ISY Admin Console not controling scenes

[Tinkering]

Hi, New here,

I have been using Insteon for a couple years to a limited extent. I have been using the 2242-222 hub which has stopped responding. I just purchased an ISY-994i as a replacement. I started from scratch installing all my existing devices, with a lot of walking back and forth to devices, and started to reconstruct the scenes. After I set up a couple scenes I tried to check them by using the Admin console to turn them on and off but they did not respond to the commands from the console. I tried all the buttons and no response, the status in the scenes screen showed them at 100% and off corresponding to the command but no change of state of the lights. I selected  each individual device from the device menu and i could control them fine, on, off, dim worked fine. I tried deleting the scenes and er-creating them several times following the instructions in the "cookbook" with no success, the lights respond fine when controlled individually from the device screen but not from the scenes screen.

I run Firefox and did have issues with getting the Admin console running what with finding java no longer usable in Firefox so I used EI after getting Java installed in that. I am launching the console using the "ISY Launcher" icon, not sure exactly how it ended up on my desktop but you push enough buttons and magic happens. I also tried the "Dashboard" but same results.

I am hoping to expand and build on my home automation and the ISY seemed like a better choice with more flexibility but the documentation I have found is definitely not "ISY for dummies" material.

I have tried searching for but so far have not had any success.Has anyone experienced this have any ideas or solutions as ti what may be wrong? I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

[Michel Kohanim]

@Tinkering,

A few things to note:

1. You cannot turn on/off the keypad buttons. They must be in scenes
2. You cannot expect controlling a controller WITHIN a scene will turn on/off all the responders in the scene. You must turn on/off the scene itself from the Admin Console. From the buttons themselves, they should work
3. If you want devices to respond to each other, they must all be controllers in the same scene

With kind regards,
Michel

[Tinkering]

Thank you for responding Michel,

To clarify, The first scene I made is a duplicate of what I had programed into the Insteon hub and has two plug-in dimmer modules, one each for the two lamps on ether side of the couch. They are linked to two buttons of an 8 button keypad which turns both modules on/off/dim together locally at the couch. The two modules are also grouped together in a scene I called "couch lights". These two modules are the only devices in the scene, the 8 button keypad is not part of the scene. When using the 2242-222 Insteon hub, the scene was controlled by the programing of the hub and functioned correctly turning the modules on and off at set times according to the program. They could also be controlled by the 8 button keypad as well as the Insteon app on my tablet. I had several other scenes with various devices including plug-in modules, switches, dimmers, etc. which I hope to duplicate and expand with the advanced features of the ISY as well as add some z-wave devices as i learn. I purchased the ISY-994i / IR / ZW pro.

Currently, after I created the scene with the two plug-in dimmer modules in the ISY Admin console I found that i could not control the two modules from the on, off, dim, bright, fade, etc. buttons in the scenes screen of the Admin console nor did a program to turn on and off the scene I made as a test; however if I chose the modules individually from the device screen in Admin console I had full control of each module. I could also control both modules together from the 8 button keypad.

So I can understand your reply:

"1. You cannot turn on/off the keypad buttons. They must be in scenes".    Does this mean that with the ISY I will need to include the 8 button keypad in the Scene? If so, can you point me to some online guide so i can learn how? What about the scenes that do not have Keypads?

"2. You cannot expect controlling a controller WITHIN a scene will turn on/off all the responders in the scene. You must turn on/off the scene itself from the Admin Console. From the buttons themselves, they should work".    Both modules were made responders when creating the scene. When I was deleting and recreating the scenes I tried choosing controller during setup but the program did not seam to like it.

"3. If you want devices to respond to each other, they must all be controllers in the same scene".      As I said above, I did try to set the plug in modules as controllers as i was trying to figure what I was doing wrong, however the program did not seam to want to let me.

My goal, if possible with ISY, is to have the above described scene controlled through programing to cover various scenarios, as well as with the 8 button keypad and in the future through an app on a tablet or phone for manual control. This would also apply to other scenes that are running through my currently scrambled brain.

