Identifying the Issue
If your Home Assistant Green won't boot or is experiencing network connectivity problems, you may notice symptoms like the LED not turning solid after several minutes, the web UI at http://homeassistant.local:8123 being unreachable, or the device appearing to power on but not responding to network requests. These issues can range from simple cable problems to more serious storage corruption, but most are resolvable with straightforward troubleshooting steps.
Common Causes
- Power supply issues: An underpowered or faulty power adapter can cause boot failures or random restarts. The Green requires its included power supply for stable operation.
- Ethernet cable or port problems: A loose, damaged, or improperly connected Ethernet cable prevents network access. Since the Green has no Wi-Fi, Ethernet is the only network path.
- Corrupted storage: Unexpected power loss during writes can corrupt the eMMC storage, preventing the operating system from loading properly.
- Router or DHCP issues: If your router's DHCP server isn't assigning an IP address, or if there's a network configuration conflict, the Green won't be reachable even if it's booted successfully.
- DNS resolution failure: The hostname homeassistant.local relies on mDNS, which may not work on all networks or operating systems without additional configuration.
Step-by-Step Fixes
- Check the power supply: Ensure you're using the original power adapter that came with the Green. Try a different power outlet. Look at the LED indicator — if it doesn't light up at all, the power supply may be faulty.
- Inspect the Ethernet connection: Unplug and firmly reseat the Ethernet cable at both the Green and the router. Try a different Ethernet cable and a different port on your router. Verify the link lights on both the Green's Ethernet port and the router port are active.
- Find the device by IP address: Log into your router's admin panel and check the DHCP client list or connected devices for the Green. Try accessing Home Assistant using the IP address directly instead of the .local hostname.
- Perform a power cycle: Disconnect the power supply from the Green, wait 30 seconds, then reconnect it. Allow three to five minutes for a full boot before attempting to access the web UI.
- Try a hard reset: If the Green is unresponsive, press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to force a shutdown. Disconnect power, wait one minute, then reconnect. This clears any hung processes that may be preventing a clean boot.
- Re-flash the operating system: If the Green still won't boot, you may need to re-flash the eMMC. Download the Home Assistant OS image for the Green from the official website, and follow the USB recovery instructions to restore the operating system. Note that this will reset your installation, so restore from a backup afterward if you have one.
When to Contact Support
If the LED never illuminates with any power supply, the hardware may be defective. Contact the Home Assistant team or the retailer where you purchased the Green. Provide details including the LED behavior, what troubleshooting steps you've tried, and any error messages visible on the HDMI output if you have a monitor connected. Hardware issues with the eMMC storage or the board itself require replacement.
Prevention Tips
- Use a UPS or surge protector to prevent sudden power loss, which is the most common cause of eMMC corruption on the Green.
- Set up automatic backups in Home Assistant under Settings > System > Backups so you can quickly restore your configuration after any recovery.
- Keep your Home Assistant installation updated to receive stability fixes and improvements.
- Avoid repeatedly unplugging the Green without performing a proper shutdown through the web UI under Settings > System > Restart/Shutdown.
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