DualBandAid

Any thoughts on getting my HA green to see my EISY? The EISY was not auto-discovered. When I add the integration manually, no combo of anything seems to let me get past this...

Any thoughts on why I can't access my EISY at al though the HA EISY integration? I just get this. And i've tried every combo of everything. Is there something I need to enable on the EISY to get this to work?

Thank you. And forgive my ignorance but where do I enter this stuff? In terminal on my Mac?

Do I need to crack open my EISY and install an SSD to run HA?

This is probably a good time to mention that I'm just a writer. Haha.

I'm def interested in that. I will toy around with the HA system on my green just to get familiar with it. But question, if I have a PLM and my old EISY/Java thing set-up...and all those links to my Insteon devices, will this new HA system: 1) Utilize the existing plugged-in PLM 2) Have to set up its own links 3) Will that screw things up? I also might possibly be asking an ignorant question here, or using the wrong terms.

Wait, question. I think I misunderstood. I thought were talking about either running ISY as a plug in inside an HA system (like the green). VS Running an HA node inside of the EISY gui (if that makes sense). But with the VM, are you talking about using the EISY hardware itself to run the HA system (gui and all ) independently as its own system?

Well...I don't quite know how HA works...but I'm gonna learn. Happy to demo the script

I'm happy to jump in there. I was originally thinking of running the EISY in HA. But now...this idea of HA inside EISY? Man this is a brain-bender. I'll guess I'll have to figure out the pros/cons of each.

Yeah, why switch at that point. And I totally hear about the documentation. You'll read something like "It's easy...just install the plug-in manager" (what? where? how?!) "and run a DSM loop" (huh?!) "and you'll have access to everything from the dashboard." (which I get to how?) I had this problem with Hue integration with the ISY years ago and finally figured it out. Then wrote this crazy post: When I look back, I can't believe I wrote that. I guess I had more free time. And was younger... But I'm gonna give it a go and see what happens.

Can you pin point what added to the complexity? And have you been using the EISY plug-ins?

SUPER-helpful. I suspect that will be my exact future, nomenclature troubles and all.

I think this question sums it up. The answer is, I've been a ISY (and now EISY/Polisy) user for...I think over a decade. Maybe two? Is that possible? I'm more HA-curious than ready to switch over to HA completely. I just wanted to tinker, but was wondering how to do it with my existing set-up. I'm not planning on running HA in the EISY. Actually, the opposite. My guess is, ultimately, I will end up with HA as my "master controller" where all my logic is, and where every NON-Insteon device gets managed. Then I will keep the ISY integration, since I'm familiar with it and already have an Insteon world set-up at my place. I suppose at some point, I may want to directly integrate Insteon with HA. But I do a few kinda off-the-wall things that I'm not sure HA can do. Probably can. But who knows? And it's all time intensive, so any full move to HA would probably take...well, years to be honest. I was prompted to do this because even with the Polisy node-things, I still have a lot of smart devices that Polisy doesn't handle. My hope is that HA will be able to manage everything. Everything but Insteon. For now. If that makes sense. I think I have enough to get started. If there is anything EISY-related that I think is helpful, I'll post back. Thank you all again. Soooo appreciated.

Fair enough. Though... This isn't just an HA convo. This is an HA-Integrating-With-Insteon And/Or ISY conversation. I just need to figure out the best way to get the HA up and running first.

And this is going to seem a very basic question, after the more complex ones I've asked already...haha...But, all this "HA just recognized my stuff when I turned it on!" If I don't have a zigbee dongle, my HA Green ain't gonna recognize anything that uses (exclusively) zigbee? If I don't have a zwave dongle...same thing, right? I will def report back here. I'm just waiting on the zigbee dongle. The one everyone is recommnding (including you) is on backorder.

I didn't mean whether or not I should be investing in Z-Wave versus Zigbee devices. I just meant that I think I have products already that use both protocols. So if I'm gonna get a Zigbee dongle, is there a Z-wave dongle I should get to communicate with my existing Z-Wave devices? Or am I misunderstanding something here?

Wow! All so very helpful. Yeah, I’m familiar with Balena Etcher, I could probably set up a boot disk. What worries me about a non Mac system is it’s a whole new ecosystem to lean for troubleshooting the main machine. But that’s down the road. It sounds like for now, I should stick with the Green, get my feet wet. And take it from there. I’ll get the zigbee dongle. But shouldn’t I be getting a zwave dongle, too?

