ESPHome Basic Setup For All ESP Devices

Summary

In this informative video, the host discusses the fundamental configuration applied to all ESP home devices, emphasizing minimalism for efficient troubleshooting. They announce a new content schedule, introducing 'The Quickies' series for concise tutorials. The host guides viewers through setting up a new device in ESP home, explaining substitution variables, globals, board configuration, and various sensors. They also cover Wi-Fi connectivity, over-the-air updates, and integration with Home Assistant, demonstrating a step-by-step process for compiling, debugging, and ensuring device functionality.

Takeaways

• 📅 The creator is changing the channel's schedule to add at least one video per week and moving long-form videos to Saturday for flexibility.
• 🆕 A new series called 'The Quickies' is introduced, featuring short tutorials under 10 minutes, in addition to the regular long-form content.
• 🛠 The video focuses on the basic configuration for ESP home devices, emphasizing the importance of minimalism while maintaining troubleshooting capabilities.
• 🔌 The foundation configuration includes setting up substitution variables (constants) for device-specific information like device name, Wi-Fi name, and IP address.
• 🌐 The video discusses the importance of using manual IP addresses for ESP devices to simplify network troubleshooting and device identification.
• 📝 The creator uses a consistent naming convention for device and sensor IDs in the code, which helps in organizing and identifying components quickly.
• 🔄 The video explains the use of globals and board configurations in ESP home, which are essential for setting up device parameters and microprocessor details.
• 🔒 The Home Assistant API is crucial for ESP devices to communicate with Home Assistant, and the video highlights the necessity of having the correct API key.
• 🌐 The video covers various connectivity options for ESP devices, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, LoRa, Zigbee, and RF, but focuses on Wi-Fi configuration.
• 🕒 Time synchronization is discussed, with options like SNTP, GPS, RTC, and Home Assistant for setting the device's time, depending on the user's preference and setup.
• 🔄 The video demonstrates how to compile the ESP home configuration, install the firmware, and add the device to Home Assistant for functionality testing.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is discussing the basic configuration applied to all ESP home devices, focusing on their setup and troubleshooting.

Why is the channel schedule changing?

The channel schedule is changing because the current Friday afternoon 5:00 PM slot for long-form videos is not suitable for the creator due to lifestyle constraints. The new schedule will move everything to Saturday for more flexibility.

What is the purpose of the new series called 'The Quickies'?

The Quickies is a new series of tutorials that will be under 10 minutes long. They will cover installations needed for the Saturday videos or address topics and questions from viewers that haven't been discussed in previous videos.

What is the significance of minimalism in the base code for ESP home devices?

Minimalism in the base code is important for ESP home devices as it helps in conserving limited memory and processing power. However, it should not compromise the ability to troubleshoot and diagnose problems.

What are substitution variables in ESP home?

Substitution variables in ESP home, also known as constants in coding, are values that are set once and cannot be changed. They are used for defining device names, Wi-Fi names, friendly names, and other constants.

Why is the naming convention important in ESP home devices?

The naming convention is important for consistency and ease of identification. It helps in organizing and managing devices, especially when searching for specific devices in developer tools.

What does the board configuration in ESP home define?

The board configuration in ESP home defines the microcontroller type, the amount of SRAM or memory, Wi-Fi type, Bluetooth version, built-in sensors, and the number of SPI, I2C, I2S, and UART interfaces available.

Why is the Home Assistant API key important for ESP home devices?

The Home Assistant API key is crucial for ESP home devices as it enables communication with Home Assistant. Without it, devices cannot extract information, synchronize time, or initialize properly in Home Assistant.

What is the purpose of the over-the-air (OTA) updates in ESP home?

OTA updates in ESP home are used for safely updating the device firmware. They ensure that the device reboots into safe mode to focus on updating itself, and if the update fails, it will revert to the old version after a set number of attempts.

How does the Wi-Fi configuration in ESP home help in network management?

The Wi-Fi configuration in ESP home allows devices to connect to a known access point or become an access point themselves if they fail to connect. This setup helps in managing the network by providing a fallback option and ensuring the device remains connected.

Outlines

00:00

📅 Schedule Change and New Video Series Introduction

The speaker announces a change in the channel's schedule, moving long-form videos to Saturdays for flexibility and quality. They introduce a new series called 'The Quickies,' which will provide short tutorials under 10 minutes, in addition to the main content. The speaker emphasizes the importance of minimalism in their base code for ESP home devices, allowing for efficient troubleshooting without sacrificing functionality.

