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Johnny
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Posted: September 15 2011 at 14:57 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

Hello,

PH2 installation went very smoothly on my old XP computer. I'm now facing a problem to define my 2814U as controller. I first tried with the wizard to set it through Insteon devices. I get the red message saying that PH2 has everything it needs, everything terminates without error but 2814U is never there.

I then tried through the X10 Wizard controller. Again, no error message but nothing appens.

I then tried to enter it manually, cleared the controller, downloaded the code to the controller etc ... Same result, I still have no controller.

I tried the "isresponsing" command and answer is True. So it's being seen.

What's wrong ????

Yesterday, before installing PH2, I went through a lot of messages just to see if there were problems with the 2814U and PH2. I remember having seen a post where a guy had to download a dll (on the top of my head the file name had numbers like 105 and it was said to put this file in the main PH2 directory). I tried to find out that post, but I didn't succeed. I also think it was linked to SMD3. Could something be missing even if Wizard tells that it has everything required ???

Thanks
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grif091
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Posted: September 15 2011 at 15:12 | IP Logged Quote grif091

What is the device name of 2814U?

If it is some old PLC variant than the controller type is Insteon DM.

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Johnny
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Posted: September 15 2011 at 15:23 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

Thanks for your rapid answer ... this ia an Icon Powerlinc I think .... I picked the Insteon DM because I had SMD3 in mind.

Right after having written my first post, I tried to close PH2 and reopen it ... Guess what : it now works.

I understand that we have to close and reopen PH2 to get changes working. Is this information given somewhere ? If it is, sorry I mist it and if it's not, we should have a message saying that we have to close/reopen PH2 to get changes effective.

Thanks you so much !

Edited by Johnny - September 15 2011 at 15:24
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BeachBum
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Posted: September 15 2011 at 21:21 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

Yep it’s there but sometimes hard to find. It is pretty much documented in the forum that if you make a change to setup you will need to save and reinit for it to take effect. From the PowerHomer Users Manual pg 16 “Once you have made all the necessary changes to the SETUP area of PowerHome, reinitialize or shut the PowerHome program down and restart in order for the changes to take effect”.

Food for thought.. You might think of going to a PLM in the future as the reliability and performance of a PLC are no match to the PLM. Not to mention the enhancements.


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Johnny
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Posted: September 16 2011 at 18:29 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

With your signature I imagine you still have x10.

On my side, I only have X10. As all my needs are currently covered. So, replacing X10 with Insteon who seems to have the same communication reliability problem in addition to the modules reliability (not a problem with X10).... doesn't look like an ideal scenario.

Meanshile, you may be right for the PLC v/s PLM. I didn't really use PH1 because the SDM3 was not really reliable. There was always something wrong soemwhere, so I went back to my old CM11A with Active Home.

When I saw PH2, I thought it was time to see if the PLC link was better.

Did you use/try PH2 and PLC ? If yes, what type of problems did you have ? When you say PLM enhances performance, is it only on Insteon side ? Is there any on X10 side ?

Thanks   
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BeachBum
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Posted: September 16 2011 at 20:24 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

No, the enhancements are basically on the Insteon side. And yes I still have X10. The reliability is the big issue for me. SDM is a nightmare in my opinion. I have zero problems with my X10 stuff which is a mix bag of 70s stuff to Leviton. I didn’t notice a performance boost for X10 as I did with Insteon using the PLM. My main system uses a PLM and my test system has a PLC in case someone needs a problem fixed. Bottom line is I don’t have to recycle PH due to a PLC failure. Communication problems that Insteon could not fix and a normal X10 device would fail was fixed by using Leviton devices. They seem to handle noise better than any of the others. Having used a myriad of controllers along with home gown DOS software packages the PH solution seems to be the best around if you’re not expecting a turnkey solution. The possibilities to automation are endless.

Edited by BeachBum - September 16 2011 at 20:26


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Johnny
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Posted: September 16 2011 at 21:44 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

Thanks,

I know PH is the best software, that's why I bought it 4 years ago. PH2 seems to handle SDM much better. I will give my PLC another try.

I also have few Leviton to solve noise problems but noise problem is much better since I bought few filters.   

As you seem to be very knowledgeable, in my tests with PH2, I encountered a critical error. PH2 sent a report about that problem (this is a great feature). When I click on Adim (X10 Wall switch) from the device status, I get this critical error saying there's a division by 0 in line 32 !   I then tried to send a "bright" command through the Wizard and I got the same error.

