A Good overall App for iPad or Android

[Chrislef]

Wow, amazing info.

I do Not have a Pi, so must Buy one.  I have to investigate the best deals online next!!!

Is it fair to say, Anything the ISY is controlling, will also be controllable by HA after the HA to UD ISY Integration?   I ask because I have numerous X10 devices, and not much is left that works with them, besides the ISY994 in on and off mode (Does not seem to dim or brighten through the ISY).

I have just discovered the UD Mobile app requires iOS 14 and greater, but my old, Wall mounted iPad is running iOS 10, no later version is supported...

[MrBill]

5 minutes ago, Chrislef said:

I do Not have a Pi, so must Buy one.  I have to investigate the best deals online next!!!

I purchased the 4gb version of this kit. Although when I ordered it was $104 and the 8gb model wasn't just $20 higher.  I'd likely order the 8gb kit given current pricing.  

I've also since ordered but not yet migrated to a SanDisk Extreme SD card with an A2 rating.  It's sitting waiting for the day the original SD card fails.  The Samsung card included in that kit does not have an A2 rating, which is the new must have for SD cards used as disks.

There is alot of noise online about not running HA on an SD card... many think they just fail and you must have an SSD instead. Well mines been running fine for 18 months on the original Samsung card.  There's a Home Assistant add-on you can install that will backup daily and manage the backups on google drive, keeping however many days you want.  So even if my SD card fails it won't take me long to have it back up and running from the backup.

[Chrislef]

Thanks for the link as it gives a good idea of the starting blocks.  I am looking at this one (in Canadian $) and they only have the 4G in stock.  Must double check the SD card but it is a SanDisk Class 10...  :  https://elmwoodelectronics.ca/collections/raspberry-pi/products/raspberry-pi-4-4gb-kit

[MrBill]

11 minutes ago, Chrislef said:

SanDisk Class 10

Class 10 used to the rating to look for... now it's the newer Application Performance Class A1 or A2 (which will also have a class 10 rating), A2 requires hardware support (which Pi4 does provide) A1 does not.

https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/application-performance-class/

 

[Chrislef]

OK, PI 4B ordered.  I look forward to setting this HA up with it, as all of you have recommended!

Q: About the Temperature display - Javi and MrBill, you both have temperature displayed...  Do you have to create some routine or something, or it is much simpler?

I have 2 notion sensing devices that also report temperature and Lux(light intensity).  I see them displaying the info in the UD Console on PC

[MrBill]

43 minutes ago, Chrislef said:

you both have temperature displayed...  Do you have to create some routine or something, or it is much simpler?

Mine are temps from two nodeservers... wirelesstags and MeteobridgeAuth.   I don't have those nodes exposed to HA itself, because it adds alot of other values that I don't need HA to know about.  So instead I use ISY programs to store the values in integer variables each time they change..  those variables are marked for for export to HA.  Bottom line anytime they change they get updated because they changed.

I'll let @Javi explain the UD Mobile answer, which is a more direct route. I have and use UD mobile for things I don't have previously configured in HA, I don't use it enough to explain in detail tho.

[Michel Kohanim]

On 11/22/2021 at 9:45 AM, Geddy said:

As far as I know it's not expected to be a part of the UD Mobile to be able to generate programs like you would with Admin Console.

This is not true. Most functions on the Admin Console are being ported to UD Mobile. 

With kind regards,
Michel

[Chrislef]

Is there a good starting point to learn and understand about node servers.  One definitive place that spells it all out, or a solid beginners guide?

 

[MrBill]

2 hours ago, Chrislef said:

Is there a good starting point to learn and understand about node servers.  One definitive place that spells it all out, or a solid beginners guide?

I don't know of one, someone else might.  The basic concept is this:  Your Device tree currently consists of nodes that are mostly contained within the ISY for Insteon Devices, Z-wave Devices, and scenes. 

Node servers allow you to add other types of nodes, for example temperatures, garage door operators, Sprinkler zones, thermostats etc.   If your ISY is on version 5.x and you have a portal subscription you have access to the Polyglot Cloud Nodeservers. so you can try a few out to get the hang of it.   Log into your portal account at https://my.isy.io  and look for the Open Polyglot tab in the far upper right corner of the page.  That will open a new window and you can click Store to see the nodeservers offered in the cloud.  Click the name of the nodeserver for more info.   Try out a few.  If the admin console is open when you install a nodeserver you MUST close it and reopen it before the node or nodes will appear.

