Cyknight

35 minutes ago, Control4Savant said:

Please share with us your comprehensive list of what all corporations and universes prefer to use, are using and plan to use in the future. 

The list is:

-Not UBQT now nor for the first decade after they announce a proper support channel.

I've no particular hard feelings against UBQT but no sane enterprise level IT department, even outsourced, would use something with no pro support line on gear.

Of course we're not talking corporate offices or universities here but homes so it really doesn't matter does it.

9 hours ago, RyanE said:

The reason I run with Passthrough mode off is that the icon is not always accurate (select Netflix, hit 'home', and choose Hulu on the Roku, still shows Netflix icon, since mini apps are not 2-way).

RyanE

Same for me: myself and kids just switch apps using the 'roku controls' often enough that it doesn't make sense to use passthrough as we'll be watching disney+ and it'll say netflix (or whatever combo) becuase the system isn't going to be aware of those changes.

We do set passthrough for clients, especially for 'simple' setups and multi-(outside of family) user setups to be less confusing (ie retirement home theatre we're setting up will have this - they won't even be aware there's a Roku as such, just that there's a bunch of streaming services)

On 4/20/2024 at 5:25 PM, IBZICON said:

Interesting conversion/thread as my C4 dealer recommended Eero last year.  I’m surprised with all the negative comments regarding Araknis routers/network switches that C4 dealers post on back channel social media platforms.  Ruckus is interesting, but with the WiFi standards changing from WiFi 6E now to 7, as a Ruckus WAP is over $1,500 and WiFi 7 will be outdated in a few years.  The typical C4 customer has a large house which will require many WAP’s.  The back channel dealers have been recommending UnFi for routers/switches.  

LOL. Troll post.

It really does just that - keep the selected mini driver as the visible 'source' device.

That doesn't mean there may not be an issue with it - but that it's sole intended use and function

On 4/20/2024 at 12:25 PM, therockhr said:

If you asked the average person to look at this device and the C4 touchscreen they couldn't tell the difference. 

Looking around at documentation it appears that this device cant do the intercom function.

On 4/20/2024 at 10:23 AM, Control4Savant said:

You can consider them whatever you want but they are definitely touch screens.

Maybe just for fun answer the question asked which was how they compare?

I was talking about the axxes ind keypads, not the android touchscreen. My mistake, I though he was asking if I installed many of those.

If the average person can't see the difference between that (the axxess keypads) and an actual touchscreen (C4 or tablet doesn't matter) then humanity is in deep trouble.

And no it won't do intercom - that is only available on native C4 screens. As for how they compare: I never suggested them, never used them at a client, and likely never will (nothing against them as such, but if going the alternate option route I don't see why I'd use that over a mounted tablet).

I demo'd one and found it slow to respond to touch and slow to load - but that was an early unit so I will certainly say a newer user should comment on how well they work for a better 'review' than I can give.

21 hours ago, IBZICON said:

Second Edit: Could I use this (JTECH-AET-AS) with the a TS-AMS8-V2?

Yes, but again, why would you. Using ARC if optical is simply available makes way more sense.

There's also audio baluns that take optical and output stereo analogue out there as well that would work with your current audio matrix without any 'trickery' - I really just see ZERO reason to enter ARC into the mix as a somewhat unstable and difficult to work with way of getting audio to your speakers....

WHY would you use an ARC return in that situation, when you can simply use a sstandard audio balun for either stereo or SPDIF? Depending on age of C4 8x8 matrix, it should have coax SPDIF inputs, but you're just using a much more expensive options, potetnially with more add ons, to do something that can be done much simpler and cost efficient.

On 4/18/2024 at 7:30 AM, therockhr said:

Have you deployed many of these? What do you lose with this versus a C4 touchscreen?

Don't consider them touchscreens at all. They're super fancy 'touch' keypads.

'Touchscreens' in C4 world are full scale visual/user interfaces that give you your whole home to control in every aspect, a keypad is a programmed control point set to do specific tasks.

I personally despise the 'modern' C4 look but to each there own. I much prefer the 'traditional' version (especially in midnight black with an actual stainless steel cover).

