HOW TO - Home Assistant on the NSPanel Pro (Fully Local)

[@01kucek]

Great tutorial - thanks! My notes: - I would mention the Automagic ability to wake the panel up on a HTTP request which could be sent from HA (rest_commnad). So, you can wake it up on any event from HA. - No need to power cycle the panel if Automagic fails to wake it up on the proximity sensor - use # adb shell input keyevent 26 - "show status bar" option in the Display settings is better than "# adb shell input keyevent 3" in my opinion. Even though you sacrifice a small part of the display it gives you the usual home and back buttons

[@urbatecte7737]

Many thanks Matt 🙏 Just to share a handy trick: if you want to open a terminal where you are in an explorer, then juste type 'cmd' where thé path appears, it will open the terminal (old version 🤷) directly at the expected place 😉. Thanks to your video I do not regret anymore to have ordered 2 of them when they were launched because all the video After saying it was nearly unusable😭. Again, thank you to both you and Blakadder.✌️You rocks guys

[@MarkWattTech]

Thanks dude :) Yeah I knew about cmd in the file explorer. I was just trying to cover things for different user abilities. Thanks for sharing :) This is definitely the best way to use the panels with HA at the moment. I would love to see Sonoff adopt this. It would be nice to be able to use touch to wake and some other features (we can dream). And it’s Mark! 😂

[@ownerAccount]

Is it possible to "wakeup" device and send video feed to it when event occurs? For example: when motion is detected, wake up the panel and then display video feed.

[@KnifeTheDark]

wow, thanks! can't believe we finally have the technology for this, been hoping/waiting for HA on the panel all year long. amazing stuff!

[@SpeedFlap]

Such a great inspiration. I could use this information to make my very old Android 5.0 tablet run the HA app. I just had to update Android System WebView in Playstore (which didn't automatically) and then it was able to show the HA login screen correctly which didn't do before. So I can now confirm that the somewhat 10 years old Asus Fonepad K00E 7" is HA compatible.

[@Leonvolt28]

I really like that the device is completely open with root permissions and wireless adb enabled. They could have easily locked it down completely but decided not to.

[@Smatek_Electronics]

As a professional Chinese Home Automation Panel factory, we have to say it is fantastic and really detailed tutorial. You did awesome video, Mark

[@johnbayfield7979]

Excellent tutorial Thank you Mark. And Blackadder obviously. I do read his posts, but seeing a video tutorial helps enormously. Sideload apps to Android all the time, but didn't know how to on my NSP Panel Pro

[@rolandrybka]

Hi Mark! Thank you for the great video, it works like a charm. As Sascha asked you couple of weeks ago, I'm also interested how the Zigbee gateway functionality of the device can be used when HA is installed? This is quite essential. Thank you, Roland

[@tedev]

MATT, you should let people know that if they go to DISPLAY settings, they can enable the status bar at the bottom so that they can actually use android with home back menu etc. without adb commands later on.

[@MarkWattTech]

Good shout :) ill pin your comment and add it to the description. Also - it’s Mark 😂

[@craigslorach]

As of July 2024 I'm running the latest version of the firmware (v3.3.0) and I had to enable Developer Mode by tapping the ID and then specifically enabling ADB in Developer mode settings on the app.

[@brunosandiego]

thank you so much!

[@123realm123]

Has anyone had/ overcome the issue of @cannot connect to (IP adress:5555): no connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. (10061)

[@kiranmk123]

Did you figure out a solution for this issue ?

[@rolandtwilt]

Did you figure out a solution for this issue ?@@kiranmk123

[@petergreen398]

@@kiranmk123 I had that error to start with as, the tcpip is no longer enabled by default. What i did was connect to panel pro using ewelink app on your phone, go to settings of the device and tap 'Device Id' 8 times and then in the new 'developer mode' option/menu, turn on 'ADB' slider .... all the time accepting the warnings and such.

[@user-iu5fu2gz9r]

This is a fantastic tutorial, as long as you follow the steps and tweak as you go to suit updated bits and pieces! Now, I really want a UI on my panel that mirrors yours…do you have a tutorial for that please? Thanks!

