Release 2.6.6 is now available

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Franky,

 

Please put all of the buttons in ONE mutually exclusive group. Please do let me know what happens.

 

Thanks and with kind regards,

Michel

 

Actually, you can cross link the 8-key KeypadLinc buttons manually so that all 8 buttons are mutually exclusive from eachother (although it will take you an hour of pushing and holding the buttons for 10 seconds each)...meaning that at any given point, only one button can be lit up. The ISY software has the limitation of only allowing 4 buttons to be mutually exclusive to each other at a time. This is what I was asking. Is there a way to make the ISY setup the KeypadLinc to make all 8 buttons mutually exclusive to each other so that pushing any of the 8 buttons turns off the other 7?

 

ISY allows for 4 mutually exclusive groups simply because when you have 8 buttons, there are at the most 4 ways that you can group them together. In short, buttons in the same group are mutually exclusive from one another: if you turn one on, the others will turn off and vice versa.

 

I think you've put all your buttons in the same group and thus what you are witnessing.

 

[Mark Sanctuary]

There is a section in the Wiki about Mutually Exclusive Buttons that may help. Also I can add a note about the min and max number of buttons in one exclusive group if needed.

[franky]

Please put all of the buttons in ONE mutually exclusive group. Please do let me know what happens.

 

Thanks and with kind regards,

Michel

Yes, that's exactly what I did when I posted the other night. Re-reading my post, I can see the confusion...sorry. I added all 8 lights to the same mutually exclusive group and the first 4 buttons behave correctly by disabling the other 7 when you press any of them; however, the last 4 buttons do not disable any of the other 7 buttons when pressed (but they do turn off when any of the first 4 buttons are pressed).

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi franky,

 

Ah, I see now!

 

What version of KPL are you using (firmware that is)? We've had major problems with KPLs 1.5 and 1.6.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Please put all of the buttons in ONE mutually exclusive group. Please do let me know what happens.

 

Thanks and with kind regards,

Michel

Yes, that's exactly what I did when I posted the other night. Re-reading my post, I can see the confusion...sorry. I added all 8 lights to the same mutually exclusive group and the first 4 buttons behave correctly by disabling the other 7 when you press any of them; however, the last 4 buttons do not disable any of the other 7 buttons when pressed (but they do turn off when any of the first 4 buttons are pressed).

[franky]

I'm not sure how to tell what the firmware is on the KPL. It says "(2486DWH8) KeypadLinc Dimmer 8 Button v.2D" for all 3 of them, but v.2D doesn't sound like a valid version unless it's in hex and interpreted as 2.13? How can I tell the firmware version? I just bought these from Smarthome a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Ah, I see now!

 

What version of KPL are you using (firmware that is)? We've had major problems with KPLs 1.5 and 1.6.

 

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi franky,

 

You should be fine. I have entered this as a bug; we'll keep you posted.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I'm not sure how to tell what the firmware is on the KPL. It says "(2486DWH8) KeypadLinc Dimmer 8 Button v.2D" for all 3 of them, but v.2D doesn't sound like a valid version unless it's in hex and interpreted as 2.13? How can I tell the firmware version? I just bought these from Smarthome a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Ah, I see now!

 

What version of KPL are you using (firmware that is)? We've had major problems with KPLs 1.5 and 1.6.

 

[sidlinger]

Hello.

 

As usual, I compulsively upgraded to the latest firmware and as usual, I can't reach my unit anymore.

 

I don't know if it's because I have only Macs, or just don't understand this device at all, or what, but I am always so frustrated.

 

I have cleared Java caches, tried different machines, did a hard reset, tried admin/admin, etc.

 

When this has happened before, after a couple of days of trying random things I finally get back in and am able to restore my backup.

 

Right now I am at the point of using http://www.universal-devices.com/27/, trusting the certificate, and then getting "Connection refused". And it always says "System Busy". Am I even talking to it at all, or is this just something left over from before.

 

And I don't even understand the URL http://www.universal-devices.com/27/

 

How does that work in an RFC-compliant fashion? This all seems so non-standard to me. The learning curve is way too steep.

 

I've written in before. I have a degree in computer science, manage Cisco CRS-1, 10000, and 7600-series routers, and wrote my own IP routers in assembly language on PDP-11's on NSFnet. And I've done network design for the ATLAS LHC project at CERN. So it's not like I shouldn't be up to the task of dealing with this ISY-99.

 

Like I have offered before, I would gladly pay 5 or 10 times more money for the same thing except reliable and not so weird. Your support is totally excellent and you are so nice, and I just wish the market would tolerate you re-pricing the product so that you could have more development and testing resources in place.

 

Anyway, I just gave up and downloaded Indigo 3.0, and I have a new Mac Mini to dedicate to it. I was really hoping to not have to endure setting up all these switches over again, but I am just too stressed out by the ISY 99 to deal with it anymore.

 

-Bruce

[Sub-Routine]

There will never be one device that fits everyone's needs.

 

Rand

[upstatemike]

Hello.

 

As usual, I compulsively upgraded to the latest firmware and as usual, I can't reach my unit anymore...

