DLite

Crap. I think I have a dead EA-5.  Shortly after this problem, I saw the dreaded blinking red triangle.  Ugh.

I started having a weird Composer problem this evening.  When I try to update programming, I can't see code items being dragged and dropped. But, if I switch away from the trigger I'm working on and then switch back, the programming change is there that resulted from the drag and drop.  E.g., suppose I am adding a line of code to the "when variable X changes" screen.  When I drag and drop to add the line, nothing appears to happen. Then, if I switch to the "when variable Y changes" screen, and switch back to "when variable X changes," the new line of code appears.

I am using Parallels with Windows 11.  I did update Parallels a few days ago, but this problem started just now.  I tried restarting windows and restarting parallels. I am on the latest version of Composer.  Any ideas of something else to try?

19 minutes ago, Andrew luecke said:

Have you thought about just using something like Wiz or TPLink?

I hadn't, but that is a good thought. The Chowmain driver looks cool, as usual.

I'm looking to buy a wireless outlet switch to run our Xmas tree lights!  

Thanks

1 minute ago, Alt said:

Hello, Just picked up a new work laptop MacBook Pro M3 Pro should arrive next week. What is everyone using for emulation? Parallels w/ Win11? 
 

Was also looking at Crossovers and Whiskey? Like the idea of not having to run a full Windows VM just for composer pro. 
 

Most search results on the web are a few years old on the M1 chip. Would love any personal feedback experience with any of the above apps. 
 

Thanks, Happy programming! 

I use Parallels on my Mac Studio, and I used to use Fusion on an older Intel-based Mac.  Parallels could not have been easier to set up, and Composer works fine on it. Fusion worked well enough, but (last year at least) the installation process for Apple Silicon devices remained way more complex than it had become on Parallels.

On 10/15/2023 at 3:35 PM, Zbee said:

Thanks msgreenf, I just found this on the Roon site:

1. The Nucleus-only restriction has been removed, this module now works with all types of Roon Cores
2. The Control4 module has been open-sourced, you can find a link to the GitHub repository below if you wish to make additional module changes

I also use the Roon driver.  It is pretty good, and it is certainly miles better than my alternative, which is the (crippled) Sonos driver. However, the Roon C4 interface is much more stripped down than what you are used to seeing in the Roon app. It is also buggy, and, since Roon has basically washed its hands of the driver's continued development, those bugs are likely there to stay.  On the plus side though, it is free and works with any kind of Roon core, so you've got nothing to lose by giving it a shot!

On 9/19/2023 at 4:36 PM, penn65000 said:

We deactivated it because C4 can’t co-exist with Honeywell app. They don’t tell you this prior. Also the c4 driver wasn’t adequate — couldn’t use many of the 128bpt features. I cut C4 a break on this. Alarm control panels are 1970s technology. But DMP is far worse than Honeywell…

If you use the HSIM module instead of 4232 CBM to integrate your Vista panel, you can use both TotalConnect and Control4.  This is what we do with our Vista 250bpt, for exactly this reason. While there were some bugs in the HSIM driver a few years ago, it has been working flawlessly for us (knock wood) for the last couple of years.

2 minutes ago, BY96 said:

Is there a way in HE to program to turn off just audio in a room and not video if both happen to be on? I seem to only find commands to turn the whole room off, which I presume includes audio and video. 

Any reason muting the room wouldn't work?  Otherwise, you can likely turn off individual devices programmatically as needed.

23 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

Can't speak for Synology in particular, but Luma uses standard ONVIF protocols, so anything that can handle that, can handle Luma cams.

That is great. Synology documentation says they support any ONVIF camera, so maybe it will work out.

On 7/5/2023 at 12:52 PM, lippavisual said:

There is no direct NVR access in C4, just able to view cameras.  That can be done several ways.  Either sharing the stream from Synology and using that path, accessing the same stream used for the Synology or creating a new stream within the camera itself and using that. 

Is there any way to use Synology Surveillance motion or face detection events as triggers to program against in Control4?  
 

Edit: This is probably crazy, but what about using Luma cameras but with Synology Surveillance Station as the NVR?  Could we then use face and motion detection events using the Luma IP camera driver? And would Luma properly integrate with the Synology via ONVIF? That seems like the best of both worlds, but I wonder if I am missing something.