[@gusthepenguin]

Hey Mark! Have tried using two-way-audio to any doorbells from NSPanel Pro or any other tablet thru HA?

[@lifeai1889]

It is actually possible to install home assistant server it's self on the panel but it's probably not gonna be a good experience

[@saschawolff5015]

Hi Mark, thanks for the great video, my NSPanel Pro is now running successfully with HA. I still have one question, the previously programed Zigbee devices are now offline, if I switch back to the eewlink app, then they work. How do I get them back online when I start the launcher with HA? Thank you sawo

[@nicolegalindo3238]

Did you find solution for this?

[@sd-pr6ls]

After typing "adb connect" following by the correct IP, it says connection fails. Any idea why? I can see that it's the correct IP both in my router and on the NSpanel PRO about menu

[@fred7flinstone]

Were you able to resolve this? I am getting "Connection refused".

[@sd-pr6ls]

@@fred7flinstone I had to factory reset the device by unplug it and plug it 5 times until it got back to original firmware

[@sygad1]

And today is the day I get to try this out, finally got my NSPanel Pro ;-)

[@MarkWattTech]

One thing to note- on the newer firmware versions Sonoff have disabled ADB debugging. So if you update the panel first, you will need to do the manual process (take it apart)

[@sygad1]

@@MarkWattTech I encountered that and found an alternative way. Add the device to the ewelink app, go into the settings and hit the build number 8 times to become a developer. Inside the developer options is the ability to turn ADB back on. Once that's reneabled, adb connect works again, which panicked me for a moment as I stumbled at the 1st hurdle. One gotcha was the install of the xpposed framework, it was really not happy about the (nodpi) section, I realised that copy and pasting the commands wasn't working and I used the tab to autocomplete the file which then placed it in quotes, from here on I used that everytime. I also use DuckDNS and I had to disable it in order to log in, NSP wasn't going any furhter with enabled. Got it all working now but im finding the WebRTC camera feeds are really choking the performance, shame as this is 1 of the primary use cases for me.

[@jakubprochazka9960]

thanks for advice!!! It worked. luv ya.

[@oakuti]

This saved me days of angst and annoyance!! Thank you so so much

[@lifeofafixer9101]

Excellent tutorial, did I miss something though, my panel still boots to the default launcher and I need to run 'adb shell input keyevent 3' to select home assistant. Is there any way to automate this?

[@johnadams1976]

thanks for teh video... mine has installed fine... but I cant get home assistant to automatically open on power being restored to the device... any ideas?

[@edgar9651]

Thank you very much! I am currently renovating my apartment with complete new electric wiring ready for home automation. I played already with the original NSPanel but I thought let's wait a little longer before I buy a couple of panels. It seems it was a good idea to wait - and use the Pro version. I will order now two of these Pro panels and look how they work and then, in probably two months, I will install it in real life. I am sure until then you will have some more interesting videos. Thanks!

[@martinn.6627]

Great tutorial! Thanks a lot! The steps for updating the webview seems to be outdated. mine comes out of the box with v107....

[@stephanebourque490]

I am just trying this method right now on a Mc and I am getting "Connection refused". These are 3 brand new NS Pros I just received 3 days ago. Any idea if I can enable anything on the device to get this toi work?

[@fred7flinstone]

Were you able to resolve this? I have the same issue.

[@beniffland7310]

Great tutorial. I was wondering if you need to manually update the companion app when new versions come out or is there an easier way? Also, can you backup the sonoff panel contents? Lot of changes there and would be good to be able to restore them easily if need be.

[@nicolegalindo3238]

Great video! Would be interesting to see the Nspanel pro together with the R5 Scene controller. As i understand, the Nspanel pro can act as a hub. But how to pick up the scenes from the R5 in Home assistant?

[@sproket99]

Hi, Matt. Thank you very much for this video. It´s great to see HA running on NSPanelPro. Are you planning to make a video in order to setup Alarmo on it? I would be really interested. Thank you

[@MarkWattTech]

It is on my todo list :) And it’s Mark ;)

[@sproket99]

@@MarkWattTech Thank you Mark, it would be great. I definitely vote for it!