Thanks again for your information.   J Guy
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BeachBum
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Posted: September 16 2011 at 22:06 | IP Logged Quote BeachBum

Well you got me now. In my version of PH2 I don’t have a Adim option in Device Status. I have 2.1.4 installed. I just show On, Off and percentages. Anyways I played with them and could not reproduce your error. Sounds like a good Dave question.

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Johnny
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Posted: September 17 2011 at 13:18 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

The Adim box appears with x10 modules when the modules allow changes in brightness with Dim/bright commands.

As an example, with the lamp module or the wall switch the adim box is there.   It's not there with wall receptacle module because module is built with a relay.

J guy

Edited by Johnny - September 17 2011 at 13:57
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dhoward
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Posted: September 19 2011 at 20:21 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Johnny,

Reading through and checking the sourcecode, I think I know what the problem is. It sounds as if the original wizard setup may have corrupted your current controller setting.

Launch PowerHome Explorer and navigate to PowerHome|Setup|Controllers. Delete your current "Insteon DM" controller. Press F5 (this will save the changes). Recreate the controller (be sure and use the same ID) and select "Insteon DM" again. Then press the "Settings" button. Make sure that the Dim percent has an appropriate value. This value should have defaulted to 3.85. Press "Done" and then close the PowerHome Explorer. Reinitialize PowerHome and let me know how it goes.

Dave.
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dhoward
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Posted: September 19 2011 at 20:23 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Also,

You only need to restart (or reinit) when you make changes to the "Setup" section of the Explorer. All other areas should be good with just hitting F5 (or closing the Explorer or navigating to another Explorer screen). All of these will save your current changes.

Hope this helps,

Dave.
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Johnny
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Posted: September 20 2011 at 14:47 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

Dave,

I first looked at the settings (I was in fact searching the place to set dim / bright %). Dim Percent was 0. So that was the problem. Thanks for the indication.

While searching, I found that my 2814U was appearing as a 2414U in Device Type in PowerHome Setup Devices Insteon Units. I tried to change it to the correct value, it stays correct till I reinitialize, then it always comes back as 2414U.    

Was it my install .... So I decided to do a clean install. I went through the Wizard to add the Insteon controller. Nothing was addded. It seems the wizard doesn't work the the 2814U. Then, I added it manually with the correct device Type. It still returns to 2414U. Could that make any problem ?

For the Reinitialize, while browsing the menu, I tried that and discovered that was an efficient way to restart.

Thanks for everything J guy

Edited by Johnny - September 20 2011 at 14:49
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grif091
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Posted: September 20 2011 at 15:43 | IP Logged Quote grif091

The 2814U and 2414U are functionally equivalent relative to how PH2 interfaces to them. The Icon variant 2814 had a 1 year warranty versus 2 years for 2414. Icon variants generally have shorter warranty periods.

PLMs are similar. If/When moving to a PLM likely it will be a 2413 Dual Band. From a PH2 Controller perspective it will be defined as a 2412 as they both have the same command set. Like the 2814 PLC the 2412 PLM is no longer available.


Edited by grif091 - September 20 2011 at 15:45


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Posted: September 20 2011 at 15:49 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Johnny,

The wizard doesnt support the 2814U so wouldnt create a controller and would need to be added manually.

As Lee states, the 2814U and 2414U are almost the same internally (there would be no difference in how PowerHome communicates since it uses the SDM) so it wouldnt matter what PowerHome actually shows as the device type.

Are you still having problems other than the PLC device type not showing correctly? Do the devices dim properly and the divide by 0 error is gone?

Let me know,

Dave.
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Johnny
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Posted: September 20 2011 at 20:02 | IP Logged Quote Johnny

Dave,

You say that Wizard doesn't support 2814U ... then it should not be a choice in the Wizard ... That's misleading ... Right now, we can pick 2814U in Insteon and X10 controller.

Critical error divide by 0 is gone : we have to set the Percent dim with device settings which seems to be 0 by default. Adim works but light doesn't dim ... I know it's coming from my Leviton Coupler/Amplifier (I really need it for reliability). Years ago I found a way to go around that in adding delays between dims. I imagine it will work again.   

I'm currently browsing the WEB to find the best alignment to take for some newer toys. As you can see, I got some old ones ! One question would be : can a PLM and PH2 handle X10 regular and extended commands ? Cant they handle security modules like Door / Window Sensor (DS10A) ? ( I didn't see these types of modules in X10 list and I know it requires special treatment).

Thanks for everything ! J Guy
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