Will not arm/disarm without code - regardless of settings in plugin

cozmokramer · January 22, 2015, 6:04pm

Just bought myself a VeraLite for the sole purpose of expanding the use of my existing PowerMax pro alarm system.

After getting everything up and running, I’m just testing out basic stuff like arming and disarming in the plugin. However - even though I’ve chosen “Allow (dis-)arm without PIN: Arm & disarm allowed” in the settings of the panel, it still will not do it without entering a valid pin code.

Am I missing something basic here? I’m new to Vera - so bare with me if this is real simple

cozmokramer · January 22, 2015, 6:29pm

Think I figured it out…Under “Control” it says I’m operating the plugin in “standard” mode. The settings for arm/disarm w/o code, and some other settings seems to only be available in “powerlink” mode - or at least none of them work for me in “standard” mode.

So now to figure out how to get it over to “powerlink” mode …

nlrb · January 23, 2015, 8:49am

Did you read the wiki? It is all explained there…

cozmokramer · January 23, 2015, 9:27am

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Obviously I did not read the Wiki thoroughly enough the first time. However, now I have read the Wiki and all the threads (the ones I’ve found so far) on this great forum.

Wiki says: “Note: For Powerlink mode to work the enrollment procedure has to be followed.”

And : "Enroll the Powerlink module On the PowerMax panel, enroll the Vera as Powerlink. Note that this is done automatically on newer models. "

After fumbling around a lot I am not able to get this working. When I click “install powerlink” on my Powermax panel - it just gives me one long “beeep” to indicate that that it failed.

I read in another thread about one user who had almost the same issue - and he managed to get it working if he was logged into Vera by SSH at the time as he tried to enroll Vera on the powermax. Sounds a little crazy, but guess I’ll give it a try.

Anything else I could be missing?
I’m using a homemade cable with a USB-SERIAL FTDI adapter - connecting RX,TX and GND to the PC/IP interface on the Powermax and USB on Vera.

But I read in another thread that Visonic PowermaxPro has 3 RS232 ports and only one of these ports are Powerlink protocol capable.

So I guess I’ll have to change my hardware (get a RJ45 to Serial and hook it up the serial to usb) to get the integration to work in “powerlink” mode …?..

egbertje · January 23, 2015, 10:40am

I had exact the same problem.
The FTDI adapter does not work, only in standard mode (i think only receiving).
I ordered as adviced bij nlrb this rs232 to usb convertor : http://www.amazon.de/Digitus-DA-70156-USB-Seriell-Adapter/dp/B0030IT780/
(I found this also in the netherlands google for : Digitus USB / serial adaptor [2551908])
Then this convertor is connected to the dual rs232 adapter which was already there in my Powermax pro.
And i made myself this cable from RJ45 to DB9 , see this post : http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,15285.0.html
Once vera was started with plugin software 1.2a everything was working!

nlrb · January 23, 2015, 10:44am

I am using the PC/IP interface myself as well with a PowerMax Pro. And on that one the auto enrollment works OK. But we’ve also come across models that have a different port name than ‘PC/IP’ that do not show the enrollment message.

One thing to verify is to turn on debug logging and check if the following message comes by:

0xAB 0x0A 0x00 0x01 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x43

cozmokramer · January 23, 2015, 10:47am

Thank you Egbert for making this clear to me! I’ll order the RS232 components asap.

Interesting that auto enrollment works on some panels on the PC/IP interface.

I’ll turn on debug and see if the message you entered comes by, nlrb.

cozmokramer · January 23, 2015, 1:24pm

[quote=“cozmokramer, post:7, topic:185485”]Thank you Egbert for making this clear to me! I’ll order the RS232 components asap.

Interesting that auto enrollment works on some panels on the PC/IP interface.

I’ll turn on debug and see if the message you entered comes by, nlrb.[/quote]

Turned on debugging, but that hex sequence doesn’t occur in the log file.

Maybe my panel is too old. On my the “PC/IP” interface is only labeled as “PC” (no “IP”), and where the newer panels are labeled “Dual RS232” mine is labeled “CELL/PL/PC”.

egbertje · January 23, 2015, 1:45pm

I also have an older Powermax, and also only labeled PC (no IP)
So i connected to the dual rs232 adapter at the PL/PC connector.
Just opened my alarm, see pics.
Again this is an old (Nuon) powermax pro.

cozmokramer · January 23, 2015, 1:48pm

Cool and thank you for the pictures! Seems that’s the way to go for me. I was sure I had the dual RS232 board lying around somewhere, but couldn’t find it so I’m gonna need to get one of those too.

cozmokramer · February 14, 2015, 5:57pm

It’s been some time since my last attempts at this. Meanwhile I’ve been getting several packages with some adapters etc from China ( ;D ) and the dual RS232 board from Visonic.
Tonight I made myself a similar cable to Egbert. Hooked everything up, and voila - everything just worked - enrolled the Powermax panel and it went into powerlink mode. How cool! Thanks to this superb forum for help and guidance!

KhMerA · March 11, 2015, 4:44pm

[quote=“cozmokramer, post:11, topic:185485”]It’s been some time since my last attempts at this. Meanwhile I’ve been getting several packages with some adapters etc from China ( ;D ) and the dual RS232 board from Visonic.
Tonight I made myself a similar cable to Egbert. Hooked everything up, and voila - everything just worked - enrolled the Powermax panel and it went into powerlink mode. How cool! Thanks to this superb forum for help and guidance![/quote]

Hi! have you ever used USR-TCP232-E (RJ45 to RS232) adapter before? which one is more stable? To use RS232 adapter you must have your Vera close to your Powermax which is not applicable to me. I am using USR-TCP232-E and got a lot of problem, cannot connect to device.