Newbie Question

[Niccolo]

I just installed ISY-991 with the Elk M1 Gold platform. I have a Mac. The status of individual Insteon devices shown on ISY does not match the actual status -- ISY shows devices as "on" that are "off" and vice versa. Also, when I run a program through ISY, it does not light up the insteon buttons, the way they would light up if I did it manually through Insteon.

 

I am sure I am missing something basic here. Any suggestions.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Niccolo,

 

Let me start from the last question:

By buttons, if you mean KeypadLinc buttons, then you are correct but there's a workaround: to control KPL button lights, what you need to do is to put each in a scene as a responder and then control the scene. This causes the button backlight to respond according to the command sent to it.

 

For your first question, is this ALWAYS the case or only for some certain devices? If this is always the case, then I would suspect the PLM but it would be best if you called our tech support to help you troubleshoot.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

 

I just installed ISY-991 with the Elk M1 Gold platform. I have a Mac. The status of individual Insteon devices shown on ISY does not match the actual status -- ISY shows devices as "on" that are "off" and vice versa. Also, when I run a program through ISY, it does not light up the insteon buttons, the way they would light up if I did it manually through Insteon.

 

I am sure I am missing something basic here. Any suggestions.

[Niccolo]

Thanks, Michel.

 

The lights showing up as off when they are on are ones that came on as the result of a KPL scene. However, the KPL controlling the scene has not been loaded into ISY. I think I need o go back and load in all KPLs and all units and then link u the cenes as you suggested. Right?

 

Niccolo

[Brian H]

Yes the KPL has to be in the ISY setup.

[oberkc]

The mismatch between device and ISY was the subject of a long post I had started. It was a problem I experience on occasion and I came to understand (from all the responses) that this could happen as a result of communication problems. Apparently (and to my mild surprise), the ISY does not require confirmation before changing status....it assumes that an action intiated by ISY actually occured. Therefore, if the ISY sends out a command but the recieving module fails to respond for whatever reason, this may cause a mismatch in status. I understand that the nightly status query will generally get things back in sync, though.

 

It sounds like you have found the problem from the response of Brian H. If you have but a few devices so far, you may want to consider starting from scratch on the programming side. Perform a factory reset on all devices, then add all devices to the ISY, then do ALL programming from the ISY. Performing the reset would eliminate residual links and X-10 addresses, should they exist, and best ensure that your system stays in sync with itself.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello oberkc,

 

You are partly correct:

ISY does indeed require confirmation from devices if the command is directly addressed to the device.

 

For scenes, ISY looks for confirmation from the PLM. If the PLM acks with the fact that the command has been sent, then ISY predicts what the statuses of the members of the scenes should be.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Niccolo]

Thanks for the clarity, everyone.

 

Oberkc's suggestion about starting from scratch appeals to me. I have noticed that manual programs I had set up in Insteon don't work after I enter them into ISY and have to be re-entered. I have been wondering whether having two sources, if you will, of commands -- the ISY instructions and the manual instructions, leads to conflicts.

 

Is the procedure here to pull out the set pin on each device and return it to factory settings, enter each device, and then re-create the manual settings in ISY so that will be the sole source of commands? Is that more stable?

 

Thanks again.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Niccolo,

 

I'd like to make sure you understand that ISY actually creates all those manual links for you. So, at the end of the day, using ISY:

1. Helps recreate all those links you used to create manually

2. Maintains and manages the configuration and thus you can always revert to a known state

 

Please note that once you are done with the programming through ISY, even if you unplug ISY, all your programming continues to work as if you've done them manually. What ISY adds are:

1. The ability to control devices/scenes from programs

2. Remote Access

 

Now, getting back to your question, YES. What you have to do is:

1. Take the set button out on your devices and then push and hold them in for 10 seconds

2. Add them to ISY ensuring that you are using the FIRST option (remove existing links)

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

 

Thanks for the clarity, everyone.

 

Oberkc's suggestion about starting from scratch appeals to me. I have noticed that manual programs I had set up in Insteon don't work after I enter them into ISY and have to be re-entered. I have been wondering whether having two sources, if you will, of commands -- the ISY instructions and the manual instructions, leads to conflicts.

 

Is the procedure here to pull out the set pin on each device and return it to factory settings, enter each device, and then re-create the manual settings in ISY so that will be the sole source of commands? Is that more stable?

 

Thanks again.

[Niccolo]

Michel:

 

Thanks. So here is what I should do:

 

Delete all devices from ISY currently there.

Manually re-set every device (KPLs and Dimmer and Appliance Links) to factory with the set button.

Load each device into ISY with the first option.

 

With respect to re-creating what I had -- do I do them as scenes or programs? Not sure I understand the difference. If I want the keys to light up, I make the device a responder.

 

At the end of the process, I will be able to use the "All On" button, for example, to turn on all kitchen lights, as I do now. And I can also program that an an automatic event say at sunrise, but I can also do it manually whenever I want.

 

Sound right?

 

Thanks, again.

 

Niccolo

[MikeB]

With respect to re-creating what I had -- do I do them as scenes or programs? Not sure I understand the difference. If I want the keys to light up, I make the device a responder.

 

Use scenes whenever possible, since scenes are programmed directly into the devices. Because of this, scenes will operate more quickly than programs and are not reliant on the PLM or ISY.

 

Use programs for anything above and beyond what you can do with scenes. Timers, events, triggers, sophisticated logic, etc...

[Niccolo]

Thanks, Mike B.

[Niccolo]

I have a Kitchen KPL in 8-button mode, with seven buttons that I want to link to individual lights and an appliance and the eighth as an "All On." I have the Kitchen KPL and lights re-set and loaded, and I created a scene for the "All ON' button which is working fine. But how do I link the other individual KPL keys to individual lights? Are those separate scenes or is it done within the scene I created?

 

Thanks.

[Sub-Routine]

Hello Niccolo,

 

You would put all the other buttons in the "All ON" scene as responders.

 

Rand

 

I have a Kitchen KPL in 8-button mode, with seven buttons that I want to link to individual lights and an appliance and the eighth as an "All On." I have the Kitchen KPL and lights re-set and loaded, and I created a scene for the "All ON' button which is working fine. But how do I link the other individual KPL keys to individual lights? Are those separate scenes or is it done within the scene I created?

 

Thanks.

[Niccolo]

Rand:

 

Sorry for the badly worded question. Unless I am doing this wrong, your suggestion lights up the other buttons. But what I want them to do is independently control the other lights, which would mean that the keys would have to be controllers in a scene with the individual lights, correct?

 

Also, I keep getting "incomplete" messages when I try to add things to scenes -- any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Niccolo

[Sub-Routine]

Hi Niccolo,

 

Yes, each button should be a controller in a scene with the light you wish to control. If the lights are switches they should be in the scenes as controllers as well. You should have one scene in which each KPL button is a controller.

 

When you see the 'incomplete' message that means that the communications failed somewhere. If all the devices do not respond to the controllers then you should perform a Restore on those devices. Do you have any wireless devices in the scenes?

 

Rand

[Niccolo]

Thanks, that makes sense as to the scenes. But are you saying a device can be a controller and responder in the same scene? If so, how do you do that?

 

No wireless devices in the scenes. Just insteon dimmers, KPLs and Appliance-Links.

[Niccolo]

The program freezes up on restore and I have to use force quit to get out of it. I can't seem to get devices into scenes -- one incomplete after another. Any ideas?

[oberkc]

That is something I have not seen personally. I have had great luck simply dragging-and-dropping devices to scenes, or selecting multiple devices, right-click, add to scene. I cannot recall ever having this program freeze up.