There are many third party Z-Wave software available for you to use, in this article, we will give you steps on quickly starting up with Domoticz software via Windows PC (steps are roughly the same for other OS interfaces). From connecting to Domoticz software, and giving you a quick set of steps on where to go after to add further control.
Table of Contents:
- Download and Install Domoticz
- Getting Started with Domoticz
2.1. Having issues connecting Z-Stick to Domoticz - Jumping into Domoticz control
3.1. How to Exclude Z-Wave device
3.2. How to Include Z-Wave device - Adding control to paired Z-Wave devices.
1) Download and Install Domoticz
- Go to www.domoticz.com and go to their download page.
- Find the appropriate download for your Operating System (Windows, Linux, OSX, etc).
- Install your Domoticz software
- Open up Domoticz software and it should automatically in your default web browser
2) Getting Started with Domoticz
0. Go to "Setup -> Hardware" at the top right tab
1. Name: anything you'd like
2. Type: OpenZWave USB
3. Serial Port: the Z-Stick Gen5 COM port will appear here. (for example, mine shows up as COM4)
4. Then click on "Add"
5.To see your network, click on "Setup" where the arrow is pointing to in the above picture
6. All devices already added to Z-Stick Gen5 should appear in the list of devices
2.1) Having issues connecting Z-Stick to Domoticz or having issues viewing newly paired devices directly from your Z-Stick Gen5:
1. Check the COM port over Device Manager
If you are having issues connecting Z-Stick Gen5 to Domoticz, make sure you are selecting the correct COM port, for Windows, you would use "Device Manager" which Z-Stick Gen5 should show up as a "USB Serial Device (COMX)." From this page you can see if there are any errors or if you would need to re-install drivers.
2. Disable, then re-enable the plugin
If you find that Domoticz is not updating newly adopted devices at all after re-connecting with the Z-Stick Gen5 at the start, try disabling then re-enabling the Z-Stick from the Hardware page which should effectively re-connect and update your device list almost immediately.
These steps should be use if Z-Stick does not seem to connect, or if your device page list isn't updating.
- It is advised to open the Log to help you see what is going on when you enable and disable the z-wave plugin.
- Go to Setup -> Hardware
- Click and highlight the OpenZWave Plugin in the list
- Click on the "Enabled" button and ensure it becomes Red colored
Now click on "Update" and the logs should show
Now highlight the OpenZWave plugin again
Now click on the "Enabled" button and ensure that it becomes Green colored.
Now click on "Update" and the logs should show
3) Jumping into Domoticz control.
(Network management, add or remove devices) You can select "Node Management" and decide what functions you want to control such as removing devices, adding devices, or checking on your network health and other such exposed functions.
To get to Network Management, go to:
0. Setup -> Hardware
Then select "Setup" under your added network.
3.1) How to Exclude Z-Wave device
I always suggest unpairing Z-Wave devices first to factory reset them (not always needed, but a good step if you find issues with pairing).
- Select Exclude Node
- You should notice a popup that says "please press the exclusion button on your device"
- Tap the button on Z-Wave device to complete pairing, if successful, the popup message should disappear. (if tapping the button doesn't work, make sure to read the manual of the Z-Wave Device that you are attempting to pair to determine the special button press for unpairing/exclusion/removal).
3.2) How to Include Z-Wave device
- Select Include Node
You should notice a popup that says "please press the inclusion button on your device"
Tap the button on Z-Wave device to complete pairing, if successful, the popup message should disappear. You will also notice a new device at the bottom of the list. (if tapping the button doesn't work, make sure to read the manual of the Z-Wave Device that you are attempting to pair to determine the special button press for pairing/inclusion).
4) Adding control to your paired Z-Wave devices.
When you finally want to add some control into your network, and have finished adding or configuring your devices, go to:
1. Go to Setup -> Devices
2. You will see a list of available devices and some of their status.
Any green arrow is what you would click on to activate as an active device in your network.
3. Once you click on the green arrow, a popup will appear. Name the device so that you can easily find it later, when you are done, click on "Add Device"
4. The arrow will be blue when it is activated and will show up in the general tabs under "Switches, Weather, Temperature, Utility, etc"
5. Domoticz will attempt to organize the added device, if we selected a Dimmer type or Switch type device, it will automatically organize into the "Switches Tab," under these tabs, you will have a much more in depth control of the device.