05:02

🛠️ Setting Up Basic Configuration for ESP Home Devices

The speaker begins a step-by-step guide to setting up the basic configuration for ESP home devices, starting with a blank canvas in ESP home. They discuss the importance of substitution variables, which are constants set once in the code, and the naming convention used for devices and sensors. The video also covers the use of globals, board configuration, and the choice between different microcontrollers and frameworks like Arduino and ESP-IDF.

10:05

🔍 Detailed Explanation of Board Configuration and Platform Selection

The speaker delves into the specifics of board configuration, emphasizing the importance of selecting the correct board and microprocessor for the device. They discuss the different platforms available in ESP home, such as ESP8266 and ESP32, and the considerations for choosing between them, including the built-in sensors and connectivity options. The speaker also touches on the use of the ESP-O framework and the importance of defining the platform for memory and functionality.

15:05

🗂️ Home Assistant API and Over-The-Air Updates

The speaker explains the necessity of the Home Assistant API key for communication between ESP home devices and Home Assistant. They discuss the process of setting up over-the-air (OTA) updates, which include safe mode enforcement and reboot timeout settings. The speaker also highlights the importance of using the same password for all devices to simplify the process.

20:05

📶 Wi-Fi Connectivity and Access Point Fallback

The speaker discusses the importance of Wi-Fi connectivity for IoT devices and the various connectivity options available in ESP home. They provide a detailed explanation of the Wi-Fi configuration, including the use of manual IP addresses for easier troubleshooting. The speaker also covers the fallback mechanism where the device becomes an access point if it cannot connect to a known Wi-Fi network.

25:07

🕒 Time Configuration and Sensor Setup

The speaker explains different methods of obtaining time for IoT devices, such as SNTP, GPS, and RTC, and their preference for using Home Assistant for time synchronization. They introduce the concept of binary sensors for device status monitoring and the setup of Wi-Fi signal sensors for diagnostics. The speaker also discusses the use of text sensors for displaying information like IP addresses and MAC addresses.

30:10

🔄 Restart Switches and Interval Checks for Connectivity

The speaker introduces the default switches available in ESP32 for restart and safe mode operations. They explain the usefulness of these switches for troubleshooting and device management. The speaker also discusses the use of intervals for continuous Wi-Fi connection checks, emphasizing the importance of this feature for devices with screens.

35:12

🔧 Compilation, Debugging, and Integration with Home Assistant

The speaker guides through the process of compiling the ESP home configuration, checking the debug logs, and ensuring the web server is operational. They demonstrate how to add the device to Home Assistant using the correct API key and encryption key, highlighting the importance of these keys for device recognition and communication.

40:13

🔚 Recap and Final Thoughts on ESP Home Device Setup

The speaker concludes the tutorial by summarizing the key points covered, including the setup of basic configurations, the importance of minimalism, and the troubleshooting capabilities of the foundation device. They encourage viewers to like, subscribe, and enable notifications for future tutorials and share their experience with the starting configuration provided.

Keywords

💡ESP home devices

ESP home devices refer to smart home gadgets that are based on the ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontrollers and are integrated with the ESP-Home system. These devices are programmable and customizable, allowing users to create various automations and functionalities for their smart homes. In the video, the speaker discusses the basic configuration applied to all their ESP home devices, emphasizing the importance of these configurations for troubleshooting and diagnostics.

💡Minimalism

Minimalism, in the context of coding and device configuration, is the principle of using the least amount of code or resources necessary to achieve the desired functionality. The speaker mentions that their base code philosophy is minimalism, but not at the cost of troubleshooting capabilities. This means that while they aim to keep the code simple and efficient, it still needs to provide enough information for diagnosing any potential issues that may arise.

💡Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting is the process of identifying, diagnosing, and resolving issues or problems. In the script, the speaker highlights the importance of being able to troubleshoot ESP home devices, especially given their limited memory and processing capabilities. The basic configuration discussed is designed to allow users to effectively diagnose problems through logging and other diagnostic tools.

💡Substitution variables

Substitution variables, also known as constants in coding, are predefined values that are set once and not changed during the execution of the code. In ESP-Home, these are used to simplify the code by replacing repetitive values with a single identifier. The speaker discusses using substitution variables for the device name, Wi-Fi name, friendly name, and IP address in their basic configuration.

💡Globals

Globals in programming are variables that can be changed and accessed throughout the code. Unlike substitution variables, globals are not static and can be modified at any point in the program. In the video, the speaker uses the example of Wi-Fi connectivity, where the global variable can be toggled to initiate a connection or disconnection as needed.

