MikeB

I have a scheduled event that causes my front door lights to turn on at sunset + 20 mins. I noticed that it did not run tonight. The ISY-26 shows last run time last night at around 7:40pm. Any way to find out why it didn't run? I was programming my RemoteLincs around the time the event was supposed to run. Could this interfere with the event? Thanks!

Michel has been emailing me, and has confirmed this is an issue that they will fix with their next update. Hopefully he'll post in this thread.

Right, I understand that. That's not my issue...

Noticed something else interesting... If I add 1 RemoteLinc to my scene, I notice that if I hit one of the KPL secondaries in the scene, it gives me the flashing LED indicating that it was unable to communicate with one of the other scene members. If I add 2 RemoteLincs to my scene, not only will the KPL secondaries flash, but the RemoteLincs will as well when controlling the scene. It almost seems to me that the RemoteLincs are being added as not only controllers to the scene, but also responders. Is this correct? Thanks!!

I have an existing scene called "FrontDoor" that controls the entrance lights to my house. This scene contains an InlineLinc, plus a bunch of KPL secondary buttons. I added the first RemoteLinc to my system, and one of its buttons controls that scene. Programmed fine. A bit later, I went to add a 2nd RemoteLinc to the same scene. I kept getting 'Request Failed'. At first I thought the programming was simply timing out, however I now believe that ALL RemoteLincs in a scene must be in linking mode in order to add an additional RemoteLinc. Once I put BOTH RemoteLincs into linking mode, then added the new RemoteLinc to the scene, it worked fine. Is this correct? Thanks!!

Thanks for reading my long-winded post! Here are my comments: 3 - Personally, I think ack vs nack is fine. I find it useful if there is a particularly problematic circuit, or switch, or whatever. Here are some screenshots showing PowerHome: http://www.mbdatasystems.com/pics/powerhome1.jpg http://www.mbdatasystems.com/pics/powerhome2.jpg 4 - No big deal, just a thought. If it complicates it, I agree - leave it out. 10 - It would be ideal if they ISY-26 could program links to other PLMs, but what's most important to me is that the ISY-26 not delete them. I know it may not be common, but there will be others I'm sure who will be using other software and devices with the ISY-26. I don't think it's appropriate for the ISY-26 to delete those links just because it doesn't recognize them. Maybe there could be a field where you can type in Insteon addresses of devices that the ISY-26 will preserve links to? So, any links that the ISY-26 finds to the listed devices when doing a recover device would be left alone, not deleted. Then I could still manually create those links, and not worry about the ISY-26 dropping them. Thanks again Michel!!!