Just now, Andrew luecke said:

G'day, 

I just spoke to Justin. Our driver works with the Rules engine on the DW Spectrum cameras. If the camera and DW Spectrum work together and you can get an event from the Rules Engine, then our driver will receive that event for programming.

It could be worthwhile contacting Digital Watchdog support and asking them how their face detection operates with the equipment you're purchasing. 

Ah, I see.  Thanks -- that is very helpful.

20 hours ago, Andrew luecke said:

You can also look at the AI based CCTV Cameras like Dahua or Hikvision cameras/NVR. These can fire events based on Face detection, Licence Plates, etc (if you use Chowmain driver, I can't speak on behalf of other developers). Alternatively, if you want something a bit higher end, you could also look at a brand like Axis. 

Does the Chowmain DW Spectrum driver support face detection, by any chance? My security company is proposing DW cameras....

51 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

Face detection on numerous cameras is in fact available in C4 as a trigger in the camera driver - though it may require putting the cams on a network switch (vs the back of an NVR).

These triggers can then be used to trigger whatever your C4 system has available.

Clare, Luma, Uniview and Hikvision are four I know have cams (and drivers) that allow this - I'm sure others do as well.

This doesn't change anything on the limitation of C4 not being able to view recordings at this time: but you CAN use camera face detection as a trigger.

Cool!  So, just to be clear, these particular examples are all brand-specific drivers, or is there a single generic driver that does this?

1 minute ago, eggzlot said:

Blue Iris as an NVR has face detection and a driver (free and paid versions) for control4

can ask the developer of the paid one how facial recognition could trigger events in c4

https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/5348246/CodeProject-AI-Server-Blue-Iris-and-Face-Recogniti

 https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/blue-iris-vms-camera-driver-motion-touch-trigger-geofence-osd/

Very interesting, thanks!
 

If I recall correctly, Blue Iris needs to be run on an always-on PC — is that right, or are there alternatives using Synology NAS or other hardware?

10 minutes ago, DanITman said:

Almost all camera systems are going to have the same functionality inside Control4.  Control4 proxies only support limited functionality.  You will not be able to view / scrub a timeline of the NVR.  You will only be able to view live camera view and have PTZ functionality.  Some camera drivers do support triggering on smart detection if both the camera and the driver support it. 

I would focus more on which system you like better outside of Control4.  I've found that Unifi protect offers the best experience without having to pay annual fees. It also integrates very well with Control4.  The driver is not free but is worth it. 

I would have you stay away from Luma.  The mobile experience is not very friendly and the cost is on the high end. 

Thanks. That is very helpful. In fact, the pitch I was getting on Luma was the claim of tighter C4 integration. It is useful to know that is not a key criterion.

We are getting some quotes for surveillance camera systems.  A couple of the vendors are proposing cameras with face detection -- one proposed ICRealtime cameras with this feature and another proposed Luma cameras with it.  Is it feasible to program against face detection triggers in Control4?  I could imagine it being used in various ways for both familiar faces and unfamiliar faces, but I was kind of skeptical that the face detection signals would actually be exposed in Control4.    

Thanks!

On 7/18/2023 at 12:54 PM, JSTRONG said:

Spoke to icr support the cams all need to connect to your network switch and not the nvr if you what to integrate with c4. 

@JSTRONG: Would you mind sharing the model numbers of the ICR cameras you are using outdoors? Also, did you end up plugging the cameras directly into a network switch or did you just decide to forego the integration?

Thanks!

6 hours ago, reynolea said:

Thanks @DLite

I thought about this, but when I looked at the documentation, I found the following note, which is suggestive that it wouldn't address the issue.  That being said, I've turned it on to see if anything happens. 

Sync Favorites to Media Database [ Off | On]
Set this to On to create entries in the Control4 Media Database for all favorites accessible to this player.

NOTE: This is only supported for use as a method to expose Favorite selection to users for Wakeups. It is not supported for use in programming. Each player that you set this to On with will create identical entries in the media database, so it should only be enabled for drivers in rooms where Wakeups are required. The duplicate entries WILL cause confusion under the Channels driver if not explained carefully to the user.

 

I see. As full disclosure, the only time I program with Sonos favorites is in Wakeups, so this is news to me. Sorry it doesn't help.

