@mamuli: that is correct. The old version of the plugin does not support Powerlink mode and the panel does not have a settings tab.
Thanks again for the tip nlrb. I am able to install the plugin using the trunk, and see the “Settings” etc tabs. However, now I do not see any drop-down list in front of “Communicate using UART” in the “Settings” tab. It is just blank. I do see other combo boxes for “Motion sensor timeout”, “Language selection”, etc. What could be the reason.
Btw, I had to still select the alarm panel device from the “Used by device” drop-down list from Apps >> Develop Apps >> Serial Port configuration after creating the device. Otherwise the plugin was not able to initialize and resulted in error message “Startup Lua Failed”. This issue was resolved as soon as I selected the alarm panel device for “Used by device” in Serial Port configuration. Hope this was a required step.
Also, do I still have to do the PLink initialization step in Powermax+ panel? (manual installation steps do not talk about it).
No idea why selection of the UART does not work through the plugin, but does via Apps >> Develop Apps >> Serial Port configuration. This is standard MCV functionality. What does the drop-down show after selection of the UART through Apps?
If the the plugin shows ‘Standard’ mode after startup, then you will need to enroll Powerlink mode on the panel.
@nlrb: Even after selecting the Powermax in “Used by device” under "URT from Apps >> Develop Apps >> Serial Port configuration, the “Communicate using UART” drop down in the “Settings” tab does not show up.
Btw, I noticed “Powermax Alarm Panel[5] : Startup Lua Failed” error also on the top status area. Mode also shows up as “Unknown”. Could all this be due to Vera not recognizing the USB to Serial adapter?
If Vera does not recognize the USB->serial adapter, then it will not show up in Apps >> Develop Apps >> Serial Port configuration. For more info see here: [url=http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Serial_Supported_Hardware]http://wiki.micasaverde.com/index.php/Serial_Supported_Hardware[/url].
Under the serial port config, make sure the baud rate is set to 9600 and the ‘Used by device’ is ‘Powermax Alarm Panel’.
Otherwise post a screenshot of what you do get.
nlrb, trunk @57 !. Been away from hee, still on 54 and behaving well. I’ll update to 57 this weekend. Also, coming to conclusion I may need to junk my panel and get a replacement of the same type. Peculiar behavior on dis-arm, where by its silent and does not announce dis-arm, regardless of how that is performed. Cannot find anywhere in the manual if its an option. Also, with the dodgy crc error on the comms when exiting programme mode makes me suspect, that there is an underlying issue which is going to give me hell, one day/night to myself and the neighbors.
@nlrb, here a few screenshots to explain the issues:
http://imageshack.us/a/img200/4950/serialportusedby.PNG
http://imageshack.us/a/img254/2614/nodropdown.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img22/5954/modeunknown.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img195/2089/statusareastartupluafai.png
@mamuli: is this a cheap PL2303 by any chance? There are some Chinese rip-offs around that can give problems. An FTDI based serial converter is recommended. Looks like the serial converter is recognized, but does not initialize well. Have a look at this post to see if this gives some more info.
@nlrb: I am also pretty sure it is the problem is with the cable. All the issues that I see during and after the installation of powermax plugin (no drop-down list in front of “Communicate using UART”, “Powermax Alarm Panel[5] : Startup Lua Failed” error, inability to initialize Vera as Powerlink) repro when I disconnected the cable at the Powermax end and repeat the plugin installation sequence. 
Followed the How to make Vera recognize your USB-to-Serial Adapter post you indicated, the dmsg messages contains PL-2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0, automatically. Does it not mean Vera has automatically detected and loaded the right driver?
eth0.1: add 01:00:5e:7f:ff:fa mcast address to master interface eth0.1: del 01:00:5e:7f:ff:fa mcast address from master interface eth0.1: add 01:00:5e:7f:ff:fa mcast address to master interface +hub.c: new USB device 00:03.0-1.2, assigned address 3 +usbserial.c: PL-2303 converter detected +usbserial.c: PL-2303 converter now attached to ttyUSB0 (or usb/tts/0 for devfs)
@mamuli: I’m no expert on this, but as said, I’ve had bad experiences with PL-2303 devices. There are some around that show up as PL-2303, but will not play nice. I would get an FTDI one. If you want you can send me your LuaUPnP.log file to see if there is a clue in there.
I just wanted to mention that it seems that nirb has fixed my plugin problems with my Powermax+. There was an uncompressed version of the L_powermax.lua file residing aboard from a previous installation. It was taking execution precedence no matter what version I uploaded. Once this file got killed, all worked well after that.
nirb has my current log file, and I don’t know if he’ll find anything else wrong, but at least on my end, everything appears to work ver well. Ditching that craptastic Powerlink is the best move yet. Love this plugin!