Here are some of my initial impressions on the ISY-26, after playing with it for almost a day. I received my unit a week or so ago, but haven't had the time to open and play until yesterday. Installed the latest version of Java, and got right in to the interface using a Vista Business PC (IE7) and a Windows XP Pro machine (IE6) with no issues. Had one issue right away where I was no longer able to login. I left a message at Universal-Devices, and Michel called back right away. Beyond excellent customer support. I'll go into more detail later. I maintain a good spreadsheet of all my devices, so I felt more comfortable typing my devices in by address, adding them one at a time. Unfortunately it had a problem reading in my links using that method, but I didn't mind recreating them. Between yesterday evening and this AM I was able to add all my devices, recreate all my links (scenes), and duplicate 95% of the functions I had before (more on that other 5% later). I still need to do my RemoteLincs, which I hope to tackle today. Once you get a hang of the interface, it's pretty easy to work with. I have 60+ Insteon devices, and 30 or so scenes in the ISY-26. Nothing too too complex (yet). Simple drag and drop worked well for me, but once I added most of my devices I found right-clicking worked better and faster to add devices to scenes. I did have some communication issues programming devices, but usually retrying fixed it for me. The ISY-26 is plugged in to an odd location in my home right now (on a sub-panel), but I'll move it to a more permanent location later, improving my signal reliability. Here are some comments/concerns/requests/questions in no particular order: - Support from Michel was top-notch. Called me back right away. Not only did he help fix my issue, he offered and spent quite a bit of time showing me around the ISY-26 and helping me understand some things I didn't grasp yet. Can't say enough - great guy to deal with. - Not a big fan of the interface colors (at least on my display). The pink was kind of hard to read at times. I understand the need for consistency, so making this user-definable probably isn't an option, but if I were UD I would put a bit of thought into the interface pallette. I think they could make it much more professional looking and pleasing simply by changing some colors around. I would go with a neutral theme for the background, maybe gray), and implement the text in darker colrs - orange, red, blue, green, etc... BUT - I'm obviously nitpicking. Other than the colors, I thought the interface was fine. - I received a Java error a few times when trying to program certain devices. However, the switches seemed to program fine anyway. Not sure what the deal is, but the error was: "Socket open failed: java.nio.channels.ClosedSelectorException" - One of the features I really like about PowerHome is the statistics it keeps for you to help find and troubleshoot switch and signal reliability issues. I don't know if it's feasible, but this would be a REAL nice feature to add. - Is there a way to make a device a controller of 2 scenes? For example, I have a scene called "Floor1Off" that I control from a couple KeypadLincs around my house. I also have a "Floor2Off" scene that I control from a couple KPLs. Finally, I have 1 KPL that has a "Floor 1+2 Off" button. I ended up creating a whole new scene called "Floor1+2Off" and made that the controller. Not sure if it's possible, but it would have been nice to simply add that "Floor1+2Off" KPL button as a controller to both of my existing scenes. - One feature I assumed was included with the ISY-26 was timed events. For example, if I turn my closet light on, I want to make sure it is automatically turned off 10 or 20 mins later - just in case whoever turned it on forgets to turn it off. Same with bathrooms, vents, etc. From what I understand this is being included in a soon-to-be released firmware update. This is one of the features I was using with my old setup, but currently am unable to do with the ISY-26. One thing to keep in mind when implementing this feature - say we have a 10 min timer setup on Closet1. If a user turns Closet1 ON, an event should be triggered that will turn Closet1 OFF 10 mins later. However, if Closet1 is turned off manually, that event should be cancelled. Don't want a situation where a light is turned on, then turned off 8 mins later, then turned back on, and the ISY-26 turns it off 2 mins after that. - It would be nice if the casing of the ISY-26 had a couple keyed holes in the back for wall mounting. I'll probably end up using velcro, but some built-in wall mount method would be nice. - I knew this feature wasn't in the current firmware release, but I did use FAST ON/FAST OFFs to trigger events with my old setup. I think this is an important feature to add. - I also plan to use other software with my Insteon network, which will require me to keep other PLCs/PLMs on the network. This software will require me to keep links from my devices to these other PLCs/PLMs. My understanding is that when I restore a device through the ISY-26, that it will delete those links. If possible, I'd love a way for the ISY-26 to recognize and allow me to create links to these other PLCs/PLMs. If nothing else, I think they ISY-26 should have away to ignore these links and not delete them when I choose 'restore device'. - I did experience a few instances where the PLM stopped sending/receiving commands. The ISY-26 did not give me any errors, but commands simply would not go out. Unplugging/replugging the PLM to cut the power brought it back online. I never needed to cut the power to the ISY-26. My PLM is FIRM52, and I'm running ISY-26 firmware that Michel sent me (2.4.4). - I had a couple instances when programming KPL buttons that the ISY-26 SEEMED to complete the task, but the button was never added to the scene. I'd try again, and same thing - no error, but it wasn't in the scene. I ended up doing a restore device to those buttons, then tried adding them again, and it worked. - One question - what is everyone using the Floor Plan for? Any good uses for it, or is it completely cosmetic? ANYWAY, sorry for the long post. In summary, I think this device is fantastic, easy to use, and does 95% of what I want. Customer support was above and beyond what could be expected, and it's great to see that UD responds well and relatively quickly to many feature requests posted on this forum. Hopefully with the new firmware update, it will do 99% of what I want. I can't wait to start using this full-time, and for the new firmware update. I also can't wait for any new products UD may have in store for us. I think SmartHome would be wise to push this product more - it could definitely help them sell a lot more Instoen product. I will also be posting this up on TechMall, AccessHA, and Cocoontech.