That said, tastes will differ. I do like these: https://www.axxind.com/smarthome/touch-keypads/

Rithum is another options that I've looked at but never used them. I'm concerned about speed of control a bit on those and just had zero time to trial them.

In the end, we've done VERY few alternative options - because the added cost of alternative keypads with less snappy control, or much more expensive keypads that work just as well tends to convince even the most 'liquid' clients.

We've played with some KNX options and things like the blacknova aria but it's rarely gone anywhere, and frankly they rarely work quite as well as a regular keypad.

Most cases it's a few alternate options in specific locations such as decked out theatres but the majority still regular keypads.

The problem with the overly fancy options is also that they POP a lot more. Which is nice in a demo setup and looks great on a web page showing one of them....but it tends to become this obvious thing sticking out on every wall of your house if you put them everywhere and actually can feel like MORE wall clutter, not less. Just something to consider.

Also, while the 'touch' look is again nice, think of how you live and move around in the house. A 'tactile' keypad over the course of a bit of time become muscle memory - you walk across the house and merely 'feel' what button to press, do so blindly and move along and you get what you want. Generally for any touch options - you will ALWAYS stop and look at what you're doing.

Not telling you NOT to do alternate and fancy options - but don't get drawn too much into the look of something, that may be better of not being noticeable at all.

43 minutes ago, fleon said:

Yes, I much prefer these:

 

https://axionlighting.com/product/axion-android-poe-touch-panels/

 

So much cheaper too....

 

Those are touchscreen alternatives, as in an alternative for using a touchscreen, not so much keypads, and I find them rather 'meh'

Nothing new from C4 as far as I'm aware, not sure if there was a sonos update or not. What did you have to reboot to get it back? C4, The sonos pieces?

On a serious note, OP I have to agree with Andrew: it sounds like you may be over your head to begin with.

It's not clear, but I assume you don't have access to ComposerPro and the DevTools. Without it you will never succeed, and getting that depends on Control4/Snap - not from whatever anyone on here can really tell you.

From there, the fact that you're asking where to get the control hex codes for the device you're making a driver for indicates that you have the whole though process backwards. Those codes are provided by the device company: Control4 doesn't just make up codes at random for a device.

And yes, if you think creating a two-way RS232 driver is a single (or two, three) page PDF explanation, then yes - find someone to do it for you.

NOW if you are indeed a C4 dealer with Pro access, and all you're looking to do is a simple one-way serial control driver: well as along as you can get the codes from the manufacturer (note, Decimal, Hexadecimal and Ascii are all supported in writing a driver), as well as Baud rate, parity etc needed on their end, then the Composer built-in driver wizard makes it pretty simple to create a serial driver and the online user guide has plenty of info if you're willing to dig into it.

I'll look over the idea that you wouldn't know what driver type to use and wanting to create a driver because videowall is a bit of an odd one, but it's going to be AVswitch.

3 hours ago, msgreenf said:

Maybe I can find a one page guide on how to do your job?

Here's mine, it's a few lines only really.

Find out what client means by nothing's working.

Fix the problem.

Assuming this is a lutron central panel system with low voltage keypads...Oh probably a $100k or up to rewire the complete house, redo drywall (assuming it's drywall, not latch let alone brick or concrete) and repaint everything to ensure colour match plus permits for electrical, fixing whatever shows up because you're doing a full house reno that wouldn't pass inspection....

Pretty sure seller is going to pass on your offer....

4 hours ago, Matrix said:

it has become evident that the problem is with the chime doorbell and backend Control4 cloud services

That seems a huge leap. As Ari above, we have a ton of Chimes out there and very few issues at all, non having the one you reported. It's certainly not the could service as you already mention phone to phone is working, which uses the same cloud service.

To ask the obvious:

did you check the wire going to the chime?

did you but the chime on a short jumper wire direct at the network switch to test?

Hmm. Indeed the color buttons do not show.... weird.

1 hour ago, Baubas Cat said:

I can't seem to find {colour} in the Action programming panel. Could you point me in the right direction?

Source driver, IR code, or 'device specific commands' - depends on the driver.

