yardman 49

Hello Michel: Thank you very much! From what I can see, my ISY26 firmware is version 2.7.5. Should the migration work properly with this version? If I understand you correctly, I should first migrate my setup to the ISY994i, and then do the PLM replacement to the new one which I received with the 994i. Is that correct? Also, what about my programs? Can they be imported into the 994i, or do I have to manually recreate them all? Again, my thanks to you.

100 total: 43 devices, 38 groups, 19 programs. This should be well within the capabilities of the ISY994i.

It should be possible without starting from scratch. When I was first thinking about doing this, it was mid-2012. At that time I asked a similar question, and I thought that the reply that I received indicated that it was possible.

Hello all: Although I was one of the early adopters of the ISY26, it's been a very long time since I done any mods to my system. It has performed well, but due to the need to replace some defective INSTEON switches, I knew that eventually I'd need to upgrade to the ISY994i/IR Pro to get the latest supported devices and features. It's nice to see that Michael K, Chris J, Mike B, marksanctuary, and the rest of the old crew are still here! Since SmartHome had a one-day sale on the ISY994i last week, I decided to jump at the chance to get a significant discount on the top-of-the-line model. Is there a link somewhere to a "fool-proof" procedure for migrating my system over from the ISY26 to the ISY994i/IR Pro? Thanks in advance for any help. Best wishes, Frank

Hello Michel and everyone: Just a quick question: I'm planning on getting one of the new "outdoor approved" appliancelincs, 2456s3e. Is this supported by 2.7.7? Can I use it with earlier versions of the ISY-26 firmware if I add it as a "reqular" ApplianceLinc? Thanks!

Hello Michel and everyone: Just a quick question: I'm planning on getting one of the new "outdoor approved" appliancelincs, 2456s3e. Is this supported by 2.7.7? Can I use it with earlier versions of the ISY-26 firmware if I add it as a "reqular" ApplianceLinc? Thanks!

Hello Michel: I am also a little worried about implementing a change like this. IF if were version specific that would be better. TBE: I use what I call "cleanup" programs for two reasons. I believe that one is what you are refering to in this post. Yes, it creates more work for the the ISY, and I wish that the capability resided in the Insteon KPLs themselves, as you mentioned. But there is a second type of "cleanup" that I use through ISY programming. This one is for situations where I have mutliple devices in a scene that are controlled through a single KPL button. In those cases I may have 4 lights being controlled by a single KPL button. What should happen if someone turns off just one of those lights in that scene locally. Do I want the KPL button controlling that scene to go off? For me, in some case, no. For these cases, I write a couple of ISY programs that monitor the status of the lighting devices for those scenes. When all of the devices have been turned off, only then do I want the status of the controlling KPL button to go "off". And if someone turns on just one of the buttons in that "scene" locally, I want the scene controller KPL button status to go "on". A good example of this is the button that I have in my kitchen that controls my basement lights. I can know if any of the basement lights has been turned on (or left on) by looking at the KPL button status in my kitchen, due to my ISY programs that monitor this. I'm curious if HomeLinc 2 can program this capability into Insteon devices apart from writing an event triggered program? Best wishes,

Hello Chris: Thanks! I've never tried that! I'll give it try sometime. Best wishes,

Greeting, Michel: Thanks much for your reply. If I could make a pitch for this functionality, it would be one of "user friendliness". For instance, just from not having to makes changes to my system for many months, I would be hard-pressed to tell you what programs may be using a particular device. So for myself (or someone that may buy my house in the future), it would be excellent to have the ability to somewhat "mindlessly". do a device Replace, with all the "jots and tittles" being taken care of, so to speak. And thanks for all the great work on the firmware updates! Best wishes,

I think that an automated backup is only of marginal use. This is because once you have a stable Insteon network, you probably won't be making changes regularly. If you are making changes to your network, I recommend making a backup prior to beginning, then maybe again in the middle of your session, assuming that you have a lot of changes to make. Maybe even more than one backup in the middle if you have a really long session. Then again at the end of your session. I tend to be somewhat "backup-compulsive", so this kind of behavior is rather instinctive for me, even when working on a Word document, spreadsheet, presentation, etc.

