Can Set Up Icon swtich as multilink

[swbrains]

I added two new Icons today. One directly controls a lamp load. The other is the 3-way slave that will link to the first one so I can control the lamp from two locations. The master (controlling the load) works fine and is in the ISY software.

 

The slave Icon switch can be detected when I use the software to detect it by pressing it's Set button, but it can't be linked to the first using a scene to make a 3-way setup. After adding it to the scene, the software does a bunch of writes when updating and then reports a -20000 failure error.

 

I can query the device succuessfully in on and off states.

 

I have a phase coupler on the system and all other switches work properly.

 

FWIW: If I use the manual-linking mode (using Set buttons on each switch to cross-link them -- not the software -- I can successfully link them as a three-way circuit.

 

Any ideas?

[oberkc]

"Phase Coupler"? Please say which one. If you are using certain X-10 couplers, this may be a problem.

 

The only difference between manually linking the two or three devices and doing it through the ISY, is that the scene created includes the ISY. This may indicate communication problems between one or more devices and the PLM. Do you have your PLM plugged into an outlet or circuit with lots of other stuff, such as computers, power supplies, UPS, surge suppressor, etc...

 

Another possibility....it sounds like you manually created some links already before creating a scene through the ISY. Is this true? If so, I suggest removing them first. Since you are talking only of three devices total, it may be easiest to remove the devices from the ISY, perform a factory reset on all, re-adding them to the ISY, then creating a scene through the ISY. I cannot help but wonder if the existing links are causing a problem.

[swbrains]

Here's the phase coupler:

http://www.smarthome.com/4816A2/SignaLi ... ler/p.aspx

 

It's no longer for available (which seems a shame because they still sell the 3-wire version), but it says it can be used for Insteon and X10 and for the past 6 months has worked great to solve some initial miscommunications I had with a couple of linked switches.

 

Initially I did all the linking by creating a scene in the software and adding both switches as controllers to that scene. I didn't do any manual links on these two switches prior to adding them. I only did the manual set-button linking later after it failed to see if it was a software issue or if the switches simply could not be linked. They linked manually the first time I tried, so then I knew the hardware was good and I had to start looking at the software config.

 

I actually ended up getting this working by ultimately removing the slave Icon switch from the software, then doing manual linking at the switches using their set buttons, then adding it back into the software with the option to preserve eixsting links. The software created its own scene this time (whereas I created a scene and dropped both switches into it the first time which worked for other 3-way linkings around the house but failed here), and this time it brought the switches in but showed the slave as a responded not a controller in the scene). I removed the slave from the scene, re-added it as a controller and now it seems to work.

 

No idea what the ultimate reason for the issue was, but with manual linking it seems to be better. I have set up other icons in 3-way setups through the software prior to this and they've always worked, so that's why I was surprised when this one gave me such problems. Although, I think all the others did have their original working cross-links already. I can't remember if I added them with the option to preserve links but I don't think I did. I thought tonight was the first time I tried that option during the adding of devices.

 

Regardless, once it started working I quickly backed up the ISY configuration!

[oberkc]

It is good to hear you have your problem solved. That was a creative solution. I will make a note of it, in case I ever need it.

 

I would still be curious why you can't add that one device to a scene. I can't help but suspect this problem could continue to show up in mysterious ways.

 

On the other hand, I have learned to let sleeping dogs lie, and enjoy a functioning system.