 

-Bruce

 

I don't know your specific situation but two things I have found to be helpful if you haven't already tried it.

 

1- Make sure you have a static IP address set. Then you have one less variable to deal with when troubleshooting connectivity issues. Does the ISY respond to a ping so you know it is online?

 

2- Unplug the PLM for at least 10 seconds so everything re-initializes before trying to connect. Most of my connectivity errors have been from something getting stuck in an odd state and this always clears it.

[sidlinger]

Hello again. I feel bad about yesterday's post because in retrospect it seems a little brutal. I want to emphasize that the ISY-99ir Pro is an amazing device for the money.

 

I work with very large installations, both residential and commercial, and the problems I'm having may not be typical. I would continue to recommend the ISY series and especially Universal Devices and their outstanding support and responsiveness. I have concluded that, for my situation, I may be better off with software hosted on a dedicated computer (or not, since for all I know Indigo may be a total mess! guess I'll find out). But that's just me.

 

Also, for the record, my ISY-99 finally recovered. It just seems to take a long time plus various reset actions (I ended up restoring from my backup) whenever I upgrade. But maybe that's because I have too many devices.

 

I may transfer the ISY to a smaller property and continue using it that way. Also, if Universal Devices ever offers some kind of giant, high-end, Mecha-ISY, I'll be in line to get one.

 

-Bruce

[Michel Kohanim]

Bruce,

 

No need to feel bad at all and I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that release 2.6.6 is a BETA release and specifically titled as such.

 

The URL (http://www.universal-devices.com/27) is simply hosting the applet that finds ISY on the network (it's the same applet which is also hosted on your ISY). Beyond the download of code over TCP/IP, applets are not based on any RFCs nor do I think IETF had anything to do with them.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hello again. I feel bad about yesterday's post because in retrospect it seems a little brutal. I want to emphasize that the ISY-99ir Pro is an amazing device for the money.

 

I work with very large installations, both residential and commercial, and the problems I'm having may not be typical. I would continue to recommend the ISY series and especially Universal Devices and their outstanding support and responsiveness. I have concluded that, for my situation, I may be better off with software hosted on a dedicated computer (or not, since for all I know Indigo may be a total mess! guess I'll find out). But that's just me.

 

Also, for the record, my ISY-99 finally recovered. It just seems to take a long time plus various reset actions (I ended up restoring from my backup) whenever I upgrade. But maybe that's because I have too many devices.

 

I may transfer the ISY to a smaller property and continue using it that way. Also, if Universal Devices ever offers some kind of giant, high-end, Mecha-ISY, I'll be in line to get one.

 

-Bruce

[sidlinger]

>

Bruce,

 

>No need to feel bad at all and I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that release 2.6.6 is a BETA release and specifically titled as such.

 

Hello and thanks. And I normally do not run beta software in production environments, but isn't the release software still at "1.0 Initial Release!" (per http://www.universal-devices.com/firmware99i.htm)? It's that extreme version skew between beta and release and the need for device support that has forced me into running betas. (A lot of new Insteon devices have been introduced subsequent to the ISY-99, and I'm guessing that Insteon shoppers are early adopters, so is it really feasible to expect the majority of customers to still be on v1.0?)

 

>The URL (http://www.universal-devices.com/27) is simply hosting the applet that finds ISY on the network (it's the same applet which is also hosted on your ISY). Beyond the download of code over TCP/IP, applets are not based on any RFCs nor do I think IETF had anything to do with them.

 

I had figured out that the link downloaded v2.7 of the management console. My RFC comment had to do with how it was finding the unit without tickling the entire LAN. I guess it looks for your MAC prefix (IEEE OUI)? Or sends to a multicast MAC? I have been to lazy to fire up Wireshark and see for myself.

 

One quick question: What is meant by "enable/disable Internet access"? Does this fix/break the gateway address or something? This seems novel to me. With anything else I've ever used, simply having a correct subnet mask and gateway address (and static port remapping if NAT and a single outside IP) is enough for Internet access. (And actually, if memory serves, I am getting to my ISY from outside even though it's set to "disabled", although I haven't checked lately.)

 

And one suggestion: If this isn't already out there somewhere, a simple troubleshooting flowchart/checklist based on admin console (e.g., "System Busy") and Java (e.g., "Connection Refused") messages and LED patterns (e.g., the one for DHCP pending/failed) would be helpful.

 

>With kind regards,

Michel

 

Thanks!

-Bruce

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Bruce,

 

You are 100% correct vis-a-vis the version number skews. It was not planned out correctly; we simply wanted to have all our INSTEON platforms to have the same version number.

 

As you guessed it correctly, we use multicast sockets to a specific group to find ISY. This is based on UPnP (http://www.upnp.org) and although not IETF but it's the mechanism by which Windows finds other UPnP enabled devices. Due to some limitations in Vista (it takes over UPnP ports), we also had to add our own discovery (still multicast) routine in case UPnP fails. In short, you are 100% correct: none of these features are RFC compliant.