[@PeterBlandford]

Thanks for a great video, how about a walk through of getting browser mod 2 working? It’s a great tool but I haven’t found a guide for getting the updated version working yet

[@sygad1]

great work and incredibly thorough tutorial. I hope it gets easier in the future

[@MarkWattTech]

Thanks Darren. It would be great to see this whole process simplified. An out of the box device that connects to HA locally and has a nice design like this would be great!

[@FireAnt121]

@@MarkWattTech did you find any device like this that works with HA?

[@user-sz9jo7ye5o]

Hi can any one help, i can not connect to the panel via wifi, i did disassemble the panel connect to it via micro usb. I can see it in the device manager as a px30_evb. But i can not not connect to it via adb inside the terminal. when i run : adb devices -l List of devices - comes attached ; empty. list I can ping the device, i can access all the files via file manager , but ADB is a no go for me. Can some one please help ?

[@arievanoosten6652]

Hello, I have the same problem did you solve it?

[@zyghom]

AMAZING job you and these guys did! Thank you

[@erichs9462]

i´m getting this error when connecting via adb: "No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it. (10061)"

[@deputyd0ng694]

Same, and I can ping it, tried the usual developer mode tricks, no dice.

[@BigFan00777]

Great Tutorial Mark! Thanks. I got everything to work up installing the HA App. I then switched the unit off overnight and wanted to resume today. However the display will not come on. All that's happening is that the display has a very dim grey background that toggles with black. If I touch some app on the blank screen, music starts playing. I can also do adb commands. Any idea what I can try?

[@Kal-el23]

Can you set the screen up so that certain alerts turn it back on? For example a flashing alert card would wake the screen

[@banditfet]

im having an issue when trying to run the final command to install the xposed app, it is saying "no space left on device" I cant seem to find a solution for fixing this either any help is greatly appretiated!

[@JBR.1974]

Another great video. Thanks for taking the time

[@ralphk1907]

Great tutorial, all works fine. One question though. How to i get the HA companion app in full screen . Right now i got the bar where i can select the side panel and i can get through the different dashboards. I do not want it to be selectable.

[@dkickelbick]

Thanks! It is very helpful. Using a dedicated NSPanel user it should be possible to limit the dashboards one could see, i.e. limiting the access using the panel. Am I right? Secondly, where did you get the case for the panel from?

[@MarkWattTech]

The stand is from Sonoff. They sell them Incase you want to use them as desk screens. You are correct about the dashboards too. This is what I do to limit access. Mainly its to stop the kids fiddling with HA settings 😂

[@jenny-smart-home]

Thank you for the great tutorial, it helps me a lot.

[@deandegroot8303]

Hey Mark. Is there any way that we can still use the panel as a ZigBee hub while running the HA app?

[@nicolegalindo3238]

Did you find solution for this?

[@deandegroot8303]

No I didnt

[@mikelally2003]

I accidentally bricked the panel and cannot use it at all. Anyone have any guidance on how to get it back. Forced reset didn’t work. Cannot connect to eWeLink. Only 3 days old.

[@catsider7343]

awesome tutorial. Thanks a lot!

[@passion-programming]

Hey, After unplug my nspanel pro and wait more than 3h I can't see 'Select a Home app'. Only logo SonOff. I looked in my router. I think nspanel don't give up and don't get address IP so I can't connect via adb. I tried connect via USB and when I put `adb usb` and `adb devices` and can't see anything. @Mark help me ? Sorry for my English.

[@Ryan-kb9dn]

I haven't been able at all to get my screen to time out/ turn off at all the screen just dims. I have tried setting the time to 30 seconds instead of 15seconds and still no luck. Any one got any ideas?

[@MkmeOrg]

Great tutorial! Didnt expect this so soon. Havent even published a vid on my first panel yet. Guess I have work to do this weekend :) Cheers!

[@jameswong3674]

When it gets a new update, will you have to perform all these steps again? Also how do you update the side load app?

[@cormacotoole7558]

Having trouble with isntalling webview as I have sdk 27 but need 29. I could go back and find an older version of webview but would be great to have some clear instruction on how to update so I can maintain it!

[@nigelsmith421]

I'm. finding that the NSPanel crashes if I use automagic and sleep mode set to 30 seconds. the panel doesn't respond to a adb connect ...

