HOW TO: Using the ISY-xx with mControl

[otech]

Using the ISY driver for mControl

The Universal Devices ISY-xx allows you to control most INSTEON devices. One advantage to using it is the ability to create scenes to control groups of INSTEON devices. The ISY driver allows you to connect to the ISY and control your devices and scenes through mControl.


This guide will contain:

1. Requirements
2. Driver installation
3. Adding devices in mControl
4. Using devices in mControl macros through the ISY

1) Requirements


You will need:

i) mControl V2.1 RCGOLD 2

ii) Universal Devices ISY-xx with firmware 2.2.6

iii) ISY driver (Currently a limited beta)

2) Setup and Installation

The first step is to create the devices and scenes using the ISY. More information on using the ISY can be found in the ISY user guide at: http://www.universal-devices.com/doc...er%20Guide.pdf

After you have finished adding devices and scenes, you are ready to install the driver. Extract the supplied folder. It should contain the following files:

EA.CommLib.dll

EA.ISY.dll

drv_ISY.xml

Stop mControl using the mControl Service Manager and copy these files to the \Embedded Automation\mControl\mServer\plugins folder. Now open mControl Service Manager and go to the ISY controller adapter. Double click on the adapter. Enable it, and enter the username and password for your ISY. Restart mControl.





3) Adding devices in mControl

Now open mControl Editor, and add a new device. To do this, you must already have a device set up through the ISY.



Select the ISY Controller adapter, a device module, and the address of one of the devices or scenes you set up using the ISY. Save changes.

You can now control this device or scene through Windows Media Center and the mControl for IE clients, as well as mControl Editor.



ISY driver with mControl for Vista Media Center




ISY driver with mControl for IE



4) Using devices in mControl macros with the ISY

Devices and scenes set up with the ISY can be used in mControl macros for triggers and actions. Simply add a condition or action similar to the following, using the automation tab in mControl Editor.

[bjdraw]

Wow how exciting!

Got it installed, but recieved an error the first few times I tried to start it, didn't change anything, and loaded up my packet sniffer to toubleshoot and then it worked. I've email the log to support@.

So far so good, easy as any other device to add, really like how it filters to the type of device you choose. It is kinda a pain to figure out which light is which and still haven't figured out how to identify a scene. I guess I'll just use the process of elimination, but I have like 10. Ideally the names entered into the ISY would pull over to the mControl editor.

More later.

[bjdraw]

Had some more time to play.

Scenes aren't showing up in the web UI. (iPhone)
Light status isn't updating on the VMC UI. (does on iPhone and it does if I reload the interface)
VMC UI brighten and dim a scene don't work.
Would like a fast on/off for a scene in the VMC/Web UI.

[otech]

bjdraw,

Scene control has not yet been implemented for the mobile UI.

We changed the above guide to indicate that the mControl service needs to be stopped before the files are copied over, as this was the issue.

Note that each time you send a bright or dim scene command button, it only makes a 3% change.

Thanks for the input.

[ezzye]

Bjdraw,
Have you set up the ISY to poll the insteon themostat and then have mcontrol get status of the thermostat?

[bjdraw]

Originally Posted by ezzye

Bjdraw,
Have you set up the ISY to poll the insteon themostat and then have mcontrol get status of the thermostat?

No, I have an HAI thermostat connected to my Elk, sorry.

[groovejumper]

Got it installed & running, no errors. This is great!

Couple of questions/suggestions -

- Is it possible to have the list of devices populated with the names that I've used in the ISY? Does the ISY actually return names as well or just addresses? I suppose I could use my spreadsheet to add all of my existing devices and after the initial add it would be easy to add devices when I add a few here and there, but it would make the initial process a lot easier to have the names in there.

- Pretty much the same thing for scenes, only I don't have a way to cross-reference the scene numbers like I do with the spreadsheet I keep of all of my devices/addresses.

Ah, just read bjdraw's post a bit closer, I see he's already mentioned both of these.

And, I just figured out a way - in the ISY console, I can go to Tools/Generate Topology, all device addresses and scene numbers are listed along with the ISY name. I can print this out and keep it near my mControl machine when I'm setting things up. Still a little convoluted though, I would love to be able to see mControl pull the ISY names for devices and scenes.

g.

[katrash]

Initially, we let the names be obtained from the ISY in the driver, but discovered this might cause issues with mControl device/scene naming restrictions (no punctuations other than the hyphen are allowed in mControl names) which caused some bugs in the driver. So, we dropped this feature - at least in the beta.

We will consider it again once we finalize the driver.

[ezzye]

The above pictures show ISY as it's own zone. Don't know if it's for illustrated purposes or not, but does the ISY have to be in it's own zone? Can you not add a isy device in another zone?

[Ted Singh]

ezzye,

Essentially, you'll likely create an mControl device for each ISY device *or* ISY scene. These mControl devices, which represent ISY devices or scenes, can be allocated in any mControl zone.

Ted