KConover

Thanks very much for your reply! I should have said that I already did that. The fact that the current IOX cannot communicate with the Dining Room A B C and D buttons, whereas my previous version 5 could, suggests a problem with IOX and not with new and old hardware that worked with IOX 5. But I certainly don't know for sure! On the other hand, I just pulled out the little linking button on the for the requisite time on this 6-button/5-button to factory reset, and did a Restore Device, and – lo and behold – it fixed the problem. Who knows? Maybe a cosmic ray mangled a bit somewhere. I guess the answer to any problem like this is "factory reset and restore device at least twice before giving up on it as a fix." Thank you! And I must say, it's a pain to have to pull off the faceplate to be able to get something into that tiny linking button at the bottom to pull it out. But that's life. Thanks again!

I have an EISY with IOX and firmware 5.8.0: the latest as I type this. I have long had a bunch of Insteon 6-button keypads (also called "5-button" as the On and Off buttons are programmed as a single button in EISY IOX and similar programs I've had over the decades) in my house, all working the way I want them to. For example, I have long had one in the dining room and one in the adjacent kitchen, both programmed the same. The On and Off buttons (even on the dining room switch) turn off all of the kitchen lights. The A, B and C buttons turn on and off subsets of the kitchen lights: sometimes we want less light in the kitchen, for example when watching a video on a laptop screen. When you push the On button, the backlights on the A, B and C buttons turn on to indicate that you can now use those buttons to turn off a subset of the kitchen. The programming for this – I'm showing that for the dining room keypad, which is currently working fine – is as follows: (For now, ignore those green "need to write" icons.) The 6-button/5-button switch in the kitchen died. I got a new one from insteon.com (EISY/IOX couldn't program an older one in the basement I put in; the new one is a 2334-2 version 45). I used IOX's "Replace" function to transfer the programming from the old switch to the new one. So far, so good. Well, not really: the old one had the on/off rate for all of the lights at 2.0 seconds. This got dropped during the replace, so I had to manually set the on/off ramp rate for each light from 0.1 second to 2.0 seconds. Then click Update. Then go do something for a few minutes while EISY/IOX updated that light. Then, come back and do the same for the next light, and go away again for a few minutes. I had to do this six times. Oh, how I wish IOX had not just an Update button but an Update All button, so that I could change the ramp rate on all of the lights and then click Update All and go away without having to come back every few minutes six times to change the ramp rate on all of the lights! But that's not why I'm posting this. The reason why I'm posting this is that the new 5-button/6-button switch in the kitchen, when you press the On or Off button, turns on or off all the lights in the kitchen, but pressing the A, B and C buttons will not control those lights. I have tried the menu "Write Updates…" and "Restore Device" without fixing the problem: there still is a green icon "need to write updates." I have not had this problem with prior releases of IOX, and the previously-programmed dining room switch still controls the kitchen A, B and C lights, so I suspect this is a problem within IOX. Here is another clue. I like to have the A, B and C buttons be responders of the On/Off buttons, so that the backlights on the A, B and C buttons come on when their lights are turned on by the On button. I did this by dragging the red Kitchen Keypad A text entry to the Kitchen Keypad On-Off scene, as a responder. When I try to do this in the current IOX, this is what I see: Note that I am dragging and dropping on the Kitchen Keypad On-Off scene, NOT the Kitchen Keypad A scene. If I say "yes" it gets added to the Kitchen Keypad On-Off scene as a responder, but still shows that green "updates need to be written" icon, and it doesn't work. What I finally end up with is as follows: It looks as though, if I could get these changes to actually write, it might work, but none of the menu items "Write Updates to Device" or "Restore Device" or "Restore link between xxx and xxx" fix this. Any advice welcomed.

