Initial ISY-99i-PRO Setup

[Buzzhazz]

I posted a thread on the SmartHome forum earlier today, but no real solutions presented yet. I have had a pretty reliable X-10 network for about six years but several switches have mechanically failed so I am trying to upgrade with Insteon. Anyway, I will post portions of the thread here in the hopes that someone here can help me out.

 

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Hi all

 

Setting up my Christmas present today and having some issues. I have only installed one Insteon dimmer so far, but I have successfully installed two access points and the ISY-99iPRO.

 

So on the initial setup, I could not see the "My Lighting" icon in My Network Places. I appear to have UPnP devices enabled already because the option I have in the left hand pain is "Hide icons for networked UPnP devices" (Implication--they are already showing??). So, I used the UDI hosted version of the Admin Console on the Universal Devices site to find the ISY and then changed its IP address to a static IP address which I can now easily access directly from my browser. So far, so good.

 

Next, I used the configuration tab to set up my location. Then I used the "Link Management" tab and "Start Linking" to link the single dimmer I have hooked up, but nothing happened by the time the dimmer exited Link mode. I tried that several times before attempting to manually add the dimmer using it's address. That appeared to start working but after about 5% on the progress bar, I got a "Failed getting engine version" message. The event log shows:

 

2009/12/28 12:57:49 : ---- Initializing the linked devices ----

 

2009/12/28 12:57:49 : ---- All Linked Devices are now initialized ----

 

2009/12/28 12:57:49 : ---- Add remaining devices ----

 

2009/12/28 12:57:49 : [ E 58 77 1] Removing all links

 

2009/12/28 12:58:11 : [] Failed getting engine version. Reverting to i1.

 

2009/12/28 12:58:33 : [ E 58 77 1] ** Not added ** Remove Device Links failed

 

2009/12/28 12:58:33 : ---- All Remaining Device Added ----

 

That's where I am at. Awaiting advice from the experienced, and thanks in advance.

 

 

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Thanks for the replies. I will post on the other forum as well. I wired my entire house six years ago so am intimately familiar with what's on what circuit. I plugged the two access points into circuits on opposite legs and verified the correct LED sequence as described in the quick start guide, so I am confident the AP are ok.

 

I do have some experience with powerline devices. I have a couple dozen of the older (six-year old) X-10 SwitchLincs that have a nasty habit of failing because of a variety of issues mostly related to the cheap buttons behind the toggles. I have a pretty reliable X-10 network despite the mechanical weakness of the switches and have a Leviton X-10 coupler hardwired between the two phases.

 

Enough of my switches have begun to fail that I decided to "upgrade" to Insteon and give SmartHome a second chance on the quality of the switches.

 

So in short, I do have a houseful of X-10 devices that are reliable but the ISY Controller for some reason can't see the SwitchLinc dimmer. My next step is to hook up another switch somewhere and try again. I have already tried to move the access points and PLM around to no avail.

 

I WAS successful at plugging in a LampLinc which the ISY controller found very quickly. I am wondering if it's a SwitchLinc dimmer issue. I will try removing that LampLinc and plugging it in at various places around the house to see if there are any cases where I can't find it.

 

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I am starting to get a little frustrated and confused right now. I switched out the SwitchLinc Dimmer with an Icon Dimmer and have experimented with adding and deleting that device to the ISY controller. Often, but not always, it will find it automatically but reports it as an "Unsupported Device." If I manually add it and tell it that it is an Icon dimmer, it has always found it but is reporting version 0.0. Oddly, the Icon is supposed to have a fixed ramp rate of 2.5 seconds, but the ISY provides me a slider to adjust it. More oddly whatever I set, the dimmer takes about 15 seconds to ramp on or off. Weird.

 

I supposed I should move this whole discussion over to the Universal Devices forum, but I thought I'd post one more time here.

 

After having a fairly reliable X10 system, I did not anticipate these kind of problems.

[MikeB]

Hi -

 

Someone with more X10 experience will probably chime in, but since you have a house full of X10 devices I wonder if you might have anything interfering with your INSTEON communications. Some X10 amplifier devices can cause problems, such as BoosterLincs - and perhaps your Leviton X10 coupler if it is also an amplifier.

 

Regarding your device issue - some of the latest Smarthome devices are only supported with our latest firmware, which is currently in alpha testing (but stable at the moment). If you'd like to try our latest alpha firmware 2.7.7, please email a request to support@universal-devices.com and we will respond with instructions.

[Buzzhazz]

Hi Mike,

 

I saw your reply on the SmartHome forum as well. The BoosterLinc may have been the problem. I do believe my X-10 phase coupler is also an amplifier, so will have to play with that if I continue to have problems.

 

This morning, I did have one additional issue. The ISY would not communicate with the SwitchLinc. I deleted the SwitchLinc and used the Start Linking function and it immediately found the SwitchLinc and the it started working. Not sure what to make of that.

 

Other than the two access points, I only have one LampLinc and one SwitchLinc installed. I'll add additional Insteon devices over the next few days which may help as well.

 

Thanks for your help with the forum access yesterday. The verifcation email did eventually come in--about seven hours later thugh it was sent immediately.