💡Board configuration

Board configuration in the context of ESP-Home refers to the specific settings and parameters assigned to the physical device's microcontroller. This includes the type of microcontroller (e.g., ESP32), the board model (e.g., NodeMCU ESP32), and other relevant settings. The speaker discusses the importance of correctly configuring the board to ensure compatibility and proper functioning of the device.

💡OTA updates

OTA (Over-The-Air) updates are a method of delivering software updates to devices wirelessly. In the script, the speaker expresses their appreciation for ESP-Home's OTA update feature, which allows for easy and safe updates of the device's firmware. The process includes a safe mode reboot and a reboot timeout to ensure the device can recover in case of update failure.

💡Wi-Fi connectivity

Wi-Fi connectivity is a core aspect of IoT devices, allowing them to connect to a network for remote control and data exchange. The speaker discusses the Wi-Fi configuration in ESP-Home, including setting up the SSID and password, using DHCP for IP address assignment, and implementing a fallback AP (Access Point) mode in case the device cannot connect to a known network.

💡Status LED

A status LED is a light-emitting diode used to indicate the operational status of a device. In the video, the speaker mentions configuring a status LED on the ESP home device to provide visual feedback on the device's connectivity and operational status. This can be particularly useful for quickly diagnosing issues with network connectivity.

💡Binary sensor

A binary sensor in the context of smart home devices is a type of sensor that detects changes and reports them as on/off or true/false states. The speaker discusses using a binary sensor to monitor the status of the ESP home device, which can be useful for triggering automations or alerts when the device becomes unavailable.

💡Text sensor

A text sensor is a type of sensor that outputs textual information rather than numerical data. In the script, the speaker uses text sensors to display information such as the Wi-Fi IP address, connected SSID, and MAC address. This information can be valuable for diagnostics and for configuring network settings manually.

💡Up time

Up time refers to the duration that a device has been running without interruption. The speaker discusses implementing an up time sensor in the ESP home device configuration to monitor how long the device has been active. This can be useful for performance monitoring and for understanding the reliability of the device.

💡Safe mode

Safe mode is a diagnostic mode that can be used to troubleshoot issues with a device. In the video, the speaker mentions the use of a switch to restart the ESP home device into safe mode, which can help in identifying and resolving problems with the device's operation.

💡Captive portal

A captive portal is a feature of an access point that can be used to provide a login page or configuration interface to users before they gain full access to the internet or a network. The speaker discusses the captive portal in the context of the fallback AP mode, where if the ESP home device cannot connect to a known network, it becomes an access point with a captive portal for users to set their Wi-Fi details.

Highlights

Introduction to basic configuration applied to all ESP home devices for effective troubleshooting.

Announcement of channel schedule change to enhance video quality and frequency.

Introduction of a new series 'The Quickies' for concise tutorials under 10 minutes.

Explanation of minimalism in base code for ESP devices without compromising troubleshooting capabilities.

Highlighting the importance of ESP home site and its comprehensive documentation.

Step-by-step coding guidance starting with a blank canvas in ESP home.

Discussion on substitution variables or constants in ESP home configuration.

Clarification on the naming convention for device and sensor IDs in coding.

Introduction to globals in contrast to substitutions, allowing change throughout the code.

Board configuration explanation including the selection of microprocessor and board.

Differentiation between the two frameworks in ESP home: Arduino and ESP IDF.

Importance of selecting the right platform for defining MCU type and memory in ESP home.

Explanation of logging levels and their significance in troubleshooting.

Configuration of Home Assistant API for data extraction and time synchronization.

Overview of Over-The-Air (OTA) updates in ESP home for easy firmware updates.

Wi-Fi configuration essentials for IoT devices in ESP home.

Setup of Access Point (AP) block for devices that fail to connect to a known Wi-Fi network.

Introduction to the web server in ESP home for internal diagnostics.

Configuration of status LED for visual confirmation of network connection.

Time configuration options in ESP home including Home Assistant time sync.

Utilization of binary sensors for device status reporting in Home Assistant.

Setup of Wi-Fi signal sensor for monitoring signal strength.

Implementation of uptime sensor for tracking device runtime.

Introduction to text sensors for displaying information like IP address and MAC address.

Configuration of default switches for restart and safe mode operations.

Explanation of intervals for checking Wi-Fi connection status.

Compilation process of the ESP home configuration file and initial testing.

Integration of the ESP home device with Home Assistant for entity recognition.

Recap of the video content and the provided foundational ESP home device configuration.

