Installing 'over' an Indigo installation

[jmesberg]

I'm about to set up my first ISY-994. I have a reasonably extensive Insteon setup (20+ switches, landscape lighting control, thermostat, etc.) and I've been controlling it on my Mac and iOS devices for years with Indigo by Perceptive Automation (which by the way is a great application and a great company with wonderful support - no criticism implied by my switch*).

 

My question: in the installation instructions there are two options for setup while maintaining existing links ("Add Devices Found in Links and Remove Existing Links" OR "Add Devices Found in Links and Keep Existing Links"). Given that most of my current links are between my devices and my existing Powerlinc Modem 2413U (as established by Indigo) what do you recommend that I do? Should I leave the current PLM installed and 'visible' to the ISY while I set things up, or should I disconnect it so it isn't seen by the ISY during the setup. What will the ISY do with links it finds between the PLM and the devices?

 

I've seen a few other posts on similar topics, but not that referred to replacing an existing Indigo installation.

 

Thank you,

 

John Mesberg

 

* for those interested as to why I'm replacing Indigo with ISY-994: I've become enamored with an iOS application called Roomie Remote (many of you are familiar with it; there are a number of posts on Roomie in this forum) and Roomie works with ISY but not with Indigo. Also, I'd like to take a crack at writing my own iOS app for Insteon/ISY -- I'm not impressed by the Mobilinc or eKeypad offerings.

[arw01]

Oh, that Roomie remote might cause apple envy here. I am down the farm with android at my house, only a couple of ipod touch's around here...

 

I emailed them that i was an ideal testing environment though

 

Anyone know of a similiar android program that has come a long ways with that level of integration?

[Joshw]

I made the same switch from Indigo to ISY-994i this week. Like you, I loved their product but I just couldn't justify buying a Mac Mini to run it.

 

I have about 20-25 devices and I unplugged my Indigo PLM then added devices using a combination of 'Remove Existing Links' and 'Add devices found in links and keep existing links'. Everything worked pretty well. I had one switch that didn't play nice. I think due to some communication issues. The battery powered TriggerLinc and Motion Detectors were a pain as usual, but all is well now.

 

Thanks for the reference to Roomie Remote, I read your post about 5 hours ago and have since bought it and have it running my entire living room. Nice product, a little buggy but not too bad.

[jmesberg]

Thanks Joshw. Can you be a little bit more specific about your comment that you installed "using a combination of 'Remove Existing Links' and 'Add devices found in links and keep existing links'." In what order did you do each step?

[wwat]

Also, I'd like to take a crack at writing my own iOS app for Insteon/ISY -- I'm not impressed by the Mobilinc or eKeypad offerings.

You may want to see if Demopad meets your needs, it would save you some work if it does. I'm well into the exercise of creating my own ISY front end for the iPod and iPad and have found it to be very flexible. It also has the ability to subscribe to ISY to receive events as they occur, like device and variable status changes etc. Like ISY the support is A1 and the developer is very open to feature requests.

[Joshw]

I didn't do it in any order, it was really just a matter of the particular devices. I was using an Indigo trial so a few of the configurations I wanted to delete and redo with the ISY, so I chose the first option. My system isn't intertwined enough for the add linked devices to crawl the whole network. So I didn't get a huge benefit from using the add linked devices option. In a few scenes where I did have multiple devices, it worked well.

[jimba17]

Just came across your post-- searching Indigo vs ISY994i. I was using Indigo in my last house 3 yrs ago and now getting ready to automate my new house (all Insteon). My old controller no longer works with the new devices (need to buy 20+ to complete the new house). In addition the new controller is unable to upload settings to run the system w/o the computer being on. I do now have a mac mini that can stay on 24/7.

 

It looks like it has been more than a year since you made the switch. Any updates and recommendations?

Thanks,

Jim

[lmhinman]

Hi.  I'm in a similar situation, moving from an Indigo setup for my Insteon devices to an ISY, mainly to have access to Echo commands and MobiLinc connectivity.  I think I now have my ISY configured properly, but so far I haven't added any devices or scenes, etc.  I have two newbie questions.

 

First, when I go to add a device in ISY, it seems that I have to type in the address.  In Indigo, it would find my new device and automatically do the configuring.  Am I missing something here?

