Digi Portserver / Serial Communications

[dpower]

I received a Digi Portserver this weekend -- my plan being to use it to interface with my Onkyo AVR via RS-232.

 

I do have some programming experience and have recently integrated an iTach IP2IR device into my system (i.e. thanks to member GPG for this viewtopic.php?t=5087) but I have yet to configure and control anything over a serial port. I've searched the net but haven't found anything I can use as a reference (eg. sample code, tutorial, etc.) to get me up and running.

 

I gather there are at least a few members here who have successfully integrated a Portserver with their ISY / Insteon network. Are any of you willing to spare a moment or two to help a fellow UDI fan get off the ground?

 

I appreciate any advice or help you can offer.

 

Thanks,

dp

[iostream212]

Are you planning to control it just from your isy? I would think that would be tedious unless you just want to run some 'scenes'. By tedious i mean adjusting the volume one increment at a time for example. But you should be able to do that using network resources and the onkyo rs232 protocol. PM me if you need it. If you want full on control use a software controller. I personally use Elve and it has a onkyo driver. More info: http://codecoretechnologies.com/community/index.php?topic=998.0

 

 

 

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk

[dpower]

I appreciate that, iostream. I've procured the July 2011 version of the ISCP specification so I'm Ok on that front. I'm also comfortable with wiring, configuration of the serial port, specifying a static IP address, etc. All these things are relatively straightforward.

 

Where I'm running into questions / issues at the moment is in the following areas:

 

- For what "device type" should the PortServer be configured (e.g. Terminal, Printer, Modem, etc.)?

- How do I specify a TCP port over which to communicate with the PortServer? (i.e. the only place I see an option to configure port is under "Autoconnect" -- which I'm almost certain I don't want as I'd like to send distinct TCP messages to the receiver from different devices on the network.)

- Once these things are worked out, how do I send a simple message to the PortServer from the ISY? Should it not simply be a matter of creating a network resource of specifying TCP, Host, Port, etc. and sending a properly terminated ISCP string (e.g. !1PWR01)? I've done this but upon sending a message, I receive one of: a) a pop-up dialog indicating "Subscriber didn't respond to event: 1" with sub-codes 63 and 64 on my first attempt, Request Failed (i.e. second attempt) or c) standard "N/A" response on third and all subsequent attempts. Once, I've even seen a "Mail server failure" message which makes no sense at all in this context.

 

I acknowledge these are more Portserver-related questions rather than pure ISY-99i issues. But I'm hoping someone with a UDI-centric home automation solution has encountered and overcome similar issues.

 

Again, I appreciate any advice or guidance you can offer.

 

Thanks,

dp

[dpower]

Bump. Hoping someone can give me a few quick hints to get me up and running.

 

Thanks,

dp

[dpower]

After several back and forth's with Digi Support, I've reached a resolution I'd like to share with the population here.

 

My PortServer TS 2 is a legacy OEM version for which official support expired in mid-2010. Being an OEM version, its web interface isn't the same as that referenced in the Digi documentation -- it doesn't expose a method of creating a "Port Profile" and specifying "TCP Sockets". When configured as type "Terminal", the device refuses TCP and/or Telnet connections on port 210X.

 

I was able to create a RealPort connection to the device -- and that worked fine -- but it means you always need a PC in the chain -- you can't communicate with the PortServer directly over the network.

 

After much searching and experimentation... by configuring a port as type "Printer", you can connect and send messages via TCP / Telnet. You'll need to relinquish any existing connections (i.e. RealPort) to the PortServer in order to make this work but I can confirm it does in fact work. Thanks to Digi Support for suggesting this solution.

 

Hoping this benefits anyone else experiencing similar issues.

 

Thanks,

dp