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 Posted: Sunday Feb 5th, 2017 12:02 pm
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HenleyBranch
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Hi Matt,

Firstly, thanks for doing this. I have now had time to follow the instructions and have got set up. I am new to SmartThings. I have got to the point of device discovery in and have a few questions:

1) I seem to have doubled-up on two installations of Comfort Manager in SmartApps (I think through trying to refresh devices and using the initial discovery method twice, having not seen your clarification in the original thread on this point.) How do I delete the second instance?

2) I am not seeing any Comfort Responses. I am seeing 46 devices: all the Sensors, Outputs and Flags listed in the UPNP config file. But no responses.

3) Of the things 46 things I do see, one output is connected to a relay which in turn adjusts the ventilation system in my house to setback. I know this works normally as it is triggered daily by Comfort on Away. I can also test this output from Configurator so know it works as a switch. However switching this switch in SmartThings app appears to have no effect, implying something isn't working in terms of the connection control.

4) Other things are counters. I have Comfort integrated with the Heatmiser system using the Cytech Heatmiser UCM. There half-a-dozen thermostats which present as Counters in Comfort. The counters are showing up in SmartThings but they don't seem to be adjustable at present in the ST app.

5) My lighting is all X10 DIN module dimmers, which is reliably controlled by Comfort sending X10 signals. I appreciate this is now legacy stuff, but how would you recommend this is best handled in SmartThings? Can it be?

It feels like I am nearly there, but may need a little assistance to get me going. I have done a lot of configuration in Comfort and am used to the way it works; but I am entirely new to SmartThings, so this may be the problem.

Thanks in advance.



 Posted: Sunday Feb 5th, 2017 11:12 pm
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mattbrain
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Hi Henley

Thanks for your feedback, I don't think any of your issues are serious, we should have you up and running shortly.

1. This is a pain with SmartThings - it *shouldn't* let this happen as I do specify in the code that only one instance should exist. It seems to ignore my request on this occassionally and allow a second one to be created. I would go into automations -> SmartThings -> click on an instance and there should be remove button near the bottom.

2. Responses are not created automatically; from the [ComfortAlarm Bridge] device detail page clck 'Add Response Device' and it will create a new device in things called 'ComfortAlarm Response'. Open it up and click the cog to change it's name and assign response numbers for the 'on' and 'off' functions.

3, 4. This is likely as a result of the Pi not being able to log into the alarm. Check the settings in the alarm.config for the correct IP address, Port Number and User Code. Also make sure nothing else is logged into the alarm on the same UCM/Eth interface (Eth3 does have two independent interfaces so you can use either). If these look ok, send me a copy of the logs using the send button on the interface and drop me a PM - i'll take a look to see what is going on.

5. I would set up responses to turn lights on and off and then create response devices as per 2.

Good luck,

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Monday Feb 6th, 2017 12:55 am
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HenleyBranch
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Thanks for the prompt response Matt!

I'll let you know how I get on.

My comment on 5 is that I realise that I could make responses for scenes etc. but is there a way that I could get individual dimming control of X10 comfort controlled lights as simple lights in SmartThings? As if it was a Hue light. I currently do that with Indigo running on a Mac, with accompanying iOS app, separate from Comfort, but I am keen to look at the potential of your alternative.

H



 Posted: Monday Feb 6th, 2017 05:42 pm
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mattbrain
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Hi Henley

Ok, just had a quick look at your telemetry (I think I have found your device). I can see it cannot connect to the alarm, but that is all i can see (telemetry only provides very high level info).

Please check the IP address, port and user code. If these seem to be correct, please go ahead and send me the logs and i'll take a deeper dive into what could be occurring.

Just been thinking about your request, I think it's a great idea. I could expose X10 devices or provide a mechanism to execute X10 commands - would you mind sharing what you would like to be able to do and provide the action/response code which you use?

I may be able to then create virtual devices which function like an other dimming light in SmartThings.

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Tuesday Feb 7th, 2017 11:57 pm
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HenleyBranch
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Hi Matt

That would be amazing for those of us with legacy X10 installations.

I'll have a check tonight that I am using the correct IP, port and code.

