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1.8 is out. Please read before considering the upgrade.


thecodeman

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Posted

This is a major software update that contains primarily the release for zigbee pro. As has been stated before, this is NOT an update to take lightly as many pieces of equipment are not supported in this release. Please talk extensively with your dealer before deciding to do the upgrade. It will take longer than usual to update all of your devices. I plan to update this thread with "Why should I upgrade to 1.8?" information and "Why you should wait until 2.0". I will be updating my personal system tonight to this final release so that I can help others with Zigbee questions. Let's keep all 1.8 specific discussion in this thread so that it's easy to find. I'll try to keep the first post updated with links to other post in the thread that are useful so you don't have to dig through a bunch of posts to find the highlights.


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Posted

So, what is 1.8 all about?

Zigbee Pro

Zigbee Pro adds interoperability support for third-party devices that adhere to the standard Home Automation profile. By using this open standard, C4 is opening the door for any HA-compliant Zigbee Pro device to work in the C4 environment.

Zigbee Pro also brings full AES encryption of RF communications - better security.

Secure mesh network - only devices joined to the mesh can communicate together

Secure "join" to the mesh - similar to the "identify" already in place, it requires physical action at the device to add zigbee devices to your mesh - better security.

No more channels and channel changing for zigbee! Awesome! The system will scan for the best available channel at the time of creating the mesh, and everything is joined to that channel. You can still change it later if you like.

Multicast lighting scenes - this eliminates the "popcorn effect" - all lights will respond to level changes at once versus one at a time in succession. Each project can contain 1,000 total lighting scenes, with each device in up to 32 different scenes.

Easier double and triple tap programming - for Compser HE users, this is now a radio button option, rather than programming variables. Note though that press and release events still occur.

Wireless Fireplace Relay and Wireless Fireplace Switch support.

FLAC music support - scanned just like .mp3 music, allowing better quality audio files for your distributed music. Can be streamed from NAS, USB thumb/hard drives, or internal HDDs on the controllers.

** As pointed out by Matt, because it is FLAC (lossless), it will use higher CPU cycles to play it back - keep this in mind in the event you are having system performance issues after the update

Black & Decker door lock support, which we've known about for a while now on the forums.

SR150/250 remote behavior changes - "Watch and Listen" - now have the option for room specific behavior - using the "no-action" selection, along with the already used "list" and "most recently used". Your dealer can set this up to do a number of different things on those buttons now.

SR150/250 - menus for My Library, Rhapsody, Zones, and Now Playing now show under the Listen Button when configured for "Show Device List".

Thermostat - undershoot and overshoot now applies to both heat and cool. Previously, overshoot only disengaged the heat, and undershoot was only to disengage the cool. Undershoot now determines when both heating and cooling are engaged, and overshoot determines heat and cool disengage.

Playlists are now alphabetical in list navigators (like your SR-250)

DHCP in the audio products has been improved with some routers, but you should be using a static IP anyway :)

Short Circuit detection & front panel display to the 4zone amp and 16 channel amp.. but I think this was available in 1.7.3.x for the 4zone?

Updated Firmware for the iPod dock to resolved some reported issues.

Audio playback problems on secondary controllers were fixed.

Browsing of large files (>2GB) in Composer fixed.

Announcement agent wasn't always showing an HC200 as an end point, but that should be fixed too.

The iPhone app no longer has to be identified every time you update.

Various "losing focus" issues when using the on screen navigator have been addressed.

Touch response on 7" in-wall and portables improved.

Last line on the Genres page for the 7" is fixed.

The ability to check or uncheck the property of a keypad's LED to follow the color of a bound device.

Posted

But there's a catch, right?

This is really a stop-gap release to fix the popcorn lighting effect and add a few new features for existing customers if they need it. But this all depends on the cost/benefit ratio. If you're a new or potential customer for C4, there's no reason that you can't start with 1.8 today. But here's a few things that existing customer should consider before upgrading.

Unsupported devices:

Right now, there are some Zigbee Control4 products that will not work in 1.8, but some will have support in 2.0:

Remote Control V1 and V2

LCD Keypad

Contact / Relay extender

Multi-tuner

Audio Matrix Switch

Multi-channel amplifiers

If an Ethernet connection is available for the above devices, it should be used instead of Zigbee. What this means is if you have a zigbee control connection for the mutli-tuner, for example, you should run an ethernet cable for control instead.

Also, some Card Access gear is able to be software updated to Zigbee Pro, while others will need a hardware upgrade. Contact your dealer for more information about this information, including possible trade-up options.

Here's a link to the Card Access website explaining which gear can be upgraded:

http://www.cardaccess-inc.com/automation/promo/20090728m_2/index.php?a=l

There are plans for Zigbee Pro updates to some of the devices on this list in future updates, depending on their hardware compatibility. Nothing is set in stone yet.