Thank you! I could have written most of that post as well - at least the first part, pre Home Assistant. Sooo helpful. A few questions for you. I’m a pretty tech savvy person and comfortable digging in and learning new things. But I only know what I know - and in terms of the RPi’s and flashing shit…I have very little experience. And much of the literature online isn’t written in a “for dummies” kinda way. So I have to dig through stuff to decode the answers. Basically, I’m a Mac guy. Haha. Though I did have an iOS app on the App Store for a while. 1) Before I really knew what I was doing, I ordered a Green. Should I try and send it back and get a Yellow? I’m just so tight on time and the yellows didn’t seem plug and play. (For context, I will probably have a lot of integrations down the road) 2) Could I start with the Green I have and easily enough transfer my stuff to a Yellow down the road if I need it? Or does it not work that way? 3) Offhand, if I have Hue bulbs, do you know if am I going to need a zigbee dongle with the yellow? With the green? 4) Also, just curious, if you know if HA integrates with Alexa? 5) As a sidebar of that, using Alexa as an example, for Alexa to “see” any smart devices, I need to have those smart devices set up with an app on my phone. Does HA need anything like that? Or can Ha see devices straight out of the box? And thank you for your thoughtful response. Very helpful.

Do you mean which PLM is notified that the device is swtiched on? So the ISY can be state-aware? If that's the issue, I'm not worried about that aspect. Bu this... The puprose of all this may help address this question. It's really so I can test the Home Assistant platform out...how it integrates directly with Insteon hardware, without needed a middle man like the EISY (which means connecting a PLM directly to Home Assistant. But I want to do that without having to tweak my existing system. It wouldn't be a permanent situation. I just don't want to screw anything up while I'm paying around. If that seems like a problem...I suppose I could connect a second PLM to the Home Assistant pi box and just use it with a few totally seperate Insteon switches. Or really...even just one. That would be all I would need to test it.

I did...but then I was wondering...aside from the ease in integrating an existing ISY set-up into Home Automation "master controller" -- do I need the double-systems? Or to put another way, if I was starting from scratch on a new home...ought I not to just pick one or the other? One my goals is simplification. I'm already planning for my death and trying to avoid smart home decay after I'm gone. :)

Thank you for the responses. In terms of the messiness, let’s say I wasn’t concerned about changes in one device being recognized by the other. (which I’m not - but maybe I’m missing why this would be important - but, at the moment, none of my new install really requires even my own single eisy being “aware” of state changes - and I can’t even think of why I might need that) So I wasn’t worried about that…AND…it doesn’t sound like you are saying both systems having links for a device is bad either - in a vacuum, at least. It sounds like the only thing that I might have an issue with, is with the “changes” you spoke about. That might lead to half links and orphans. That sounds bad. Haha. Can you tell me more about that? As for the hybrid system, I have lots of different devices from different manufacturers, and right now the ISY is really only controlling Insteon. I guess I could start with bringing the Home Assistant online for everything BUT Insteon and see how I like it. I do have the Hue node set up in my EISY, but I barely have been using it.

I know this is probably heresy but I was thinking of playing around with Home Assistant - just to see what all the fuss is. Does anyone have any thoughts about me running Home Assistant with it's own PLM overlaid on top of my EISY system? Can the two co-exist like that? Two systems with two PLMs? Or will the links (or whatever they're called) get all screwed up? I know Home Assistant has an ISY plug-in and I think the two systems can exist like that. But I was wondering about them existing side by side.

It's kinda amazing all this network stuff is still being sorted out, requiring this kind of detailed fine-tuning. Then again, it's kinda amazing any of this works at all. (Though maybe the problem is, this whole Hue node thing is kinda a kludge - and should just shut up and be grateful it even exists in the first place)

I took your advice and also followed this link: https://github.com/exking/udi-hue-pg3/blob/master/README.md And added this to the mix which basically reiterated what you said: It wasn't particularly specific but I put << IP >> in the key paramenter and then I put my IP address, in brackets like you said. It transformed to this, I guess (I just looked at it) and all is well now. Question though on the new hub which is working fine. Should I just do an IP reservation? Or should I do an IP reservation and specifically tell the Hue node what that IP is? Also, is there a difference here between a DHCP reservation and an IP reservation? Thanks for all the help!

I will dig in and check everything when I'm home. I didn't realize I could connect all my bulbs DIRECTLY to the EISY - without using a hub - if that's what you mean. Is that what you mean? I'm not sure all my old bulbs could do that - nor do I know how. But one thing I want to add. I added a second hub, and that works find. I hit the button on the hub and restarted the node, and the outside lights were all recognized. Also, fwiw, I had no DHCP reservations nor did I tweak anything on my router/switch/modem at all. It's all off the shelf.