DLite

Huh.  I guess I must have inadvertently fixed whatever error I had. 

Thanks for clarifying.

Hi @VINCELdUB:

Thanks so much for posting this explanation. I have a lot of generic experience buttons in my project, and I've been able to create custom ones for my dealer to install.  It vastly improves the UI!

If you wouldn't mind though, I did want to ask you about one issue that has been puzzling me.  At first, I followed all the instructions and was careful to match the name of the .c4z file with the path of the images in the .xml file.  However, I kept getting an error.  After beating my head on this for a few hours, I finally figured out that if I also matched the model name to the .c4z filename and the path names, it worked like a charm.  E.g., one of my buttons was called goodbyetimer.c4z.  When the model name was "goodbye," it kept failing.  I changed the model name to "goodbyetimer," and all was well.

I am happy I got it to work, but I'm still puzzled about how this is working.  In the Hot Tub driver you posted as an example, the model name was "hottub," but the file name was "experience-button-hottub."  I am confused about why that works.  Would you mind explaining the syntax rules about the model name to me?  It is obvious I'm missing something! 

Thanks very much for your help.

Yes, true.  I could play around with that and see how it goes over with the kids.  Maybe the coolness will help.

Thanks!

Yes, quite true. Our family really likes the UI for the wakeup/goodnight button though, and an experience button wouldn't be quite as nicely done.  I'd probably rather live without the announcement feature just to keep that interface.  Anyway, the announcement feature isn't critical -- maybe I was just aiming for the gee-whiz factor.

Thanks.  I pored over that system variables list with no luck -- was hoping for someone to tell me I just missed it!

I'd like the audio endpoints to read out the currently set wakeup time -- via the Chowmain Advanced Announcements driver.  The goal is to add that to the "goodnight" sequences in each bedroom.  E.g., hitting the "bedtime" button results in the announcement, "Your alarm is set for XX tomorrow."  Any other ideas are most welcome.

Thanks

Hi,

Is there any way to program against the current wakeup time that is set in a room for the Wakeup / Goodnight agent?  I haven't been able to find a system variable that contains it.  Is there some way of extracting that value?

Thanks

So far, it is working well for me. I like how it handles announcements made while music is already playing -- it ducks the volume of what's playing, plays the announcement file at normal volume (rather than the ducked volume), and then resumes the volume of the music that was playing. I suppose you could still pause before the announcement and unpause after, if you wanted to match the old Extra Vegetables functionality, but I kind of like the volume ducking approach.

Hi @Gary Leeds UK :

I managed to get the new announcements code working after some wrestling.  Here were my steps:

1. Upload an mp3 file of the announcements to the Controller.  I first created a new (dummy) item in the C4 announcements agent, and then clicked "add" to add the mp3 file.  The new file then showed up as an option in the announcements agent.

2. In the Sonos Network driver, choose "Play Audio Clip" and then the Sonos Room.  You can then put in whatever dummy name you like in the name field.  Finally, I inserted a URL to the filename on the controller.  This is of the form, http://[Controller IP address]/announcements/[File name].  So, for instance, if your C4 controller is at 192.168.0.20, and the file name is Gary's awesome announcement.mp3, you would enter the following URL, http://192.168.0.20/announcements/Gary's awesome announcement.mp3.  (I am not sure if the file name is case-sensitive, but I was careful to match the case showing up in the file name list within the announcements agent in case it matters.)

Finally, my queue will no longer be junked up every time I call an announcement from the favorites list.  I am so happy! 

Let me know if this helps you.

Terrific, thanks for the advice!

Thanks for all the help and advice.  Yes, the device is one-way only. 

@Cyknight, would you mind sharing what your favorite 3rd party drivers are for this device, in case we need to switch?

To control our Somfy shades, we use a Somfy URTSII with the URTSII Control4 driver.  Will this driver work with OS3?  I read in another thread that the blinds v2 proxy will not work in OS3, but I am not sure which proxy I have.

Thanks

My workaround was to create a set of if-then decision rules to set the float-valued variable based on the number-valued result.  It's a little cumbersome, but it does the job.

Thanks a lot.  Does the Somfy UAI interface require an Ethernet connection to the shade motor, or is it wireless?

I am definitely OCD about this kind of thing, so you may find my approach to be nuts. 

With that said, I use a consistent set of device names across C4, Alexa, and on my C4 switch labels.  I find this makes things easier to remember -- if I'm always seeing exactly the same name emblazoned on a switch, and on my C4 touch screens, I'm more likely to remember it when I am ready to talk to Alexa. 

My naming convention is to use the room name (usually one word but in some cases two) plus a one-word term for the lights. I also never append the word "lights," because I find it makes the names longer than I want for Alexa and for C4 switches.  So, for example, "Alexa, turn on Office Overhead," "Alexa, turn on Kitchen Recessed," etc.  I use a similar strategy for lighting scenes -- e.g., "Alexa, turn on Family Room Bright."  (In the latter case, the C4 switch label does say, "Fam Rm Bright," so it is not truly 100% identical in all cases.)

