Chowmain - TP-Link Wifi Smart Home Driver Suite

[jfh]

Ordered 2 more HS103s in hopes I could get one working with C4.  Neither of my two new ones are talking with the driver.  So, out of 4 new switches installed in the last two days only one Is identified and working with C4.

All 4 devices are Hardware Version 2.1 and Firmware 1.1.2

The only one working is the first one identified by the HS103/HS105  driver dated 1/30/20 added yesterday.   I have a number of HS105 outlets (h/w version 1.0 and firmware 1.5.6) using the same driver that are working fine.

 

15/02/2020 15:13:23 - Sending packet: {"system":{"get_sysinfo":[]}}

LUA_ERROR [id: 4723][name: HS103 Smart Wifi Plug145][file: driverworks_tplink_hs103.c4z][method: OnTimerExpired]: [string "Lua Code"]:1148: No address associated with name

 

LUA output from the working HS103 all looks as you would expect it to.  I would guess that there is a driver incompatibility with the HS103 v2 and/or firmware but that doesn't explain why one works and the other three don't.

 

Guidance appreciated. 

[jlemonakis]

On 2/9/2020 at 9:36 AM, alanchow said:

I'm overseas at the moment (Rome and then Amsterdam) but can look at this later on when i return to the office.

Having said that you are probably best to reach out via our official support means (phone, chat, ticket) as you will get through to either driverCentral support in the US or our own support team in Melbourne.

There's not really a rush since it's just at my house, but the C4 UI definitely doesn't respond to state properly (huge delay) even though issued commands from UI happen fairly quickly. 

 

The end result is, you press the light button, light strip responds about two seconds later, but UI doesn't respond to your press or physical state change for ~10 seconds. I have a bunch of HS200s in the house as well and both command and feedback happens nearly instantly. 

[jlemonakis]

 off to on
	 
	 
	16/02/2020 19:23:59 - ReceivedFromProxy [5001] : CLICK_TOGGLE_BUTTON
16/02/2020 19:24:00 - Sending encrypted packet: {"smartlife.iot.lightStrip":{"set_light_state":{"on_off":0,"transition":1,"brightness":0}},"smartlife.iot.lighting_effect":{"set_lighting_effect":{"enable":0}}}
16/02/2020 19:24:00 - Sending packet: {"system":{"get_sysinfo":[]}}
��
	on to off

16/02/2020 19:25:20 - ReceivedFromProxy [5001] : CLICK_TOGGLE_BUTTON
16/02/2020 19:25:21 - Sending encrypted packet: {"smartlife.iot.lighting_effect":{"set_lighting_effect":{"enable":0}},"smartlife.iot.lightStrip":{"set_light_state":{"on_off":0,"transition":1,"brightness":0}}}
16/02/2020 19:25:21 - Sending packet: {"system":{"get_sysinfo":[]}}

 

[jfh]

On 2/15/2020 at 3:36 PM, jfh said:

Ordered 2 more HS103s in hopes I could get one working with C4.  Neither of my two new ones are talking with the driver.  So, out of 4 new switches installed in the last two days only one Is identified and working with C4.

All 4 devices are Hardware Version 2.1 and Firmware 1.1.2

The only one working is the first one identified by the HS103/HS105  driver dated 1/30/20 added yesterday.   I have a number of HS105 outlets (h/w version 1.0 and firmware 1.5.6) using the same driver that are working fine.

 

15/02/2020 15:13:23 - Sending packet: {"system":{"get_sysinfo":[]}}

LUA_ERROR [id: 4723][name: HS103 Smart Wifi Plug145][file: driverworks_tplink_hs103.c4z][method: OnTimerExpired]: [string "Lua Code"]:1148: No address associated with name

 

LUA output from the working HS103 all looks as you would expect it to.  I would guess that there is a driver incompatibility with the HS103 v2 and/or firmware but that doesn't explain why one works and the other three don't.

 

Guidance appreciated. 

 
Don’t know if support did something or a reboot helped but all switches are identifying properly now.

[alanchow]

I haven’t done anything.  Have been away for two weeks at ISE Expo

[grandis12]

Hi! I bought a pair of HS200 Wifi Switches just to test the driver. I can't turn on the switches using their buttons in the C4 app (i can turn them off though).  I can turn them on using scenes, or just the button in composer. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[alanchow]

On 3/7/2020 at 11:03 AM, grandis12 said:

Hi! I bought a pair of HS200 Wifi Switches just to test the driver. I can't turn on the switches using their buttons in the C4 app (i can turn them off though).  I can turn them on using scenes, or just the button in composer. 

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Hey sorry for the late reply.  I don't frequent this forum as much as i used to due to high demand of our services. 