[@rusttaf]

Great tutorial, thank you for this. What suprises me is how easily is this device hackable.

[@xQuadCorex]

Thanks! A waaaaaay to much talking, but it works. That is awesome.

[@hh-tz8zd]

Hello Thanks For The video is it also possible to use The intercom function if i use more panels Thanks

[@brunosandiego]

got the "requires newer sdk version #29 (current version is #27). any idea how to solve this?

[@brunosandiego]

got the version above through apkmirror (Android System WebView 105.0.5195.136), seems to work so far.

[@andreamassini5562]

Hello excellent tutorial, question can you restore and go back to the original sonoff Launcher?

[@bavon82]

Do you know if it possible to automatically open Companion App, directly in the dashboard after a blackout? Now, after a blackout, I need to open manually companion App, and I need also to select the instancy (that in companio app that I have on smartphone is not required). thanks

[@frangalanmunoz9234]

Hello, I had followed completely the tuorial and installed Xposed installer without issues. Xposed installer is on green and seems to work ok. Then When I try to activate the AnyWebView module there is a message stating "This module does not provide a user interface" somebody experienced that?

[@chaosbreaker]

I was so confused that most people thought full android was a downgrade

[@bgoncal]

When I open fully kiosk browser I get "Android Webview is not available or updating right now? Can't do anything...", any ideas?

[@catsofbarnacle1669]

how does one unlock it for usb suppport? I've followed blackadders directions, they stop working at the install usb driver portion. No matter what i try, the drivers will not recognize the panel when connected by usb.

[@paul7973]

Cracking tutorial Mark... is there any chance you could share a link to creating a dashboard like the one you show in HA - just so I know where to start with layouts and how to design the buttons etc? Thanks in advance mate.

[@MarkWattTech]

Hey Paul. Glad you found it useful. I don't have any resources for the ones that I created (they are just grids of buttons). In the new year I will be updating this tutorial and I will show how to make the dashboard as a section of that video. Have a great Christmas.

[@carlosbahri6561]

Hello Mark, thank you for the excellent video, one question how i can get back to the launcher selection menu?

[@Disksoft]

I have something strange. If I restart Home Assistant when the screens are off then the screens stop working (All five). They no longer respond to a ping (all at the same time) and the proximity sensor doesn't work either. The only way is to reboot the NSPanels by taking it off the power. I thought I had found a workaround but unfortunately not. I had set in AutoMagic that if the WiFi is disconnected that after 3 minutes the NSPanel is allowed to reboot, this works when I take the WiFi itself offline but when the problem occurs it does not. According to my router, the devices are no longer connected to the WiFi. The problem occurs on both a short reboot of HA and a long reboot. If I remove the sleep timer from the screen it does not happen. Also updated the companion app to 2023.01 but no improvement. Does anyone know how to investigate this further, or another workaround?

[@Disksoft]

I think I have found the issue, but no solution so far. All the panels have the same hostname: homeassistant. Also my home assistant server was named like that, now i changed HA to home-assistant, but the issue is still there. I can't find a way to change the hostname of the devices. setprop net.hostname does'nt work

[@LonnyTheWolf]

i have the same problem with only 1 panel, it doesn't depend on the name. the proximity sensor initially works well on the sleep function, after 10 minutes of screen off, it can no longer be activated. Have you found a solution? I am going crazy

[@k.k9648]

Work wichtig this on nspanel pro the mic and stecker, too ?

[@josecorreia2584]

Hi Mark, good job! How to jump over refused connection in port 5555?

[@RhysHF]

Great tutorial and very clear as always, but when I Run Xposed framework installer script I get an error that I am out of space

[@mihanovaks]

I've got the same issue. Can anyone help with what can be erased to complete the installation?

[@Hylian112]

does no one have a solution for this issue?