I have found this forum very helpful. I really like my EISI but (yes, I'm a UX dweeb) it's a bit techy trying to use. I started programming in machine code before I was allowed to use A86 assembler, so I'm OK with that. But as a result of long experience, when I finally figure out how to do something techy, I write down (type in) detailed instructions in case I need to do this again. I just did this with upgrading my IOX on EISY, and thought I would share my detailed instructions to myself with you. Caveats: (a) this has filepaths and apps specific to me, your mileage may vary, and (b) by the time you read this, the procedure may have changed. Nonetheless, here are particularly-detailed instructions for upgrading IOX on EISY (which just now worked flawlessly for me). I also need to acknowledge the posts in this thread: https://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/41898-need-help-with-firmware-upgrade/ EISY IOX Update ============== https://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/41898-need-help-with-firmware-upgrade/ Open admin console and log in click on configuration tab click “upgrade packages” allow the pop up to remain on the screen [no progress bar] Another pop up should appear after the process runs suggesting to reboot click “reboot” button while system is rebooting [or later] clear Java cache: Start Menu > Java > "Configure Java" though when app appears on screen it says "Java Control Panel" > Temporary Internet Files > Settings > Delete Files... > ]check all 3 boxes) > OK > OK > OK download new start.jnlp from: https://isy.universal-devices.com/start.jnlp > [download into C:\PD\INSTALLD\Utilities\Hardware Utilities\ISY and overwrite the old one] > [click Firefox download button] > [in Firefox click folder icon next to start.jnlp > save file over old one] > open folder C:\PD\INSTALLD\Utilities\Hardware Utilities\ISY and right-drag start.jnlp to desktop to create shortcut to it run start.jnlp to put new IoX launcher on desktop [A post in that thread linked above said "Should be able to run IoX Launcher and your device should be found. If it doesn’t then try adding manually with IP or qualified name (see wiki for more info of adding manually" but it worked fine for me Once logged back into admin console check Help -> About to confirm firmware updated. If not, https://www.universal-devices.com/my-tickets/ to start new help ticket

Thanks! Duh. >dope slap to my own head< That was the clue I needed. I should have remembered that, though the last time I had to program one of these wall switches was back not that long after I switched from Radio Shack X10 to Insteon. If you look at the screenshot of our main bedroom's 5/6-button switch, which I programmed many years ago (bottom graphic), I named the scenes after the buttons, which kept me on the straight and narrow. However, I was trying with the office scenes to give more descriptive names, and I misled myself into trying to add the Office Entrance Keypad.1 to each of the scenes, rather than creating a separate scene with every light in the office in it, with Office Entrance Keypad.1 as the controller. As you can see in the top screenshot which is my final office programming, I did add all of the buttons (well, all three that I'm using, I'm not using Office Entrance Keypad.C for anything) to this scene, so the buttons light up and go off as you turn all the lights on and off. Thanks again for your help!

An update and some interesting new information. First, as regards those driveway lights: I tried three (3) different new Insteon Dimmer Modules, Rev 4.2, and all three would blink the driveway lights on and off. However, when I tried an older dimmer module, Rev 2.4, it worked fine and the driveway lights are now working the way I want them to work. Whew. Only took three weeks. On another topic, I've run into a what might be a bug in IoX, or my misunderstanding how it's supposed to work, and I'm stumped with how to work around it. I am trying to program a new 6-button Insteon wall switch, sometimes called a 5-button wall switch, as the "On" and "Off" buttons are linked and programmed at the same time by programming [wall switch name].1, in this case, Office Entrance Keypad.1. (The old one died, and a "replace" didn't work). So I have three scenes for my home office, as shown in the picture below, at the bottom: Desk Lights, Office High Lights, and Office Table Lamp. I want the A, B and D buttons to control each of those scenes, respectively. And, for the On and Off buttons to turn them all on or off. That's how it used to work. In IoX, I dragged Office Entrance Keypad.1 to the bottom scene, Office Table Lamp. The D button turns the office table lamp off and on, and the On and Off buttons turn it on and off, too. So far, so good. It works as expected. However, when I try to drag Office Entrance Keypad.1 to the Desk Lights scene, or the Office High Lights scene, I get the error you see in the screenshot: "Office Entrance Keypad.1 is already a controller for Office Table Lamp…" But I'm not DRAGGING it to Office Table Lamp, I'm dragging it to the Desk Lights scene, or Office High Lights scene. No matter what options I choose from this point, I can't get Office Entrance Keypad.1 to control those two other scenes. Very frustrating. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks, both. The power supply was working before with a dimmer module, but maybe it's getting old and crotchety. It is about time to replace it as a few of the driveway LED lights have died and need to be replaced, too. I've delayed on this because the lights are embedded under the capstones of the masonry wall beside the driveway and we need to get the entire driveway reset anyway.