Transcripts

[Music]

hi

there today we're going to have a chat

about the basic configuration that I

apply to all my ESP home devices these

are very useful and in some ways vital

to be able to tribal shoot and give some

diagnosis I will talk further about each

one of these before we carry I just want

to make a public announcement I'm am

going to be changing the schedule of the

channel a little bit and I think you'll

like it and I'll tell you why I am

adding a video at least one video a week

there may be more but that's another

story right now I promised you that I

would do a long form video every Friday

afternoon at

5:00 this is not suiting me at all I

thought I could and to be truthful with

you the way that my lifestyle is just

doesn't allow me to give you a good

quality video by Friday afternoon so I

am moving everything to Saturday that

will allow me some flexibility in time

to be able to give you something decent

but in the good news there is now a new

series called the quickies and the

quickies are going to be tutorials that

are going to be under 10 minutes they

are additional to my long form videos of

the of the

Saturdays but also they will cover

installations that may be needed for the

Saturday video or they will cover things

that I haven't talked about in the

previous video or questions that come

from

you before I start coding there are a

few things that I need to highlight

about ESP H's basic configuration first

of all there are some configuration that

exists only for the esp32 or only for

the ESP

8266 well you get the

picture these are not going to be

included in this video I will talk about

the little variances between the

different microcontrollers in another

video which is coming out next week in

which I will speak about Bluetooth and

the web server this said one of the

philosophies that I use in my base code

is

minimalism but

minimalism not at a cost of not being

able to

troubleshoot so everything that I'm

going to give you today is minimalistic

but will allow you to troubleshoot and

diagnose problems that's very important

because these little

fellows

have limited memory have limited space

on them and have limited speed so we

need to say

minimalistic but if something goes wrong

we need to know what goes

wrong and we need to Output that to the

logs what you're going to see now every

single one of my ESP devices

has that in it I call it my Foundation

configuration from there I will add

other sensors one last thing that I want

to say is the ESP home site and the ESP

own

documentation is absolutely incredible

I've written my share of API

documentation and I can tell you this

documentation has never let me down how

about we start with the top and we're

going to be talking about the code step

by step let's not delay any further and

get to do some coding see you

there how about we start as you can see

I've taken all of the previous devices

out and we are back to a blank canvas

inside of a us

home

so first thing that we're going to do is

add a new

device we don't care much about

this we are going to call it

Foundation

Foundation

device and we're going to click

next it's anp32 and forward I will be

using exclusively

esp32s particularly this one which is a

node MCU

esp32 version

1.1 so let's click on esp32 we're not

really interested by this we're going to

close it click

edit and I am going to delete everything

up to here now why am I going to do that

because I am actually going to put some

code that I am going I am about to inst

it I just want to copy

this okay and we're going to delete it

the first code block we're going to talk

about are the substitution variables now

we've got another name for them in

coding which is called constants it's

you set them once and that's that you

can't set them again you can't change

them it's over but those are called sub

substitution variables inside of ESP

home okay so what are we going to put in

there I'm putting the device name I'm

putting the device Wi-Fi name because

the device name has to have underscore

and the Wi-Fi name has to have

dashes I'm putting the device friendly

name and IP address I will talk about

the device something time a little later

but in short

it's how many times we going to query a

sensor per minute or per hour or per day

for that matter now we don't want to

overcrowd the MCU because once we start

to overcrowd the MCU it's going to get

slower and slower and it's going to

start kicking errors it has a limited

speed and we need to be mindful of

this but we'll talk about this a bit

later possibly

in another

tutorial right now though I'd like to

speak about the naming

convention and you will see it later I'm

just going to put

up a uh the convention on the screen for

you to

see and then I'll take it out you'll see

it later this is my naming convention

every ID will have the device name which

is the name that we will have here and

then the Sens the sensor name is

followed by that it's underscore sensor

underscore

name so a temperature sensor would be

Dollar open curly brackets device name

close curly brackets underscore

temperature okay let's move on from

there next we're going to talk about

globals unlik substitutions which is set

it once and then you can't anymore you

can change globals throughout the

code that can be very useful I'm going

to use Wi-Fi as an

example and it might not be the greatest

of the example but at least it initiates

it as false and that the log can be very

useful now a place where actually two

places where this could be very useful

are number one to set a state of a

sensor instead of getting an unknown or

unavailable you will get something that

makes sense the second one is to use

into internal

automations ESP home is capable of doing

internal

automations so we can leverage from that

and you're going to ask me okay fine why

would you want to do an automation

inside of ESP home when you've got home

assistant that can do all of that well

it's very

simple imagine you've got a door lock