[@paullealalves624]

the solution is to downgrade nspanel version to 1.2 (instead of 1.7) and start again all the steps @@Hylian112

[@austingarland8242]

Got through everything and now the HA companion app is saying invalid username/password but works fine when I log in from my PC :/

[@ahmedbachoo9112]

What is the power requirements of the ns panel? Does it work on 240V AC? And how have you powered it on your wall? Thanks for the amazing video as always Mark

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya :) yeah it is mains powered. It attaches pretty much anywhere you have a light switch. I think I do talk about the physical specs etc in my dedicated NSPanel Pro video. Thank you :)

[@ahmedbachoo9112]

Nice one thank you 😊

[@edwardbullman4598]

Hi great video just have one question where do I get the companion app from as I am not an android user so have no clue and is not in the list of down load links as I am now stuck at this point thanks

[@mateuszolszewski7791]

Is it possible to read temperature sensor ?

[@MartinHiggs84]

Mark - Before purchasing this does the L1/L2 get exposed to Home Assistant?

[@eladpaz2348]

תודה! האם יש דרך לגרום לבקר זיגבי המובנה להמשיך לעבוד מתי שהום אסיסט פועל? תודה

[@robertharrison3726]

Right after the last load of HA, and then rebooting the screen came up with Chinese characters, now the cursor is a weird cross hair and no program completes running. Any ideas?

[@phillipmillward3178]

Where can we buy this in the UK and what were you using to power that on the desk during setup

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya. When in stock they are on Amazon. You can also get them from the iTead store (sonoff parent company). My description is full because of all the commands but I’ll try pin some links for you 👍🏻. In the video I was using the Sonoff desk stand (it’s just a 3D printed mount)

[@dennispoel7363]

hi, today I updated the home assistant app on my NS panel, when I open the app I see my local IP of home assistant, but when I press it it does not want to log in. Does anyone know what this is??

[@stuc0o]

last step i see No space left on device what can i do about this ?

[@dahmu031]

This does not work for my 2 panels I just received nor does the otg method suggested by blakkadder, I have a feeling Sonoff disabled this

[@rolschu1960]

Hi Mark, this isn't working with the normal NSPanel (not Pro), but with the two buttons. Do I still have to do the ESPHome thing here? Would be great to have the HA companion on these NSPanles as well.

[@davesimons4583]

HAllo MArk, after done all in your video, can you doe a nspanel firm/software update ithout losing al things done? or should you do these staps all over agian?

Is it possible to expose the camera of the device to HA?

[@bjm.a]

Hi dear friend (teacher) i've followed almost the steps (only to put in Full kiosk mode, until update WebView), but to control screen, i have other needs: i have the Nspanel in my office for control my lights and devices state my home display, and i have an automation by a sensor presence (mmwave) for turn off the lights if nobory is detected. I need a way to control the Nspanel screen on / off by a HA command.... I think that a way for implemnt is by a template, But i don't have a ideia how to star this.... Could you help me, please?????

[@MichaKurzewski]

Whatever panel i wont get, it fails at some step. i bricked NSPanel and NSpanel pro actively refuses connection so.... guess im lucky.

[@bramus86]

Nice tutorial. I followed it but now when i start Home Assistant Companion for the first time it crashes /stops working when selecting the HA Instance. Any ideas? --EDIT-- Found out that switching to the other webview version (default on 1.5.6) it is working. Now only the Proximity sensor is not showing any value, it did work once, but after a hard reboot there is no value at all. Got any idea on that? :)

[@atalavan]

I had exactly the same issue. Thanks for sharing the useful tip!

[@MarkRobinson-yk1mv]

i also have the same "No Space" problem, any solutions?

[@Hylian112]

any solutions on this? i see no awnser

[@aliosmanakin5933]

i have same problem@@Hylian112

[@GeneA99]

Great video. I'm getting a Firebase Error when I start HA Companion app. Is there a fix for this?

[@faizalps501]

Thank you bro 😊

[@juliusk5613]

Great video. This tutorial was very helpful. Thank you very much for that. Quick question. In 18:02 I see that you have a full screen dashboard. How do I set that up? I want to hide unnecessary options on my screen. Thanks.

[@Lucky-ez2ps]

Hi @Mark Watt Tech second question on this, which cards or dashboard dit you use, looks very clean?

[@guykramer9263]

Hello @Mark, great content! Quick question, when I am trying to connect via IP with ADB the NSPanel is actively refusing the connection. Has a firmware update blocked connection via IP?

