Rachio 3 Not Responding in Homekit (Again)

gizbug · January 29, 2021, 3:10pm

You received the initial beta or the new beta which he mentioned 13 days ago corrected the issue you had? From what it sounded like, 13 days ago franz said they fixed the issue with the initial beta, and would be sending out the new beta to people a day or so later…

Macsterguy · January 29, 2021, 4:55pm

There has only been one beta. No word on second attempt from Franz as of yet.

The first beta bricked my controller and Rachio VERY quickly replaced it… I’m certain they are working the problem and the best thing to do is just wait unless you want to reinstall your controller.

franz · January 29, 2021, 8:26pm

Hey folks Friday update.

We released a mobile update this week that will disallow people from downgrading firmware. In this particular case a downgrade with the new HomeKit firmware it will brick the controller.

Having said that, I will be sending out the beta firmware to everyone that has signed up next week (probably Monday). If that goes well and no unknown issues are found we will make this generally available to everyone.

Thanks again for your patience!

adidasnmotion · January 31, 2021, 2:47pm

What’s the process for joining the beta? I’d like to join because I have the same issue where I swapped out my router and now can’t re-add my Rachio 3 to HomeKit because it doesn’t show up.

Macsterguy · January 31, 2021, 3:06pm

Thanks for the update and all your hard work (and expense) Franz. It is obvious you are dedicated to getting this fixed and I appreciate the slow and steady steps to get there. I will be looking for the update next week and report back.

Have a good weekend!

rpn314 · January 31, 2021, 3:43pm

I’m not sure that’s quite the same issue but the link to John was further up in this thread:

Jazzphone · February 2, 2021, 7:26pm

Just checking in and seeing if this is going out still this week?

Thanks for the updates!

Berniemike · February 4, 2021, 4:13pm

Looks like that’s a no unfortunately

Tzterri · February 7, 2021, 2:56pm

So what’s up with the firmware fix?

alexrodriguez · February 12, 2021, 2:23pm

@franz Has the revised firmware been pushed to testers? How are things going?

Berniemike · February 12, 2021, 4:54pm

Nope. It was supposed to be released almost two weeks ago and its been radio silence since.not even an update

Tzterri · February 14, 2021, 4:12pm

So has rachio given up on fixing this?

Is it time to refund everyone?

laura.bauman · February 15, 2021, 10:39pm

Hey team! Apologies for the silence - Franz is currently OOO but will have an update when he returns.

Kubisuro · February 15, 2021, 11:20pm

I must live in a deep cave as this is the first time I’ve seen OOO for Out Of Office. The rest of the Internet knows it!

Thanks for the update, Laura!

franz · February 16, 2021, 4:31pm

@Kubisuro Lol, a cave is the only explanation!

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. The engineering team is working on new features for this Spring which is taking a majority of our team. Our other initiative is making sure this firmware update does not brick beta controllers. The team found a couple areas in the mobile app that would allow for downgrading the firmware. Those have been patched. The team also found a couple areas in the Rachio platform that will also force a down port as we roll this beta firmware out. That is actively being worked on. We haven’t really had to defensively code for firmware that did not allow for downgrading, but since this was a full replacement of the Cypress Homekit SDK --> Apple’s ADK any downgrading will brick the controller.

Thanks again for your extended patience. Once the platform code is deployed we will be able to continue beta testing and get the firmware to a stable point for a larger rollout.

alexrodriguez · February 16, 2021, 5:46pm

Thanks for the update. I have generally been patient with this… while I appreciate new features it seems to me getting old features that are not working should be the priority.

jmatero · February 16, 2021, 6:56pm

I tried the Beta firmware and it bricked my controller. Rachio was amazing and immediately sent out a replacement and I’m back up and running. A few thoughts on this from a HomeKit fan: Everything in my house is HomeKit and I buy products that support it. And pass on otherwise great products that don’t support it. When it comes to Rachio and HomeKit, I’d recommend patience. They are clearly committed to solving this problem. Do you want something rushed and half-baked or something that works correctly? Considering they already have a great iPhone app, it’s winter, most controllers are setup with automated schedules anyway, and functionality in HomeKit is simply switches and Siri to turn on/off zones, we’re not missing much a the moment.

Tzterri · February 17, 2021, 2:55pm

So now the fix isn’t expected until spring?!?

rpn314 · February 17, 2021, 3:04pm

I’m going to outright question your priorities here: Rachio should absolutely not be working on “new features” when there is this large of an issue in your system, especially since by your own admission the effort towards those features are detracting from the work on resolving the issues.

I’ve been pretty patient with your inconsistent updates, and I understand there are issues (as you noted with bricking devices and downgrading firmware), but this is absolutely in the wrong direction. Absurd.

jmatero · February 17, 2021, 3:42pm

With all due respect, their priorities are spot-on. Spring is when people fire up their irrigation systems again and purchase new/replacement controllers. Think about it. You’re asking Rachio to stop innovating (and ultimately lose sales/market share) a few weeks ahead of the busiest time of the year just so you can ask Siri to water the lawn or see your zones in the Home app. I want HomeKit to work correctly as much as you do but seriously, they almost have this solved. Take a deep breath.