Power outage fix and beta firmware for Third Gen devices!

Edit: We’ve opened up the beta again! We’re gonna send out a survey soon and collect some more feedback, but so far everything is looking great :slight_smile:

Hi everyone!

I know it’s been a very long wait for these two things, but we’re finally able to give beta access to them!

So, first, the third gen firmware release comes with a lot of changes, so I’m sure y’all be very excited to get your hands on it. The major changes include:

New Features

  • Light Restore
  • Expanded Kelvin Range down to 1500K
  • Updated Apple Homekit libraries
  • Colour consistency improvements

Security Improvements

  • Support for additional network security modes (TKIP, mixed network cipher types, open networks)
  • Updated encryption key length

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed bug with minimum brightness
  • Fixed bug with LIFX+ turning IR off after reset
  • Onboarding reliability improvements

You’ll note in the list that this firmware will support a solution to the power outage problem (we call this Light Restore configuration) and so we are releasing into the app the ability to use this new configuration on these devices and fourth gen devices.

We’ve made getting access to both of these features selectable on our cloud.lifx.com portal.

Before you enable the firmware update, we will make the disclaimer that it is still considered Beta firmware. This means that our QA process has verified it works without problems, but it’s possible wider usage may find small edge cases that need attention.

If you’re still willing to give it a go, then go to LIFX Cloud and follow the prompts. This will allow your third gen devices to get the firmware. And your app will have access to the Light Restore configuration for those devices and the fourth gen devices that have this feature.

This means I can finally give a timeline on this firmware being released out of beta! I’ve wanted to do this for so long. Our plan is once the firmware has been in beta for a few weeks without show stoppers we will release it to all our users and it’ll appear inside the app.

One last small catch, this update for the Z strips isn’t quite ready yet, but we are aiming for early on in the new year.

6 Likes

This is so beautiful. All* my GU10s are now at 99% wifi satisfaction in the UniFi Controller:

* I’m ignoring 3R. It’s always been a troublemaker.

Yay, that’s awesome!

Are there plans to bring Light Recovery support to Tile and Beam at some point, or are they just SIL?

Only the Tile is discontinued!

But no, the Beam won’t get it. This page says what gets Light Restore Light Restore – LIFX

Note that v2 Strip won’t get it till early next year because the 2.80 update for those is not quite done yet.

I haz a sad. :sob:

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Note that v2 Strip won’t get it till early next year because the 2.80 update for those is not quite done yet.

So that means the Z strip will be getting power restore? Also will the Z strip be able to get to 1500k ? Just want to say to all the LIFX Team, great job at getting this feature out to users, I know it has been a while but I am very happy that you went though with the promise.

I’ve passed on your thanks :slight_smile:

For now only the v2 Strip will be getting these changes. (v1 strip is a second gen device, whereas v2 strip is a third gen device).

How do we tell if the z Strip is v1 or v2?

If you go to the settings page for the Strip and look at the firmware version at the bottom. If it says 1.22 then it’s second gen, if it says 2.77 then it’s third gen.

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Why won’t the beam get it?

Does this update solve the problem with some HSBK values not being accepted in the A60?

That’s a good question. We’ve had some conversations this morning and I can confirm that we will now be adding Light Restore to the Beams as well when that firmware is ready.

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We’re not entirely sure what you mean about this. But there are colour solver fixes in this firmware so the answer is probably yes.

Sweet. Thanks!

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I am talking about this problem?

Oh, that! It’s amazing how long ago that feels. This should be fixed. Please do tell us if isn’t.

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This is looking great from my perspective!

Only issue I had was updating the flakiest of my A19s - it’s out of warranty and occasionally just fails to come back after a power cycle (the dreaded purple light issue), however after a 5-switch reset it’s back and behaving.

This might force me to actually retire/relocate some of my White 800s and Colour 1000s. Just typical that I’ve ended up with the lights that will still potentially come on at 100% after a power cut in the children’s bedrooms!

I will but could you please post here when the final version is ready? I would not like to install beta firmware on the bulbs. Thanks!

Yeah, that’s not a great place for that problem.

yay!