Replacing Remotelinc2

[joehuber]

How do I Replace one Remotelinc2 with a new one?

I'm sure this must be a common question but I searched the forum several ways and didn't come up with any info...

I need to substitute a new RemoteLinc2 in ISY for the old one that's no longer available. I've Linked the new one to ISY and it's recognized as a 4 button controller like the old one. But I still don't have a Replace menuitem when right-clicking on the first of the four button pairs of the old remotelinc (there doesn't seem to be a single device representing the whole remotelinc2).

How do I Replace one Remotelinc2 with a new one?

[Techman]

You can only replace like for like.  The old and new Remotelincs  are not "like" devices.

I'm assuming that the old (discontinued) Remotelnc is not a Remotelinc2. If that's the case then you'll have to delete the old one and start fresh with the new one.

 

 

 

 

[joehuber]

They are both Remotelinc2. ISY still says the old one is a Remotelinc2 and I just bought the new one straight from SmartHome. It has the Model No 2342-2 printed on the back.

However I don't possess the old one. I gave it to a friend, without unlinking from my ISY, who did a factory reset and is using it to control her Insteon lights directly. So the ISY still has all the links for the old Remotelinc2 and the devices it should control. How do I tell ISY to create all those same the links in the new Remotelinc2?

For other devices I can right-click on the old device to get a Replace option, but I never get that option when right-clicking on the old Remotelinc2. Does the old device still need to be present?

[lilyoyo1]

16 minutes ago, joehuber said:

They are both Remotelinc2. ISY still says the old one is a Remotelinc2 and I just bought the new one straight from SmartHome. It has the Model No 2342-2 printed on the back.

However I don't possess the old one. I gave it to a friend, without unlinking from my ISY, who did a factory reset and is using it to control her Insteon lights directly. So the ISY still has all the links for the old Remotelinc2 and the devices it should control. How do I tell ISY to create all those same the links in the new Remotelinc2?

For other devices I can right-click on the old device to get a Replace option, but I never get that option when right-clicking on the old Remotelinc2. Does the old device still need to be present?

Do you have your remote Linc in a folder? It cannot be in a folder in order to replace

[joehuber]

No, no folders.

Just to confirm, does the Replace functionality normally work with Remotelinc2? Since they're battery powered, have intermittent connectivity due to sleeping often and since ISY sees them as four devices with two buttons each I can see ISY would need some complex logic to handle Replacing one with another. Does it normally work?

I think there was a deleted comment in this thread that said both old and new Remotelinc2s had to be in linking mode for Replace to work. If that's true then no longer having the original device is a big problem for me....

Ideas???  Thanks, Joe

[Techman]

Right click on the old Remotelinc and try to do a replace, selecting the new Remotelinc as the replacement. Put the new Remotelinc into the linking mode before you click on replace..  This may or may not work without the old unit but it's worth a try.  Being that the Remotelinc is a  controller only no link tables are written to them, only to the devices they're linked to, including the PLM.

Let me know if this works.

[joehuber]

I put the new Remotelinc2 into linking mode (3 second press, beep, green flash) and when I right-click on the old Remotelinc2 the pop up menu does not contain a Replace choice. Screen shot is attached. So without a Replace menu item I can't even start the process...

[Techman]

It's possible the replace option won't appear unless the device is in the linking mode.

The other option would be to try to delete the (old) device.  The links for the old device are stored in the PLM and any scenes that the device was linked to.

Before you try the delete make a list of any scenes or programs that the device is associated with.

If the delete doesn't work then I would suggest submitting a support ticket to UDI as there may be a work around that I'm not aware of.

Let me know if the delete works

 

[Brian H]

If you have a PRO version of the ISY994i. Is the automatic writes to battery powered devices enabled. I have had strange things happen if I didn't enable it.

The old one is not a original 2440 or 2440BK RmoteLinc is it?

[lilyoyo1]

5 hours ago, joehuber said:

No, no folders.

Just to confirm, does the Replace functionality normally work with Remotelinc2? Since they're battery powered, have intermittent connectivity due to sleeping often and since ISY sees them as four devices with two buttons each I can see ISY would need some complex logic to handle Replacing one with another. Does it normally work?