Thanks for the advice, both of you. Techman, I tried everything else to get IoX and the EISY (including power-off rebooting) to get out of the endless loop, and "delete PLM" was the only thing that worked. I let it go for four (4) days before resorting to this. Seems to be working OK after this and restoring an earlier ISY backup. I'm having a problem with a couple of Insteon devices, but was able to replace the 6-button wall switch which was the reason I upgraded from ISY994i to EISY. The entry for the PLM still says "HouseLinc USB Modem" but as long as it's working OK I'm not going to mess with it. One of the problems is that my driveway LED lights, which worked fine before with a program to turn them on and off in the morning and evening, controlled by an Insteon plug-in dimmer, quit working, and the EISY/IoX couldn't communicate with the dimmer. I thought the problem might be a communications issue, but I was able to plug in a new plug-in dimmer with an incandescent light plugged into it and control it from IoX without any problems. But when I plugged the LED lights' power supply back into this new dimmer, they kept going on and off about once a second, which is a known issue for LED power supplies with some Insteon dimmers. I decided to buy a plug-in Insteon on-off module to see if that solves the problem. No soft-on, soft-off like I had before, but as long as it works, I'll be OK with it.

Well, part of the problem is that IoX is in an endless loop and won't respond to commands. I was able to "Delete PLM" to get it to stop but then I can't see the PLM in IoX. When I then try Tools > Diagnostics > PLM Info/Status, it just says "/Not Connected." That's even though the PLM is mechanically connected to AC power and by the cables to the EISY. I did a power-off reboot using the power button on the EISY which still can't see the PLM now. When I use the Java-based applet on my PC to log into Admin Console (LAN) it shows all of my devices except for the PLM. Sigh. I then did a "Restore ISY" from a time from back when I was operating the ISY994i instead of the EISY, because I couldn't think of anything else to do. It then popped up a "System Busy" dialog box and I let it whir for a few minutes. Then, it popped up a dialog box "58.23.96 v9E connected" which is the serial PLM. Yay! I can also now turn on and off some lights from IoX. However, some lights, which work fine from the connected Insteon switches on the wall, and from a 6-button mini-remote, won't work from IoX, they give an error "

Well, the PLM did not have a H and was a recent version. I did try the serial PLM, also recent manufacture, with the series of serial adapters that Universal Devices sells. Had the same problem. Couldn't use the EISY to control any of my devices, couldn't see the modem in the EISY's list, and when I tried a Restore Modem it got stuck in an endless loop of "system busy" popups. For several days, I let it keep running. Does anyone else have any suggestions for getting this going? I am suspecting that the ISY994i backup that I restored to the EISY is at fault, but I don't know how to clear it out other than trying to delete all the devices from IoX but I'm not even sure that would work. And, unfortunately, rebooting the EISY doesn't seem to help.

I used to use HouseLinc years ago when it was a thing, though I got an ISY994i when HouseLinc died. But this is brand-new USB PLM that I'm using. Revision 2.7, 2023. Very strange that EISY thinks it's a HouseLink modem. Maybe the "Restore Modem" got that from some of my devices, ones that I used with HouseLinc many years ago?

Got the PLM directly from insteon.com. Yes, I reset it and did a Restore Modem, which didn't help. I just ordered the UD set of adapters to go from EISY to Insteon Serial PLM, I'll see if the serial PLM works better. Thanks yet again!