Upgrade time:

The time to upgrade is longer in comparison to those in the past. It may take as many as 24 hours or more depending on the size of your project, number of devices, and zigbee coverage. This is also an update that I would suggest you have your dealer come by in person to start going, as there are a few tricks to getting the zigbee mesh started and configured properly. You don't want to abandon any of your dimmers or remotes do you? :)

Home Theater Controller and Media Controller support:

Still hanging on to these guys? You'll be pleased to know that they can stay in the system, but they can no longer be the primary controller. You'll need an HC-300, 500, or 1000 for that. The 200 can't be a primary controller in a multiple-controller project.

Performance considerations for Single Zone installations

Single zone, single controller installations should be fine, but multiple zones and greater than 35 zigbee devices will start to impact this performance. Best option is to add a dedicated controller with navigator disabled to help.

List navigators in single controller projects might be slower too due to the encryption required of zigbee traffic.

An HC-1000 is a great place to run Director and the z-server (which can now be run seperate from the Access Point process) processes to really give your project a kick in the pants.

There's no going back to a previous version!!

There's no downgrade process for Zigbee Pro, so be sure it's what you want!

So why would I want to upgrade?

Aside from these things, since it's a stepping stone for 2.0, when that comes out you wont have to do the zigbee pro upgrade again. You'll be on the fast road to that supposedly cool interface with the Toaster Integration.

For most users, there's not enough of a "difference" to be worth the time and effort.

Posted

User Experiences

thecodeman:

Test system with (1) HC300, (1) Thermostat, (2) SR-250 remotes, (2) switches, (1) dimmer.

Total time from downloading the update to finishing the last zigbee device flash: 4 hours while readin the instructions.

Known bugs/reported problems: None so far.

SOHO Shop 1.8 test customer #1

(1) HC300, (1) HC200, (3) SR-250 remotes.

Total time: 1hr, 13 minutes.

Posted

Please note streaming flac files does use a lot more CPU usage then streaming a .mp3 file.

If you plan on using this format.

Posted

Does this change how devices communicate over TCP/IP? Is communication still using unencrypted 5020/TCP without authentication?

Posted
Does this change how devices communicate over TCP/IP? Is communication still using unencrypted 5020/TCP without authentication?

That has not changed.

There is no telling what future changes will be made in a protocol that is not publicly documented.

Posted

Just completed my small test of 1 hc300, 2 switches, a dimmer, 2 sr250s, and a thermostat. So far so good. Took about 4 hours, though I had some things I didnt understand on the first time around.

Posted
But there's a catch, right?

This is really a stop-gap release to fix the popcorn lighting effect and add a few new features for existing customers if they need it. But this all depends on the cost/benefit ratio. If you're a new or potential customer for C4, there's no reason that you can't start with 1.8 today. But here's a few things that existing customer should consider before upgrading.

Unsupported devices:

Right now, there are some Zigbee Control4 products that will not work in 1.8, but some will have support in 2.0:

Remote Control V1 and V2

LCD Keypad

Contact / Relay extender

Multi-tuner

Audio Matrix Switch

Multi-channel amplifiers

Just to be clear, These devises will work But You Must have an Ethernet cable.. 1.8 does not support with zigbee.

If an Ethernet connection is available for the above devices, it should be used instead of Zigbee. What this means is if you have a zigbee control connection for the mutli-tuner, for example, you should run an ethernet cable for control instead.

Also, some Card Access gear is able to be software updated to Zigbee Pro, while others will need a hardware upgrade. Contact your dealer for more information about this information, including possible trade-up options.

There are plans for Zigbee Pro updates to some of the devices on this list in future updates, depending on their hardware compatibility. Nothing is set in stone yet.

Upgrade time:

The time to upgrade is longer in comparison to those in the past. It may take as many as 24 hours or more depending on the size of your project, number of devices, and zigbee coverage. This is also an update that I would suggest you have your dealer come by in person to start going, as there are a few tricks to getting the zigbee mesh started and configured properly. You don't want to abandon any of your dimmers or remotes do you? :)

Home Theater Controller and Media Controller support:

Still hanging on to these guys? You'll be pleased to know that they can stay in the system, but they can no longer be the primary controller. You'll need an HC-300, 500, or 1000 for that. The 200 can't be a primary controller in a multiple-controller project.

Performance considerations for Single Zone installations

Single zone, single controller installations should be fine, but multiple zones and greater than 35 zigbee devices will start to impact this performance. Best option is to add a dedicated controller with navigator disabled to help.

List navigators in single controller projects might be slower too due to the encryption required of zigbee traffic.

An HC-1000 is a great place to run Director and the z-server (which can now be run seperate from the Access Point process) processes to really give your project a kick in the pants.

There's no going back to a previous version!!

There's no downgrade process for Zigbee Pro, so be sure it's what you want!

So why would I want to upgrade?

Aside from these things, since it's a stepping stone for 2.0, when that comes out you wont have to do the zigbee pro upgrade again. You'll be on the fast road to that supposedly cool interface with the Toaster Integration.