I think you reached out via our helpdesk and if so then we solved your problem.  Thanks.

[Jagger]

Does anyone know if the TP Link Tapo P100 mini power outlets work with C4 via the Chow Main driver? 

[alanchow]

3 hours ago, Jagger said:

Does anyone know if the TP Link Tapo P100 mini power outlets work with C4 via the Chow Main driver? 

No they will not.  Only the kasa range is supported 

[VEXTA]

I just installed one HS220. I can l turn ight on/off  thrue C4, but dimming is not enable. I follow the installation guide.

Unistalled and install again the driver but doesn´t work.

Any additional consideration to take in account?

[msgreenf]

there are 2 drivers called HS220 at onepoint one was mis-named and one was the dimmer and one was the switch - just making sure you were using the correct one?

[VEXTA]

8 minutes ago, VEXTA said:

I just installed one HS220. I can l turn ight on/off  thrue C4, but dimming is not enable. I follow the installation guide.

Unistalled and install again the driver but doesn´t work.

Any additional consideration to take in account?

Wrong driver! Sorry guys!

[VEXTA]

3 minutes ago, msgreenf said:

there are 2 drivers called HS220 at onepoint one was mis-named and one was the dimmer and one was the switch - just making sure you were using the correct one?

You´re right, I selected the wrong driver.

Thank´s!

[GogDog]

Ok, I already have 30+ circuits controlled by C4 dimmers (installed about a month ago), but just saw these products and was looking to finish out more of my house with less expensive options. Like...doing bathroom lights which are on dumb switches right now. Basically, the "less important" switches.

I've already programmed myself changing light preset levels and auto dimming lights to the new level several times a day. But, if I get HS220s, how much control am I given in composer?

1. Does it have just as much integration as a normal c4 dimmer? Like, the driver makes the HS220 mimic a normal c4 dimmer and gives me access to device variables such as LIGHT_LEVEL, LIGHT_STATE, PRESET_LEVEL, etc? 

2. Does it give me programming controls like "ramp to preset level over 2 secs"?

I just don't see screenshots of what the actual devices would look like in composer once added by the driver so don't know how much programming control I would have with the dimmers compared to their c4 equivalents.

[alanchow]

9 minutes ago, GogDog said:

Ok, I already have 30+ circuits controlled by C4 dimmers (installed about a month ago), but just saw these products and was looking to finish out more of my house with less expensive options. Like...doing bathroom lights which are on dumb switches right now. Basically, the "less important" switches.

I've already programmed myself changing light preset levels and auto dimming lights to the new level several times a day. But, if I get HS220s, how much control am I given in composer?

1. Does it have just as much integration as a normal c4 dimmer? Like, the driver makes the HS220 mimic a normal c4 dimmer and gives me access to device variables such as LIGHT_LEVEL, LIGHT_STATE, PRESET_LEVEL, etc? 

2. Does it give me programming controls like "ramp to preset level over 2 secs"?

I just don't see screenshots of what the actual devices would look like in composer once added by the driver so don't know how much programming control I would have with the dimmers compared to their c4 equivalents.

Control4 utilises proxies.  As such all Control4 integrated lighting will either be a switch (on/off) or dimmer (0-100) slider.  TP-Link does not provide you with the ability to ramp to a level over time.  Only setting of levels.

[GogDog]

47 minutes ago, alanchow said:

Control4 utilises proxies.  As such all Control4 integrated lighting will either be a switch (on/off) or dimmer (0-100) slider.  TP-Link does not provide you with the ability to ramp to a level over time.  Only setting of levels.

Ok, but from reading this thread, I can see that I am able to programmatically check current status such as on/off/dimmer level, plus since the light switch gets binded to key buttons (on/off/toggle), do I get event triggers? (like c4 is notified on top button press, bottom button press, etc?)

[alanchow]

12 minutes ago, GogDog said:

Ok, but from reading this thread, I can see that I am able to programmatically check current status such as on/off/dimmer level, plus since the light switch gets binded to key buttons (on/off/toggle), do I get event triggers? (like c4 is notified on top button press, bottom button press, etc?)

It is bi-directional yes but not on physical button presses but on light level / state.  Therefore programming the buttons to perform actions in Control4 is out of the picture.

[GogDog]

Just now, alanchow said:

It is bi-directional yes but not on physical button presses but on light level / state.  Therefore programming the buttons to perform actions in Control4 is out of the picture.

Thanks for the quick replies!

Ok, no problem. I almost never program on button presses anyway, but on light_state changes instead.

Though....I'm guessing now that I don't have much in the way of variables to control...most importantly...Preset_level, right?