Hello all: Historically, when using the "Replace" device functionality, a device that had been used in a program would not be overwritten with the new device identity. You had to manually go through your programs to re-add the new device in place of the old one. Has this functionality been changed as of firmware 2.7.5? Will it now replace all instances of the device in programs with the replacement device? If not, will this functionality eventually be added? Thanks

Wow! Thanks, Rand. At first I didn't think that it would work, since I'm still using the ISY-26. But the link does work, taking me directly into the Admin Console. Nice! When I use the normal "My Lighting" link, I find that I get a two step logon process, first into a white browser screen, with choices for "Devices - Scenes - Programs - Admin Console". Clicking on the Admin console link in that screen then opens the Admin console logon, which again asks for the Admin password. I'm assuming that this new? Also, am I ok using 2.7.0 for controlling the new Insteon Motion Sensor Floodlights, or do I need to go to 2.7.6? Thanks

Sorry guys, but I ran into a snag: I went to first download and install 2.6.5. The release instructions ssid to access the console by going to "http://www.universal-devices.com/27. However, that logon did not work. I had my PnP turned off, so I turned that on. Still no good. Disabled Norton Autoprotect, and updated Java. Still didn't work. So instead I (crazily) decided to open My Lighting through my normal logon method, and accepted the offer to upgrade to 2.7.0. I hadn't done this in so long that I thought maybe it would simply take me to download that upgrade, and maybe some additional instructions. But that actually began the installation, after first making a backup of my network (which I also had previously done). So I now have 2.7.0 installed on my ISY-26. I tested a circuit control and it seems to work. My programs look like they are there. I tried one of my conditional cleanup programs, and it seemed to work. Is there anything that I need to be aware of in terms of problems that may have happened since I did not first upgrade to 2.6.5? I also tried the www.universal-devices.com/27 command, and I still cannot get into the console that way, even after the 2.7 upgrade. Any ideas? I'm using IE 8.0. Thanks!

Hello Michael, MikeB, Rand: Thanks much for your replies! Sorry that I keep disappearing. Life is very busy! My X10 legacy network has started having problems (although all the Insteon stuff is still stable). So driven by necessity, I'm finally "jumping back in the water" this weekend, so to speak, and starting to work on my network. I am just now getting around to finally upgrading to 2.7. I decided to first upgrade the ISY-26, since it's a "known" entity, and has been working reliably for the Insteon stuff (rather than making the jump all the way to my ISY-99i). I recently ran a few network queries, and the ISY-26/PLM is good with Insteon communications still. I might try setting up the 99i after I first can demonstrate that ISY-26 will upgrade properly. My current purpose in upgrading my firmware is to finally dump all remaining X10 devices, and thus I need to add functionality for the new Insteon "Motion Sensor Floodlights". So my question is what version of the ISY26 firmware will support these devices: 2.7.0, or do I have to go to 2.7.5 or 2.7.6? I guess that the proper order on how to do this is for me to first take the ISY-26 from 2.6.0 to 2.6.5, and then from there to 2.7.0 or 2.7.6? Thanks again, guys. It's so good to see that you're stil all here! Best wishes, Frank

Hello MikeB! Thanks for the reply. Ok, so here's another question then: has anything else on the case changed? On mine, the screw slots are right behind some solder points. I'm reticent to hang it on the wall via those slots, as I'm afraid that it would be too easy to short out the circuit board. I remember a long time ago that I suggested that a sheet of plastic be put in there to provide some insulation to stop a short circuit. Along with this, I had suggested that the slots be moved to the opposite end of the case (the end with the LEDs). That way, when you hang the unit, the cables would all be hanging "down". With the configuration that I have, if I use the slots to hang the 99i, the cables would be coming in from the top. Alternately, there could be slots at both ends of the bottom, to allow for mounting in either orientation. Last question: what is the SD card used for, and why would it ever have to be changed.

I don't know if vBulletin allows this or not, unfortunately. One site that I belong to that uses vBulleting does not allow "nested" quotes, unlike what you have here. That's kind of a disadvantage to my thinking, but it does do a better job of keeping the post sizes down. Take a look at priuschat.com/forums to see what their implimentation looks like, if you're interested. They've started having some adds in their forum, which helps provide revenue to run the forum. Generally I don't like such "commercialism", but the site founder (Danny) seems to strike a pretty good balance. The ads are only at the top of each page, in a relatively small area, unlike other forums where a large part of each web page is ads!

Hmmm.....my 99i IR Pro does not have any external slot for an SD card. Am I missing something? Or is this internal to the unit? Mine has a power connection, "Port A", "Port B", and a "Network" connection. Where is the SD card supposed to be??

Another benefit of having downloadable manuals is that they could be burned by the end user to a CD. Then when it came time to sell their house, the CD could be given to the buyer along with all the SH manuals, and they would have everything needed in one place should they ever need to troubleshoot. I already have PDF downloads of all the SH manuals for the lighting appliances that I've purchased from them. But I only have the old, out-of-date ISY manuals.

