I currently have an ISY994i running at a vacation home. Since it will be obsoleted this December I need to replace it with something else. In the past I would upgrade what runs at my main residence (currently running an EISY) and the vacation home would get the hand-me-down, but since the EISY is working perfectly I can't justify the $400 to update the vacation home ISY.

I only have 18 Insteon devices in the vacation home and two simple timer programs. It seems to me that the logical option is to dumb down to an Insteon Hub at the vacation house. Has anyone done this? Do I have to clear every device and start from scratch? I have seven multi-way groups - do I need to reset them all and then recreate them in the Insteon Hub or can I somehow just unlink the ISY and link the Hub?

If you switch over to the Insteon Hub you'll have to factory reset your devices and then install them in the Hub. Reason being that the devices contain the PLM and ISY link tables which are not compatible with the Hub. Keep in mind that the Hub has an annual subscription fee.

I do not believe the ISY994i will be obsolete in December. It has been no longer supported for years. Mine sill works fine and the java console should work just fine even when the non java console is available for the EISY.

5 minutes ago, Brian H said:

I do not believe the ISY994i will be obsolete in December. It has been no longer supported for years. Mine sill works fine and the java console should work just fine even when the non java console is available for the EISY.

I think he saw the announcement that support for Admin Console would end December 15. But it will continue working, especially for the ISY994i which hasn't been updated in several years.

31 minutes ago, Guy Lavoie said:

But it will continue working

I fear that this may not be true. It has already quit working for me (MacOS). If I remember correctly, this is the fate that awaits us all unless we keep a computer at some state in time that supports Java, and it may happen sooner than we expect..

Mac not supporting java is something outside UDI's control. Unless UDI withdraws the ability to download admin console, it will remain available. If they go that way, I'm sure we'll be warned.

I have an Insteon hub, but I rarely use it. I got it when the only way to get the MS2s to work the way you want was to configure them on the hub, then use them with ISY. I also once had it controlling an ApplianceLInc full time - can't remember why, but I think it had something to do with the difficulty the ISY had in linking to them at some point. I controlled it only via Google voice commands so I didn't care where the brains resided.

I've been paying the annual on the Insteon hub for the last 3 years or so despite its vestigial status. This is my hobby, so logic has nothing to do with it.

It's capable enough for what the OP wants to use it for. But it uses phone apps for configuration and control, which has its own obsolescence issue should Insteon the company implode again. Not to mention the servers. Can't remember if it functions without phoning home once set up. I'd look into that. Also, whether you can use it with, say, Home Assistant with local control. That could be the fallback plan.

I have a WinXP laptop and a Win8 Mac Mini for configuring various old pieces of hardware I still own and use. I can't be the only one here for whom that's true. If I were smarter I'd probably have virtual machines for these OSs on a single laptop, but I like the fact that the hardware (e.g. serial port, network adapter) is also of the correct vintage and real rather than virtual. Makes it more bulletproof. The 20 year old spinning disk platters, on the other hand...

I plan to make sure I have something that can run Java until I've run eisy_ui for a couple of years. Or longer, since I'll forget, or be too lazy to get rid of it, or come up with an excuse for holding on to it. Until a pile of my "I might still need that!" stuff falls on me and takes me out.

-Tom

Oh, and @mikewu99, let me know if there's a screen you'd like me to capture, a feature you'd like me to check out, or a test you'd like me to run. I might as well offer my services since I've paid the annual.

-Tom

I'm starting to think that a maybe setting up a headless Raspberry Pi running Java might preserve my ability to access the admin console, assuming that the code for the console will always be available on the ISY994i. Just keep everything frozen in time.

Thoughts?

@mikewu99 As @Guy Lavoie and @Brian H point out as long as Java works the "old" admin console should remain a viable option for ISY994 users. I believe it states that in the news on UD's site, but I haven't read it in a while to confirm. The issue is the computer OS will be the problem. Apple has already dropped support for Java (I guess....or at least mostly). It's broken as @oberkc points out. I believe the release also implies that Win11 will eventually stop running the Java needed to launch admin console.

So your thought of having an alternative way to run Java as it is today to maintain the admin console access might be the best route (certainly the less trouble from starting all over with the hub and adding an annual subscription for that).

I think somebody said to get a Win10 machine and just keep it offline and not updating just to have it maintain admin console. I think if you've got enough experience to run a Raspberry Pi you've probably got the ability to keep Java available for a while.

I am using Windows 10 on a laptop.

I have a 10yo desktop computer that I've used Admin Console on for 10 years - first with an ISY994i and now an Eisy. Several months ago I upgraded it to Windows 11 using a Rufus Installer utility (since Microsoft blocked me from upgrading normally). Now I can no longer install Java, as I get a Windows 1603 error. Oracle says its a known error but evidently they don't care as that was posted years ago. I have tried for hours with no luck... deleting old Java files, removing remnants from the registry, every internet tip I can find. I've pretty much given up.

I have a 1yo Windows 11 laptop and Java and Admin Console work fine.

So I would recommend against upgrading from Win10 to Win11. YMMV

If they get EISY-UI stabilized I may start using that instead of Admin Console. We'll see.