If the driver doesn't have it...in your case you may be able to use the room, and send {colour} command. {colour} of course denotes that you add red, green etc depending on which one you wnat

The touch doesn't have genric hard buttons, so the only thing you could really do is at a room level:

WHEN command {whatever unused button available on the halo touch is available, say STOP} is received
IF {room} selected device is androidTV
	send command {colour} to AndroidTV

Default doorbell press on chime = call all screens. The check mark I mentioned only disables the 'dingdong' sound (don't confuse the name of the doorbell which is 'Chime' with the wording 'play door chime'. The latter literally just means 'play ringing sound if doorbell station calls'. I can see where it may be confusing mind you.

An announcement is NOT an intercom announcement, it is the ability to play a sound effect triggered by an event.

The fact hat you may be trying to sound a 'doorbell chime' sound through speakers when the 'Chime doorbell' button is pressed has nothing to do with the INTERCOM portion of the door station to call a touchscreen (or your phones).

Up to you if you want to screens to play that announcement as well, though if I don't recommend it for your scenario (keep it simple: play desired sound, be it winchester chimes a roaring lion or a machine gun firing, on the speakers, leave the touchscreens 'dingdng' off and just have it deal with the intercom.

Yes, the wording can be confusing: announcements have been in use for a LONG time and more recently added touchscreens as an option (but before intercom was introduced), then came intercom and eventually the doorstation got to be called 'chime'..... so it all sort of evolved into this setup where some naming conventions could use an update....

Depends on how big, and what budget really.

Frame 32" should come in around 500 or less on sale.

Viewsonic carries a portable oled screen at 15" with speakers at 1/2 an inch deep that you could probably just tape onto the wall with industrial tape (but would cost you about the same as the frame).

5 hours ago, therockhr said:

Is the core lite limited to 1 room in composer or is it just a suggestion?

It doesn't allow adding more controllers. Will it allow you to add more than one room - yes it will. Should you add more than one room beyond the function of a double room for audio options (TV vs surround vs headphones), maybe use a Zone2 out on a receiver or a few lights? No you really shouldn't.

2 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said:

Plus 1

That'd be your obvious option yes .

If you want something else, you'll have to look into a separate setup for keypads: no other keypads can be connected to the C4 bridge. Small note: nothing FORCES you to use the C4 keypad bridge to use C4 central lighting.

1- take that volume 0 out on the announcement, that is for your detailed announcement only.

2 - if you don't want ANYTHING to play from the touchscreens, simply remove those touchscreens from the announcement

3 - to prevent the default 'ring' you'll have to go to each screen and disable the 'play door chime' option on the properties page.

Example:

Motion alert email template

Motion was detected by [insert name]

add a single email address to the template

Then when programming, add any emails you want (even delete the template one if desired) and replace [insert name] with the actual motion name/location

They are templates. Just create a single template that has the wording you always/almost always use, then when programming to send it, you can edit the content right under programming

17 hours ago, cjh said:

Q - normal? if not, where can we start poking around to shorten the time between start and hearing playback?

5-7 is long, though having a lot of wireless devices can certainly increase that time. Know that the C4 system will try to buffer for the lowest common denominator.

There will also be a delay for Airplay to begin with (which could be 1-3 seconds, again depending on network speed/latency).

The two things that are likely to affect the speed it takes are

-System settings under digital audio (you may well be able to adjust these in HE: under monitoring look for 'digital audio' or 'digital media').

You can lower the max quality (if only using airplay, you can basically lower it to the lowest setting without ever noticing a difference), for the latency settings:

Audio Latency Profile:  Depending on the complexity of the project, select from one of the three profiles below.

Level 1 (Default) - Ideal for most systems. Recommended for hardwired ethernet-based audio streaming devices, but can also work for projects that include a small number of wifi-based audio streaming devices.
Level 2 - Recommended for larger systems that utilize controller HDMI outputs for audio streaming and/or multiple wifi-based audio streaming devices.
Level 3 - Recommended for the largest systems that utilize several controller’s HDMI outputs for audio streaming and several wifi-based audio streaming devices.

-You (wifi especially in your case) network speed.