That just looks like discoloration that sheet metal gets with repeated heating. I would investigate the controls, there are contacts that open/close as a bimetallic strip heats up and cools off (basic thermostat). if the contact are arcing or stuck it could over heat, also since you said smoke was coming from the knob. . .

Depends on the lock being actuated and the torque of the servo, I have some that can do 4.4 N-m.

https://www.amazon.com/high-torque-servo/s?k=high+torque+servo

A stepper motor would also work for sure.

If you have some electronic skill you can use espHome on a esp32 microcontroller to control an RC Servo motor.

https://esphome.io/components/servo.html

If you want out-of-box there are several electronic locks that will work.

https://community.home-assistant.io/t/smart-locks-compatible-with-home-assistant/590662

There are no “real” alternative OS available for apple devices. You can get some IDE “lite” apps like Visual Code, Python Editor, etc. but these a meant as companions to a PC IDE not meant for compiling, linking, testing, etc. You might be able to trade the old iPad for an old laptop you can put a flavor of Linux on.

So the landlord is loosing 5k a month? No wonder they want to sell.

I run a Unifi USG-1 router/gateway now but before that I got a used AC1000 router from the thrift store for $5 and loaded OpenWRT on that. I eventually got an Aris modem to replace the Comcrap Gateway because it was messing with the DNS traffic, even when piHole was set as DNS for every machine. So if I were you I would go look at the OpenWRT list of units that will accept their firmware. Pay attention to the hardware revision as well as the model number, it matters.

https://openwrt.org/toh/views/toh_fwdownload

Then head over to a local thrift store or two and see if you can find any for cheep.

I think this one is a custom module, it solders into a slot on the main board vertically with pads on both sides of the modules bottom edge.

https://fccid.io/2AB2Q-LA02301/Users-Manual/11-User-Manual-4810925

Edit: fixed link

I also have a VPN set up to my home network that I can connect to with my mobile devices. once connected I use the HA mobile app pathed to my local HA server IP. I don’t use HA cloud or any other cloud service. It works well for me, I obviously can’t get notification on the mobile when not connected but I have not had a need yet. If/When I’m do want notifications I would most likely explore, e-mail, e-mail to SMS, SMS API or something that won’t involve external servers. I would not want to send sensitive info via SMS but a shot alert that said there is something to look at like “HA Alert: Motion detected cam 1” or such would be fine.

Down the rabbit hole you go, have fun!

deleted by creator

I just got a Filohome (tuya) dual switch and used tuya-cloud cutter put ESPHome on it. When setup with ESPhome it will still work even if HA is unreachable ok WiFi is down. I never even downloaded their app, made an account, or signed in.

Note for anyone trying to do the same, the Filohome triple switch device in tuya-cloudcutter will work to load the initial boot firmware but you need to change the yaml config when you install ESPHome. If anyone wants the yaml file let me know.

Nice try, scammer.

Nice.

I would say give them a minute, month, year. They all just had a major ongoing project conclude in an unwanted way and they all deserve a break. Then in a few months or years maybe. Also, I don’t know the APIs for either platform but I would guess they are quite different so it might be starting over. As for Lemmy, I’m new to the platform but have been watching it for a while and reddit just gave me the nudge. Sure there will be a bunch of fair weather users that will go back to reddit once things die down, but they where not here before and Lemmy will be fine once they leave. Lemmy is such a breath of fresh air from the toxic nature of reddit and I just hope the Lemmy-for-a-day crowed can behave themselves for the period they are here.