add device info to show homeplate in device registry

[elratt0r]

Quick hack for the homeplate to show up in HA Device Registry via MQTT Discovery

[lanrat]

Hello @elratt0r, thanks for the PR!

I left a few minor comments, to allow your changes to work on other Inkplate hardware and support multiple homeplates on the same network.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks.

[lanrat]

Can this be set using macros so other Inkplate devices like the Inkplate6 can work as well?

[lanrat]

edit: it does not need to be macros. Ideally I'd like to avoid hardcoding a specific model here.

[elratt0r]

I'll have a look at it, how to get the info for which model the code is build. I think compile time via macro or config.h makes sense because usually you're building it for a specific device. Maybe added to platformio.ini under the corresponding env section?

[lanrat]

As long as its not hard-coded I'm happy with it. Using config.h or platform.ini seem like good options.

[phidauex]

You could use the build flags chosen by the build environment (I should have a pull request soon to add more build envs) and then an #ifdef statement - something like this:

#if defined(ARDUINO_INKPLATE6PLUS)
  deviceinfo["model"] = "Inkplate 6PLUS";
#elseif defined(ARDUINO_INKPLATE10)
  deviceinfo["model"] = "Inkplate 10";
#else
  deviceinfo["model"] = "Inkplate (other)";
#endif

The disadvantage here is that a model needs to be added for each plausible build environment. I don't know if there is already a variable somewhere that includes a friendly model name of the board.

[lanrat]

Unfortunately I don't think such a model exists yet, so I'm happy to have it added to the platformio.ini file in this repo.

There is an official inkplate platformio repo but it does not seem to be regularly updated or maintained as compared to the Arduino library I use here.

[phidauex]

I suppose the build env could just define a friendly model name, and this section pulls that definition. If the definition is empty, then a sensible default is used.

[lanrat]

This should be unique to the specific device in case there are multiple homeplate's on the same network. I think it should be the device's mac address so that device tracker integrations can identify it as well.

[elratt0r]

Good point, I think this should be extended to the mqtt topics and unique_ids as well. That would make discovery less error prone. For the activity-topic the hostname could be used (ex. "homeplate//activity"). Any thoughts?

[lanrat]

I think using a unique name for the activies would be a very welcome improvment. I noted that it should be done a while back but never got around it it. You are welcome to tackle that if you would like. :)

[lanrat]

Should this be the hostname? (which defaults to "homeplate")

[elratt0r]

Easiest would be hostname. Extra friendly name seems to be overkill and name can be easily changed in HA.

[elratt0r]

Modified the patch to make device model, name and identifier configurable by config.h, put sensible defaults in place.
Follow-up patch for use of node_id as unique_id prefix and in mqtt topics is ready (see: use_node_id branch in elratt0r/homeplate)

[lanrat]

This looks great, thanks for the PR!

[lanrat]

I wonder why the entities are not showing up in the device info? Its not a problem. Just idle curiosity.

[elratt0r]

I wonder why the entities are not showing up in the device info? Its not a problem. Just idle curiosity.

Weird, can you check the homeassistant/sensor/homeplate topic?

I had to remove the homeplate retained part when I played around with the naming and too many config parts piled up. But that should not happen here as we just added a device info part in the json.

[lanrat]

Everything looks correct in MQTT. I wonder if HASS only checks for the device field the first time it is seen?

Do you see the sensors under Entities in the MQTT devices section of HASS?

[elratt0r]

I see both. Just for testing I deleted the whole /homeassistant/sensors/homeplate topic. The device disappeared as expected and showed up again after the new config push after flashing.

[lanrat]

That did the trick!

I had to clear the homeassistant values in MQTT and then reboot the Homeplate.