Getting Started / How-To for those new to Altsteon for Vera 2 & Vera 3
- Link all devices to PLM.
You MUST link all your Insteon devices to your PLM. See your PLM’s and device specific User Manuals for the method.
- This is important - if they are not linked they will not work properly, if at all, with Altsteon *
- Get the needed files
Vera3… binaries & ancillary files posted http://www.geektaco.info/altsteon/
Vera2…
use only ancillary files from lasted version posted http://www.geektaco.info/altsteon/
use binaries in attachment posted http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,8910.msg71493.html#msg71493
From the Vera UI…
- Install the Altsteon file set inside folder ‘vera-files’
go to “Apps” → “Develop Apps” → “Luup files”
and upload all of the files in that folder using the Vera UI. When uploading the files, do not check the box to “Restart Luup after upload”.
-
Create the PLM device
Go to : Apps → Develop Apps → Create device and enter these values :
Device type : urn:geektaco-info:device:plm:1 Internal ID : plm Description : plm Upnp Device Filename : D_InsteonPlm.xml Upnp Implementation Filename : I_InsteonPlm.xml Ip Address : <Address of the machine you are running the daemon on> MAC : <blank> Room : <doesn't matter> Parent device : No parent/Please selectClick “Create device”. You should eventually get a pop-up indicating that a new device has
been created. If you go back to the “Devices” section of the dashboard you should see a place holder
for the plm. If not, hit the “Reload” button to let the Vera find it.If you see the PLM in your dashboard, you are ready to start adding Insteon devices to be controlled.
It is best to start with adding a single device and then testing it before starting to bulk add your
devices. -
Set the Vera to start Altsteon on boot.
Go to : Apps->Develop Apps->Startup Lua
… add the code below based on what your PLM is set to use. See Finding What USB port your PLM is on section below to figure it out.
[code]local plm = “/dev/ttyUSB0”
os.execute("/overlay/sbin/altsteon -p " … plm)[/code]
From SSH…
- Login to the VERA using SSH (version 2) to get a command line
… user: root
… password:
6a) Copy the files inside the ‘vera-binaries’ directory to the ‘/overlay/sbin/ directory’ using SCP
6b) ‘chmod’ the altsteon file to 755 (to make it executable) - WinSCP can also do this using right-click Properties on the file.
- Go to the document “altsteon_instructions.txt” that came with the Altsteon file set.
… Search for “Getting Started” and after that you will find how to create your other devices.
… SPECIAL NOTE: The dimmer instructions are WRONG. You MUST use D_InsteonDimmer.xml in the ‘Upnp Device Filename’ section
- Finding What USB port your PLM is on *
Lets make sure you can run the binary
… run “/overlay/sbin/altsteon --help”
… this displays the help screen from altsteon. If you see the help menu, the binary is ready to go.
Now we need to figure out what port your PLM is on.
If you use an Insteon USB PLM or an FTDI usb to serial adapter with your Insteon serial PLM, you will run :
dmesg | grep “FTDI”
… Response looks like : “usb 2-2: FTDI USB Serial Device converter now attached to ttyUSB1”.
If you use a Prolific USB to Serial adapter, with an Insteon serial PLM, you will run :
dmesg | grep “pl2303”
… Response looks like :
USB Serial support registered for pl2303
usbcore: registered new interface driver pl2303
pl2303: Prolific PL2303 USB to serial adaptor driver
pl2303 2-1.2:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
usb 2-1.2: pl2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0
pl2303 2-1.3:1.0: pl2303 converter detected
usb 2-1.3: pl2303 convert
… “ttyUSB1” or “ttyUSB0” portion is what we need.
We insert “/dev/” in front of that and use the value to pass in to the program.
So, if “ttyUSB1” is what you have, run ‘altsteon’ with the command “/overlay/sbin/altsteon -p /dev/ttyUSB1”.
If it runs properly you will see something like this…
root@MiOS:~# /overlay/sbin/altsteon -p /dev/ttyUSB0
Quitting parent.
root@MiOS:~# Debug Level : 0
[4/30/2012 - 20:15:46] - --| Starting altsteon!
