Could ISY Validate links in devices are correct?

[markbrown1]

Is there any way ISY could implement a "verify links" command, where a device's links are read back and compared with what the ISY intended them to be? I am dealing with some KPL 1.6's right now (waiting for the new version), and it seems every time I add/change a link I have to dump the whole thing out again or the keypad misbehaves badly. Sometimes it takes several tries, and in involved scenes the verification is time consuming and flashes a lot of lights in the house (annoying others who don't think lighting with "behaviors" is a good thing). So, what I'm envisioning is another option, like "restore device", that simply reads the devices links and alerts you if they don't match ISY's understanding. (or perhaps an option of doing this automatically after ISY sends the links to the device, although this would presumably extend this somewhat slow process even more). This would really help isolate whether a given problem is due to bad programming on the user's side or bad links in the switch. I have had other circumstances where I thought the links in the device were bad, but it was me forgetting to add a device to a scene, etc.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello markbrown1,

 

First of all, apologies for the inconvenience.

 

We do have 2.7 Beta (2.6.1) release which includes some workaround for the problems you are experiencing. If you are interested, send an email to support@universal-devices.com.

 

Your suggestion is excellent and parts of it will be implemented in our diagnosis release some time in the future.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Is there any way ISY could implement a "verify links" command, where a device's links are read back and compared with what the ISY intended them to be? I am dealing with some KPL 1.6's right now (waiting for the new version), and it seems every time I add/change a link I have to dump the whole thing out again or the keypad misbehaves badly. Sometimes it takes several tries, and in involved scenes the verification is time consuming and flashes a lot of lights in the house (annoying others who don't think lighting with "behaviors" is a good thing). So, what I'm envisioning is another option, like "restore device", that simply reads the devices links and alerts you if they don't match ISY's understanding. (or perhaps an option of doing this automatically after ISY sends the links to the device, although this would presumably extend this somewhat slow process even more). This would really help isolate whether a given problem is due to bad programming on the user's side or bad links in the switch. I have had other circumstances where I thought the links in the device were bad, but it was me forgetting to add a device to a scene, etc.

[markbrown1]

Michel,

 

Thanks once again for an amazingly quick reply. Does the beta release also support the ISY/99?

 

mark

[Michel Kohanim]

My pleasure Mark and Yes, it does.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Michel,

 

Thanks once again for an amazingly quick reply. Does the beta release also support the ISY/99?

 

mark

[MikeB]

I am dealing with some KPL 1.6's right now (waiting for the new version), and it seems every time I add/change a link I have to dump the whole thing out again or the keypad misbehaves badly.

 

Hey Mark -

 

Besides issues related to KPL v1.6 that Michel mentioned, I've had problems when removing/replacing or making major changes to my KPLs. Other KPLs in the house seem to get misconfigured. KPL secondary buttons that worked fine before no longer seemed to send status updates to the ISY, links no longer worked, etc.

 

In the past I had tried Restore Device on the problematic KPL, which rarely worked. I ended up removing the whole KPL from the ISY and re-adding and re-configuring.

 

Recently, along with a Restore Device, I went ahead and did a Restore PLM as a test per Michel's suggestion - and it fixed my issue.

 

I'm not sure what the exact cause of the problem is, but you might want to try a Restore Device and Restore PLM next time you have this issue to see if it helps.

[markbrown1]

Mike,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It certainly wouldn't have occurred to me to do a restore PLM when my KPL's misbehave - I'll try that the next time. On my older KPL's (pre 1.5/1.6), the biggest issue seemed to be missing links after I programmed them, and repeated restores eventually got the whole thing right (although it sometimes took several tries - no idea why). The 1.6's have more serious issues. I didn't try resetting the device then reloading, and I haven't tried removing the device from ISY then re-adding. All of these things, quite frankly, take a lot of the fun out of the whole process, as any simple change may produce days of frustrating recovery attempts.

 

A possibly related question - when the ISY is programming the devices over the powerline, is it OK to be using the switches, or should I taking steps to keep family members from touching any light switches until the process is complete? I'm suspicious enough of Insteon's overall robustness that I wouldn't be suprised if pressing buttons could cause errors in the programming process, although I certainly hope this isn't the case.

 

Thanks again for the ideas,

 

mark

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Mark,

 

Again, I do apologize for all the inconvenience.

 

1. 1.6 KPLs have some very strange issues/behaviors that we basically had to put workarounds in our code

2. From our experience, if you are doing something physically to the switch that is being programmed, the outcome of the programming is not predictable. Also, depending on the PLM you have, you might experience scene related problems such as a device being turned on by a different scene, or not at all, failed requests, etc.

 

In short, I strongly advise against any physical interaction with your devices while programming (or at least try to avoid as much as possible).

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Mike,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. It certainly wouldn't have occurred to me to do a restore PLM when my KPL's misbehave - I'll try that the next time. On my older KPL's (pre 1.5/1.6), the biggest issue seemed to be missing links after I programmed them, and repeated restores eventually got the whole thing right (although it sometimes took several tries - no idea why). The 1.6's have more serious issues. I didn't try resetting the device then reloading, and I haven't tried removing the device from ISY then re-adding. All of these things, quite frankly, take a lot of the fun out of the whole process, as any simple change may produce days of frustrating recovery attempts.

 

A possibly related question - when the ISY is programming the devices over the powerline, is it OK to be using the switches, or should I taking steps to keep family members from touching any light switches until the process is complete? I'm suspicious enough of Insteon's overall robustness that I wouldn't be suprised if pressing buttons could cause errors in the programming process, although I certainly hope this isn't the case.

 

Thanks again for the ideas,

 

mark

[markbrown1]

Thanks, Michel.

 

I had suspected that messing with the switches during programming was ill-advised, but didn't enforce it too strictly. I will now.

 

Do you have any insight into when the post-v1.6 KPL's will be available? I intend to get the five that I recently received replaced when something more stable is available, but don't want to initiate that until I know I'll get something better.

 

Also, do you know how to confirm that a PLM is indeed the newer, 2000-link version? I bought mine after the website announced the new version, but how can I tell? (It has a sticker with "2.75" on the back.)

 

Thanks again for your help,

 

mark

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Mark,

 

As far as I know, KPL 1.65 is already out and we have not had any problems/issues with it (nor reported).

 

If the sticker says 2.75, then you have the latest and greatest with the extended memory!

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Thanks, Michel.

 

I had suspected that messing with the switches during programming was ill-advised, but didn't enforce it too strictly. I will now.

 

Do you have any insight into when the post-v1.6 KPL's will be available? I intend to get the five that I recently received replaced when something more stable is available, but don't want to initiate that until I know I'll get something better.

 

Also, do you know how to confirm that a PLM is indeed the newer, 2000-link version? I bought mine after the website announced the new version, but how can I tell? (It has a sticker with "2.75" on the back.)

 

Thanks again for your help,

 

mark