gsownsby

I've had my ISY-99i for a while along with a heavy investment in Insteon devices from SmartHome. For the most part the ISY-99i just does its thing and I hardly notice it. Of late, I did notice that lights were not turning on/off at programmed times, etc. No one single Insteon device seems to be at fault but more of systemic issue which brings me to the ISY-99i itself. So with the holiday season approaching, I started examining the ISY-99i. First, the ISY-99i was impossible to connect with though it had been in the same location/connection/hub since I installed it. I tried connecting to it from several PCs in our "PC-loaded" household...no joy from any PC. There are also NO trouble lights on the ISY-99i. I relocated it and connected directly to my main router (Apple Airport Extreme) but still no joy. I turned my PC's wi-fi card on (normally I work with a 1GB USB network adapter) and could access the ISY-99i. After it ran through its normal checks of defined Insteon devices, it stops and throws a Java socket error and that's it. It does not really work after that. Clicking on individual Insteon devices does not produce any on/off/dim options on the right of the screen...just an empty area. The Java socket error seems to be the kiss of death for the ISY-99i. I have tried to restore it to the factory default but nothing seems to bring it back to proper operating condition. It will also not load configuration backups that I have made often. Any thoughts on this? Is it officially dead and time to get a new one? Ugh...expensive problem fix. I've not had the ISY-99i all that long and I'm a bit concerned about another one having a relatively short lifespan as well. Thanks in advance for any suggestions or thoughts you may have on this.

Thank you. We'll give it a shot. Update: That worked! Thanks again.

I've searched the forums but can't seem to locate answer to this. Is it possible to assign a fixed IP address to my ISY99i device? Thanks.

Well, if we're going in for wishful think...why not Ambient Weather's Virtual Weather Station (VWS). It interfaces with many, many home weather stations...La Crosse, Davis, etc. I have a La Crosse and publish to our website using VWS: http://www.sceniccityweather.com Apparently, they know the interfacing required of various home weather stations. Gary Chattanooga, TN

As with most things, it seems that most home automation control functions fall into "classes" of importance. Functions that are more important should be more carefully approached in design, execution, and change management than less important ones. With that logic in mind, I was wondering if there is a way within the current ISY99i feature set to help make sure that more important things are somewhat protected from changes or accidental "influences" by people, or other ISY programs, RemoteLincs, KPLs, etc. An example would be the light on our mailbox post. It's programmed for dusk to dawn operation (on) with the ISY99i via a SwitchLinc Relay Switch. As everyone in our neighborhood has the same type of mailbox post light, if we accidentally turn it off...no harm done. So for my programming logic, it's a "class 3" nice-to-have working well but not critical if it skips a beat once in a while. There are other functions though that one has to be careful with for instance, if your ISY controlled intrusion detection, electronic locks, or other similar more important functions. I wouldn't want to accidentally change or disable such a program or function. How does one approach that within the ISY/Insteon environment? Some things are obvious like don't program a RemoteLinc with something super important or it might get accidentally turned on or off by someone not aware of what a specific button did. At the program level, I don't see any clearcut ways of controlling this situation other than placing really important programs in their own folder labeled "Important Programs - Be Careful". That doesn't really do anything per se other than a visual reminder/warning that messing with programs in this folder might produce undesirable consequences. Does anyone else have this concern? How do you approach it? Even most cell phones have passcodes to block out accidental changes or use. May be a new ISY feature some day? Thanks.

Thanks for the clarification Michael. Gary

Though I am new to the ISY99i device, I am not new to home automation. I had a few questions about configuring the ISY99i device for maximum reliability. I called UDI's Tech Support and was called back in about an hour. I had a wonderfully helpful conversation...here is what I learned: Stable Power Source. Out of the box, the ISY99i is powered by the PLM which depends on stable household power to be available. As with about all electronic devices, the ISY99i/PLM expects the power source to be stable and not subject to spikes, brownouts, etc. At my home, we live atop a small mountain which is subject to lightning from frequent summertime thunderstorms...so power flickers and other 2-5 minute power outages are common for us. UDI Tech Support informed me that the ISY can be connected to a UPS via a standard AC adapter. The adapter must provide 5 volts DC at a minimum of 300 ma. The adapter plugs into the ISY via a Type O plug (center tip configured to be positive). The adapter and center tip were available at my local Radio Shack. My ISY is now plugged into my APC UPS (battery backup/surge protection socket) and is working fine. You are likely to find a multi-voltage adapter is pretty common so be sure to set it to 5 volts and cover the voltage selection switch with a piece of sturdy tape to prevent an accidental change to the voltage setting. Incidentally, we have already had a power loss since we installed the AC adapter and the system recovered without intervention. Not much can be done with the PLM itself as it depends on an unfiltered direct connection to your house wiring for best performance. UDI suggested a whole house surge protector be installed by your local power company or qualified electrician (as it connects to your switch/breaker panel mains...a dangerous thing to try yourself). In our area, the local power company will usually install for free though this is not universally true in other areas of the country. Static (Fixed) Local Network IP Address for ISY. For web-enabled devices, assigning a static IP address is one of the best ways to avoid access and control problems between your device and your local router which usually assigns IP addresses on your network. UDI suggests assigning a static IP address to your ISY (which we did). This is especially helpful as most DHCP routers assign expiring IP addresses to local network devices. With an expiring (dynamic) IP address, sooner or later you will that you cannot access your ISY as the router has assigned it a new IP address as the old one had expired. You would have to log into your router and see what new IP address had been assigned to the ISY. Static (Fixed) WAN Address for Your Gateway. A static WAN Gateway IP address is also very helpful for accessing your ISY via the Internet. A static WAN IP address makes using your own domain name much easier. Your local ISP may be able to provide a static WAN IP address (sometimes free). At our home, we have two conventional web servers (Abyss Web Server and a Windows Home Server) and one FTP server (Serv-U). We use multiple domain names and fixed IP addresses at the WAN and PC level to keep things routed correctly. With a static IP address assigned to your ISY device, you simply use your router's port forwarding feature to route port 443 access requests to the IP address assigned to our ISY. With a static IP address for the WAN Gateway device and one for the ISY, we can access the easily ISY via our domain name, example: https://www.ourdomainname.com:443). Easier for us to remember than the WAN static IP address. (There are ways to accomplish this without a fixed WAN IP address but I won't address that here.) So far, we've very happy with the ISY99i. It sure makes Insteon device programming much easier and less laborious. Our contacts with UDI Tech support were tremendously helpful and like a chat with an old friend! Thanks UDI.