Thanks, Techman. I did as you said. Still see the same error in Console (LAN). I do have a 2413S serial modem, too. I snapped it up when Insteon went out of business. But if I use the (single) RJ-45 port not to connect the EISY to the LAN/internet, but to connect to the modem, how can I be sure that the modem is connected to the house's WiFi? I put the name and password in at the beginning but now that I've done a factory reset, it's not going to be there anymore and I don't see an option to specify it in the Console (LAN) or the ISY Portal. And I'm not sure if a standard Ethernet cable has the right pinout for this use.

I have found migration from the ISY994i to the EISY to be time-consuming and a frustrating, massive time-suck. The EISY is connected to the local area network and the internet via a Cat8 Ethernet cable. The EISY is connected to the PLM with a standard USB A to B cable. However, many of the devices that worked fine with the ISY994i cannot be be communicated with from the EISY. Perhaps this is related to the fact that the (brand-new) Insteon USB PLM 2413U shows this in the Console (LAN): "HouseLinc USB Modem E 5C 77 1 [yes, spaced like that] - Unsupported Device 3.19." Yes, I've "'Updated Packages" and I'm running IoX 5.6.3 both for the firmware and the UI both. I admit that at this point I'm stuck. Anyone with any advice? Thank you in advance.

Yes, I did. Most of it does not apply to me as I'm not using Polyglot or Node Servers. I tried rebooting and restarting the Console (LAN) and this time, those popups in the Console (LAN) show a lower line, different each time, that they're actually writing data to devices. A step forwards, I guess.

Techman, thanks for your reply. I've had my hands off now into the third day, considerably longer than an hour. I'm on IoX 5.6.3. I wonder if I neglected to link the PLM and somehow that's got it stuck in an endless loop?

"ISY994i is dead, long live EISY!" OK, so one of my 6-button Insteon wall switches died. I put in a new one, but with my old ISY994i I was unable to get it programmed to work. OK, maybe it's a bad switch, but maybe it's that the ISY994i can't recognize it. Time to get a new EISY. Got it, got an Insteon 2413u USB PLM (powerline modem) hooked up to it via USB. Got the EISY attached to my network via both WiFi and Ethernet to try to make it happy. Here is what I've done so far to try to get the EISY set up: EISY Installation ============== Plug in EISY to power and to Ethernet (or WiFi or both) for home network. No problems. Run (from desktop) "C:\PD\INSTALLD\Utilities\Hardware Utilities\ISY\start.jnlp" Pick EISY rather than ISY994i. No problems. File > Restore ISY > pick latest ISY994i backup. No problems. Attach 2413U Insteon powerline modem (PLM) to AC power and via USB cable to EISY. No problems that I can detect. File > Restore Modem. Problems. I have a 3-floor house but it's no mansion, and only lights being controlled and only via Insteon. Every couple of minutes, a popup dialog box that says "System Busy. Please do NOT power off/unplug the system or make adjustments to linked/attached devices" with a progress bar that encouragingly shows progress from 0 to 100% over a minute or two. But then another similar box pops up. And another. And another. "Several" in this case should mean enough hours to fill 2-3 days, at least. With, for the first couple of hours, random buzzing sounds of some Insteon devices from time to time. Do I just wait for it to finish or is it in an endless loop? Any advice appreciated.

I agree with you people whose first language is English read and follow instructions from left to right. The order you propose is even better than what I proposed.

As far as the screen above, what I would recommend is: Take the label off each of the buttons on the left and put it to the left of the button. Then label all of the buttons with "Write." If you imagine the screen as I described it, does it help you understand what it means and how it works?

Thinking this over from a UX perspective, the best way to fix this problem is not to fix the documentation. The software itself should have good discoverability and memorability. The elegant way to do this is to change the text on the button from "My Devices" to "Devices/Scenes." That way you never need to look for the documentation. Have you ever heard this phrase? "A door that needs a user manual – even a one-word user manual – is a design failure." http://ed-informatics.org/2010/11/20/tracking-systems-part-7/ Or, Tognazinni's Paradox? http://ed-informatics.org/2009/12/28/medical-computing-2/ But in this case, a button would be better with a different two-word user manual.