Currently, I change the preset level several times a day. For example, late night.....preset level is...20%. So if the light is off, preset level is set to 20%, so when a person turns on the light, it goes to 20%. However, once its on...the preset changes to 100% (light level day) so if they push the top button again, it turns on full power. Like this ->

If Upstairs->Hallway->Light_state is True
   Set Upstairs->Hallway->PRESET_LEVEL to the value of Variables->Light Level Day
Else
   Set Upstairs->Hallway->PRESET_LEVEL to the value of Variables->Light Level Current Level

Right? And without being able to code on button_press, I couldn't programmatically control preset levels (like, I could have done something similar where "If Light On and Top Button Pressed    then set light_level to 100")...

I'm guessing I would lose a lot of coding power with TPlink devices, with the upside that its MUCH cheaper. Like, with C4 I can turn on/off and set a dimming level in programming/events, but....thats about the extent of it. Well, and add the devices to ALS scenes.

 

[alanchow]

27 minutes ago, GogDog said:

Thanks for the quick replies!

Ok, no problem. I almost never program on button presses anyway, but on light_state changes instead.

Though....I'm guessing now that I don't have much in the way of variables to control...most importantly...Preset_level, right?

Currently, I change the preset level several times a day. For example, late night.....preset level is...20%. So if the light is off, preset level is set to 20%, so when a person turns on the light, it goes to 20%. However, once its on...the preset changes to 100% (light level day) so if they push the top button again, it turns on full power. Like this ->

If Upstairs->Hallway->Light_state is True
   Set Upstairs->Hallway->PRESET_LEVEL to the value of Variables->Light Level Day
Else
   Set Upstairs->Hallway->PRESET_LEVEL to the value of Variables->Light Level Current Level

Right? And without being able to code on button_press, I couldn't programmatically control preset levels (like, I could have done something similar where "If Light On and Top Button Pressed    then set light_level to 100")...

I'm guessing I would lose a lot of coding power with TPlink devices, with the upside that its MUCH cheaper. Like, with C4 I can turn on/off and set a dimming level in programming/events, but....thats about the extent of it. Well, and add the devices to ALS scenes.

 

We cannot change the way the physical button works.  As such preset level is not implemented.

if you are looking for lighting control from navigator or using advanced lighting scenes then the lights are bang forward buck.

[GogDog]

 

OK, as mentioned in the above thread, you state:

 

The driver polls for feedback.  As such we don’t know the state instantaneously.  Also we don’t see button presses so this will never work.

 

And as the user tried to confirm "Ok. Are those triggers (top button tap and bottom button tap) useful for anything then?"

 

Just confirming...that "top single tap" and "bottom single tap" don't ever work (even though they are enabled options in the programming tab).

Right now, I have bathroom fans, and a timer to turn them off after 5 minutes. Current programming is ->

 

When Kasa -> Guest Bathroom fan level changes

 if Kasa-> Guest bathroom Fan is on

    -> Start Timer "Bathroom Fan Guests"

 

Which works...though there is a delay for the timer starting. How often is the driver polling for level changes? It seems random...the timer seems to be delayed 1-15 seconds or so every time I try to test it...

 

[OceanDad]

12 minutes ago, GogDog said:

How often is the driver polling for level changes?

The polling frequency can be set in the driver properties.  I believe that the default is 30 seconds.  I'm not sure that I would want to have too many devices polling much more frequently than that, for fear of causing a network problem.  Would be interested to hear what experience others have had if they have set this to something more like 10 seconds.

[alanchow]

Yes that is correct.  It is poll based and yes the time is adjustable.

Honestly though for the application you want it for what difference is there for an additional 30 seconds in the worse case?  I'm sure its just in case you forget to turn off the lights / fans.

If you want instant feedback you'll need to go with another product as we do not get that with TP-Link products.

[GogDog]

32 minutes ago, alanchow said:

Yes that is correct.  It is poll based and yes the time is adjustable.

Honestly though for the application you want it for what difference is there for an additional 30 seconds in the worse case?  I'm sure its just in case you forget to turn off the lights / fans.

If you want instant feedback you'll need to go with another product as we do not get that with TP-Link products.

 

OK, no problem. Where is the poll time adjustable at? If my dealer added the driver, are they the only ones that can change driver settings?

[OceanDad]

Within driver properties.  You can do it yourself if you have Composer HE.  You don’t need a dealer with access to Pro. 

[indecision]

Anyone else seeing the HS220 dimmer switches show on the lighting page as always being turned on?  The slider stays at whatever level they are programmed to turn on to and the on/off bulb indicator the right of the slider stays lit (when turned off).

Definitely one of my favorite drivers...thanks Alan for all the work y'all have put into this one!