor template?

homekit_controller-entity-map.txt

[Jc2k]

I don't use sensor templates myself but I might be able to make it appear as a state attribute on the entity if that would be useful.

[pilot1981]

yes, it will be great!!!!!

I wait for your update!

[pilot1981]

Hi @Jc2k ,
any news?
I could expect this new feature in 0.100.3?

[Jc2k]

Hi @pilot1981 - haven't had much time to work on homekit_controller this past month as really busy and no hobby time. So unfortunately no progress to report. I'll let you know if I find any time to pick this up, but right now it is behind the asyncio rework branch that i am working on (enables events from the devices to work without having to poll).

[pilot1981]

Hi, any news about this develop?

[Jc2k]

No time to work on it still, sorry. Events still the priority when I do have time.