IR capable lights timeout when light.getMaxIR is called

[ristomatti]

I encountered the issue while testing Node-RED node plugin node-red-contrib-node-lifx. The two of my lights were not listed on Node-RED UI even though they show up when using node-lifx directly. I tracked this down to be the cause of getMaxIR timing out and returning an error on IR capable lights (the plugin does not request the state unless the lights report the capability).

I tried to get an idea what could cause this but didn't figure it out within the time I had available today, hence reporting this as an issue. The maxIR(brightness) command seems to work ok (the new value is updated to the Android app). This might be an issue with my lights or possibly a change within the firmware? I can look into this later on.

I submitted a PR to node-red-contrib-node-lifx that prevents the issue with Node-RED though (low hanging fruit for me).

[ristomatti]

It would be useful if someone else with IR capable bulbs could test if getMaxIR works for them.

[steve2507]

Verified to happen on a LIFX+ BR30 (IR capable).

Error: No LIFX response in time

[ristomatti]

@steve2507 Thanks!

I took some time to look into this few days ago. I compared the LIFX LAN protocol documentation with the implementation of the packet to do a getMaxIR request but didn't notice any mismatch. At this point say either the documentation is incorrect/incomplete or there's is a bug on how node-lifx creates/interpretes the packets.

Next time when I have time to look into this my plan is to test if someone else has managed to make this work (on some library written with another programming language for instance) and if that could help pinpoitnt the issue.

[ristomatti]

I haven't had time to look into this even still. I was silently hoping some of the recent firmware updates would've fixed this but unfortunately the problem still persist. Adding a help wanted label if someone wants to try to take a shot on this.

[bland328]

@ristomatti, I'm seeing this problem with both LIFX+ A19 and LIFX+ BR30 bulbs (using node-lifx from Node-RED via node-red-contrib-node-lifx).