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Passive BLE Monitor integration

Xiaomi Mijia BLE MiBeacon Monitor

BREAKING CHANGES IN 0.8.x

This update needs some explanation and requires configuration changes from you. So please read carefully when upgrading from 0.7.x to 0.8.x.

Our custom component mitemp_bt was designed as a so called sensor platform, which is in Home Assistant language a platform under the sensor integration. Home Assistant however has made an architecture decision in ADR 0007, which basically says that mitemp_bt should be a integration on its own.

So, we decided to make this change and, as it will be a breaking change anyways, we also decided to think about the name of the integration. During time we started to add more and more sensors, not only Xiaomi Mi Temperature sensors, what the name mitemp_bt suggests. We decided that ble_monitor would be a better name to reflect the capablities of our integration. The full name will become Passive BLE Monitor integration.

Note that your sensor names are most likely also renamed. Look for sensors that start for ble_ (e.g. ble_temperature_livingroom). We recommend to use the new name option to easily rename and find your sensors.

In short, if you have the minimal configuration, you will have to change your configuration.yaml

Old configuration

sensor:
  - platform: mitemp_bt

New configuration

ble_monitor:

Of course, all additional parameters can still be set, as explained below. However, for the following parameters, the configuration has changed compared to the old situation.

  • sensor_names
  • sensor_fahrenheit
  • encryptors
  • whitelist

If you use one of these parameters, make sure you read the following instructions to convert your configuration to the new format.

INTRODUCTION

This custom component is an alternative for the standard build in mitemp_bt integration that is available in Home Assistant. Unlike the original mitemp_bt integration, which is getting its data by polling the device with a default five-minute interval, this custom component is parsing the Bluetooth Low Energy packets payload that is constantly emitted by the sensor. The packets payload may contain temperature/humidity/battery and other data. Advantage of this integration is that it doesn't affect the battery as much as the built-in integration. It also solves connection issues some people have with the standard integration (due to passivity and the ability to collect data from multiple bt-interfaces simultaneously). Read more in the FAQ.

SUPPORTED SENSORS

  • LYWSDCGQ

    (round body, segment LCD, broadcasts temperature, humidity and battery level, about 20 readings per minute)

    LYWSDCGQ

  • CGG1

    (round body, E-Ink, broadcasts temperature, humidity and battery level, about 20 readings per minute)

    CGG1

  • LYWSD02

    (rectangular body, E-Ink, broadcasts temperature, humidity and battery level (battery level is available for firmware version 1.1.2_00085 and later), about 20 readings per minute)

    LYWSD02

  • LYWSD03MMC

    (small square body, segment LCD, broadcasts temperature and humidity once in about 10 minutes and battery level once in an hour. Supports both sensors with original firmware as well as custom firmware as explained here (make sure you set advertising type to mi-like). With the original firmware, advertisements are encrypted, therefore you need to set an encryption key in your configuration, see for instructions the encryption_key option (not needed for sensors with custom firmware))

    LYWSD03MMC

  • CGD1

    (Cleargrass (Qingping) CGD1 alarm clock, segment LCD, broadcasts temperature and humidity (once in about 3 minutes?), and battery level (we do not have accurate periodicity information yet), advertisements are encrypted, therefore you need to set the key in your configuration, see for instructions the encryption_key option)

    CGD1

  • MHO-C303

    (Alarm clock, rectangular body, E-Ink, broadcasts temperature, humidity and battery level, about 20 readings per minute)

    MHO-C303

  • MHO-C401

    (small square body, E-Ink display, broadcasts temperature and humidity once in about 10 minutes and battery level once in an hour, advertisements are encrypted, therefore you need to set the key in your configuration, see for instructions the encryption_key option)

    MHO-C401

  • JQJCY01YM

    (Xiaomi Honeywell Formaldehyde Sensor, OLED display, broadcasts temperature, humidity, formaldehyde (mg/m³) and battery level, about 50 messages per minute)

    supported sensors

  • HHCCJCY01

    (MiFlora, broadcasts temperature, moisture, illuminance, conductivity, 1 reading per minute, no battery info with firmware v3.2.1)

    HHCCJCY01

  • GCLS002

    (VegTrug Grow Care Garden, similar to MiFlora HHCCJCY01)

    GCLS002

  • HHCCPOT002

    (FlowerPot, RoPot, broadcasts moisture and conductivity, 2 readings per minute, no battery info with firmware v1.2.6)

    HHCCPOT002

  • WX08ZM

    (Xiaomi Mija Mosquito Repellent, Smart version, broadcasts switch state, tablet resource, battery level, about 50 messages per minute)

    WX08ZM

  • MCCGQ02HL

    (Xiaomi Mijia Window Door Sensor 2, broadcasts opening state, light state and battery level. Advertisements are encrypted, therefore you need to set an encryption key in your configuration, see for instructions the encryption_key option. Battery level is only send once in approximately 24 hours.)