2 hours ago, reynolea said:

Hi all - I'm trying to add a favorite so I can leverage the "Select Sonos Favorite" command in Composer, and for a few of my rooms, the drop down box is empty.  For other rooms, the list is populated. 

I've rebooted C4 controller, have the latest c4 patches, sonos c4 driver (99), any ideas? 

Thx/TR

I seem to recall there is an option in the properties screen of each Sonos device to sync favorites and that the default is not to sync favorites. You might see if choosing to sync favorites on those devices solves this problem.

23 minutes ago, SpencerT said:

Weird. I'm wondering if there is some larger issue with the voice portal. 

Most of my c4 voice stuff worked last night with the exception of 2 devices. Today, those 2 devices work again. 

Now I just need to figure out how to re-enable the stuff I turned off in the portal. 

It is definitely weird, and it does seem like there is something up on the back end. I am reluctant to disable and re-enable the skill or do anything else, because I figure there is a 50/50 chance that will kill the functionality I still have.

41 minutes ago, SpencerT said:

Interesting. When did it quit working for you?

My problem is that it used to work (probably a month ago was the last time I checked). I have disabled devices on that page that I was either using native Alexa skills for, or devices I wasn't ready to discover into Alexa.

Now I want to go back in and switch some of them back on so they will be discovered, but I can't.

After reading this thread, I decided to login to the C4 website to see if I had the same issue, and that is when I noticed it.  So, I really have no idea when it started. As I mentioned, I haven’t noticed any problems with voice control in our house. Granted, we use it relatively sparingly — sometimes for lights, and more often to turn on music.

It is annoying, for sure.

1 hour ago, SpencerT said:

Thanks, have done that a couple of times now. No joy. 

I have exactly the same issue.  The C4 website shows the same message, but Alexa control works fine.  I haven't tried troubleshooting it, because I haven't run into any devices (yet) that don't respond to voice.

1 hour ago, RyanE said:

It can IN SOME CASES work that way for non-dimmable lighting.  Anything other than lighting, definitely not, and even lighting, it's not 100% certain to work properly.

Best bet is to switch out the load for a dimmable load, even if you don't plan on dimming it.

Also keep in mind that even with a neutral they always put some power through the load even when the load is 'off', which can cause LED fixtures to glow if there isn't a large enough minimum load on the dimmer (LEDs can be so efficient they'll glow on almost no power).

The number of different LED fixtures and bulb configurations make this hard to predict if it will work or not.

RyanE

58 minutes ago, Cyknight said:

In other words, if it's a pre-fab light fixture (no replaceable bulbs) there is a decent change you'd be fine with a keypad dimmer, provided it's set to a minimum on of 99% and minimal ramp time. There's no guarantee mind you, though 'successrate' for those is high in my experience.

Fans etc, anything with a motor, computers (tvs) should never be on a dimmer to begin with.

Got it, thanks.  Currently, it has replaceable bulbs that are non-dimmable, so maybe it's best to swap it out for dimmable fixtures.

I guess another alternative is to leave the existing C4 switches in place and add configurable keypads that don't control the loads -- is that correct?

I have a couple of non-dimmable loads that are controlled by standard C4 switches. I'd like to replace the switches with keypads.  My understanding is that the configurable keypads won't control a load of any kind. However, the only other choices seem to be the adaptive phase or forward phase dimmer keypads.  Can those be made to work properly with non-dimmable loads?  My dealer says that the dimmer keypad just needs to be configured so that it turns on right away instead of ramping up.  My electrician, who has virtually no C4 experience, seems skeptical.  Will the dimmer keypad work in this setting?

1 minute ago, Cyknight said:

As an NVR creates a closed internal LAN, static or not won't matter. Ability to reach cameras behind an NVR depends on the NVR being able to do so, and the driver being written properly to allow it.

The latter is done often enough (see Chowmain's HIKvision driver, Uniview's own driver (or Chowmain's) the Luma drivers and more.

But if the driver isn't written for it, or the NVR doesn't have (matching) options to allow it....

Even if all the above works, there's still the question if things like motion or smart event triggers from those cameras will work properly behind the NVR or not (if they are needed/desired, ie use line crossing on a driveway camera to turn lights on between midnight and 6am)

Thank you, @Cyknight. That is a very clear and helpful explanation.