So, at the moment I run two parallel systems: Comfort and Indigo. Both control DIN rail X10 modules, dimmers and switches. Generally, this is all very reliable. I have built quite a few lighting control responses into Comfort, thanks to Chui and team over the years for their outstanding support, which does sequences of lights, but I have found the iPhone app clunky and the fact that Comfort doesn't do IoT integration well has necessitated using Perceptive Automation's Indigo. This provides a neat iOS front end which the whole family can access for the lights, and some further scene setting, and crucially allows integration with Denon Amp, Sony Bravia, Sonos, Netatmo etc. However, I have struggled with reliable integration with Comfort. For a time, I did manage to have the two connected via a network plugin for Indigo which effectively logged into comfort in the similar way as your Pi app, and then with an understanding of the Comfort protocol I was able to send and receive instructions to Comfort from Indigo. So when various alarm states were set an iOS message would be sent using AppleScript. However, it wasn't 100% reliable and got into real trouble when after six months it looped, causing a perpetual cycle of continuous iOS messages to me and my wife. When we were on holiday. You can imagine how I was in the dog house.

Assisted by the excellent guys at Household Automation here in the U.K. (on here as Home) I have further Comfort integration including Heatmiser Thermostats, Windowmaster actuators, fire alarm, and MVHR ventilation. The frustration for me currently is that those are all isolated inside Comfort and not accessible from the Indigo iOS app which has a much better configurable GUI (in terms of whole family access) than the Cytech offerings (IMHO), and also allows multiple users to log in simultaneously.

So... I am essentially seeing whether I can knock Indigo out of the loop and just rely on Smart Things and a forthcoming Pi UCM, or whatever your product becomes with Chui. I like Indigo, but the stability of Comfort means that has to be the lead system. On my wish list for your emerging product, would be:

1. Individual control of instances of X10 lights on housecodes: On, Off, Dim (So A1, A2, B1 etc. I currently use Ax for downstairs, Bx for upstairs, and Cx for outside)
2. Scene setting. Allowing multiple actions with lights, amplifier TV etc. presumably all is configurable within ST once lights appear.
3. Heatmiser Thermostats displaying as Thermostats in ST, displaying temperature and allowing adjustment of setpoint.
4. Ability to trigger notifications in some way for alarm conditions, etc. May already be possible within ST, but I am new to it this.
5. ST to provide single platform for Home / Comfort control.

Thanks once again for what you are doing. It looks really promising. At the moment I feel behind the curve picking up Smart Things, but it seems most of the wider IP integration with IoT that I have, is all possible with ST. Having got quite a reasonable understanding of Comfort protocol codes and Indigo programming, I am keen to give it a go (but like you do have a full time job elsewhere!)

H



 Posted: Wednesday Feb 8th, 2017 01:00 pm
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mattbrain
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Hi Henley

It sounds like you have quite the system!

On the subject of your connectivity - I assume you are aware the a UCM/Eth and Eth2 can only support a single active connection and a UCM/Eth3 can support 2 on different port numbers. The Pi won't be able to connect if another device is hogging it!

It might help if I explain what I have, which isn't too much different (although I have dropped X10/PLC-BUS due to issues with modules failing and reliability). I have Alexa, Fakro Z-Wave windows, Honeywell EvoHome, Hue lighting, Netatmo, IP camera's using Zoneminder as well as the usual Comfort gubbins including external lighting controlled by relays on outputs.

With SmartThings I can connect all these together as well as external services using IFTTT such as my car (via BMW labs) and family location (via Life360).

It is also possible (as I have shown with the Comfort solution) to develop your own plugins and another I have on my radar is the Bosch Indigo Connect. I want to be able to control when my mower deals with the sorry excuse for a lawn.

All of these things can then be controlled by SmartThings manually via the app which can be installed on all your households devices but more interestingly (for me at least) is the opportunity for automation. There are some really powerful automation tools in SmartThings with CoRE being probably the most flexible. You can create rules to pretty much deal with any set of conditions and trigger events appropriately.

In summary, I see Comfort as being the lead device (simply because nothing comes close to this when it comes to reliability) for safety and security and ST adding the home automation functions due to ease of use and connectivity. The final solution will dispense with the need for ST by having native support for commonly used devices (as ST is only available in a few markets) but will continue to support ST where available.

