Oops, I did type ‘Away’ in my post but it was ‘Stay’ I used as you explained in your previous post.
Just to make sure I tried it again just now with ‘Stay’ with and without the real PIN and also with PIN 0000. Same results.
I checked the Powermax pro manual if there is a third type of PIN (beside the installation and user PIN) for arming the ‘Stay’ state, but can’t find anything (I normally arm/disarm by using a remote key fob.)
I will come back to you with the log you requested asap.
Thanks for your help so far!
Ok, but this does not explain the errors you see. As version 0.6 sends exactly the same stuff over the serial cable as 0.7 it must be a software bug in my new version. I am sure I put in some stupid coding error that for whatever reason does not show up on my system. We will find it eventually …
Could you pls elaborate on why the “arm away” and “arm home” are not similar to the powermax functions? It confuses me a lot and I do use the arm home a lot…
Could you pls elaborate on why the “arm away” and “arm home” are not similar to the powermax functions? It confuses me a lot and I do use the arm home a lot…
/ankere[/quote]
Ok,
this whole confusion comes through the alarm panel standardization (see http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,3713.0.html). Every alarm panel has different arming states. The visonic powermax calls these “Disarm”, “Arm Home” and “Arm Away”. However, other alarm panels (e.g. DSC, ELK, …) may call these states different (for example, “Disarm”, “Stay”, “Arm”). For standardization purpose it was decided to call the states “Disarm”, “Stay”, “Arm” and all alarm panel plugins must map the states they have to the closest of the standard. This has the advantage that people programming an interface (mobile phone things like HomeBuddy) only have to implement support for the standard and then all the different alarm panels can be controlled. Unfortunately, this confuses users as sometimes you see the state names of the standard and not the ones your alarm panel is using.
For the powermax this means:
When you use a UI like HomeBuddy you see the standard names: “Disarm”, “Stay”, “Arm”
When you use veras UI you see three buttons: “Disarm”, “Arm Home” and “Arm Away”
When you program scenes you see for scenes with pin number: “Disarm”, “Stay”, “Arm”
When you program scenes with the second number without pin you see: “Arm Home” and “Arm Away”
I could change it for the last three to be all the same and use “Disarm”, “Arm Home” and “Arm Away” to reduce confusion. I cant change it for the first one (Its not something I can influence).
I updated the file D_PowermaxPartition2.json in release 0.7. Changes are 1) the sceneList 2) the buttons in UI.
When programming scenes you now get 3 options “Disarm”, “Arm Home” and “Arm Away” where the Disarm needs a PIN and the others do not. This should reduce confusion as now in UI4 everywhere the right powermax terms are used (“Disarm”, “Arm Home” and “Arm Away”). Furthermore you do not have to enter the string of the arm mode you want which should avoid mistakes.
In the UI4 main view I disabled the shortcut to the Disarm button. You still have there Arm Home and Arm Away as they can execute without the PIN. However, for Disarm you need to add the pin and so it makes no sense to have it there (You need to click on the spanner, open the tab then enter the pin and disarm.
Hope this reduces some of the confusion. However, still you will have the issue that when using HomeBuddy or other UI you will have to deal with the terms “Disarm”, “Stay”, “Arm”.
I uploaded all the new 0.7 files, but do not see the changes on the Disarm in UI4. I have reloaded the luup engine… Do I need to create the alarm from scratch (and then need to configure all over again, or?).
Do you plan to include the smoke detector devices? This would be the next great feature for me…
I see that sometimes the powermax log kind of hangs “opening event log” - even before it is possible to put in pin code.
Should not need to create from scratch. I had a similar problem and when I closed the browser and started again it fixed it.
Do you plan to include the smoke detector devices? This would be the next great feature for me... :)
I have some smoke detectors in my system as well but have not looked at them yet. The thing is it is hard to test as I do not have a fire in the house on regular basis. I think there is a test button but then the alarm sound goes off as well and as I tend to work on this at night family tends to get angry when alarms go off. I have a look at this over the weekend and see what I can do. I have as well a flood detector, maybe I should get that integrated as well.
The other feature we need maybe more urgent is to add and handle actual burglar alarms. That is what I am looking at at the moment.
I see that sometimes the powermax log kind of hangs "opening event log" - even before it is possible to put in pin code.
The event log tab is a javascript tab. When you open a javascript tab in UI4 for the first time it hangs (you see that loading bar that never stops). THis is a UI4 bug and has nothing to do with the plugin, I cant fix that.
An idea could be to use prowl to make instant notifications on mobile devices. I use a blackberry myself, so this doesn’t help me though. not sure if there is an alternative that goes cross mobile platforms…
Well it will be that the plugin will trigger an event when an alarm is present. That can then be used in scenes to initiate other actions. For example, someone could build a plugin to send prowl notifications which can then be used in a scene to react to the alarm.
I added alarm handling to the plugin in the trunk directory. However, it needs a bit more testing which I will do later today when all neighbors are out of bed …
Reading powermax manuals for a while I discovered that there is a Quick Arm configuration option (4.4.7 Quick Arm). When this is set the commands “Arm Home” and “Armed Away” can be issued without PIN. When this is not set then a PIN is needed for all commands “Arm Home” and “Armed Away” and “Disarmed”.
I changed therefore the command list for scenes and it now includes “Arm Home” and “Armed Away” with and without PIN option (Depending on how you configured the powermax).
I believe that this contributed to the problem @masterscot had. I forgot to pass the PIN variable for the “Armed Home” command. As this is missing my code inserted “0000” which is OK for my installation at home as I have allowed Quick Arm (I assume @masterscot has this disabled and therefore it did not work).
I fixed these issues in the 0.7 version and in the trunk (I hope so).
I added support for the AUX button on the powermax keyfob. This allows you to use the button with the “*” to control devices/scenes in vera. This feature is currently added to version 0.72 in the svn trunk.
To use this you need to configure the powermax such that pressing of the AUX button is directed to the PGM output (see powermax manual). You can then define that with each AUX button press the state is toggled.
In the powermax device you have to add to the variable altid the PGM; for example: “Z01,Z02,Z03,Z11,PGM”. This will then create a PGM device similar to the zone devices that represents the button on the keyfob. When you press aux the red man comes on; second press and it goes away. The PGM device can then be used for scenes (e.g. switch light on/off).
I added support to sync time between powermax and vera. Problem is, it does not work with my powermax+. However, there is a good chance it actually works with newer powermax+ or the powermaxpro. This feature is currently added to version 0.72 in the svn trunk. If someone gets it working, please let me know.
Seems that the time-sync is working om the Powermax Pro! I deliberately set the time wrong on the Powermax. Then synced it through v0.72. The clock on the Powermax Pro jumped to the right time. Sorry to hear it doesn’t work at your side :-[
Now up to testing the AUX button…
I added support for Flood/Smoke/Gas detectors. This feature is currently added to version 0.73 in the svn trunk. Detectors are added just like window or motion detectors by adding the zones of detectors to variable altid. These changes need a bit of testing (I checked the flood sensor so it probably works for the others too).
The partition supports now an event “Alarm detail” which can have values “Intruder, Tamper, Fire, Gas, Flood” to trigger scenes specific to the detected alarm. For example, I use it to cut power to dishwasher/washer/dryer when detecting flood in the kitchen (as its probably one of them leaking).
*** WARNING: do not use these features to implement life critical systems. ***
Or put differently, do not use this to, for example, trigger a z-wave siren in case the powermax detects a fire. It may work but it is not guaranteed.