We currently have Somfy motorized shades in our house, integrated with Control4 using the Somfy URTSI device.  While the C4 integration has always worked well, we've had a lot of reliability problems with the Somfy motors themselves, and we're thinking about switching them out for Lutron.  I'm trying to make sense of all the Lutron options.  Which Lutron shade motors are compatible with OS3, and what are the most popular and reliable ways to integrate them with C4? 

As some background, we have about 35 shades in the house.  Six of them are battery-powered, while the rest are connected to power outlets.  They are spread out all over the house -- to control our Somfy shades, we use one URTSI device along with 3 repeaters located in various parts of the house, and it works pretty reliably.

Thanks a lot.

Hi,

Does anyone know of a way to detect when one of the heat or cooling setpoints have been manually changed by a human at the thermostat?  I would like to trigger programming that disables thermostat automation if there is a manual change to setpoints.  Is this feasible?

Thanks a lot.

On 8/17/2019 at 4:17 AM, indecision said:

Just to be sure I am understanding what has been posted above...

It sounds like we can use a Vista 128BPT with OS3 if using the CBM module?  However, we cannot have over 3 partitions and cannot use Total Connect at the same time?  Is that correct? 

If so, what driver does this setup require?

Thanks!

Based on the discussion above, I think the following conclusions can be drawn:

1. OS3 is incompatible with the HouseLogix Vista 128BPT driver, which relies on the 128BPT panel's own native RS232 connection.

2. The Vista 128BPT will not work with the CBM module, because Honeywell's CBM driver for Control4 supports only what Honeywell considers to be "residential" panels.  (Perhaps Honeywell is assuming we can use the built-in RS232 connection in its commercial panels.)

3. The Vista 128BPT will work with OS3 provided you use the HSIM hardware to connect it to Control4.  This solution also appears compatible with Honeywell TotalConnect.  However, as others have noted, the HSIM driver is no longer being updated by SnapAV after its acquisition of HouseLogix, so there is a higher risk of the driver becoming obsolete in the future.

4. Any of Honeywell's "residential" panels, including the Vista 20p, should work with OS3 and the CBM hardware.

Please feel very free to correct any of this if I have misunderstood the discussion!

Just like @PKGarcia and @sweekley's customers, I am also using the HouseLogix 128BPT driver and the panel's built-in RS232 connection.  I am not using HSIM or any other additional hardware in my current setup.  

Has anyone out there tried an HSIM with the 128BPT panel in OS3? 

1 hour ago, ILoveC4 said:

I wonder if now that Snap A/V lens both Houselogix AND Control4 if these drivers will get maintained again?

That would be great, although it kind of seems like the HouseLogix drivers are just being allowed to fade away.  I can only hope that someone comes out with an OS3-compatible driver/hardware interface solution.  This is a sticky problem for us, since our security system plays a central role in many of our automations.

59 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

my understanding is the ccontrol4 driver for the CBM doesn't support 128

my understanding is that the HSIM driver doesn't support OS 3. 

Got it, thanks a lot.  That's a bummer, but I'm glad I learned it before an upgrade broke all our security system programming!

27 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

I don't think the driver supports the 128

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

So, for what it's worth, here is the Snap documentation comparing CBM and HSIM.  It lists 128BPT as a compatible panel in the HSIM panel, but there is no discussion of the Control4 driver anywhere in this sheet. Is that the hangup?  The HSIM works with 128BPT, but just not on Control4?

Sorry to be obtuse, and thanks for the clarification!

Thanks, this is all great info.  Let me see if I can summarize the options for the Honeywell Vista 128BPT.

1. I can use the Honeywell CBM module as long as I have 3 or fewer partitions, but I have to give up TotalConnect. This will work with OS3, however.

2. I cannot use the HouseLogix driver for the Honeywell 128BPT if I upgrade to OS3.

One question I'm still not quite clear on:  If I bought the HSIM module and the HouseLogix driver for it, which SnapAV seems to be selling, would that work with OS3 and with TotalConnect? I understand that we can't be certain of whether Snap will support this in the future, but would that work today?

I am in the same boat -- Honeywell Vista 128BPT plus the same HouseLogix driver as OP; I have delayed upgrading to OS3 because of it. 

If we got an HSIM unit from SnapAV and used their corresponding Honeywell HSIM driver, would that setup work with OS3?  The SnapAV listing still shows the HSIM as compatible with the 128BPT panel, but is it also compatible with OS3?

On 6/22/2019 at 2:38 PM, South Africa C4 user said:

Interesting...

I use Pandora stations from the Sonos Favorite list for all our Wakeup/Goodnight sequences.  It works well.  However, it is a programmatic solution; I agree it would be great if one could change the audio source directly from the T3, instead of via programming.  

Also, regarding the earlier comment of ramp-up and ramp-down of volume, I agree this would be a nice feature to have built-in.  However, it is pretty straightforward to reproduce this using timers in a wakeup or goodnight sequence.