For most users, there's not enough of a "difference" to be worth the time and effort.

Posted
Just to be clear, These devises will work But You Must have an Ethernet cable.. 1.8 does not support with zigbee.
If an Ethernet connection is available for the above devices, it should be used instead of Zigbee. What this means is if you have a zigbee control connection for the mutli-tuner, for example, you should run an ethernet cable for control instead.

Yes... that's why there's the paragraph below it... :/

Posted
Just to be clear' date=' These devises will work But You Must have an Ethernet cable.. 1.8 does not support with zigbee.
If an Ethernet connection is available for the above devices, it should be used instead of Zigbee. What this means is if you have a zigbee control connection for the mutli-tuner, for example, you should run an ethernet cable for control instead.

Yes... that's why there's the paragraph below it... :/

That, and I would love for you to show me how to hook up an ethernet cable to my V1 and V2 remotes!!!

Posted
Cool' date=' did they update Composer also, or no changes in Composer?[/quote']

Composer Pro, Composer HE and Composer ME were all updated for the 1.8.0 release.

Ahh what version is it on now?? 1.8.xxx??

Posted
Cool' date=' did they update Composer also, or no changes in Composer?[/quote']

Composer Pro, Composer HE and Composer ME were all updated for the 1.8.0 release.

Ahh what version is it on now?? 1.8.xxx??

Nice try. ;) I think it is some where between .0000 and .????. That is a lot of possible combination so it ought to keep you busy for a while.

Posted

Control4 updates ComposerPro / HE / ME for *every* release, and it's always recommended to use the proper released version with the same version on the controller.

RyanE

Posted
Control4 updates ComposerPro / HE / ME for *every* release, and it's always recommended to use the proper released version with the same version on the controller.

RyanE

why does my.control4.com still show 17320?

Posted
This is a major software update that contains primarily the release for zigbee pro. As has been stated before, this is NOT an update to take lightly as many pieces of equipment are not supported in this release. Please talk extensively with your dealer before deciding to do the upgrade. It will take longer than usual to update all of your devices. I plan to update this thread with "Why should I upgrade to 1.8?" information and "Why you should wait until 2.0". I will be updating my personal system tonight to this final release so that I can help others with Zigbee questions. Let's keep all 1.8 specific discussion in this thread so that it's easy to find. I'll try to keep the first post updated with links to other post in the thread that are useful so you don't have to dig through a bunch of posts to find the highlights.

i did an update last nite that popped up on my laptop while downloading music to C4.. after 3 hours i cancelled.. now 2 of my controllers are not working.. i got picture no sound.. has anyone had this problem before and how can you fix.. i've rebooted and still no sound.

Posted

It is 1.8.0.44415.....I think. I am not at that computer right now so I can't tell you with 100% certainty, but I am 99% sure that's it.

Posted
This is a major software update that contains primarily the release for zigbee pro. As has been stated before' date=' this is NOT an update to take lightly as many pieces of equipment are not supported in this release. Please talk extensively with your dealer before deciding to do the upgrade. It will take longer than usual to update all of your devices. I plan to update this thread with "Why should I upgrade to 1.8?" information and "Why you should wait until 2.0". I will be updating my personal system tonight to this final release so that I can help others with Zigbee questions. Let's keep all 1.8 specific discussion in this thread so that it's easy to find. I'll try to keep the first post updated with links to other post in the thread that are useful so you don't have to dig through a bunch of posts to find the highlights.[/quote']

i did an update last nite that popped up on my laptop while downloading music to C4.. after 3 hours i cancelled.. now 2 of my controllers are not working.. i got picture no sound.. has anyone had this problem before and how can you fix.. i've rebooted and still no sound.

I would start by calling a professional....someone how is trained on how to make this upgrade.

You should not have been prompted to upgrade to 1.8. You need Composer 1.8 to make the upgrade, and 1.7.3 is still supported. There is actually supposed going to be another 1.7 maintenance release here shortly.

Whatever you were upgrading from, you would have been upgrading to 1.7.3.20. That isn't too major of an ungrade, unless your still on 1.3.2 or something.

Good luck.

Posted
Control4 updates ComposerPro / HE / ME for *every* release' date=' and it's always recommended to use the proper released version with the same version on the controller.

RyanE[/quote']

why does my.control4.com still show 17320?

I have seen it take up to two weeks for that to reflect the new version. Plus, 1.8 isn't really a suggested upgrade. Just wait for the 1.7 maintenance release, and then eventually 2.0.

I am telling you the 1.8 upgrade is no trivial task. It is very time consuming (and nerve racking) to say the very least. I have decided to keep my system on 1.7 for now.

Posted
It is 1.8.0.44415.....I think. I am not at that computer right now so I can't tell you with 100% certainty, but I am 99% sure that's it.

It was not a 1.8.... it was still in the 1.7.... i have placed a call in but they can't address for several days.. thought there might be an easy fix

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