I think there was a deleted comment in this thread that said both old and new Remotelinc2s had to be in linking mode for Replace to work. If that's true then no longer having the original device is a big problem for me....

Ideas???  Thanks, Joe

I have them and it does show up as being replaceable when I add my backup to the isy.  The remote will need to be in linking mode once you hit replace

[kclenden]

6 hours ago, Techman said:

Being that the Remotelinc is a  controller only no link tables are written to them, only to the devices they're linked to, including the PLM.

I don't think this is correct.  My 2844-222 MS II is a controller only, but when I display it's link table there are 11 entries.  When you think about it, there minimally needs to be a link recorded in a controller that ties it to the PLM.  If that didn't exist then the PLM could not control the device (e.g. configure it).  And direct links between a controller and responders need to exist so that cleanup messages can be processed.

5 hours ago, joehuber said:

Screen shot is attached. So without a Replace menu item I can't even start the process...

Your screenshot shows red exclamation points next to your old Remotelinc.  This means the ISY can't communicate with the device, which makes sense since you said you no longer have it.  Chances are the ISY would need to write to the old Remotelinc links table and and since it can't (because it can't communicate with it) the ISY does not present the "Replace" option.

[lilyoyo1]

2 hours ago, kclenden said:

I don't think this is correct.  My 2844-222 MS II is a controller only, but when I display it's link table there are 11 entries.  When you think about it, there minimally needs to be a link recorded in a controller that ties it to the PLM.  If that didn't exist then the PLM could not control the device (e.g. configure it).  And direct links between a controller and responders need to exist so that cleanup messages can be processed.

Your screenshot shows red exclamation points next to your old Remotelinc.  This means the ISY can't communicate with the device, which makes sense since you said you no longer have it.  Chances are the ISY would need to write to the old Remotelinc links table and and since it can't (because it can't communicate with it) the ISY does not present the "Replace" option.

I also see in the screen shot that its an 8 button remotelinc that you were using before. While they are interchangeable in regards to programmng, I wonder if that plays a part in why you dont have the option.

[joehuber]

17 hours ago, Brian H said:

If you have a PRO version of the ISY994i. Is the automatic writes to battery powered devices enabled. I have had strange things happen if I didn't enable it.

The old one is not a original 2440 or 2440BK RmoteLinc is it?

HI Brian I don't know if I have the ISY PRO version, it's pretty old though.

Per the screen shot the old RemoteLinc2 is a 2342-222, although I no longer possess it.

[joehuber]

17 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said:

have them and it does show up as being replaceable when I add my backup to the isy.  The remote will need to be in linking mode once you hit replace

OK Thanks that's useful to know. Yes I put the new Remotelinc2 into linking mode but I still don't get a Replace menu item....

[joehuber]

13 hours ago, kclenden said:

Your screenshot shows red exclamation points next to your old Remotelinc.  This means the ISY can't communicate with the device, which makes sense since you said you no longer have it.  Chances are the ISY would need to write to the old Remotelinc links table and and since it can't (because it can't communicate with it) the ISY does not present the "Replace" option.

Yes, this is the likely explanation, but I was hoping for a workaround. I'd just go ahead and relink everything if it were for some simple on-off lights. But I had the old one set up to control the multiple speeds in a Fanlinc and I remember it took quite a bit of futzing around to get it right.

[joehuber]

11 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said:

I also see in the screen shot that its an 8 button remotelinc that you were using before. While they are interchangeable in regards to programmng, I wonder if that plays a part in why you dont have the option.

Me too... So I tried it both as an 8 button and a 4 button remotelinc2 and I didn't find success either way....

[joehuber]

I suppose I could go borrow back the original remotelinc2 I gave to my friend, Restore it, and then hopefully Replace it with my new Remotelinc2. Then return the original one to my friend and Restore it in their system...............

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, joehuber said:

Me too... So I tried it both as an 8 button and a 4 button remotelinc2 and I didn't find success either way....