 

Second, has anyone tried to export the list of devices from Indigo and then import the list into ISY?  I've only been able to do screen shots of the device page (I have 50+ devices), but I can't seem to "select all" of the devices, copy, and then paste into a spreadsheet.  Any thoughts?

 

[builderb]

You can import your devices to the ISY without stripping their links, but I wouldn't recommend it. When I moved from Indigo to ISY, I deleted all the links and rebuilt everything. Kind of a pain, but I think it'll help prevent problems later on.

 

You'll also want to turn the Insteon interface in Indigo off. Only one system should control the Insteon devices.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Imhinman,

 

Welcome to our forum!

 

You can link using the Set Button: please go to Link Management | Start Linking.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[lmhinman]

Many thanks for the guidance--and words of caution!  I'll follow that advice and just rebuild from the ground up.  In the end, I suspect it will be faster!

Larry

[builderb]

If you have the pro version of Indigo, there is an old ISY Helper plugin you can get that allows limited back-and-forth between Indigo and ISY. I still haven't found a more reliable wifi presence detection system than the SmartPhoneRadar plugin.

 

I also have the ISY trigger Apple Scripts for certain things too, there is much more robust Indigo control available this way.

[lmhinman]

I do have the Pro version of Indigo, so I'll check out the ISY Helper plugin.  Despite best intentions, I might want to go back to Indigo occasionally to do something more easily than in ISY.  For me, Indigo has been rock solid, and the ISY Java console seems quirky on the Mac.  Thanks very much for the tips!

[lmhinman]

Well, I thought I would be much farther along by now!  I have Indigo disconnected from my network.  ISY is installed and seems stable.  My PLM shows up as connected.  When I check the system status, though, I get "null" and "zero" for everything.  Active: No, Total: 0 MB, Reserve: 0 MB, etc.  When I click "Start Linking" and press the SET button on some switches, nothing shows up in ISY.  It does not seem to see any devices that can be added, although I can see the SET lights on the switches blinking across the room.  I've used this PLM before with ISY and it worked fine.  

 

I'm sure I'm doing something really stupid (or, more likely, not doing something obvious).  Any suggestions would be most welcome.  I have restarted ISY, rebooted my Mac, etc.  I'm totally perplexed at this point.  

[lmhinman]

also, I have a steady blue light on the front of the ISY box and an occasional additional blue flicker to indicate network activity.

[jerlands]

Well, I thought I would be much farther along by now!  I have Indigo disconnected from my network.  ISY is installed and seems stable.  My PLM shows up as connected.  When I check the system status, though, I get "null" and "zero" for everything.  Active: No, Total: 0 MB, Reserve: 0 MB, etc.  When I click "Start Linking" and press the SET button on some switches, nothing shows up in ISY.  It does not seem to see any devices that can be added, although I can see the SET lights on the switches blinking across the room.  I've used this PLM before with ISY and it worked fine.  

 

I'm sure I'm doing something really stupid (or, more likely, not doing something obvious).  Any suggestions would be most welcome.  I have restarted ISY, rebooted my Mac, etc.  I'm totally perplexed at this point.  

 

In the admin admin console Help > About what do you show for Firmware and UI versions?

 

 

Jon...

[lmhinman]

Both Firmware and UI are Insteon_UD993 v.4.3.26 (2015-10-13-11:35:11).  After I did a factory reset, I did a firmware update.

[jerlands]

Both Firmware and UI are Insteon_UD993 v.4.3.26 (2015-10-13-11:35:11).  After I did a factory reset, I did a firmware update.

 

This is what my system status looks like.

 

 

 

I have no idea why your system status doesn't show active seems to indicate a problem.

 

 

 

Jon...

[jerlands]

Both Firmware and UI are Insteon_UD993 v.4.3.26 (2015-10-13-11:35:11).  After I did a factory reset, I did a firmware update.

 

You may need to open a ticket with UDI to resolve this.

 

 

Jon...

[builderb]

Yeah, that was definitely not my experience, switching from Indigo. Linking worked just fine.

[lmhinman]

Thanks.  It seems that I can add devices by their address, but "Start Linking" just hangs up the whole system.  Tedious, but I do have a list of addresses from Indigo, so I don't have to take switches out of the wall, etc.