    MCCGQ02HL

  • YM-K1501

    (Xiaomi Mijia Smart kettle, experimental support, collecting data)

    YM-K1501

The amount of actually received data is highly dependent on the reception conditions (like distance and electromagnetic ambiance), readings numbers are indicated for good RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) of about -75 till -70dBm.

Do you want to request support for a new sensor? In the FAQ you can read instructions how to request support for other sensors.

HOW TO INSTALL

1. Grant permissions for Python rootless access to HCI interface (usually only needed for alternative installations of home assistant that only install home assistant core):

  • to grant:

    sudo setcap 'cap_net_raw,cap_net_admin+eip' `readlink -f \`which python3\``
  • to check:

    sudo getcap `readlink -f \`which python3\``

*In case you get a PermissionError, check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

2. Install the custom component:

  • The easiest way is to install it with HACS. First install HACS if you don't have it yet. After installation you can find this custom component in the HACS store under integrations.

  • Alternatively, you can install it manually. Just copy paste the content of the ble_monitor/custom_components folder in your config/custom_components directory. As example, you will get the sensor.py file in the following path: /config/custom_components/ble_monitor/sensor.py.

3. Add your sensors to the MiHome app if you haven’t already.

Many Xiaomi ecosystem sensors (maybe all) do not broadcasts BLE advertisements containing useful data until they have gone through the "pairing" process in the MiHome app. The encryption key is also (re)set when adding the sensor to the MiHome app, so do this first.

4. Add the integration to your configuration.yaml file (see below)

5. Restart Home Assistant:

  • A restart is required to load the configuration. After a few minutes, the sensors should be added to your Home Assistant automatically (at least one period required).

CONFIGURATION

Add the following to your configuration.yaml file.

ble_monitor:

An example of configuration.yaml with all optional parameters is:

ble_monitor:
  rounding: True
  decimals: 1
  period: 60
  log_spikes: False
  use_median: False
  active_scan: False
  hci_interface: 0
  batt_entities: False
  discovery: True
  restore_state: False
  report_unknown: False
  devices:
    - mac: 'A4:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
      name: 'Livingroom'
      encryption_key: '217C568CF5D22808DA20181502D84C1B'
      temperature_unit: C
    - mac: 'C4:3C:4D:6B:4F:F3'
      name: 'Bedroom'
      temperature_unit: F
    - mac: 'B4:7C:8D:6D:4C:D3'

Note: The encryption_key parameter is only needed for sensors, for which it is pointed that their messages are encrypted.

Configuration Variables at component level

rounding

(boolean)(Optional) Enable/disable rounding of the average of all measurements taken within the number seconds specified with 'period'. This option is designed to disable rounding and thus keep the full average accuracy. When disabled, the decimals option is ignored. Default value: True

decimals

(positive integer)(Optional) Number of decimal places to round (will be ignored if rounding is disabled). Default value: 1

period

(positive integer)(Optional) The period in seconds during which the sensor readings are collected and transmitted to Home Assistant after averaging. Default value: 60.

To clarify the difference between the sensor broadcast interval and the component measurement period: The LYWSDCGQ transmits 20-25 valuable BT LE messages (RSSI -75..-70 dBm). During the period = 60 (seconds), the component accumulates all these 20-25 messages, and after the 60 seconds expires, averages them and updates the sensor status in Home Assistant. The period does not affect the consumption of the sensor. It only affects the Home Assistant sensor update rate and the number of averaged values. We cannot change the frequency with which sensor sends data.

log_spikes

(boolean)(Optional) Puts information about each erroneous spike in the Home Assistant log. Default value: False

There are reports (pretty rare) that some sensors tend to sometimes produce erroneous values that differ markedly from the actual ones. Therefore, if you see inexplicable sharp peaks or dips on the temperature or humidity graph, I recommend that you enable this option so that you can see in the log which values were qualified as erroneous. The component discards values that exceeds the sensor’s measurement capabilities. These discarded values are given in the log records when this option is enabled. If erroneous values are within the measurement capabilities (-40..60°C and 0..100%H), there are no messages in the log. If your sensor is showing this, there is no other choice but to calculate the average as the median (next option).

use_median

(boolean)(Optional) Use median as sensor output instead of mean (helps with "spiky" sensors). Please note that both the median and the mean values in any case are present as the sensor state attributes. Default value: False

The difference between the mean and the median is that the median is selected from the sensor readings, and not calculated as the average. That is, the median resolution is equal to the resolution of the sensor (one tenth of a degree or percent), while the mean allows you to slightly increase the resolution (the longer the measurement period, the larger the number of values will be averaged, and the higher the resolution can be achieved, if necessary with disabled rounding).

