Entering Z-Wave Exclude Mode via the GUI

[cszucko]

Apologies if this already exists and I've overlooked it or if this actually belongs on the Z-Wave adapter project.

I've occasionally had trouble getting devices that were previously part of a different network added to my WebThings Gateway. Rounds of factory resets and physically moving devices around have generally gotten the job done but having a way to quickly and easily make sure that Z-Wave devices have been successfully excluded from their old network would be handy.

[dhylands]

When you remove a zwave device, it tells the controller to go into exclude mode and then you push the exclude button on the device you're trying to remove in order to remove it from the network.

[cszucko]

Would that still work in the case where I'm trying to remove a device from a different network so I can add it to my current one? For example, if I were setting up a new WebThings Gateway for the very first time and wanted to add a used Z-Wave switch that hadn't been removed from its old network, I don't believe I would be able to get into the device removal workflow.

[dhylands]

You need to remove it from the old network, probably using the old software. Otherwise you need to factory reset the device. There is no way the gateway can talk to your device while it’s paired to a different dongle.

[cszucko]

It's possible I've misunderstood them but I've seen references to using exclusion mode to unpair devices joined to other networks from a few different sources.

Wink's blog describes exclusion mode like:

If you have a Z-Wave product that was previously connected to a another platform’s hub, it must first be excluded before it can be added to the Wink Hub. By pressing “Exclusion Mode” the Wink Hub sends a message to the device telling it to forget its original network in preparation to join a new one.

SmartThings' support site has an "Excluding a device that is not yet connected to SmartThings" section:

If you're having trouble adding a Z-Wave device that was previously in use, or if your new device won’t connect after several attempts, you may need to exclude the device still. Sometimes a device partially connects, or is partially removed, behind the scenes. General Z-Wave Device Exclusion should fix these issues.

When describing exclusion of a device where you no longer have access to the original controller, the ThingsThatAreSmart wiki notes:

The good news is that the zwave designers thought of this, and it is set up so that any zwave controller, not just the one that the device was previously paired to, can issue a "general exclusion" command. Even a minimote can do this. Then any zwave device that is in range Will be prepared to clear its controller information, but it will not do so until you physically manipulate that particular device.

[dhylands]

Cool - I was unaware of "General Exclusion Mode". Now I have to figure out how to make OpenZWave do a general exclusion

[cszucko]

That's great! Thanks so much for following up!