with an NFC

tag if home assistant for some odat

reason is

offline and your automation to open the

door when it recognizes a specific tag

is on home assistant what will happen it

won't open because home assistant is

offline but now imagine that the same

microprocessor is controlling both the

NFC Reader and the

lock and it has the ability to recognize

that that NFC tag can open the lock well

you still can get into your house

because it has the ability to do so so

these are fairly important things to

think about when you start building your

ESP home device next is board

configuration the short about the board

configuration is we are going to give it

a name and then we going to give it what

microprocessor and on which

board now it might not be something that

you think a lot about a lot of people

will just put the standard uh board in

there I don't so first we're going to

put in the basic board configuration

which you've seen a great many time and

that is the name and the friendly name

now we haven't changed the name and the

friendly name to what it's supposed to

be so I'm going to quickly do this and

I'll see you right afterwards a few

moments

later I've uh changed the name and a

little note about um my changes here you

will see that everything is prefixed

with ESP home and you might think to

yourself well that's pretty obvious you

are in ESP home after all you know it's

an ESP home device the problem that I

face often is when I go and search for

that specific device inside of the

developer tools it's easier for me to

know that it is an ESP home device

because it goes and puts itself a bit

everywhere so I can start looking for

all ESP home devices and pick the one

that I want we talked about the second

part of the board configuration which is

currently missing and this is why we've

got these squiggly red lines there but

before I do I want to just touch on a

couple of things regarding

espo espo has two Frameworks one of them

is the Arduino framework they're

actually the one that I started using

originally when I was Ling around with

these things just over a year

ago and the second one is the ESP IDF

which I recently started using for some

little projects also there are only five

platforms that we can use inside of ESP

home currently the

ESP

8266

thep 32 and all of its variants the rp2

4 which is the Raspberry Pi Pico this is

still in

development so there are a lot of things

there that I'm

missing having said that I have a fully

functional a fully functional device

with um light sensors humidity sensor

temperature sensor presence sensor and

even a screen moving along there is the

beckon from

libertiny and there is the real Tech

from Li Libra tiny I will not talk about

those at this point in time I haven't

had time to play around with them I

think I may have one device that can

actually take one of those two there is

also the framework now the framework I

would leave to recommend it except that

in some cases for me I've had to push it

above what recommended is now I don't

know which one is recommended right now

but I know that I had to push to

2 I can't remember it was 2.9 or 09 or

something like that and it had to do

with the way that the screens

work so leave it to recommend it if that

works it works otherwise go and check

what the latest one is and put that

lastly I want to explain to you what

this platform actually

do it will

Define the board and when I say it will

Define the board it will Define the MCU

type so for example in the SP 32s there

are a few there is telica extension

there is arm there is risk and there is

risk

five it will also Define how much SRAM

or memory there is it can also in some

cases even Define how much PS rank which

is extra memory which is required to run

a display in some

cases which wi-fi type so is it WiFi 4

WiFi 4.1 y55 or whatever the case might

be the

Bluetooth again same story is that

Bluetooth 4 Bluetooth 5 whatever the

story may be with that specific

microprocessor also what built-in

sensors there are for example there is a

built-in sensor in the PCO that doesn't

exist in the ASP

32s in the ASP 32s temperature will

actually give you the temperature of the

ESP 32

microcontroller there is an actual

temperature sensor on the peod that you

can

access and that will give you

Environmental

temperature it will also give you how

many spis to I no

i2c

i2s and art you have available to you it

will also Define the GPI op pins which

one you can use which one you can't use

which ones are for SPI use which ones

are i2c and so forth and that was just

to mention a few things so I do

generally try to get the right board and

if you want me to expand on that please

leave a comment below and I will show

you where I find these things in a

quickie okay so let's move on here it is

esp32 the board is an esp32 Dev which is

this and the framework is are Doo now

there are a couple of things about IDF

and R doino that I need to quickly cheat

about and that has to do with certain

things are not compatible with the other

I know that for example the web server

will work fine on the Arduino framework

but not on the um ESP

IDF so or I should say the IDF framework

so you got

to know these little quotes uh I I do

believe that in the case of the web

server it has been orted I think

that nabasa is trying to get the two of

them uh aligned funny enough the Arduino

framework for

esp32 is based on the IDF framework the

next piece is logging now I'm not going

to hop much around logging

because well we're trying to limit our

time here here and this is possibly

going to be a long video loging and you

will see there is a lot of

options now I do not put this as a

standard on my devices but I wanted to

talk about it nevertheless there are

different login levels that exist and

you can go to the SP home documentation

to find that info is in between so it's

not verbos or varibles and it's not just

you know sensor data if there is an

error it will show it at