Again, thank you for responding. Any wisdom and guidance is greatly appreciated. With three days in and continuing my searches through the Wiki and Cookbook and anything else I can find I am beginning to believe my testing of the ISY waters with both feet is going to prove a long and arduous, albeit educational, adventure; as well as a growing concern as to whether I am aiding and abetting Skynet.

 

 

 

[Michel Kohanim]

@Tinkering,

My pleasure and thank you for the details. Rather than answering your questions, I am going to give you the full solution + links to videos | tutorials for scene management. I am sure you will get it.

Remove all your buttons and plugin modules from all scenes you have created. All you need is ONE scene wherein:
1. Keypad1 button is a controller
2. Keypad2 button is a controller
3. Plugin1 module is a controller (you can turn on/off the plugin at the plugin)
4. Plugin2 module is a controller 

This way, no matter from which device you turn on/off the modules, all of them follow each other. This means that if you turn on/off each of the aforementioned, all others will show you the same status. If you do NOT want controlling the modules locally update the KPLs or the other module, then you make 3 and 4 RESPONDER instead of controller. 

More resources for scenes:

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:How-To_Guide#Scenes 

With kind regards,
Michel

[noobmuch]

Hi,

I've set several scenes in my house for 3 way switches without issue. I just installed a 4 way (3 switches) to control lights on stairs.  I can not get the other 2 switches to work as controllers in the scene. I have had them both be controllers for the switch that has the load and this hasn't worked and I've had all three switches in the scene be controllers. This also has not worked.even to the extent of adjusting the remote switches in the admin console. The admin console sees the remote switches and adjusts the levels on the scenes, writes updates etc, but does not turn the light on or off. I did watch the video as well. 

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Here is a pic of the event log for events and coms

 

Thanks,

Rick

 

[larryllix]

You may have dropped a link to a switch. Try doing an admin console  Restore on each switch and retest.

[noobmuch]

Thanks Larry,

trying this now.

[noobmuch]

uh, the apply changes to all devices box was not selected.?

[Tinkering]

Thank you again Michel,

I red your reply and watched the video and attempted to link the remote as shown in the video. I deleted the scene and the programs I was using to test with. I then attempted to link using Link Management--Start Linking and putting the remote into linking mode and the Linking in Progress and Linking progress boxes came up. I waited until the progress bar competed and pushed the Finish button but the device did not show up in the device list. I  tried this several times with no success. I then tried using Link Management--Install new Insteon Device, entered the address of the remote and gave it a name and chose remove existing links and chose OK. The Linking popup and status bar came up and showed the address showed up in the linking box. after about 10 - 15 seconds another box came up which said " The following devices could not be added: 1C.5C.A8   - Cannot determine Insteon Engine". I tried this several times as well. I'm not  sure if my device is too old or what the problem is.

One thing I did note in watching the video and reading through the links yo sent is a difference in certain screens shown and what I see on the Admin Console screen I have and the pictures on the documentation of the device is different than what buttons look like on my device; i assume due to changing design and upgrades. I checked the model and version numbers and this is what i have: ISY 994i/IR  Zw PRO  ver. v.5.0.15A     Device:  Mini Remote   Model: 2342-2   v1.4   1319.

When I was recreating everything back I created the scene with the two plug in modules and tested the scene. i was able to control the scene by the Admin console and a test program, turning the lights on/off, dim, fade, at programed times. I then followed the Mini Remote device instructions and linked the two modules to the top button of the remote. That allowed me full control of the lights using the remote button as well. While this allows me the control of the lights both through programing and locally at the couch, this seams to be a sideways way of  doing it because I noticed the downside of this is the ISY cannot keep track of  the status of the modules when they have been control by the remote. The status remains how it was last left by ISY control regardless of the actual state of modules unless they are specifically queried . This may prove a problem down the road, not sure tho.

Is the Mini Remote not compatible with ISY or is the model or firmware too old? If so, do you know if the firmware of the device can be manually updated?

Thanks again for your help, patience, perseverance and dedication to the power of the machine. ?

[Michel Kohanim]

@Tinkering,

My pleasure. If you are still having problems, please contact our tech support.

With kind regards,
Michel