I'm talking about how it was originally sold. Those are technically different devices. The firmware just allows it to be used in different manners. Sort of like the kpls can be 6 or 8 button. 

I suspect that is why you're not seeing the icon. You technically have 2 different items. 

[joehuber]

37 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

I'm talking about how it was originally sold. Those are technically different devices. The firmware just allows it to be used in different manners. Sort of like the kpls can be 6 or 8 button. 

I suspect that is why you're not seeing the icon. You technically have 2 different items. 

They are both 8 button units originally, but there is the option to declare them as either 4 or 8 button units when you first link them to ISY and there's also the screen option to program them as 4 or 8 button units. So although I know them to both be 8 button units I did try declaring the new one alternately as 4 or 8 when linking it to the ISY but the Replace option still never appeared.

I think KC is right and that I really need the original Remotelinc2 present for the Replace option to be available.... unless someone has a counter example where Replacing a Remotelinc2 worked without having the original device I'll have to assume that's the root problem.

Thanks, Joe

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, joehuber said:

They are both 8 button units originally, but there is the option to declare them as either 4 or 8 button units when you first link them to ISY and there's also the screen option to program them as 4 or 8 button units. So although I know them to both be 8 button units I did try declaring the new one alternately as 4 or 8 when linking it to the ISY but the Replace option still never appeared.

I think KC is right and that I really need the original Remotelinc2 present for the Replace option to be available.... unless someone has a counter example where Replacing a Remotelinc2 worked without having the original device I'll have to assume that's the root problem.

Thanks, Joe

I have the 4 button. Even with the remote factory reset and showing exclamation marks in the system, I am able to use the replace function to swap to my test remote without issue.

Do you have a photo of the front of the New remote as I believe it's actually a 4 button that you have instead of an 8. The reason I believe this is that the ISY is automatically seeing it as a 4 button and not 8 like it's supposed to

[joehuber]

50 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

I have the 4 button. Even with the remote factory reset and showing exclamation marks in the system, I am able to use the replace function to swap to my test remote without issue.

Do you still have the original Remotelinc2 device present that you're trying to Replace? Are the exclamation points on the old or new device, or both? Do you have to activate it in any way eg button press or place it in Linking mode before the Replace option becomes available?

53 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Do you have a photo of the front of the New remote as I believe it's actually a 4 button that you have instead of an 8. The reason I believe this is that the ISY is automatically seeing it as a 4 button and not 8 like it's supposed to

I just bought it from SmartHome as an 8 button version, the included quickstart guide says it's the 8 scene version, model 2342-222, the remotelinc2 itself is marked as model no 2342-2 and the buttons are labeled with single letters a to h. In the screen shots below ISY itself says they're both 8 scene devices with the same model number. So I'm pretty sure it is the 8 scene version.  

[lilyoyo1]

Just now, joehuber said:

Do you still have the original Remotelinc2 device present that you're trying to Replace? Are the exclamation points on the old or new device, or both? Do you have to activate it in any way eg button press or place it in Linking mode before the Replace option becomes available?

I just bought it from SmartHome as an 8 button version, the included quickstart guide says it's the 8 scene version, model 2342-222, the remotelinc2 itself is marked as model no 2342-2 and the buttons are labeled with single letters a to h. In the screen shots below ISY itself says they're both 8 scene devices with the same model number. So I'm pretty sure it is the 8 scene version.  

 

[lilyoyo1]

Thanks for that. I just wanted to be certain. There are times when people have something different than what they realize.

 

What's your firmware and UI

[joehuber]

Interestingly I just noticed that the PRODUCT NAMES are different "Remotelinc2" vs "Mini Remote Keypad" in the screen shots above, even though the model numbers are identical..... I wonder if that's what's tripping up ISY in recognizing they are actually the same device type and would prevent it from displaying the Replace menuitem????

Firmware and UI are 4.7.3. Other details in the screenshot below.

[Techman]

The part number is the same so they should be interchangeable.

You really have only .two choices, Get your old remotelinc back, do a restore device on it, then a replace.

or, you can try to do a delete on the old remotelinc  which may or may not work without the unit in your possession.