Can FanLinc LEDs be enabled/disabled via a program?

[Wes Westhaver]

I would like to enable/disable the two LEDs on my FanLincs. This can be done via the "Options" button which takes you to the "Device Options" dialog and then you can check/uncheck the "LED Backlight" option.

But I want to do this from a program and I don't see any way to accomplish this. It's obviously doable via the options dialog so how can I do this from a program?

-Wes

PS. I can accomplish this on my KeypadLincs via a program so I'm wondering why this isn't available with a FanLinc?

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by Wes Westhaver

[kzboray]

@Wes Westhaver If you are referring to the two overly bright red LED's on the fanlinc unit itself I don't believe there is control of those available via the fanlinc's firmware, so UDI can't expose a non-existent function in the GUI. I personally just put some black electrical tape over them once I'm done configuring the fanlinc's.

[Wes Westhaver]

6 minutes ago, kzboray said:

@Wes Westhaver If you are referring to the two overly bright red LED's on the fanlinc unit itself I don't believe there is control of those available via the fanlinc's firmware, so UDI can't expose a non-existent function in the GUI. I personally just put some black electrical tape over them once I'm done configuring the fanlinc's.

I have tested it and it appears that they can be enabled/disabled (though not individually.) So I find it odd that this is not made available to programs.

-Wes

PS. I don't want to change their color (red/green) or their brightness or control them individually, just enable or disable them as is possible via the ISY options dialog.

Edited April 6, 2022 by Wes Westhaver

[MrBill]

@Wes Westhaver As far as I know options settable from the "Options" button have never been able to be controlled via programs.   Backlights are generally controllable via programs, however they aren't included under the options button.  I have a few fanlincs but have never noticed the LEDs because they are buried in the ceiling canopy, and apparently I have a good seal because I've never noted light leakage.

[lilyoyo1]

55 minutes ago, MrBill said:

@Wes Westhaver As far as I know options settable from the "Options" button have never been able to be controlled via programs.   Backlights are generally controllable via programs, however they aren't included under the options button.  I have a few fanlincs but have never noticed the LEDs because they are buried in the ceiling canopy, and apparently I have a good seal because I've never noted light leakage.

I'm with you on this one. Never saw a need to worry about the LEDs when I used them. Especially enough to need to turn them on and off via a program. 

Insteon probably felt the same way which is probably why it's not an exposed parameter like that 

Edited April 6, 2022 by lilyoyo1

[Wes Westhaver]

41 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Insteon probably felt the same way which is probably why it's not an exposed parameter like that 

Clearly the option exists to enable/disable the LEDs. Why then can it not be toggled via a program?

You may not see the utility in having this option but I do, otherwise I would not have asked. So I hope a definitive answer will be forthcoming from UD's engineers.

I took a look at the communications in the diagnostics dialog and it's pretty clear that to toggle this option a very minor amount of bit twiddling is required:

http://www.westhaver.com/isy_event_viewer_led_backlight_toggle1.png

http://www.westhaver.com/isy_event_viewer_led_backlight_toggle2.png

Is there any mechanism provided in ISY to generate custom communication transactions for situations where ISY does not provide an interface?

-Wes

[MrBill]

There is no dispute that the ISY could make this available via programming, however as I said before there never has been a case that I can think of where the options under the "Options" button of a device have been available for use in programs.  There are many things about Insteon that we all wish worked differently, for example I wish UDI had exposed the little known and barely documented option to uncouple the load from button A of a keypad, but that doesn't exist in the ISY world and I doubt that it will ever be added.

As for whether UDI will ever incorporate the ability to control the LEDs on a fan controller in a program I also doubt that it will happen.  Why?  Because one user in 10+ years has wanted it.  Further even if a few more users said "yes that would be useful to me" there still is not and never will be mass demand.   Secondarily, UDI has stated they will not be developing anything new or supporting any new Insteon devices unless Smartlabs provides API documentation.  Essentially short of bug fixes UDI has frozen the Insteon section of the code.

15 hours ago, Wes Westhaver said:

So I hope a definitive answer will be forthcoming from UD's engineers.

If you want a definitive answer from UDI's engineers you'll likely need to open a ticket, support@universal-devices.com

While UDI does participate in the forum, they seems to choose threads that affect many to participate in, and they don't participate in every thread (and I'd even go as far as saying they avoid participating in threads, like this one, with one off requests).

[stillwater]

Interesting.  I would have wanted the ability to separate the load from button A on a KPL. 

  Theoretically if the LEDs became programmable and if one wanted to hack the FanLinc one could substitute a suitable opto-coupler for the LEDs and gain two more ISY controllable outputs from the Fanlinc. 

Also theoretically, could one write a Node server that would communicate appropriately with the PLM to provide functionality such as these elements that UDI has not included in the Insteon code in the ISY?

[MrBill]

41 minutes ago, stillwater said:

Interesting.  I would have wanted the ability to separate the load from button A on a KPL. 

Even more so now with the proliferation of smart bulbs that change color or color temp.....

it's likely possible to implement a node server for the fanlinc request.  Separating button A created another problem tho, when it's separated the switch gains a node to 9 (or 6, in the case of the 6-button which normally has 5 nodes).

[Wes Westhaver]

On 4/6/2022 at 6:36 PM, Wes Westhaver said:

Is there any mechanism provided in ISY to generate custom communication transactions for situations where ISY does not provide an interface?

OK, so i seems that 'm voted down in my request. But I'd still like to know the answer to my second question. In most programming languages if an OS feature is not exposed through a built-in language command or function you can usually reach the feature via a direct OS call. So is there a way provided by the ISY to address Insteon functionality that is not exposed by a built-in ISY interface?

[Geddy]

2 hours ago, Wes Westhaver said:

But I'd still like to know the answer to my second question.

I'd suggest opening a ticket with Universal Devices for both questions. They're the only ones that could answer correctly and/or give guidance to achieve desired goal if possible. 

 

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