idasen-controller
The Idasen is a Linak standing desk sold by Ikea. It can be controlled by a physical switch on the desk or via bluetooth using an phone app. This is a script to control the Idasen via bluetooth from any other device.
Note: This script may work with other Linak desks but it is not guaranteed - see below
Set up
Prerequisites
- Windows / Linux / Mac
- The device should have Python 3
- The desk should be paired to the device.
Working Desks
- Ikea Idasen - works (my desk!)
- iMovr Lander - reported working 43
- Linak DPG1C - reported working 32
- Linak DPG1M - reported working 32
If you find another desk model that works please make an issue to report it!
Install
Install using pip:
pip3 install idasen-controller
Configuration
Configuration can be provided with a file, or via command line arguments. Use --help
to see the command line arguments help. Edit <config_dir>/config.yaml
if you prefer your config to be in a file. <config_dir>
is normally:
-
~/.config/idasen-controller
on Linux -
C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\idasen-controller\idasen-controller
on Windows -
~/Library/Application Support/idasen-controller
on MacOS
Config options:
Option | Description | Default |
---|---|---|
mac_address |
The MAC address (or UUID on MacOS) of the desk. This is required. | |
base_height |
The lowest possible height (mm) of the desk top from the floor By default this is read from the desk. |
null . |
adapter_name |
The adapter name for the bluetooth adapter to use for the connection (Linux only). | hci0 |
scan_timeout |
Timeout to scan for the device (seconds). | 5 |
connection_timeout |
Timeout to obtain connection (seconds). | 10 |
movement_timeout |
Timeout for waiting for the desk to reach the specified height (seconds). | 30 |
server_address |
The address the server should run at (if running server). | 127.0.0.1 |
server_port |
The port the server should run on (if running server). | 9123 |
favourites |
Favourite heights object where the key is the name and the value is the height | { sit: 683, stand: 1040 } |
All of these options (except favourites
) can be set on the command line, just replace any _
with -
e.g. mac_address
becomes --mac-address
.
Device MAC addresses
- On Linux, device MAC addresses can be found using
bluetoothctl
and bluetooth adapter names can be found withhcitool dev
- On Windows you can use Bluetooth LE Explorer.
- On MacOS you can pair the device with Bluetility, but you must use the UUID instead of the Mac Address.
Usage
The script accepts a number of commands:
Command | Description |
---|---|
Running without any command will print the current desk height | |
--watch |
Watch desk and print changes to height (and speed) |
--move-to <value> |
Move the desk to a certain height (mm) above the floor |
--scan |
List available bluetooth devices (using the configured adapter_name ) |
--server |
Run the script as a server, which will maintain the connection and provide quicker response times |
--tcp-server |
Run the script as a simpler tcp only server |
--forward <other commands> |
Send commands to a server |
--config <path> |
Specify a path to a config file |
Moving the desk
To move to a particular height you can run:
idasen-controller --move-to 800
If you have configured favourite values in the config.yaml
like this:
favourites:
sit: 683
stand: 1040
Then you can also pass the favourite name to the --move-to
command:
idasen-controller --move-to sit
Using the Server
You can run the script in a server mode. This will maintain a persistent connection to the desk and then listen on the specified port for commands. This has a number of uses, one of which is making the response time a lot quicker. Both the server and client will print the current height and speed of the desk as it moves.
Remember to ensure that the ports and IPs are configured in both the server and client config.yaml
files (or provide them as command line arguments).
You can start the server like this:
idasen-controller --server
And then on the same or different device:
idasen-controller --forward --move-to 800
You can also use any of the favourites that are configured on the server:
idasen-controller --forward --move-to stand
There is also a simpler TCP server mode which allows you to send commands without needing a copy of the script on the client. You can start the tcp server with:
idasen-controller --tcp-server
And then use any tool you like to send commands. For example you could use nc
on linux:
echo '{"command": "move_to", "move_to": 640}' | nc -w 1 127.0.0.1 9123
In this mode the client will not receive any height or speed values.
Troubleshooting
Connection failed
The initial connection can fail for a variety of reasons, here are some things to try if it happens repeatedly:
- Try ensuring that the desk is paired but not connected before using the script.
- Try increasing the
scan-timeout
andconnection-timeout
.
Connection / commands are slow
- Try reducing the
connection-timeout
. I have found that it can work well set to just1
second. You may find that a low connection timeout results in failed connections sometimes though. - Use the server mode. Run the script once with
--server
which will start a persistent server and maintain a connection to the desk. Then when sending commands (like--move-to sit
or--move-to 800
) just add the additional argument--forward
to forward the command to the server. The server should already have a connection so the desk should respond much quicker.
Error message "abort" on MacOS
On MacOS the process may quit with a vague message like abort
. This could be because the application running the process doesn't have access to Bluetooth. To provide access, open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Bluetooth
and drag the application running the process into the list (eg. Terminal or iTerm2). More info at the bleak
issue
Scanning and connection issues on MacOS 12 (Monterey)
There was a bug with MacOS 12 that prevents connecting to bluetooth devices with this script see this issue or this bleak issue for more info.
You should update to MacOS 12.3 which fixes this issue.
Recipes
There is a page with a few examples of different ways to use the script: RECIPES
Development
Install the dependencies with poetry:
poetry install
Then you can run the script with:
poetry run python idasen_controller.main <command>
You can also install the project in editable/development mode with:
pip install -e .
To build the project for publishing run:
./scripts/build
And to publish the project to PyPi run:
./scripts/publish
Projects using this project
Other useful projects that make use of this one:
- Home Assistant Integration by @j5lien
Attribution
Some ideas stolen from:
- idasen-controller by @pfilipp for working out the functionality of the REFERENCE_INPUT characteristic which allows more accurate movement.
- linak_bt_desk by @anetczuk (forked from @zewelor) for general information (particularly the initialisation though)