Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for Everything Presence Lite.

ESP32 LED Flashing

The LED on the EPL board will flash if:

  • The device is not connected to WiFi, OR

  • The device is connected to WiFi but Home Assistant has not connected to the EPL

This is normal during initial setup. The LED will stop flashing once Home Assistant successfully connects to the device.

Sensor Not Appearing in Home Assistant

Check WiFi Connection

  1. Ensure the EPL is powered (LED behaviour explained above)

  2. Verify your WiFi network is 2.4GHz (EPL doesn't support 5GHz)

  3. Check that the EPL is within range of your router

  4. Try a different power supply - poor quality or noisy USB power supplies can cause WiFi connectivity issues

Re-adopt the Device

  1. Go to Settings > Devices & Services > ESPHome

  2. Look for a new device to configure

  3. If not visible, try power cycling the EPL

Check ESPHome Logs

  1. In Home Assistant, go to your EPL device

  2. Click the three dots menu > Logs

  3. Look for connection errors or WiFi issues

Entity Shows "Unavailable"

This usually indicates a connection issue between Home Assistant and the EPL.

Solutions:

  • Power cycle the EPL (unplug and replug)

  • Try a different power supply - noisy power supplies can cause intermittent disconnections

  • Check your WiFi router for connection issues

  • Restart Home Assistant

  • Check ESPHome logs for errors

Sensor Stuck on "Detected"

The sensor reports presence continuously even when the room is empty.

Common causes and fixes:

Cause

Solution

Poor quality power supply

Try a different USB power adapter

Ceiling fan in detection range

Use an Occupancy Mask to exclude the area

Detecting through thin walls

Reduce Max Distance setting

Reflective surfaces

Reposition or use Occupancy Mask

Target "stuck" in sensor memory

Enable Stale Target Reset (see below)

Tuning steps:

  1. Reduce Max Distance to match your room size

  2. Set up Occupancy Masks to exclude problem areas

  3. Enable Stale Target Reset if targets don't clear

Stale Targets / Sensor Won't Clear

Sometimes the sensor holds onto a detected target after they've left, especially if they exit through a blind spot.

Solutions:

  1. Enable the Stale Target Reset switch

  2. Set the Stale Target Reset Timeout (default 3 seconds)

  3. The sensor will automatically clear targets that haven't moved for the timeout period

Use Stale Target Reset carefully - setting the timeout too low may clear targets that are genuinely still (e.g., someone sitting very quietly).

Sensor Not Detecting / Stuck on "Clear"

The sensor doesn't detect presence when someone is in the room.

Solutions:

  1. Check your power supply - noisy power can affect mmWave sensor performance

  2. Increase Max Distance to cover the full room

  3. Check sensor placement - ensure clear line of sight

  4. Verify the person is within the sensor's field of view (~120°)

  5. Check zones aren't misconfigured (excluding the detection area)

Zones Not Working

Zones don't trigger when someone enters them.

Check:

  1. Zone coordinates are correctly set (use Zone Configurator)

  2. Tracking Behaviour is set to at least "Targets Position"

  3. Zone entities are enabled in Home Assistant

  4. Zone doesn't overlap with an Occupancy Mask

False Positives from Pets

The EPL will detect pets that move within its range.

Options:

  • Use Occupancy Masks to exclude floor-level areas

  • Mount higher and angle downward

  • Create zones only in areas pets don't access

  • Increase Occupancy Off Delay to filter brief triggers

Detecting Through Walls

mmWave can penetrate thin walls and detect movement in adjacent rooms.

Solutions:

  1. Reduce Max Distance to stop before the wall

  2. Use Occupancy Masks to exclude the wall area

  3. Reposition the sensor to aim away from thin walls

Home Assistant Database Growing Too Fast

The EPL reports many entities frequently, which can grow your database.

Solutions:

Add this to your configuration.yaml to exclude tracking entities from the recorder:

recorder:
  exclude:
    entity_globs:
      - sensor.everything_presence_lite*target*

Alternatively, change Tracking Behaviour to a less verbose option if you don't need all target data.

Occupancy Stops Updating (Light Still Works)

If occupancy stops updating but illuminance still changes, this indicates an LD2450 firmware bug.

Solution: Update the LD2450 firmware:

  1. Enable the mmWave Bluetooth entity in Home Assistant

  2. Install the HLKRadarTool app (Android / iOS)

  3. Connect to the LD2450 sensor

  4. Update to firmware version 2.04.23101915 or later

  5. Disable mmWave Bluetooth after updating

See How to update LD2450 Firmware for detailed instructions.

Reset WiFi Settings Using the Boot Button

If you need to reset the WiFi settings (for example, to connect to a different network), you can use the boot button on the EPL board:

  1. Locate the BOOT button on the EPL PCB

  2. Perform this sequence:

    • Press and hold for 1 second, then release

    • Press and hold for 1 second, then release

    • Press and hold for at least 5 seconds

  3. The LED will flash 5 times to confirm the reset

  4. The device will restart with WiFi settings cleared

After resetting, follow the Set up your EPL device in Home Assistant guide to reconfigure your device.

Still Need Help?

Factory Reset

If all else fails, you can restore factory settings: Restore or Update your EPL to factory settings using a computer