Before you remove ha-paneld

Panel Assistant removes ha-paneld in one step, from the panel’s Remove ha-paneld from this panel option in Home Assistant. On most panels that is all there is to it. On some, removal leaves the panel with no way back to Android Settings or to network debugging, and then nothing can install an app on it again, Panel Assistant included, until you take the vendor’s own route back. On some firmware that route means signing in to a vendor account, or connecting a computer by USB.

Read the section for your panel before you confirm.

What removal does

1. ha-paneld gives the home screen back to the panel’s own launcher, and turns back on the vendor apps it switched off.
2. Panel Assistant checks on the panel that another launcher really holds the home screen. If none does, it stops and removes nothing.
3. Panel Assistant uninstalls ha-paneld over the network debugging (ADB) connection it already uses. ha-paneld’s settings on the panel are deleted.
4. You choose whether Home Assistant forgets the panel too.

If removal stops part way, run it again: it picks up where it stopped.

Why a panel can get stuck

While ha-paneld is installed it keeps network debugging switched on, because some firmware switches it off again when the panel restarts. Once ha-paneld is gone, nothing does that. Network debugging stays on until the panel next restarts, and after that it may be off.

That only matters if the panel’s own home screen has no way into Android Settings, where debugging is switched back on. Several vendor home screens have none.

Sonoff NSPanel Pro

The eWeLink home screen has no way into Android Settings, so the firmware version decides how hard it is to get debugging back.

• Firmware 4.0.0 and later: Sonoff added an F-Droid entry to the panel’s menu, and apps installed from it open from that menu. Before removing ha-paneld, install an app launcher from F-Droid, which lists Android Settings among the panel’s apps, so you can switch debugging back on later.
• Firmware below 4.0.0: there is no app store and no way into Android Settings from the panel. If the panel is already linked to an eWeLink account, debugging is switched back on from the eWeLink phone app: tap Device ID in the panel’s device settings until Developer mode appears, then turn on ADB there. Linking a panel to an account later may not work: on one panel the pairing code stayed greyed out, waiting. Without a linked account, the remaining route is a recovery boot with a computer connected by USB: see Gaining adb and root access. If the panel is linked to eWeLink, update it there to 4.0.0 or later before removing ha-paneld.

The firmware number to compare is the one the eWeLink app and Panel Assistant show, such as 4.0.12, not the internal ro.product.version. See firmware quirks by version.

Shelly Wall Display

The Shelly home screen has no way into Android Settings. On the X2i, developer options unlock from the Shelly Settings app: see unlocking developer mode. On other Wall Display models no such route has been confirmed, so treat removal as one way unless you know how to turn debugging back on.

Tuya TPA10

Developer options open from the panel’s Settings app (tap the version number seven times), and debugging over USB works through the diagnostics app: see Gaining adb and root access. Network debugging needs that USB step again if it was switched off.

Other panels

If the panel’s own home screen can open Android Settings, removal leaves it as it was before ha-paneld. If it cannot, make sure you have another way to switch debugging on before you remove ha-paneld, such as a launcher that opens Settings.

Check before you remove

• Find your firmware version. Panel Assistant shows it at the top of this page when it links here. On the panel, ha-paneld’s own page at http://<panel>:8888 lists it as Firmware.
• Know your way back to debugging for your panel and firmware, from the section above.
• Keep a launcher that opens Android Settings if the vendor’s home screen has none.
• Do not restart the panel between removing ha-paneld and anything you still need debugging for.