I bricked my Christmas lights (whizzy.org)

Article summary

The author attempted to reverse-engineer the protocol of their Bluetooth LE-controlled Christmas lights to integrate them into their home automation system. They successfully decrypted the protocol, but while experimenting with different commands, they accidentally bricked the lights. The lights are now unusable, but the author plans to repurpose the LED strip with a different microcontroller. The author has documented the protocol and created a custom component for Home Assistant.

Main themes

• Reverse engineering
• Bluetooth LE
• Home automation
• Microcontrollers
• Encryption
• LED lights
• Power supply issues
• Protocol analysis

What commenters say

• Some commenters suggested that the lights can still be used as dumb lights by bypassing the controller.
• Others recommended using alternative microcontrollers, such as the ESP8266, to control the lights.
• It was suggested that the limited brightness of the lights may be due to a power supply issue, such as a blown fuse.
• The use of AES encryption with a static key was criticized as insecure.
• Some commenters noted that the protocol may have a fixed header or length byte, and that the decrypted packets show a clear pattern.
• The author's approach to reverse-engineering the protocol was praised as a good example of how to approach similar problems.
• The possibility of using the lights with alternative software, such as WLED, was discussed.
• The importance of properly implementing padding in encryption was highlighted.