SmartStick G8 Migration Guide
Use this guide for migrating from a 500 or 700 series controller to SmartStick G8 800 series controller
Overview
Users who wish to migrate or upgrade from their existing controller to SmartStick G8 can easily accomplish this but care must be exercised to avoid damaging (“bricking”) the SmartStick. Follow the steps below to ensure the best outcome.
Migrations should ONLY be performed under these conditions:
Existing Z-Wave controller must have Z-Wave library (ZDK) v6.61 (or later) installed
HomeSeer users must use Z-Wave Plus plugin (version listed below)
Home Assistant users must use Z-Wave JS UI (type and version listed below)
DO NOT use the Z-Wave PC Controller app OR ANY OTHER METHOD to perform a migration. That will render the stick unusable and void its warranty.
Requirements
For HomeSeer Users
HS4 Version: 4.2.19.16 or later
Z-Wave Plus plugin v0.27.0.0 beta or later
For Home Assistant Users
Home Assistant has two Z-Wave add-ons, the (official) Z-Wave JS addon, and the community add-on for Z-Wave JS UI. Only the latter supports NVM backup and restore. Users can also run Z-Wave JS UI standalone (e.g. in Docker) as an alternative to using the community add-on, or entirely separate from Home Assistant.
Z-Wave JS UI (either version listed below)
Standalone Z-Wave JS UI v9.9.0 (or later)
HA Community Add-on v3.4.0 (or later)
Steps
On a HomeSeer system
Ensure that your existing Z-Wave controller is attached to your system and working with the Z-Wave Plus plugin.
Navigate to Plugins > Z-Wave Plus > Advanced Functions and select Backup Interface. Go through the steps to create your backup file and save it. Remember the name of this file; you’ll need it soon!
Remove the existing Z-Wave controller from your system.
Connect the SmartStick G8 to your system
Navigate to Plugins > Z-Wave Plus > Settings and enter these settings:
Connection Type: USB
Serial Port: Select the port assigned to your SmartStick G8. (This may be different for each system.)
Security Keys: Don’t make any changes to the keys that are currently displaying
Click SAVE
Navigate to Plugins > Z-Wave Plus > Advanced Functions and select Restore Interface. Go through the steps to restore the backup file to your SmartStick G8. Wait for this process to finish.
Navigate to Plugins > Manage and restart the Z-Wave Plus plugin by disabling and then enabling it. If the migration was successful, you should now be able to monitor and control your Z-Wave devices.
On a Home Assistant system
These instructions may change over time. Be sure to check the official Home Assistant documentation for the most up to date information.
Ensure that your existing Z-Wave controller is attached to your system and working with the Z-Wave JS UI (version 9.9.0 or later) app.
Open the Z-Wave JS UI Control Panel, click the round blue hamburger menu button and select Advanced actions.
Find the NVM Management action, click the BACKUP button and click OK to begin the backup. This may take a few minutes to complete. When finished, an NVM_<date>.bin backup file will be generated and saved in your store directory or downloads folder.
Remove the existing Z-Wave controller from your system.
Connect the SmartStick G8 to your system and configure its path in the Z-Wave JS UI settings.
Open the NVM Management action again, click the RESTORE button, select the NVM_<date>.bin backup file you created in Step 3 and click OK. This will initiate the restore process. A notification will appear when the process is complete. If the migration was successful, you should now be able to monitor and control your Z-Wave devices.
Migrating From Older Controllers
If your 500 series controller has an older ZDK library (less than 6.61), or if your migration from your 500 series controller was unsuccessful, you may still be able to convert to SmartStick G8 in stages. To accomplish this, you would need to backup the controller and restore it to a 700 series controller using the HomeSeer v4x Z-Wave plugin first. Then, follow the procedure above to migrate from the 700 series controller to the SmartStick G8.