Michel gave me a call back very quickly (thanks Michel!) and helped me through it. It was a bug that crops up if you close the program while minimized. When I tried to open it again, the login window was hidden from view and unclickable. He got me going again by using the "My ISY-26" link from the Universal Devices home page - worked great!! Thanks again Michel...

Setup a couple switches for the first time last night, and changed my login info. Went to fire it up today, and the browser and ISY-26 interface just freezes - nothing is clickable. Cleared out my temporary internet files, rebooted the ISY-26 & PLM - still nothing. I believe I should be getting the login prompt at this point, but it's nowhere to be found. Left a message at Universal Devices, sounded like an answering service maybe? Anybody else have this issue? Thanks!

Should have my unit in tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

One more question - If the internet connection was down, or a home simply did not have an internet connection, what (if anything) would not work on an ISY-26? Is there any dependence on an internet connection?

Michel - You and I were chatting on Techmall about the possibility of interfacing 3rd party products, specifically CQC (http://www.charmedquark.com), with the ISY-26. This gentleman is the author of the current CQC Insteon driver (using the PLM directly). I think there is interest in writing an ISY-26 driver for CQC, but current limitations in CQC's driver model make this a very difficult task. If the ISY-26 supported xAP, this would be much easier. Is this a possibility?

Thanks for the clarification. Are there other ISY-26s available yet? I assume multiple ISY-26s can exist on the same LAN? Is the SDK to interface with the various ISY's similar?

Thanks again. One more question - can you clarify exactly what devices (other than standard Insteon switches/KPLs/etc.) that the ISY-26 supports today?

Could you clarify this a bit? Why would this be better if I start with a clean system? Based on your comments, I think I will start from scratch and reset all devices to factory defaults. I assume the ISY-26 has no easy way to accomplish this, I will have to physically go to each device and reset it - correct? Also, any eta on 2.5? I do use fast on/fast offs in my system to perform different tasks. Thanks for the great info. I will be ordering, but would like to order from SmartHome. Their site shows them out of stock, with an 8/20 eta. Do you know if that is accurate? Thanks again.

I'm pretty certain I'm going to end up purchasing an ISY-26 by the end of the day today. Few questions, though - I currently have 60+ Insteon devices in my house, completely linked through PowerHome/HouseLinc, and working 100%. My biggest reason for purchasing the ISY-26 is events/timers, and the possibility of interfacing the ISY-26 to another piece of software somewhere down the road. Plus, I like buying new toys. I don't mind recreating my links if there's any advantage to it. But, I won't bother if it's a complete waste of time. So, is there any advantage to resetting things back to factory defaults and recreating all my links? Will it leave me with a "cleaner" system? If I don't do that, can I just add my devices manually and have the ISY-26 read links off each device? Or, will the ISY-26 spider my network and build a list of devices? If the ISY-26 does read in my existing links, will it also show me any old broken links that might exist so I can delete/fix them? Also, any things that PowerHome can do that the ISY-26 can't? - can the ISY-26 configure my KPLs between 6 and 8 button modes? - can it turn KPL buttons to non-toggles? - can it configure local/remote ramp rates? - can it save groups to its PLM? - can it run triggers based on fast on/fast offs? - does it fully support the remotelinc? Thanks!

OK, now I found the link to the JSDK. I guess it is out. Anyone using it?

I see that there's an SDK scheduled. Is there an ETA on this? Thanks!

Is there any kind of API on the ISY-26 for another piece of software to interface with? I'd be interesting in getting a piece of software to be able to control and know the status of Insteon devices & groups that are being controlled through the ISY-26. Is this currently possible? Thanks