There are also a much greater list of nodeservers that will only run locally.  The polyglot 2 store can be viewed here:  https://polyglot.universal-devices.com/ but those need to be installed on local hardware.  Polyglot2 can be run on a Raspberry Pi or UDI's Polisy.  Polyglot 2 however is about to start to be phased out as Polyglot 3 is about to be released.  Polyglot 3 will ONLY run on UDI's Polisy hardware (no more raspberry pi support).   Polisy is also soon to run ISY software, meaning that the 994 hardware will be getting phased out as well.  (don't panic the 994 is solid and will be supported for a very long time)... but if your reading along, the future of the ISY is Polisy which will run both the local nodeservers AND the ISY software all in the same box.

Why are some nodeservers cloud, local or offered both places?  The Cloud versions can't directly access hardware on your local network (other than the ISY via portal) these are mostly nodservers that log into or obtain there information from other cloud sources.  Local nodeservers (Polisy) can talk to other hardware on your local network directly.  Some nodeservers can work either place.  

For best experience with nodeservers make sure your ISY is upgraded the v5.3.4 (or 5.0.16C if you have a 300 Series z-wave board) before you start.  (More details available for this sentence if asked.)

[Chrislef]

Thanks.  OK, I am there.  I'll try loading something to see.  Great info, thanks!

Yes, I hope my ISY994 ZW Pro lasts a long time as I just got it a year ago, and it is also controlling my numerous legacy X10 devices!!!

 

[Chrislef]

NodeServers...  Well I suppose I am learning the hard way.  I have chosen 2 different ones that apparently require a business account, Aeris Weather, and ClimaCell...  So they don't work.

RASPBERRY PI - Received it Today
R-PI 4B - 4GB ram and a 16gb micro SD, BUT I await a 64GB, Sandisk EXTREME A2, tomorrow...  

Questions:  Can I begin setting it up on the initial, installed SD card, then when the new one arrives, Simply COPY it, in windows?  OR Must I Reflash it with the Home Assistant, basically starting over?

And, as silly as it may sound, what should I setup first - HA to UD ISY Integration?  Or that is automatic as they will find eachother?

[MrBill]

15 hours ago, Chrislef said:

Questions:  Can I begin setting it up on the initial, installed SD card, then when the new one arrives, Simply COPY it, in windows?  OR Must I Reflash it with the Home Assistant, basically starting over?

I ended up starting over after about 2days... that is I learned, made mistakes, learned somemore, then when I had a better idea what was going on, I used balena etcher again to start with a fresh clean image.

15 hours ago, Chrislef said:

And, as silly as it may sound, what should I setup first - HA to UD ISY Integration?  Or that is automatic as they will find eachother?

It should find the ISY when you start it up.  You;ll need to configure it tho. Configureation > Integrations.

If the ISY is not found click Add Integration in the lower left and type "ISY" on the search line...

[Chrislef]

I discovered the app on my iPhone had crashed right after it said, Initial Setup, this could take 20 minutes"...  I finally tried again on iPad and discovered the other was crashed, and Not busily setting up a bunch of stuff!

I found ISY, it has access and can control the devices as well, which ISY controls...

Now is seems crashed on my iPad.  I closed the app last night, reopened this morning, and just shows blue screen and a settings sprocket bottom left. After a few tries, it is working again...  not sure why, but it is an iPad from 2012, so perhaps slow...

Seems to be working on iPhone.

I am debating making a backup, then restoring it on the new "A2" card I get today, vs. just flashing the new card and doing everything fresh.

[MrBill]

For the app issues, set an IP reservation on your router so that HA always gets the same IP address.  I used to have problems with the iPhone app but don't so much anymore, I think that is the difference.

3 minutes ago, Chrislef said:

I am debating making a backup, then restoring it on the new "A2" card I get today, vs. just flashing the new card and doing everything fresh.

Be sure to install the Google Drive Backup Add-on, It just works...

 

 

[Chrislef]

Yes, Static IP was the first thing I did.

OK, I'll get that Google app, THANKS!