Taking a look at your wishlist:
1. Individual control of instances of X10 lights on housecodes: On, Off, Dim (So A1, A2, B1 etc. I currently use Ax for downstairs, Bx for upstairs, and Cx for outside) 

I think we can add these as custom devices - I'll add it to the roadmap. I'll have to dig out my old devices and get my hands on the X10 module for Comfort

2. Scene setting. Allowing multiple actions with lights, amplifier TV etc. presumably all is configurable within ST once lights appear.

Yes

3. Heatmiser Thermostats displaying as Thermostats in ST, displaying temperature and allowing adjustment of setpoint. 

Heatmiser must have a plugin for ST; if not i would pester them to build one!

4. Ability to trigger notifications in some way for alarm conditions, etc. May already be possible within ST, but I am new to it this. 

Yes, this is fully supported and I am using it now

5. ST to provide single platform for Home / Comfort control. 

Yes - and this is how I use it.

Hope this all makes sense, please let me know how you get on with your Pi.

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Saturday Feb 11th, 2017 05:32 pm
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I have discovered an issue with another users installation. If your cclx file AlarmTypes entries do not include SirenTypeName for each line (for example when there is not an siren type being used) the code can't parse the file properly and it causes a crash. I'm going to fix this issue in the next day or so to handle this issue but in the meantime you can work around it.

In Comfigurator, navigate to the Security Types Settings -> Alarm Types

For each entry which has a blank Siren Type Name, change it to any other value and then change it back to empty. This will force a blank entry to be saved. Then save the file and upload it to the UHAI (you don't need to re-programme comfort as nothing is actually changing) and then restart.

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Saturday May 6th, 2017 06:57 pm
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HenleyBranch
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Hi Matt

Just to say, I finally found some time in the last couple of weekends to get this going. I went back to the beginning did a clean install, and it is all working now. Thanks so much for making this possible.

Installed CoRE, and am looking forward to building up the integration, migrating over automation from Indigo. I'll probably have some questions which I will post in the forum. Did you have a chance to look at the feasibility of X10 switches (appreciating I am a legacy case?)

Beers on me.

H



 Posted: Saturday May 6th, 2017 08:16 pm
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mattbrain
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Hi Henley

Thanks for the beers, Ben and I will have one on you when we next make it to the pub to discuss development :)

In terms of X10, do you just want On/Off or On/Off and Dimming too?

If it is just On/Off we may be able to do it by creating responses from the Comfort Bridge device (depending on the number of devices this may be too much like hard work).

Failing that I could create a new function in the Pi code and a device to link to it.

Let me know what you think,

Thanks,

Matt



 Posted: Saturday Jun 24th, 2017 09:31 am
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HenleyBranch
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Hi Matt

I thought I had replied to this previously. I hope all is well.

I have the whole house lighting working on X10, it's about twenty circuits, about two thirds are on dimmers. I appreciate it is legacy stuff, but it would be great to have the x10 dimmer as it is available in Comfort available as a SmartThings device without creating responses for each.

Thanks

Henley



 Posted: Monday Nov 13th, 2017 11:43 pm
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wexfordman
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Hi Matt,

Just got my st hub today and running through the setup.

I have got to the point where the st app is finding devices, so I then go to select them (as an example I am just selecting one counter), I press save but i get a message saying device network id must be unique ?

Any idea what this could be ?

Also, just to get my head around some logic here,

a) To control a device, I run the comfort response ?
b) The state of the device is tracked by a counter value ?

If this is the case, how does ST hub know the status of the device, for example, I have response 33 to turn on a light, which it does, and counter 5 is updated to reflect the status of the light. How does st know that counter 5 relates to this device ?



 Posted: Tuesday Jan 9th, 2018 08:36 pm
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schford
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wexfordman wrote:

If this is the case, how does ST hub know the status of the device, for example, I have response 33 to turn on a light, which it does, and counter 5 is updated to reflect the status of the light. How does st know that counter 5 relates to this device ?

Did you bottom this one out? Did you need to create some sort of virtual switch in ST?
Cheers
Stuart



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