 

As far as Enable Internet Access, it simply goes back to UPnP again: if you have a UPnP enabled router, then ISY can find it and automatically forward the ports for you. In this scenario, you would not need to manually configure your router. In case that you don't have a UPnP router, this feature fails immediately since it cannot find your router and thus you would have to manually do port forwarding as you suggested.

 

I must say that we are working on updating our documentation but we always get sidetracked since we add features and thus make our documentation inaccurate. But, you are 100% correct and we need to be more active.

 

Thanks again for your feedback,

With kind regards,

Michel

 

 

>

Bruce' date='

 

>No need to feel bad at all and I do apologize for the inconvenience. Please note that release 2.6.6 is a BETA release and specifically titled as such.

 

Hello and thanks. And I normally do not run beta software in production environments, but isn't the release software still at "1.0 Initial Release!" (per http://www.universal-devices.com/firmware99i.htm)? It's that extreme version skew between beta and release and the need for device support that has forced me into running betas. (A lot of new Insteon devices have been introduced subsequent to the ISY-99, and I'm guessing that Insteon shoppers are early adopters, so is it really feasible to expect the majority of customers to still be on v1.0?)

 

>The URL (http://www.universal-devices.com/27) is simply hosting the applet that finds ISY on the network (it's the same applet which is also hosted on your ISY). Beyond the download of code over TCP/IP, applets are not based on any RFCs nor do I think IETF had anything to do with them.

 

I had figured out that the link downloaded v2.7 of the management console. My RFC comment had to do with how it was finding the unit without tickling the entire LAN. I guess it looks for your MAC prefix (IEEE OUI)? Or sends to a multicast MAC? I have been to lazy to fire up Wireshark and see for myself.

 

One quick question: What is meant by "enable/disable Internet access"? Does this fix/break the gateway address or something? This seems novel to me. With anything else I've ever used, simply having a correct subnet mask and gateway address (and static port remapping if NAT and a single outside IP) is enough for Internet access. (And actually, if memory serves, I am getting to my ISY from outside even though it's set to "disabled", although I haven't checked lately.)

 

And one suggestion: If this isn't already out there somewhere, a simple troubleshooting flowchart/checklist based on admin console (e.g., "System Busy") and Java (e.g., "Connection Refused") messages and LED patterns (e.g., the one for DHCP pending/failed) would be helpful.

 

>With kind regards,

Michel

 

Thanks!

-Bruce

[JasonWPB]

I have experienced an odd behavior in trying to save new programs since installing 2.6.6. Sometimes the Save Changes will not "work" in that the icon indicating that a program has changed and needs to be saved does not go away after pressing the Save Changes. If I create a new program and then hit Save Changes, this usually removes the icon from the previous program, but not the new one.

 

I cannot tell if this is merely a GUI issue in that the icon simply isn't going away or whether the program truly is not being saved.

 

I apologize that I don't have a better "if I do this, then this problem occurs" for you... I've tried forcing this to happen and I can't seem to do it reliably. However, the behavior has popped up several times. But, I thought I'd post in case anyone else has seen this behavior.

 

Thanks for continuing to update and support the ISY. This was a key reason that I moved my fairly extensive installation over to the ISY. The support is there and it is a great solution. I'm very happy with it.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello JasonWPB,

 

The issue you are experiencing is very much related to the firewall software you have on your computer. We have resolutions for most firewalls in this forum:

http://forum.universal-devices.com/view ... f=3&sid=14

 

Please do be kind enough to let us if you cannot find your firewall in the forum or if the given resolution does not solve the issues you are experiencing.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I have experienced an odd behavior in trying to save new programs since installing 2.6.6. Sometimes the Save Changes will not "work" in that the icon indicating that a program has changed and needs to be saved does not go away after pressing the Save Changes. If I create a new program and then hit Save Changes, this usually removes the icon from the previous program, but not the new one.

 

I cannot tell if this is merely a GUI issue in that the icon simply isn't going away or whether the program truly is not being saved.

 

I apologize that I don't have a better "if I do this, then this problem occurs" for you... I've tried forcing this to happen and I can't seem to do it reliably. However, the behavior has popped up several times. But, I thought I'd post in case anyone else has seen this behavior.

 

Thanks for continuing to update and support the ISY. This was a key reason that I moved my fairly extensive installation over to the ISY. The support is there and it is a great solution. I'm very happy with it.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi franky,

 

I just wanted to let you know that this indeed turned out to be a bug (thanks so very much for finding it). It's fixed and shall be included in the next drop.

 

Please note that, for some reason, Button A (the load) may act erratically.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hi franky,

 

You should be fine. I have entered this as a bug; we'll keep you posted.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I'm not sure how to tell what the firmware is on the KPL. It says "(2486DWH8) KeypadLinc Dimmer 8 Button v.2D" for all 3 of them, but v.2D doesn't sound like a valid version unless it's in hex and interpreted as 2.13? How can I tell the firmware version? I just bought these from Smarthome a few weeks ago.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Ah, I see now!

 

What version of KPL are you using (firmware that is)? We've had major problems with KPLs 1.5 and 1.6.