N4 having said that you don't need all

of

that this is perfectly fine because that

is the default for info the next one

that we're going to tackle is the home

assistant API and there I have a few

things to say recently I had a question

on my

personal uh GitHub regarding this and

the question was why can't I get any

data on my ESP home from home assistant

and this is why if this is not right if

this is not

correct if you do not have an NP an API

key you will not talk to home home

assistant so you will not be able to

extract information out of home

assistant you will not be able ble to

synchronize the time from home assistant

in fact yes it will see it but you won't

be able to initialize it properly in

home assistant I think I've covered that

quite well and the code is very simple

API reboot Time Out is 0 seconds so

basically it will try to get as soon as

possible a connection with home

assistant the encryption Keys over there

and we've talked about key exclamation

mark secret API encryption key in the

past it's in the secret in the secret

file and as I've told you I do not use

multiple keys I use a single key for all

of my devices a single password for all

of my

devices and this is just because I can't

be bothered

remembering 30 devices

passwords okay so don't worry about the

squiggly lines they will disappear in

time it has to do with the fact that

there are other things that I'm missing

like

Wi-Fi so we'll move on and I'm going to

talk a bit about over thee a updates

they will disappear in good time this is

possibly why I absolutely love ESP home

over the air updates actually prevents

small gray hair and as you can see I've

got my share of those first of all we

enforce safe mode what happens is that

once it has acquired the update what it

will do is that it will reboot into safe

mode cancelling all connections

canceling all unnecessary goodies and it

will focus on updating itself once it's

updated itself it will immediately

reboot but in the event that that it

doesn't we're going to put a reboot time

out of 10

minutes that will restore the old

version reconnect and we can try to rep

push

again that's assuming nothing is

corrupted in between the number of

attempts would be five so it's going to

try five times to do the updates before

it gives

up the password well I use the same

password than my web server

there you are now you know everything

again all my devices use the same

passwords there is a reason for that my

brain is not meant to remember all those

passwords and they are highly

complicated trust me I use

16 characters with special characters

with numbers with whatever else you can

think now comes the big one Wi-Fi and as

I say in my notes what would be an iot

device andet of

things if it wasn't connected to a

network well it would be pretty useless

some of the examples of connectivity

that we've got available to us on the

esp32 and inside of ESP home are

Wi-Fi Bluetooth ethernet Lura zigby RF I

haven't used Laura zigby and RF inside

of

ESP home but I do believe it's possible

I haven't used ethernet but it is part

of the cor networking system of ESP so

I'm not confir I'm not worried about

that so let me show you the

configuration first here it is before we

even look at what's below here and the

only part that you really need is this

section so Wi-Fi network the SSID would

be your Wi-Fi access point name a

password obviously for that Wi-Fi AP so

if you use it like this DHCP will then

give it an IP address you will have to

go to the logs to go and check that IP

address now I keep all of my IP

addresses in a spreadsheet and I know

where every single one of my devices is

and what it is that allows me to also

troubleshoot my network should there be

a problem this is why I use manual IP

addresses

because I know where the device is I

know what it does and I can also know if

something is trying to intrude in my

network so here we are this is my

Foundation configuration for Wi-Fi

although I need to be honest with you

because my devices do not go outside of

my network I do not use DNS I seem to to

have a problem device IP address is not

recognized what have I done oh you see

device IP address is

incorrect I completely forgot to update

it and I hope you are all screaming at

me so it will be zero and for today

we'll use

160 and I'm going to go back over here

and all the squiggly lines are gone

because N is a network let's talk about

the next block

here which would be the AP

block could it fail to connect to you a

valid and known access

point what it will do then it will

become an access point that you can

connect to and the SSID is in

correct so I'm going to go and correct

it give me a second a little longer than

a few minutes

later all fixed as you see I'm using one

of those substitutions in this case

which is the Wi-Fi name to come back to

what I was trying to

say in the

event that it cannot access

a access point a Wi-Fi access point it

will then become an access point itself

that you can connect to now there is a

caveat here don't try to use this with a

Pico it just doesn't work

properly in fact with the picco the

captive portal doesn't work either

what the captive portal does is it

allows you to

set a access point so you could

theoretically not have any Wi-Fi details

whatsoever I've never tried I'll be

honest but no Wi-fi detail whatsoever

and just use the captive portal to set

your Wi-Fi details and voila so that's

for the Wi-Fi I think I've covered most

of the things oh yes let me check my

notes I have forgotten one thing if it

goes into captive portal you'll have to

connect to it using the Wi-Fi details

that you have set

here in the

AP so the SS ID would be would become

basically the name of the

device and you would have to use that

password to get onto the Wi-Fi and then

you would have to go to

http1

192168491 picco and I have no idea if it

works with the real teex but it works

100% with the

esp32 and the SP

8266 a little thing about the web server

