clokey Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hi There,I am new round here, so please be gentle. First some background and then my question. I am a home hobbyist who dabbles with electronics, I already have a ZigBee Pro network in my house based on a Digi ConnectPort X4 that measures inside and outside temperatures. I am a reasonably competent developer and am in to challenges (I know that I can usually buy the thing I am looking to build, but where is the fun in that?)A friend has lent me a Control 4 Dimmer Switch as my research has shown that it allegedly implements the ZigBee HA profile and therefore I should be able to control it by writing so low level code (which i am in the process of writing). My aim is to write some code that will allow me to control the C4 switch from my zigbee network.My problem starts with trying to associate the C4 Switch to my ZigBee network. Using the information on the C4 knowledge base I have made the switch forget the ZigBee network that my friend had it connected to (a complete C4 solution) and I am now trying to associate it with my ZigBee network. I am, however, having trouble getting it to associate. Neither the ConnectPort X4 sees the switch and the switch never connects to a network (i get the flashing LED's showing that it is trying to associate and then red to indicate it has failed).On the Digi forums, someone suggested that the C4 switch has its own association protocol that isn't part of the ZigBee stack but couldn't provide any details. So I was wondering whether someone here had any hints and tips? Both the C4 switch and my zigbee network are running the latest firmwares but there is obviously some issue with the association.I realise that this isn't the standard control 4 help question so would appreciate any insight people may be able to provide.Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhitaker@revit Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hi There,I am new round here, so please be gentle. .MattI see this statement so much these days. This does not say good things about this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhitaker@revit Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 You and your friend are both correct kind of. Control4 does use the approved zigbee pro stack, but it also has it's own association profile. So if you get it to work let me know, however I don't think it will be easy, you'll be lucky on this forum to find help concerning this one, and I actually kind of doubt it can be done with out changing the actual firmware supplied by Control4 on the switch.Hope you have luck, and if you do please share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clokey Posted March 23, 2011 Author Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hi Joe,my comment on being gentle wasn't aimed to squarely at this forum, just my usual defence when entering a new forum . Thanks for the information on the association profile. I'll see if someone else comes back with any more specific information. I am curious how a C4 switch would work with someone else's HA network, as I thought that was the whole reason for the ZigBee HA profile to allow for different vendors kit to work together.M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhitaker@revit Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hmmm, honestly as i remember it "and this is just off my recollection" part of the reason for the adoption of the HA profile was to add a developer kit so developers could add 3rd part kit to the C4 environment. Not the other way around. I could be wrong but this is how I remember it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garp Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Add: HC200 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdvr Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 ^^^ what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhitaker@revit Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Add: HC200HUH? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clokey Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Joe,The ZigBee HA spec is meant to work both ways. e.g. if you have a Control4 switch is should be able to work with another vendors controller and conversely a different vendors switch should work with a Control4 controller. From section 1.2 of the spec - "This specification provides standard interfaces and device definitions to allow interoperability among ZigBee devices produced by various manufacturers of home automation products."I think someone else on here is trying to build their own ZigBee devices to connect to a Control4 controller, I think they are going to run in to problems when they try and associate with the controller, so wondered whether they would have a similar issue.(thanks for the info by the way, I am learning about this all the time)Garp,The HC-200 is a $500 ZigBee server/Control4 controller, I have one of those already in the form of a ConnectPort X4, my problem is i want to use that as my controller (with my own custom code), although it isn't looking good at this stage in the game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 There's something to be said for time invested, but you're the only one that knows what your time is worth.My thought? Work a few hours of overtime instead of dinking around with this and buy an HC200. Then do custom programming =)Just my thoughts, which you probably don't care for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clokey Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Dan,This all started because I read a book called Building Wireless sensor networks, a great book on building zigbee based stuff from scratch. I then had a conversation with someone at work who has a stack of C4 kit, so he lent me a switch, its now a geek challenge kind of thing, but your right, if I don't figure out some answers to my questions soon, then it won't be much of a reward.Always interested in peoples thoughts ...M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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