General ISY Questions...

[CPUjohn]

I am relatively new to ISY99 usage and have several questions. I originally had HouseLinc 1.1 and found it great but a little glitchy, and when I started buying new modules, it wouldn't recognize them correctly, so I purchased the ISY99 kit (with PLM & Power Supply) to get around those limitations and to be able to access via Internet-Phone.

 

My network consists of 3-2330 Controllers, 2-2420 Motion Sensors, 18 Lamp/Appliance/SwitchLinc responders, and 1 Keypadlinc. and 1 RemoteLinc controller.

I have completely re-built my Insteon network using the ISY99 removing all links, and building them with 13 scenes that often repeat across a devices.

 

I have written 10 programs to control everything from outside motion sensors with strict criteria as to when lights activate, or can be bypassed, to seasonal display rules, to pairing multiple responders when one device is turned on, so I am fairly adept at understanding overall network function (and I am a Smarthome dealer, so I am quite familiar with many of their products). I updated my ISY99i (1020) to version 3.1.10. I have also configured it for access from outside my network using a browser or smart-phone.

 

But there are a few things I cannot figure out:

 

When I open my ISY99 Admin Console, and sign in, why does every single device default to a ramp rate of 9 minutes and all my devices have a 0(zero) ON Level (Applied Locally), and I cannot change/save that ?

 

When I open Config, Email Notifications, I cannot get the controller to recognize my Email Server (my server does not respond to EHLO commands, only HELO). It is an older EMWAC IMS Mail System (generic POP3/SMTP server). Is there a way to bypass this protocol ? I was finally able to send messages through smtp.comcast.net, so I can get notifications of low-battery on my motion detectors.

 

Why does the ISY99 Admin Console try to constantly write to battery controlled devices (2420M & 2440) that have to be put in "communication mode" to be able to be conversed with ?

 

Once I have linked two responders (Switchlink 2476D's) to a scene, and I want to make them paired controllers, is this not allowed ? Is there a way to make a responder also a controller (I am currently doing this with two programs but that seems a bit tedious, and I cannot adjust brightness levels from the wall-switch and have it update the other switch either).

 

When I highlight Network or the Main Folder and ISY lists all the devices, why does nothing happen when I hit the "Query" button ? I cannot get an updated state of devices.

 

 

I look forward to hearing comments on how to get some of these things I am doing working correctly !

[LeeG]

CPUjohn

 

Some information.

 

The lack of current device status is almost always a router/firewall/AV issue. The ISY pushes device status to the Admin Console which can be blocked by the above. Also likely the cause of the 9 minute ramp rate and 0 On Level as both of these are zero values which have probably not been pushed out from the ISY to the Admin Console. The Wiki describes how to configure the various components. Kaspersky is well known for blocking the push of data if not configured and the latest Avast update has caused problems. There are a number of posts which detail how to work around the Avast problem. This topic viewtopic.php?f=27&t=6908&hilit=avast toward the bottom has a good description of the Avast solution.

 

A device can be added to a Scene as a Responder or a Controller. Once added as a Responder it has to be deleted from the Scene and added back as a Controller. Note that the ISY assumes a device to be a Responder to the Scene when added as a Controller (assuming the device has responder capability).

 

Since battery devices sleep it is often a problem when the ISY wants to update the device. The update will be queued and retried. Put the battery device into linking mode, right click on the node in the My Lighting tree and select Write Updates to Device. That should clear any pending writes for the device.

 

Lee

[apostolakisl]

As LeeG says, you probably have antivirus issues blocking the Java console from freely communicating. If you can shut your antivirus software off then I would do so, at least as a test. You should find that most of your problems go away. Personally, I just use microsofts antivirus software and it hasn't caused any troubles, plus it is free. I do occasionally get a warning that it thinks something is fishy, but I just click "allow" and all is fine.

[CPUjohn]

I am running FPROT on my XP Laptop and Avast on my Windows 7 desktop, and I get very different results in running the ISY Admin console on both computers. I notice on my XP Laptop, I get popup boxes that show a script running whenever I make changes, and this does not happen on my Windows 7 desktop. I also disabled Malwarebytes, and it seems to work better.

 

I suspect that something is being blocked, but haven't figured out what and from what. I am getting intermittent results when opening the Admin console, sometimes it performs a query correctly, sometimes not.

 

Is there particular ports that need to be forwarded to the ISY99 ? I have forwarded Port 80 on my router to my ISY99 for outside web access (public to private changed to lessen hacking). I can access the ISY99 from my smartphone or external browsers as well. What needs to be set as an exception to let the ISY99 console run unobstructed ?

 

Thank you for letting me know to setup devices I had as Responders as Controllers, to let them act like 3 way lights ! I could not figure out how to make them work like they did when manually linked before.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello CPUjohn,

 

Comments below.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

I am running FPROT on my XP Laptop and Avast on my Windows 7 desktop, and I get very different results in running the ISY Admin console on both computers. I notice on my XP Laptop, I get popup boxes that show a script running whenever I make changes, and this does not happen on my Windows 7 desktop. I also disabled Malwarebytes, and it seems to work better.

I do not know what FPROT is but is it possible to send a screenshot of the dialogs you are getting on your XP to support@universal-devices.com?

 

I suspect that something is being blocked, but haven't figured out what and from what. I am getting intermittent results when opening the Admin console, sometimes it performs a query correctly, sometimes not.

I think it's best for me to explain how ISY works (LeeG has explained it perfectly; I am just going to give you more details):

1. Admin Console connected to ISY's web server (either HTTP or HTTPS)

2. Admin Console subscribes to ISY

3. Subscription service uses the same socket as the subscription request. Jave creates random ports so subscription requests to ISY may have random ports on your computer

4. ISY sends the status of all events back to your Admin Console

 

So, if you have a firewall device that blocks IP traffic from unknown devices (untrusted zones), then ISY cannot publish the events to the Admin Console. The best thing to do would be to put ISY's IP address in the white list/trusted zone in your firewall. Furthermore:

1. You have to make sure Java is trusted

2. You have to make sure that the first time ever when you used the Admin Console, you accepted the Java certificate without which you will have all sorts of intermittent issues

 

Is there particular ports that need to be forwarded to the ISY99 ? I have forwarded Port 80 on my router to my ISY99 for outside web access (public to private changed to lessen hacking).

Port forwarding is completely different than Admin Console ISY communications. This said, I urge you to port forward to the HTTPS port because all traffic is in clear text (including your userid/password) if you use the HTTP port.

 

Just to be clear: Port Forwarding is enabling traffic from the Internet to get to your ISY. Firewall issues, on the other hand, are impacting communications between your "computer" and ISY and thus unrelated to port forwarding.

 

I can access the ISY99 from my smartphone or external browsers as well. What needs to be set as an exception to let the ISY99 console run unobstructed ?

Please see above