number one the port is 80 which is a

standard HTTP Port we're running version

two we are

including the internal

variables now the internal variables are

not reported back to home assistant but

there are reported back to the web

server so it's an extra little thing to

allow you to diagnose your problem

obviously there has to be authentication

to get into it username and password and

then okay local cre is it puts the

JavaScript onto the device why would you

want to do that my devices do not talk

outside the network so I want it on that

device next is a status LED it is the T

if it's useful or not personally I use

it to see if it connects to the network

properly to the Wi-Fi properly then iul

it this is how I do it I assigned the

pin where that specific LED is and then

I inverted

because I don't want to see it now it's

odd because sometimes you have to invert

it and sometimes you don't it depends on

the board you'll just have to play it by

ear and check

usually you'll see it blink a few times

and then go quiet you know that that

board is a false otherwise the light

keeps on thereafter and that's a trueth

I will want to move on to the time now

there are various ways to get the time

onto your iot device these are SN

sntp which requires internet access or

the IP of the sntp server I do not want

my devices to talk to the internet

therefore this is never used the next

one is GPS if you've got a GPS sensor

attached to your

esp32 you can get the time from the GPS

another one would be RTC in the case of

RTC or realtime clock you will require

RTC hardware and ideally a battery to

keep that RTC clock from drifting number

one and from disappearing number two now

I don't use RTC and I do know for

example that the Pico has a built-in RTC

if memory serves me well and I don't use

it I don't use it for a simple reason

home assistant gives me all of that

information and even if home assistant

suddenly decides to disappear the

internal clock will still carry on as

long as it's got power it's when it

doesn't have power anymore that it will

reset the code for time with home

assistant is really straightforward

there it is time platform home assistant

now I want you to remember for the

future that platform home assistant

because it's going to be very important

in other things that we're going to do

like getting other information from home

assistant to us in such a way that we

can actually use it within ESP home for

displays this is extremely important I

think we've got this one down

and I am going to then talk about our

first real sensor and the first real

sensor that we're going to talk about is

a binary sensor now a binary sensor in L

manone is on or off true or false that's

all it does it can be very useful though

so this binary sensor gives us the

status of the device it's not a required

sens answer by any means however what it

does in nor my assistant is that if it's

not available it will tell you FSE and

you could kick off an automation saying

hey I got a problem here this iot device

is no longer with me there are there is

value in it at the end of the day we're

going to move on to a whole bunch of

other sensors inside of the

esp32 that are pretty useful they are

focused on diagnostics and they are

focused on things that will give us the

ability to troubleshoot the first one of

these has got to do with Wi-Fi this is

my sensor section and the first one is

Wi-Fi signal how is that useful to us

well if it's too far away the signal

will not be strong enough and just to

give you an idea I have a little list

because I do not remember this off the

top of my head but

in short and maybe uh I will put

it over there anything that is greater

than minus 50 dbm is excellent anything

that's in between minus 50 and - 60 dbm

is good anything that is in between - 60

and

-70 is fair and anything that is below

minus 70 is poor this was our first one

the next one is a bit more complex at it

first I'm going to give you the very

basic of it up time now up time is I

started 5 days ago and I'm still going

strong this is what that sensor gives

you but it gives it to you in seconds

now I

have some of my sensors that have been

running non-stop for I don't know how

many thousands and tens of thousands of

seconds do you think that I know how

many days that is yes I could go and

punch it and calculate

sure but to be honest with you there's

code for that and let me give it to you

now there we are it's failing let me

tell you why it's trying to publish the

state here to this sensor and this

sensor over there doesn't exist yet so

again just to tell you how far they've

gone with the editor of ESP home again

it shows us quickly n something is wrong

we're not too worried about that right

now

this

here is the state that is going to send

back and you can see we're getting this

the seconds translated to days the

seconds translated to hours the seconds

translated to minutes and with that it

becomes far easier to read and I'll show

you that a little later let's move on

and let's talk about another type of

sensor which is the text sensor now the

text sensor gives you output text

whereas the sensor can output

integers cannot put dates which is

technically an integer cannot put a few

other things now text sensors are

slightly different as I said they output

text now what why would you want to add

text well let's take the Wi-Fi

information

for example we would want to know which

IP address we are

on which access point we are connected

to and even the MAC address now why

would you want to know the MAC address

well if you don't want to assign an IP

address inside of espo itself you could

go to DHCP server and assign the address

then to be able to assign an address on

the hcp server you need the MAC address

so let me show you this

code there is the code text

sensor and as promised the first part of

it is the Wi-Fi information including

the IP address the connected SS ID and

the MAC address the second part of the

teex sensor here is the ESP home