Thanks nirb!
@nlrb, I bought another USB-Serial cable from BestBuy and with that all the issues are resolved. Vera pull all the Powermax settings, Powerlink initialization worked, it automatically created powermax sensors as Vera sensors (though for some odd reason vera/plugin thinks zone 9 is not used where as it is used and associated to a door sensor in Powermax, just like many other such sensors which are detected well by vera…please let me know if you have any ideas to troubleshoot)…
One more thing, the “Communicate using UART” drop down in the “Settings” tab still does not show up. However, “Used by device” under "URT from Apps >> Develop Apps >> Serial Port configuration, did the work and Vera and Powermax are communicating well.
@mamuli: good to hear it is working! If you send me your log files (powermax_settings.txt and LuaUPnP.log) then I can look into your zone 9 issue.
@nlrb: Need some basic guidance - Where are powermax_settings.txt and LuaUPnP.log located and how can I retrieve them?
One more question: how can i pass the PIN to arm/disarm in scenes?
[quote=“mamuli, post:434, topic:169028”]@nlrb: Need some basic guidance - Where are powermax_settings.txt and LuaUPnP.log located and how can I retrieve them?[/quote]Make sure that the debugging option of the plugin in On and have a look at the wiki how to get the files.
[quote=“mamuli, post:434, topic:169028”]One more question: how can i pass the PIN to arm/disarm in scenes?[/quote]Via the ‘Advanced’ tab when editing a scene. But you can also set the option in the plugin that no pin is required (‘Allow (dis-)arm without PIN’). This is more secure than storing a PIN code in a scene.
Any forecast when the Plugin will be available in Mios Marketplace (not the version 0.81)?
Thanks for a great work!
/J
Plan was to submit it for review this week. But I’m waiting for the logs of mamuli to see if a fix is needed to the code.
I had the same problem with the serial ports listing. It was resolved after either setting the time correctly via NTP or setting the location/city. I’m not entirely sure which one of the two, as I did both in the same go, but after that I got the ports listed correctly (I was ripping my hair out for quite some time before then).
It is worth mentioning by the way that the time needs to be correct for it to work, Vera lite initially comes up in epoch (1970) and Powermax is not happy to accept that time on sync 
However I have a different problem with the plugin, it seems to stop working a while after a Vera reboot. Status is not updated, it cannot be controlled etc. It also seems to hang in different states. At one point it was repeating the following conversation
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
over and over again, many times a second. At other times it just hangs etc. Any ideas?
Otherwise this looks like an excellent piece of work, and no doubt the problem is somewhere at my end.
Thanks for this nlrb!
Thanks for the useful feedback stridger!
Not sure how that would impact the drop-down list, but worth a try for people with the same issue.
Yes, that would indeed cause a problem! The PowerMax does not accept dates earlier than 2000. I’ll add a check in the code to prevent syncing with an old date.
[quote=“stridger, post:438, topic:169028”]However I have a different problem with the plugin, it seems to stop working a while after a Vera reboot. Status is not updated, it cannot be controlled etc. It also seems to hang in different states. At one point it was repeating the following conversation
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 <-PM- 0D A5 0D 04 00 02 00 00 00 07 7C 42 43 3E 0A
2013-02-06 22:07:18 1360188438 -VR-> 0D 02 43 BA 0A
over and over again, many times a second. At other times it just hangs etc. Any ideas?[/quote]
This is quite worrying… User mfp had the exact same problem. There is something in the start-up sequence that the PowerMax Pro Part model does not like and it gets in a wrong state. This will make it to send the ‘0D A5 0D 04 00’ for 90 seconds after a start of the plugin. It starts doing this after the INIT command. That is why in the latest version (r57) I’ve stepped away from sending the INIT. What version are you using?
@mfp: have you been able to resolve this?
Could you please send me the following:
[ul][li]the L_Powermax.lua file you are using[/li]
[li]the LuaUPnP.log file (maybe it has a clue)[/li][/ul]
Hello all from a newbie,
I have a vera lite UI5 with a powermaxpro, plugin installed. I am able to use the RS232 remote programmer using my FTDIO USB-RS232 cable so I know that works. I installed the plugin from install aps section of UI5. After installation I get 2 panels, Partition-1 (PowerMax) which has arm, disarm etc and only control and advanced as buttons. The 2nd panel says powermax alarm panel and has control, event log, and advanced as buttons. In the advanced the controlled by entry says “no parent please select”. I do not see the settings button etc. Also the event log hangs without doing anything. Am I doing something wrong? Help deeply appreciated.