As a long-time user of Home Assistant, I’ve encountered my fair share of challenges. Today, I wanted to share some of the most common issues I’ve faced and the solutions that worked for me, in case they can help others in the community.
1. No UI Access but Home is Working
One of the weirdest issues I’ve faced was when my Home Assistant was running perfectly (lights, automations, Node-RED flows all worked), but I couldn’t access the UI at all. Ports 8123 and 8437 were dead, and SSH wasn’t responding. However, I could access the CLI via a monitor and keyboard. Occasionally, a reboot would bring the UI back for a few minutes before it crashed again. After trying restores, downgrades, and reboots, the only solution that worked was a fresh install on a new SSD. If you’re facing this, my advice is to try a clean install if possible.
2. Custom Mirror App Issues
I’ve been trying to use the Mirror app’s custom option to change a contact sensor based on a switch. Despite the switch events triggering the Mirror app, the contact sensor wouldn’t update, and there were no logs to help troubleshoot. If anyone else has faced this, I’d love to hear how you resolved it!
3. Entities Card Button Row Alignment on Mobile
Another issue I’ve noticed is the alignment of button rows on mobile devices. While the web browser displays buttons over multiple lines, mobile devices show them in a single row, requiring scrolling to find all buttons. This makes navigation cumbersome. I’d love to see an option to align buttons in multiple rows on mobile, similar to the web version.
4. MQTT Birth and Last Will Configuration
Switching from the configuration.yaml file to the MQTT integration settings was a bit tricky. I struggled to configure MQTT Birth and Last Will messages, which are crucial for detecting when HA goes offline. After some trial and error, I found that adding these configurations directly under the MQTT integration settings worked perfectly. This ensures devices resend discovery messages when HA comes back online.
5. Z-Wave Device Connectivity Issues
I’ve had several Z-Wave devices suddenly go NOT_RESPONDING and become unreachable. Running repairs showed the node was unreachable, and the only solution was to un-pair and re-pair them. This was frustrating, especially since it disrupted automations. If anyone has a better solution, please share!
Final Thoughts
Home Assistant is an incredible platform, but like any complex system, it has its quirks. The key to troubleshooting is patience and a willingness to experiment. If you’re stuck, don’t hesitate to reach out to the community—someone has likely faced the same issue and found a solution.
Thanks to everyone who contributes to this amazing platform and to the community for being so supportive!
Happy automating! 