OK, I've read up on how to program an ISY994i to address scenes rather than individual devices, and I've been convinced that I need to do so. I've been playing around trying to modify my programs to turn the outside lights on and off, which currently addresses each device individually. However, when I tried to add an Action to turn on and off an entire scene, I thought I couldn't. That's because the ISY994i wiki page for Add to Program leads to a page for an older version: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Add_to_Program It says to pick Insteon/A10 and instead, my only option was My Devices. Like a dummy, I assumed that this was just a list of devices. But even though it says "My Devices" this also includes my scenes. Shouldn't this page be updated to include the options for the 994i? Or replaced, or relinked? Or the option in the user intervaces be renamed to "My Devices/Scenes" so others don't figure they can't program Scenes even if they consult the wiki?

Thanks to both of you. If I go to the link for the I/O module by itself and then click buy, it takes you to the garage door kit. And it turns out that the remote control that Truth provides has "open all" and "close all" modes. So I think I'll stick with that until the Insteon I/O module is available by itself.

I am getting ready to install a Truth motorized awning window closer on a (new replacement) Andersen awning window that is too high to reach. (Truth makes the manual closers for Andersen so no compatibility issues.) Depending on how this goes, I may want to do the same thing with the other six (6) awning windows that are too high to reach. (Yes, I'm living in a house that was an architect's home and architect's studio. You can tell because it's all windows (72 in all, plus five glass doors) and has track lighting throughout.) And I would like to use my ISY to create a scene for all of them so that I could use a single switch to open or close all these seven (7) high windows. I figured to do one to see how it goes, but rigging it up so that a single Insteon wall switch can control all of them. I got an Insteon off/on wall switch which I can install and simply not connect to a load, and use it as a controller of an Insteon Open/Close Micro Module attached to the Truth wall switch. Truth has great tech support, I talked with Mike there a couple of times there in planning this. The Truth controller just needs an open or closed circuit as a signal. But after reading the documentation for wiring the Open/Close Micro Module, I can't figure out how to wire it to provide just a logical on/off signal. The wiring diagrams don't seem to recognize anything except controlling an AC load which is NOT what I want. (Instructions at http://cache.insteon.com/documentation/2444-x22-en.pdf) Anyone have experience with such a setup? Thanks for any thoughts.

OK, so that really is a persuasive reason to use a scene rather than individual waits. What do you think about the idea of, in a situation like you and I both have, of turning off the lights with a scene, waiting 30 seconds, and then turning off the lights with a scene again for insurance?

OK, getting conflicting advice, 1) put all the lights in a scene 2) put a wait after each Since I don't think it's a primary noise problem, more likely a collision on the line, I'm putting waits after signaling each light to turn off. I'll post my experience.

Here is the basic program before I started putting Bandaid "Wait" lines in there: 1100-Off - [ID 0006][Parent 0001] If Time is 11:00:00PM Then Set 'Back Steps Lights' Off Set 'Downstairs Landing Light Swit' Off Set 'Driveway Lights' Off Set 'Front Porch Light Switch' Off Set 'Garage Exterior Lights Switch' Off Set 'Side Door Light' Off Set 'Back Steps Lights' Fast Off Set 'Downstairs Landing Light Swit' Fast Off Set 'Driveway Lights' Fast Off Set 'Front Porch Light Switch' Fast Off Set 'Garage Exterior Lights Switch' Fast Off Set 'Side Door Light' Fast Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') As far as execution, is there an advantage in terms of functionality to grouping all of these into a scene rather than addressing them separately? It does make neater code, but then the language APL also results in neater code, being a single statement at the end of coding, but it's write only, non-commented code that is impossible to understand if you didn't write it. Actually, if you didn't write it within the last couple of weeks you probably can't understand it. Since I decided to send it twice to each switch, I figured I'd try both versions "Off" and "Fast Off" as I have no idea what the difference is. (Do you think this automated programming system could also be updated to put in automated comments?)