Atrim Stick is a Z-Wave USB stick. It lets you setup your own Z-Wave based, automation gateway using open-source and commercial hardware and software. Instead of Gen5 or Gen7 technology, Atrim Stick enables wireless communication via Gen8 and 800 series Z-Wave.

Important safety information

Please read this and other manuals carefully. Failure to follow the recommendations may be dangerous or cause a violation of the law. The manufacturer, importer, distributor, and/or reseller will not be held responsible for any loss or damage resulting from not following any instruction in this guide or in other materials.

Atrim Stick is engineered for indoor use in dry locations only. Do not use outdoors or in damp, moist, and / or wet locations.

What you'll need

This guide will take you through connecting Atrim Stick to a hardware platform. Selected break-out guides will also discuss connecting Atrim Stick to software platforms.

• Atrim Stick, a USB stick based, Z-Wave Plus 800 series controller
• A hardware platform such as a Windows computer or a Raspberry Pi

Platform specific guides

1. Setup with Raspberry Pi
2. Setup with Microsoft Windows
3. Setup with other platforms

Setup Z-Wave with Raspberry Pi

To set up Atrim Stick, Z-Wave, and Raspberry Pi into a single platform:

1. Set up Raspberry Pi with an operating system. There are 2 popular ways of handling this;
   1. Install automation software as an operating system. With this approach, your automation system will be the only software able to run upon Raspberry Pi. For example, you can install the Home Assistant Operating System.
   2. Install automation software atop of an operating system. For example, you can set up Home Assistant using a container and Docker.
2. Plug Atrim Stick into the Raspberry Pi.

3. Configure your chosen automation software to use Atrim Stick.
   • If using Home Assistant, follow our full guide on setting up Z-Wave with Home Assistant for step by step instructions.
   • If using other software;
     1. Use your operating system / software to determine which USB port Atrim Stick is plugged in to. If your system offers access to command prompt, enter and run "dmesg | grep tty". This will return a list of all devices connected to the computer. Typically, Atrim Stick will be listed as the port at /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACMxx where xx stands for the tty number assigned by the operating system.
     2. Configure your software's Z-Wave functionality to use the determined USB stick port.

Setup Z-Wave with Microsoft Windows

To set up and control a Z-Wave automation system using Microsoft Windows:

1. Open and log in to Windows.
2. Click the bottom-left Start button on the desktop.
3. Type 'device manager' in the search box and tap Device Manager on the menu.
4. Plug Atrim Stick into a USB-A port on the computer.
5. Atrim Stick will now populate into Device Manager. Locate by expanding either "Ports (COM & LPT)", also referred to as "Ports & LPT" in some versions of Windows or expanding "Other devices".
   1. If Atrim Stick is not present under "Other Devices" and the section for ports and LPT is not showing, a solution is available from Microsoft's website.
   2. If Atrim Stick is present under the ports and LPT, continue with step 6 below. Else:
   3. If Atrim Stick is present under "Other devices'', it is likely that your Windows installation was not setup with drivers necessary for Z-Wave. If so, Z-Wave USB sticks will appear as "CP2102N USB to UART Bridge Controller '', or similar, under "Other devices". To install the drivers:
      1. Visit the Silicon Labs website.
      2. If you are using Windows 10 or 11 then under Software Downloads click "CP210x Universal Windows Driver". Else, if you are using a version of Windows older than version 1803 of Windows 10: under downloads, select "CP210x_VCP_Windows_Release_Notes" whose file version is less than 10. At the time of compiling these instructions, version 6.7 was the most appropriate version of the driver.
      3. The download should begin; some browsers may prompt you to allow a popup to be generated in order for the download to start.
      4. Unzip the downloaded file.
      5. Return to Device Manager.
      6. Double click on "CP2102N USB to UART Bridge Controller", or similar, under "Other devices".
      7. Click "Update Driver..."
      8. Click "Browse my computer for drivers".
      9. Browse to the folder that you unzipped the download to and select it.
      10. Windows will automatically install the appropriate drivers for your system. You can now delete the drivers' folder and ZIP file.
      11. Atrim Still will now appear under the ports and LPT.
6. Determine the port that Atrim Stick is connected to. Atrim Stick will show as a COMx USB stick where x will be a number between 0 and 1,000. In the image above, the port is COM3.
7. Configure your software's Z-Wave functionality to use the determined USB stick port.
   1. If using HomeSeer, follow our full guide on setting up Z-Wave 800 series with HomeSeer for step by step instructions. These instructions will also work for older Z-Wave USB sticks using the EOL 700 series standard.
   2. If using other software, configure your chosen software's Z-Wave functionality to use the determined USB stick port.

Z-Wave software options for Windows

On Microsoft Windows, Atrim Stick has been tested as working with:

• HomeSeer

Setup Z-Wave with other platforms

If you're not setting up Atrim Stick with any of the afore-discussed platforms;

1. Setup your computer platform and any operating-system as is necessary.
2. Plug Atrim Stick into the computer.
3. Install any drivers that the computer may require. Most computers will either have all necessary drivers or will automatically install them once Atrim Stick is plugged in. If your computer does not, the appropriate CP210x USB to UART Bridge VCP drivers can be downloaded from Silicon Labs.
4. Determine the port that Atrim Stick is connected to:
   • Linux - under cmd prompt, enter and run "dmesg | grep tty". This will return a list of all devices connected to the computer. Typically, Atrim Stick will be listed as the port at /dev/ttyUSB0 or /dev/ttyACMxx where xx standas for the tty number assigned by the operating system.
   • macOS - click the Apple logo at the top left of your screen, then System Preferences. Click Network. Typically, Atrim Stick will be listed as a USB modem with the port /dev/cu.usbmodemxxx where xxx stands for the tty number assigned by the operating system.

Once you confirm the port that Atrim Stick is operating on, Atrim Stick can be considered as installed and operating. Of course, you'll need software to set up an automation system.

Z-Wave software options

There are various commercial and open-source, Z-Wave compatible software stacks available for both Linux and macOS.

In terms of open-source software, Home Assistant is one of the most popular options amongst smart home owners. Written in Python, it's compatible with various platforms, including ARM64 and x64, meaning it can be run atop of operating systems such as macOS, Linux and so NAS systems, either natively or using virtual machines. On macOS, it can be installed using a virtual machine. Once you have Home Assistant installed on your computer, you can follow our guide on setting up Z-Wave with Home Assistant and Atrim Stick for the next steps.

Once your chosen software is setup, you'll likely need to tell it where to find Atrim Stick. Follow the software's instructions for connecting a Z-Wave antenna / Z-Wave USB stick. If the software requires you to choose the COM or virtual port that Atrim Stick is plugged in to, select the port you determined in the above steps.

Using Atrim Stick as a secondary controller

Z-Wave offers the option of using multiple controllers within a single system. Typically, Atrim Stick will be used as the sole and primary controller - it's also possible for it to act as a secondary controller.

If supported by your automation software, you can setup Atrim Stick as a secondary controller in an existing system by using the software to:

1. Send an inclusion command to Atrim Stick
2. Put Atrim Stick into learning mode

Reset Atrim Stick

To reset your Atrim Stick to factory-fresh settings, you'll need to use your chosen automation software's interface. Please refer to the software's help guide for further information.

Note: only use this procedure when Atrim Stick is inoperable or otherwise missing from your selected software's interface and a factory-reset is necessary. Resetting Atrim Stick will disconnect all attached Z-Wave devices from it and require you to rebuild your Z-Wave network.