tapping into Vaillant Ebus data

Jan 26, 2025 Last reply: 1 year ago 6 Replies

I am completely clueless software wise, these days, but 40 years ago I could manage to get by....



A few years ago, with a lot of help, I somehow managed to muddle through set up a Rpi, to log my weather stations data, which it still continues to do, to this day. It appears as neat values, and graphs, as a series of webpages, in cumulusmx. That, from vague memory, is a Rpi 3 B.



I now want to tap into the ebus data, of my Vaillant heating system, and control system. Towards this end, I have ordered a ebus, to wifi adaptor. One of these -

formatting link
I'm fine with setting that up, configuring it to my LAN etc., just struggling with the next steps...



It's been suggested I need a second Rpi, dedicated to the data collection from the ebus, something about installing ebusd on it, to translate the data, plus some higher level system, to display and collate the data? Home Assistant, or similar, but I don't need anything fancy, or difficult to set up, and many experts seem to struggle.



Which of the many Rpi models do I need for this, what memory, and what sdcard please?



Anyone able to explain to an idiot, and in simple terms, how to set it all up?



A usefull extra, would be what I think might be called a mini-NAS. Just a USB stick plugged into one of the Rpi's, able to store files, accessible to any PC on my network..


I spotted a bunch of used Pi 5's complete with PSU, and so bought one. I set that up with Bookworm, on a SD card, then hit another snag. I lacked any way to connect it to a display. I needed a micro HDMI to HDMI cable...

Ordered one up, got delivered, tested it with an old TV, and blank screen. Tthen tested it on a more modern TV, still blank, using the port near the power port on the Pi, but using the port further away from the power port, I got a display. Is that normal?

USB bluetooth dongle, keyboard and mouse - worked fine.

I am going to retry the old TV, later, using the port I now know works, though I thought I had tried both ports with the old TV..

No, but the micro HDMI sockets are fragile, especially if a heavy adapter is used to connect a full sized cable, instead of using a specific micro HDMI cable.

It's probably why the machines were being sold off, but if you only intend to use one display, it shouldn't be a problem.

---druck

Both are working. What I didn't understand, about HDMI, was that the display need to be on before the Rpi. Rpi 'talks' to the display, whilst setting up, to enquire what the display resolutions it supports. If it doesn't get the replay, the Rpi doesn't activate the HDMI output - or at least that seems the way it is..

The DDC EEPROM in the monitor *should* be powered by the pi via the HDMI cable, so having the monitor plugged in should be enough - it does not have to be powered on.

cu Michael

This was an older TV set, with an HDMI input..

IIRC, that was in the HDMI standard from the beginning (like on analog VGA when DDC was introduced), but of course there are devices that ignore parts of the standard.

cu Michael

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