active_scan

(boolean)(Optional) In active mode scan requests will be sent, which is most often not required, but slightly increases the sensor battery consumption. 'Passive mode' means that you are not sending any request to the sensor but you are just receiving the advertisements sent by the BLE devices. This parameter is a subject for experiment. Default value: False

hci_interface

(positive integer or list of positive integers)(Optional) This parameter is used to select the bt-interface used. 0 for hci0, 1 for hci1 and so on. On most systems, the interface is hci0. In addition, if you need to collect data from several interfaces, you can specify a list of interfaces:

ble_monitor:
  hci_interface:
    - 0
    - 1

Default value: 0

batt_entities

(boolean)(Optional) By default, the battery information will be presented only as a sensor attribute called battery level. If you set this parameter to True, then the battery sensor entity will be additionally created - sensor.ble_batt_ <sensor_mac_address>. Default value: False

discovery

(boolean)(Optional) By default, the component creates entities for all discovered, supported sensors. However, situations may arise where you need to limit the list of sensors. For example, when you receive data from neighboring sensors, or when data from part of your sensors are received using other equipment, and you don't want to see entities you do not need. To resolve this issue, simply add an entry of each MAC-address of the sensors you need under devices, by using the mac option, and set the discovery option to False:

ble_monitor:
  discovery: False
  devices:
    - mac: '58:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
    - mac: 'C4:FA:64:D1:61:7D'

Data from sensors with other addresses will be ignored. Default value: True

restore_state

(boolean)(Optional) This option will, when set to True, restore the state of the sensors immediately after a restart of Home Assistant to the state right before the restart. The integration needs some time (see period option) after a restart before it shows the actual data in Home Assistant. During this time, the integration receives data from your sensors and calculates the mean or median values of these measurements. During this period, the entity will have a state "unknown" or "unavailable" when restore_state is set to False. Setting it to True will prevent this, as it restores the old state, but could result in sensors having the wrong state, e.g. if the state has changed during the restart. By default, this option is disabled, as especially the binary sensors would rely on the correct state. If you only use measuring sensors like temperature sensors, this option can be safely set to True. Default value: False

report_unknown

(boolean)(Optional) This option is needed primarily for those who want to request an implementation of device support that is not in the list of supported sensors. If you set this parameter to True, then the component will log all messages from unknown Xiaomi ecosystem devices to the Home Assitant log (logger component must be enabled). Attention! Enabling this option can lead to huge output to the Home Assistant log, do not enable it if you do not need it! Details in the FAQ. Default value: False

Configuration Variables at device level

devices

(Optional) The devices option is used for setting options at the level of the device and/or if you want to whitelist certain sensors with the discovery option. Note that if you use the devices option, the mac option is also required.

ble_monitor:
  devices:
    - mac: 'A4:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
      name: 'Livingroom'
      encryption_key: '217C568CF5D22808DA20181502D84C1B'
      temperature_unit: C
    - mac: 'C4:3C:4D:6B:4F:F3'

mac

(string)(Required) The mac option is used to identify your sensor device based on its mac-address. This allows you to define other additional options for this specific sensor device and/or to whitelist it with the discovery option. You can find the mac-address in the attributes of your sensor (Developers Tools --> States).

name

(string)(Optional) Use this option to link a sensor name to the mac-address of the sensor. Using this option (or changing a name) will create new entities after restarting Home Assistant. These sensors are named with the following convention: sensor.ble_sensortype_sensor_name (e.g. sensor.ble_temperature_livingroom) in stead of the default ble_sensortype_mac (e.g. sensor.ble_temperature_A4C1382F86C). You will have to update your lovelace cards, automation and scripts after each change. Note that you can still override the entity_id from the UI. After the change, you can manually delete the old entities from the Developer Tools section. The old data won't be transfered to the new sensor. Default value: Empty

ble_monitor:
  devices:
    - mac: 'A4:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
      name: 'Livingroom'

sensor_fahrenheit

(C or F)(Optional) Most sensors are sending temperature measurements in Celsius (C), which is the default assumption for mitemp_bt. However, some sensors, like the LYWSD03MMC sensor with custom firmware will start sending temperature measurements in Fahrenheit (F) after changing the display from Celsius to Fahrenheit. This means that you will have to tell mitemp_bt that it should expect Fahrenheit measurements for these specific sensors. Default value: C

ble_monitor:
  devices:
    - mac: 'A4:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
      temperature_unit: F

encryption_key

(string, 32 characters)(Optional) This option is used for sensors broadcasting encrypted advertisements. The encryption key should be 32 characters (= 16 bytes). This is only needed for LYWSD03MMC, CGD1, MCCGQ02HL and MHO-C401 sensors (original firmware only). The case of the characters does not matter. The keys below are an example, you need your own key(s)! Information on how to get your key(s) can be found here. Default value: Empty

ble_monitor:
  devices:
    - mac: 'A4:C1:38:2F:86:6C'
      encryption_key: '217C568CF5D22808DA20181502D84C1B'

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Still having questions or issues? Please first have a look on our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page to see if your question is already answered. There are some useful tips also. If your question or issue isn't answered in the FAQ, please open an issue.

CREDITS

Credits and big thanks should be given to:

FORUM

You can more freely discuss the operation of the component, ask for support, leave feedback and share your experience in our topic on the Home Assistant forum.

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