version not strictly

needed but it's nice to know on which

version you are I have some devices that

are not up to date and uh

yes espon will tell you so but you can

also report it inside of Home assistant

and say whoa I do not have that done I

don't have an automation that does that

but it does help me

knowing where I am in the

updates and lastly we've got another one

that I was talking about earlier and

that would be the uptime human reible

sensor and where do have we heard from

that

before right here this is the one that

we are using so now we've got that

sensor as well and there is just a

couple more and I'm hoping that this

video will not be too long for the next

one is our default switches which are

switches that are part of the ESP 32 and

this SW these switches are restart and

restart into safe mode now restart can

be useful in some conditions

particularly if you want to be able to

restart from home system restart in safe

mode will help you troubleshoot

things I've never hate to use it but I'd

rather be save then sorry by the way if

you ever wonder what anything is for

there is a little T

hover over it it will tell you as I say

they've got an they've done an amazing

job on the documentation but also

they've done an amazing job with the

editor the last piece is the

intervals again strict not strictly

needed I use it for the Wi-Fi so as

you've seen earlier the Wi-Fi was set to

false initially and what this does is

that it checks the connection all the

time so are we connected are we not

connected are we connected are we not

connected and it sets it accordingly

that's all this does that's the entire

usefulness of this and again this is

useful when you've got a screen not so

useful without it that concludes the

configuration file now we need to

compile it we need to see if the debug

works then we need to add it to home

assistant and see if it works in home

assistant so let's compile

it first things first let's make sure

that the device is plugged in sorry it

doesn't Focus let's hit

install and like I showed you previously

plugged into this computer and it will

tell us that ESP home is not running in

HTTPS but it will still compile it and

it takes a minute I will Fast Forward a

little longer than a few minutes

later it has compiled we can download

the

project here we go it's now

downloaded we can open ESP home and you

will see this is https web ESP home.io

so it's https therefore it should work

we are going to to

connect again you can see it's the USB 2

serial we're in and we're going to say

install we're going to click

on the uh Bin file the firmware drag it

and drop it and we're going to say

install again this might take a

second but I love about this is

obviously that it's erasing it first

I'll fast forward through this a few

moments

later well it is finished installing

we're going to close this and we are

going to close espb home and we're going

to close this and we're going to close

this and we are going to wait for a

second and we are now online first thing

that we do is we check out the logs so

we are online everything is working and

there is the First Data sent it will

send it at the regular interval now I'm

going to visit and make sure that the

web server is

working as I've said they all have the

same password but it is a complex

password you can see relatively

long and like last time we've actually

got data now we know that we are logged

on to an AP called v9- iot we know that

we've got ESP home version

23129 we know that we are running on IP

address

192.168.0.1 16 I'm not going to read the

MAC address but we have two switches one

of them is called restart and the other

one is safe mode up time is 1 minute 49

seconds and you can see the uptime

sensor is at 109 seconds lastly we've

got the Wi-Fi signal sensor which is

sitting at 51

dbm now if I check my list 51

dbm is good and then we can also send a

file for update and over here we've got

our logs being sent we will then close

this and we'll go to device and services

it hasn't picked it up so what do we do

in a case like

that well let me show you we go go to

ESP

home and it's going to ask what host and

our host here is 1

192.168.0.1 and we said

60 this is where the magic happens the

encryption key without that encryption

key home assistant will not talk to the

ESP home device will not take talk to

the home assistant device so I'm going

to have to go and get that offline I'll

see you once I've got it a few moments

later I entered my API key and I clicked

save and here we are what area are we in

now this is a foundation device this was

a demonstration so I'm not going to put

an area to it I will talk about areas in

a future tutorial I'm going to say

finish and now we are going to have an

ESP home

device inserted over here and we can see

there is one device with one entity now

if you ever end end up in this situation

where there is one device with one

entity there is only one thing that I

can recommend to you is to wait for a

minute and once you've waited for that

minute go

back and

refresh and voila we now have it inside

of Home

assistant let us recap what we've

learned today we've learned what we

should be putting on every ESP home

device it's not a complete and

exhaustive list however it's a good

start we've compiled it we've checked

the web server and we add it to home

assistant I think that wraps off

today's video but before I do a few

things more I'll explain the issues with

the web server and hi it clashes with

other sensors in my next long form

tutorial this starting configuration has

never let me

down so use it don't use it that's your

choice I wrap it off here to make sure

that you don't miss any of my tutorial

will you

please click the like button to let me

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when the when the next one is out hit

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signing off see you in the next

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