how to force Home Assistant Homekit Controller integration to rediscover entities

Published Nov 18, 2023

how to force Home Assistant to re discover entities-Homekiter Controller

Attempting to add Homekit Controller integration in the UI finds no unpaired devices

for example:Yeelight Ceiling Lights - Home Assistant yeelink.light.ceiling21

The problem
checklist
Reason
Already paired
- way 2:enter discovery mode

Part 1:General Knowledge of homekit

https://www.msly.cn/boards/topic/93/general-knowledge-of-homekit

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/586183356

The problem

problem 1：HomeKit Controller does not pair devices

After the beta update, my already connected eve power plugs stopped working. I uninstalled HomeKit integration call mom reset the plugs and try to pair them again but all I get is the message “this device is already paired to another device“.

problem 2.

When you delete a homekit device from homeassistant, first remove the pairing from the device so that it can be paired again without resetting it.

problem 3：HomeKit Controller homekit integration get “No unpaired devices could be found”

I have nice working integration with HomeKit Controller (Yeelight Ceiling Lights - Home Assistant yeelink.light.ceiling21). Now Im adding new devices that are showing under the Yeelight Ceiling Lights in the Mi Home App.

But I cant discover/see them in HA, HomeKit Controller.

Any way to sync/rediscover new/removed devices from HomeKit Controller ?

It’s suppose to automatically detect them via zeroconf, but if its not you can delete .storage/homekit_controller-entity-map and restart HA and it will refetech the config from your hub.

If that doesn’t work then it either doesn’t support the type of device you added or its not visible in the homekit API of your hub.

https://www.msly.cn/boards/topic/14412/discoveryhow-to-force-home-assistant-to-re-discover-entities

homekit controller integration and I get is that “No unpaired devices could be found”

That’s the issue: HomeKit devices cannot be paired to more than one controller (hence the “no unpaired devices could be found” error). So you have to remove them from the Home app on iOS, possibly reset them (device-dependent), then add them to HA.

checklist

accessories with the “Works with HomeKit” logo

run python -m netdisco - 5 homekit devices are detected.

Reason

HomeKit only lets you have one pairing at a time

HomeKit only lets you have one pairing at a time, so you'll have to hard reset this device to get it pairable again.

If you unpair a device from HA while it is not connected (be it a bug, or it's just off or out of range) then it won't be able to clean the encryption keys off it before it is removed from HA. HomeKit only lets you have one pairing at a time, so you'll have to hard reset this device to get it pairable again.https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/81127

The original bug is known and fixed in dev so hopefully will be in next beta tag. We added support for a 3rd notification scheme that homekit supports which is faster and uses less battery (not applicable here). It should "just work" in the next beta.

Homekit discovery

We use Homekit discovery to help the discovery of our integrations. When discovered via Homekit, we can launch the config flow of the real integration. For example, we find Ecobee via Homekit, we can then suggest the Ecobee integration to be set up.

https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/27292

To get this working, we need to gather Homekit model names. To do this, we need your help!

If you own Homekit devices, please check your zeroconf/bonjour/dns-sd listings for _hap._tcp.local. and find the md properties.

HomeKit Controller Wi-Fi device support

HomeKit IP accessories for these device types may work with some caveats:

If the device is Wi-Fi based and has no physical controls or screen then you may need an Apple HomeKit device like an iPhone or iPad to get the accessory onto your Wi-Fi network.

For example, for a Koogeek LS1 you must add the accessory to HomeKit on your iOS device, then remove it from the iOS device. This leaves the LS1 in an unpaired state but still on your Wi-Fi. Home Assistant can then find it and pair with it.

You need to know the HomeKit PIN. There is no way to recover this if you do not have it. In this case, you will need to contact the manufacturer to see what options you have.

https://www.msly.cn/boards/topic/14408/homekit-controller-m1s-troubleshooting#18839

That might indicate that the hub firmware doesn't know how to present this device via the HomeKit API or that it uses a service type or characteristic type that homekit_controller doesn't yet support.

eve

On my eve Energy there is a button on top that you press and hold for 10-20 seconds. When it flashes (red for mine), you can release.

s1:delete .storage/homekit_controller-entity-map

Can you backup and then delete .storage/homekit_controller-entity-map. (This will be in the same folder as your configuration yaml). Then restart Home Assistant. This will force Home Assistant to re-probe the hub to discover entities. Normally this is automatic, but it might not have worked for you.

check your HA .storage directory for any stray Homekit Controller files or entries after you’ve removed the integration

Already paired

homekit controller integration and I get is that “No unpaired devices could be found”

That’s the issue: HomeKit devices cannot be paired to more than one controller (hence the “no unpaired devices could be found” error).

So you have to remove them from the Home app on iOS, possibly reset them (device-dependent), then add them to HA.

HomeKit only lets you have one pairing at a time, so you'll have to hard reset this device to get it pairable again. On my eve Energy there is a button on top that you press and hold for 10-20 seconds. When it flashes (red for mine), you can release.

2023-01-07 01:12:47.432 DEBUG (MainThread) [homeassistant.components.zeroconf] Starting Zeroconf browser for:_homekit._tcp.local.

way 2:enter discovery mode

Add the M1S Gateway in the mi home app (hold button on M1S for 10 seconds to enter discovery mode)

Useful links

Homekit Controller

https://github.com/home-assistant/core/tree/dev/homeassistant/components/homekit_controller