I have been using paradox alarm plugin in veralite and sometimes saw some delays in the status of zones and partitions in vera web UI.
There is no updated infos without reloading luup.
Then, I realized that communication motion sensor is tripped.
In docs this is written: “Communication MotionSensor in Vera is set when the Printer Module has difficulty communicating with the Alarm Panel, or the internal buffers are full.”
What can I do to solve this problem?
How are you connecting the Vera unit to the Paradox PRT3?
Is it over WIZnet/Network-Serial, or over USB-Serial? If so, what makes/models of device are you using to connect the components together. If it’s USB-Serial, is it on a [Powered] USB-Hub, or directly to the back of the unit?
eg. Vera 3 units have AWFUL power supplies, and have difficulty powering stuff, making USB-Serial ports fail.
Also, how many Zones do you have on the system, are there Wireless Zones present?
When you say that there are delays in the updates, are these delays or literally not updating at all? I have cases in mine, for example, where Vera restarts upon certain activity. This leads to the system getting out of sync, and it eventually corrects itself (once the reboot completes)
I am connecting Vera to Paradox PRT3 over USB-Serial with direct connection to the back of the unit.
I have 16 zones and all of them are wired to the Paradox panel.
For the update problem, this is wxctly what you are saying : “This leads to the system getting out of sync, and it eventually corrects itself (once the reboot completes)”.
What is your suggestion for the robust integration of paradox alarm panels to the vera units?
Ok, for Serial connection to the PRT3, there are both a direct USB connection and an RS-232 connection. My Vera, a Vera2, is connected directly to the native USB port on the PRT3, and nothing is attached to the RS-232 connection.
This shows in Vera as an FTDI serial port.
My Vera is about 2ft away from the PRT3, and in turn that’s about 3ft away from my Panel (wired over COMBUS cabling)
My Vera2 is powered by a special power supply that can give it constant power, and its backed by a Battery that can run it for about 18hrs.
This has never failed me in the way your describing, do my first thought is that you should check the various cables involved, and potentially try others as a diagnostic. I have about 20 Zones on mine, 2 of which are Wireless (one powered, one battery)
If your Vera is restarting itself, then that’ll need to be sorted out by Support first.
Ok I will control the cables but would you also explain me the exact meaning of alarm communication sensor is tripped?
By the way, thanks for info in advance. 
If I detect a failure when I attempt to talk to the PRT3, I set the [tt]AlarmCommunication[/tt] device to true to indicate that there is a problem. In one case, I have no way/timepoint to “reset” it, so it’s entirely possible that the event was “some time ago”
This represents specific codes that are returned by the PRT3 when it has problems communicating with the Panel.
eg. The Buffer on the PRT3, to the Alarm Panel itself is full OR;
eg. There was a fundamental communications problem with the Alarm Panel (vague, but that’s what the manual is indicating)
I’d check how “screwed in” the COMBUS wires are on your PRT3. One may be loose (etc)
Hey Guys,
Im new to this and looking for some help, Im using the Paradox plugin and this is brilliant the communication with Vera is perfect.
Im having some problems with getting Vera to run scenes based on alarm events and im hoping someone can give me some advice. Basically im trying to get vera to run scenes when the alarm is “away armed” and disarmed from “away” only but i am not having much luck.
I can get the scene “Away Armed” to run when the alarm is armed but only by using the trigger option “Vender Status code 012”, this is the code that vera displays when Away Armed is selected on the Alarm system. Using any other option such as “Partition Armed” or “Partition Detailed State” and choosing the “Armed Option” as the trigger does nothing. The problem is that although the Vender Status Code 012 only displays in Vera when Away Armed is selected on the alarm the scene is running regardless of what arming option is chosen away, stay or instant.
Can someone please advise me how to get Vera to run a scene Only when the alarm is armed in “Away” and not run when any other arming option is choosen on the alarm. I dont want all the lights turning off and the heating setting back when the alarm is armed is stay or instant.
Like wise is it possible to have Vera run a specific scene only when the alarm is disarmed from “Away” and not “Stay” or “Instant”?
Many thanks in advance
@svcowley,
Sorry, didn’t notice this until last night.
I ran a test using a scene on my household Paradox alarm panel, using the Armed detailed state of “Armed”. This correctly fired when the house was [fully, away] armed.
See attached screenshot for the setup. There should be no need to track on 012 for this [arming] use-case.
Like wise is it possible to have Vera run a specific scene only when the alarm is disarmed from "Away" and not "Stay" or "Instant"?Not declaratively, with the Alarm panel code alone. The [i]Disarmed[/i] state transition happens equally from all Armed-states. The only way to do what you're talking about would be to "track" what state you were previously in, and then compare that when you go into the Disarmed state.
This would likely require Luup-based scene code. It’ll also require the ability to persist the previous Armed state somewhere (not in a Variable, since Vera could reboot and you’d loose that)
Hi I’m running the prt 3 over USB to the Vera. I’m setting it up and I can only get so far and it give me a error code.failure in request area labels. Error AL 001. I am new to the Vera so I would appreciate any feedback possibles thanks.