3-Way Wiring, Load & Line, Red Dimmer 2-1

Switches Wiring Discussion
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BLUF:
I have one 3-way light circuit I cannot figure out, and I blew up a switch trying. Is there even a way to do a dumb-switch 3-way given the wiring constraints, or should I bite the bullet & do 2 smarts + smartbulb mode?

Longer:
I’ve got one circuit that is part of a post-construction addon, and the wiring between the two floors is just an absolute nightmare. One (stairwell) has a circuit feeding a junction box; then 2-wire down to the 1st switch, and 3-wire to the remote (dumb).

I don’t see any way I can wire this to make the actual light socket switched. I wired it as always on, and used HA to trigger the light based on the Red 2-1, but could only get the dumb to toggle the Inovelli into “On” status, not off.

Question: Attached the basic wiring diagram, not including the other 3 lines going into that overloaded junction box. Is there even a path out here? I don’t see any way to logically create a supported state, given the 2-wire limit I have to get to the switches - no way for line, Neutral, & Load to move between the fixture & switch A.

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You’re going to have to wire the Inovelli as a non-neutral if you really want the light switched. But since there is a smart bulb there, you’re probably better off to leave it as-is and either bind the switch to the light (if the protocols match) or control the light by automations/multi-taps.

I’d replace the dumb switch with an Aux, because the Aux can be used to control the primary switch and therefore the light. You only need two conductors for the Aux, so that 3-wire is fine.

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That was basically what I was afraid of. And attempting to wire jank resulted in the (inevitable) pop.

I made sure the replacement will match protocols, and might pick up an aux down the line when in-stock.

Thanks!

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