Operating Locks via Secondary controllers - Is it possible?

Other Devices & Integrations Door Locks & Sensors
1

I have two systems deployed with Vera2 as Primary and Homeseer (Z-Troller 1.17) as secondary. I can get all the devices except door locks to function on the secondary. It is clear that the security data does not get transferred durig the replicate send. Here’s what the replication results look like on the secondary:

This is what gets logged if when you sync from the Vera to Homeseer:

6/21/2012 9:49:25 PM - Z-Wave - ********** Adding Z-Wave Device with Node ID of 7 Type GENERIC_TYPE_ENTRY_CONTROL=40H **********
6/21/2012 9:49:25 PM - Z-Wave - **********
6/21/2012 9:49:25 PM - Z-Wave - Contacting node 7 to get supported features
6/21/2012 9:49:26 PM - Z-Wave - Negotiating SECURITY SCHEME for (7)
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Error - Z-Wave was unable to negotiate a compatible security scheme with node 7
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Z-Wave - Failed to get SECURITY SCHEME from node 7. Device may not be added properly to HomeSeer.
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Z-Wave - The security device may have a timeout when adding to the network, bring the device close to HomeSeer and use the Add Node button to add it (remove it first)
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Z-Wave Warning - Failed to add new SECURE node 7 to the network securely - device will not operate properly.
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Z-Wave - Device: Z-Wave Z-Wave Interface (Node 7) supports class(es): COMMAND_CLASS_MANUFACTURER_SPECIFIC, COMMAND_CLASS_VERSION, COMMAND_CLASS_SECURITY
6/21/2012 9:49:37 PM - Z-Wave - Attempting to get manufacturer ID from device 7…
6/21/2012 9:49:38 PM - Z-Wave - Z-Wave manufacturer ID: 265=109H (Yale), Type: 2=2H, ID: 65535=FFFFH
6/21/2012 9:49:39 PM - Z-Wave - Z-Wave device 7 version: Lib: 3.34 App: 19.24
6/21/2012 9:49:39 PM - Z-Wave - ********** Done with Z-Wave Device with Node ID of 7 **********

This is what gets logged if you try and query the lock after it gets imported:

6/21/2012 10:06:41 PM - Z-Wave - Getting SECURITY class information for Z-Wave Z-Wave Interface (7)
6/21/2012 10:06:53 PM - Z-Wave - Failed (A) to get SECURE command classes from node 7. Device may not be added properly to HomeSeer.
6/21/2012 10:06:53 PM - Z-Wave - Warning: Could not get SECURE command classes for node 7, Z-Wave Z-Wave Interface . Cannot continue.

Has anyone gotten a zwave lock working on both a Primary and a Secondary controller? If you did it successfully, what process did you use?

Thanks!

Tom

2

Unfortunately locks can only be paired to one controller due to encryption keys.

  • Garrett
3

Thank you for confirming it is currently unsupported. At least I can stop banging my head against the wall. :slight_smile:

It ought to be feasible to handle passing the encryption keys to secondary controllers. You can do this on many software products (SQL comes to mind straight away - It’s possible to use the same keys on Dev/Test/Prod environment with no issues). I don’t have any idea how the key data is created here, but it should be possible during the pairing operation for that data to be stored in a portable/re-creatable fashion so that when secondary controllers are in the environment, the replication action can pass the key data to the secondary controllers successfully.

Do you know if this will be addressed in a future release? Do I need to open a bug for this? I suspect that as more folks add locks to their environments, this will become a problem (particularly as the security companies start getting more market penetration with their zwave offerings.

4

When I was trying to add my SimonXT panel to Vera as a secondary, Vera would try to send the keys for the locks to the panel. More info here: http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,6981.msg64737.html#msg64737

I was told Alarm.com knew of the limitation, and was working to upgrade the software, but my further attempts to get more information/updates have not been returned.

5

Thanks. I have a hard time buying that this the zwave protocol intentionally limits locks to function only with a primary controller as one of the responses to your post intemates. This is kind of setup can be done on other systems. Someone just needs to spend a little time thinking about it. It appears that this, like the entire secondary controller methodology, was not too well thought out. Considering that this appears to be a global zwave issue, I wonder where you even file the bug…

6

I can confirm this is also an issue with the 2Gig panel. 2Gig must be the primary controller to work with locks.

As you mentioned, this should be fixable with firmware, but it seems no company has bothered to figure it out.

7

After all the hassles/issues with my SimonXT, I ditched it, and got a DSC panel. Life is MUCH better…far more reliable sensors/status, real control, etc.