Hello Michael: Sorry for all the questions right now. This should be the last one for tonight! I know that the Wiki is the repository of the "living documents" that are the UDI manuals. But are there any plans to occassionally take a "snap shot" of these and convert them into, say, PDF files, which could then be downoaded? My reasoning is that there may be times when someone would need to look up a critical fact, but maybe their local internet is down. Or you servers are down. Or any other bad scenario. As such, I was considering that it would be beneficial to take a "snapshot" of the Wiki data every so often, and offer it as a downloadable manual. Just a thought. Best wishes, Frank

Hello Michael: For the last year I've been working on "obsessions" other than my home lighting automation. Hence the reason for my absence. Anyway, because of this I'm part of other forums, Some are using a forum platform called "vBulletin" by Jelsoft enterprises. It seems to be a much more full-featured forum hosting software, and has more advanced search features. For instance, you can do a seach by all content, or topics only, etc. It also allows you to view the threads that you are "subscribed" to, and even organize them into some folders, which is helpful. It even has a mobile version, which works great with my Blackberry. I almost never read the newspaper any more at night! Anyway, do you have any plans to make any such improvement to the UDI forums?? Best wishes, Frank

Hello Michael: As you know, I also am using the ISY-26, and I have the 99i IR PRO that I'm contemplating integrating into my system. The 99i that I have is a very early unit (162). Would there be any differences between the one that I have and the ones that you currently sell? Would it be worthwhile for me to order a new one from you? Thanks Frank

Hello Michael K, Chris, marksanctuary, MikeB, and everyone else that I used to know here: Some of you may remember me. I've been gone for a long time; I guess that's good in a way, because it means that my ISY and all my Insteon gear has been stable. I'm still running my system on the ISY-26 (firmware 2.6.0, I think), with a PLM 2414S (on firmware 58 ). However, I also have on hand an ISY-99i that I received from Michael a very long time ago. I've never integrated that into my system yet. I've seen lately that SmartHome has come out with many new devices. Because of this, and for other reasons, I think that it is time for me to upgrade my ISY. So I have some questions: - Should I just upgrade the firmware on my ISY-26 from 2.6.0 to 2.7? I don't want to break it and compromise my system as it currently is running. - If instead I installed the ISY-99i that I have on hand, installed the latest ISY firmware, and used my existing PLM, would I be able to import my backup file from my ISY-26, and have everything work properly? - Have all the KPL issues finally been resolved with the ISY? I think all of my KPLs are still version 1.4, so obviously the order for adding devices to KPL groups is very important to ensure functioning. I'm assuming that this has finally been fixed with ISY firmware 2.7, and that the ISY has the ability to properly "sort" the linked devices? - Has SH been able to improve PLM/device communications any better than what I currently have with the firm 58 model? Good to see UDI is still alive and well, and that a lot of the old-timers are still here! Best wishes, Frank

Hello Candide: Scenes cannot be nested in other scenes. "Scenes" are groups of lights with specific levels, rates, etc. You can either create these manually (via the ISY devices themselves), or via the ISY. In the latter case, the ISY becomes a "member" of the Scene, and becomes "aware" of the other devices. Most people using the ISY use the latter approach for all of their Insteon devices. The Link Tables that govern the scenes reside in the devices themselves. Devices are thus only aware of the other devices which are direct members of their scenes. They don't know anything about scenes of which they are not direct members. Thus, you cannot have a device in a scene control scenes of which it is not a direct member. **************************************** There are two workarounds: 1) create a new "Master Scene", with all four lights responding to a single controller. Insteon devices can be responders in many different scenes. 2) create an ISY "Program" that responds to the button press of the controller, and then sends commands to the existing scenes. This creates a little time delay, but also enables you to do more with less scenes. Another limitation is that you can't dim or brighten "on the fly" with this approach. A great feature of the ISY is the flexibility that it gives you in this regard. You can only use it for creating & managing scenes. Or you can go to the other extreme, and write all kinds of crazy programs that operate on various triggers. Best wishes,

Hello Mike: Thanks for the update! We really appreciate you and everyone who helps with testing our programs. Best wishes,

Hello Mike: Earlier in this thread I did post examples of what I had been using for my "foldered" programs that were triggered by a button press. I don't know if you've had a chance to look at them. But the present discussion reminds me a little of the problems that I had been seeing. Just very weird, inconsistent behavior. That is why I stopped using folders for this purpose. Like mcrean, it seemed as though I was actually getting my buttons presses being properly registered by the ISY. In fact, for all my "cleanup" programs, the button presses always trigger the "Then" statements properly. But with the example that I posted earlier in this thread, this was not true. There were two major failures: the "Then" statements should have started running and stayed running, but would instead start and stop at the same time. And the second error was that the program would sometimes start on its own, with no button press being recorded. This latter error was probably due to some logic error on my part, but I couldn't find it. I wish that I had done a better job of documenting the code so that I could reconstruct the series of events. But all that I remember is what I posted here earlier. Ever since I stopped using the folders for this purpose, the programs that I wrote to handle my "Away" scene are working properly. Best wishes,