[@thenerdshow]

I have the same problem. No dice. Gonna have to use USB it seems

[@guykramer9263]

@@thenerdshow did you manage to get it working?

[@thenerdshow]

@@guykramer9263 yes. Just did it via USB

[@AlpayGaniBalolu]

Amazing.. Thank you

Köszönjük!

[@maxnatalini1893]

Thaks for the great tutorial. Do you know whether the HA is able to read from the NSP thermostat and listen from the microphone? Thanks a lot

[@MarkWattTech]

You can use the Mic but it's not accessible via HA (e.g. you can use sound to wake screen). The NSPanel thermostat also isn't very accurate so I wouldn't use it.

[@maxnatalini1893]

Thanks for the reply. I am looking for a panel that has a microphone (to interface with Alexa) and a thermometer to make it also a thermostat. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot

[@Kal-el23]

This is a nice tutorial but a little over some peoples heads I would imagine lol. Is there an easier way to do this or using a separate panel?

[@SuperKnightwind]

does this work with higher version of NSPanel?

[@sohail579]

I have a problem everytime the panel goes to sleep it needs to be restart to turn on again, what am i doing wrong? p.s excellent video

[@johanvanderpluijm2432]

Thanks, its work great

[@alphred11]

Type CMD and hit enter directly on your folder and you will no need to copy and paste the path

[@RobFahndrich1]

This is great. Can you side load LAN Announcer so that you can notifications?

[@MarkWattTech]

You can indeed :) I think Blakadder did some playing around with TTS and announcements.

[@stephanelaunay9930]

Lot of thanks Matt ! I was planning to buy The NSPanel Pro, you gave to me another reason to do so :) I have one question though: some NSPanel models have buttons and temperature sensors, any idea how to benefit from them in HASS ? I guess they are only managed buy Sonof application.

[@MarkWattTech]

The original NSPanel (one with buttons) gives you full access to everything. You can flash it with ESPHome or Tasmota and an control all the buttons and sensors. Sorry for the delay! Hope that helps. I also have a video on the other NSPanel if it's any help.

[@dany20100001]

will I be able to Flash HA on the original NSPanel@@MarkWattTech

[@rogeriocamargo1984]

Excellent video, thank you man! Did you notice any performance issues when using these apps? Hugs 👍

[@MarkWattTech]

Heya :) jumping between large dashboard pages can be sluggish sometimes. Ive been using small custom dashboards for the panel which helps a lot and once set I don’t change them. It’s not laggy or stuttery and have been happy with it so far.

[@fabiobertini5781]

Hi, in terms of icons and visualization, is not better to run HA on the NS Panel PRO using Fully Kiosk browser?

[@MarkWattTech]

I preferred the performance using Fully Kiosk on the panel

[@edgar9651]

The original NSPanel had two options: 86/EU Type and 120 Type. Currently the Pro is only available as 86/EU Type.

[@MarkWattTech]

I don’t think they have plans for the 120 this time round.

[@thenerdshow]

I got it set up in my large box. It's a tight fit, but it works. I used the desk stand and hacked it up to make a faceplate too. Looks great

[@pierreolivieryoyo2965]

@Mark Watt Tech thanks for this tutorial I juste received my nspanel pro and will try it. Just a question is there a way to automatically start the HA companion when the nspanel boots ?

[@MarkWattTech]

There is an app you can add that will do this :)

[@pierreolivieryoyo2965]

@@MarkWattTech which app ? Thanks in advance

[@pierreolivieryoyo2965]

@@MarkWattTech which app please ?

[@pierreolivieryoyo2965]

Any update ? Thanks

[@tinmousedesigns]

Any way of controlling Sonos speakers with this?

[@MarkWattTech]

You have full access to your HA dashboard so you can just add a media player entity which will allow you to do this. Personally I love the mini media player card from HACS :)

[@JasperJanssen]

So, you’re basically just using it as a web browser. But then why an NSpanel pro rather than just an android tablet mounted to the wall?

[@MarkWattTech]

The main reason is the small form factor and the convenience of being able to stick a small panel where a light switch would sit. These are still quite pricey and not all there (yet) but they are a great option. It’s down to each user’s preference really :) I use an android tablet on my wall and have a couple if these dotted about.