Harmony Hub Extender

Apps & Remote Access
#21

It did, but I was testing this on one computer and then I moved the files to another computer to be more permanent. Then when it wasn’t “saving”, I deleted that folder to see if it would recreate it. It never did. I tinkered for awhile and then at one point it finally did recreate the folder, but not the db file. So I created the db file on my own and copied the script from the web interface into it. I have opened and closed the program a few times and it seems to be saving everything. I will test more this evening when I am home.[/quote]

Can you give more detail on exactly what you did? I’m having the same issue but can’t figure it out.

#22

[quote=“lingerba, post:16, topic:189153”]Yes if you are already using the Hue bridge, you should be able to go into your Harmony setup using your phone app or PC program, and add a “home control” device (or use the option for scan for wi-fi devices). From there you can add Hue and it should find the bridge and from there, everything configured in your bridge will be added to your Harmony. This did not initially work for me (Harmony was not finding the Hue), but I kept playing and it eventually worked.

No can you tell me how your were able to get your configured devices to save in the bridge configuration?[/quote]

It’s asking me to push the pairing button on the Hue Bridge, which of course I don’t have. How did you get it to initially see the bridge emulator?

#23

[quote=“tomgru, post:22, topic:189153”][quote=“lingerba, post:16, topic:189153”]Yes if you are already using the Hue bridge, you should be able to go into your Harmony setup using your phone app or PC program, and add a “home control” device (or use the option for scan for wi-fi devices). From there you can add Hue and it should find the bridge and from there, everything configured in your bridge will be added to your Harmony. This did not initially work for me (Harmony was not finding the Hue), but I kept playing and it eventually worked.

No can you tell me how your were able to get your configured devices to save in the bridge configuration?[/quote]

It’s asking me to push the pairing button on the Hue Bridge, which of course I don’t have. How did you get it to initially see the bridge emulator?[/quote]

I’m going to guess you have an older version of the bridge that is not ready for both Echo and Harmony. You should not get this message on a working version.
Check the Bridge Thread and use one of the revised version made by CRUSH in the last few pages of the Echo Bridge thread.

#24

[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:23, topic:189153”][quote=“tomgru, post:22, topic:189153”][quote=“lingerba, post:16, topic:189153”]Yes if you are already using the Hue bridge, you should be able to go into your Harmony setup using your phone app or PC program, and add a “home control” device (or use the option for scan for wi-fi devices). From there you can add Hue and it should find the bridge and from there, everything configured in your bridge will be added to your Harmony. This did not initially work for me (Harmony was not finding the Hue), but I kept playing and it eventually worked.

No can you tell me how your were able to get your configured devices to save in the bridge configuration?[/quote]

It’s asking me to push the pairing button on the Hue Bridge, which of course I don’t have. How did you get it to initially see the bridge emulator?[/quote]

I’m going to guess you have an older version of the bridge that is not ready for both Echo and Harmony. You should not get this message on a working version.
Check the Bridge Thread and use one of the revised version made by CRUSH in the last few pages of the Echo Bridge thread.[/quote]

ah… perfect… thanks. Definitely haven’t upgraded to newest versions of Crush’s plugin once I got it working!

#25

Great! Yeah mid way threw that thread Crush was making a new version almost daily testing each to get the Harmony Hub to work as well as the ECHO did from the beginning. After the issue was discovered all versions of his Latest seem to be working on both devices now. He just released a new versiona day or so ago which I haven’t tried yet.

Seems to be quirks when running it on windows tho as several are having different issues. None of those issue have be a problem for me after giving up on Windows and running in it on a Pi tho.

#26

Great! Yeah mid way threw that thread Crush was making a new version almost daily testing each to get the Harmony Hub to work as well as the ECHO did from the beginning. After the issue was discovered all versions of his Latest seem to be working on both devices now. He just released a new versiona day or so ago which I haven’t tried yet.

Seems to be quirks when running it on windows tho as several are having different issues. None of those issue have be a problem for me after giving up on Windows and running in it on a Pi tho.[/quote]

I upgraded just now, and all the Echo stuff still works great, so all good there.
Still no joy on getting the harmony hub to see it. I almost got there once when doing a scan (came up with the Hue hub), but when I tried to connect, still asked me to push the sync button on the hue :frowning:

now I can’t get it to see it at all. Honestly, I think this is an issue between my wifi and my Harmony hub. Seems very hit or miss. if I check wifi settings… it seems that about half the time it doesn’t see my router/wifi

#27

Great! Yeah mid way threw that thread Crush was making a new version almost daily testing each to get the Harmony Hub to work as well as the ECHO did from the beginning. After the issue was discovered all versions of his Latest seem to be working on both devices now. He just released a new versiona day or so ago which I haven’t tried yet.

Seems to be quirks when running it on windows tho as several are having different issues. None of those issue have be a problem for me after giving up on Windows and running in it on a Pi tho.[/quote]

I upgraded just now, and all the Echo stuff still works great, so all good there.
Still no joy on getting the harmony hub to see it. I almost got there once when doing a scan (came up with the Hue hub), but when I tried to connect, still asked me to push the sync button on the hue :frowning:

now I can’t get it to see it at all. Honestly, I think this is an issue between my wifi and my Harmony hub. Seems very hit or miss. if I check wifi settings… it seems that about half the time it doesn’t see my router/wifi[/quote]

I don’t know I would say its more of the code used to run the script and or windows.

http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,31920.780.html

Read post 782 and 783. He just got it up and working.

#28

Received my Hub Extender today. Set it up in about 15 minutes from the Harmony app. I was able to select my Vera Edge, Harmony installed on Vera as a secondary controller (I think) and all the lamp and switch devices downloaded to the Harmony. They came in with generic names like Light 1, Switch 1, etc. Easily renamed in the Harmony app. Included in my Watch TV scene in a few seconds and now my z-wave lights are included in my scene.

Some make thing installing this device is overkill but I do intend to install a ZigBee Fan controller and will see if I can see it in Vera as well as Harmony. Will update when I get to this.

I have to say $99 bucks seems pretty cheap to me to get a full functioning, fully configurable, secondary controller for my Vera devices that enables the simple selection of activities on my Harmony Remote or Harmony App.

Also by using the Vera Harmony App, you can call any of the Harmony activities directly through the Vera web interface,

The only negative so far, I’m not seeing the device status in Vera being updated when the Harmony turned on or adjusted the brightness of the device. Not sure if this is my error at this point or something that is just wrong. Will report back.

I’ve installed this on my least robust Vera system, I’ve ordered two more for my other locations, and will install them and update later. Those locations include thermostats, Locks and Alarms. I’ll see how it handles those later.

Not at all regretting the $99 purchase price so far. If this is what I can do in about 15 minutes, I can imagine there will be quite a bit more when I spend some real time with it. ;D

#29

[quote=“jprafter, post:28, topic:189153”]Received my Hub Extender today. Set it up in about 15 minutes from the Harmony app. I was able to select my Vera Edge, Harmony installed on Vera as a secondary controller (I think) and all the lamp and switch devices downloaded to the Harmony. They came in with generic names like Light 1, Switch 1, etc. Easily renamed in the Harmony app. Included in my Watch TV scene in a few seconds and now my z-wave lights are included in my scene.

Some make thing installing this device is overkill but I do intend to install a ZigBee Fan controller and will see if I can see it in Vera as well as Harmony. Will update when I get to this.

I have to say $99 bucks seems pretty cheap to me to get a full functioning, fully configurable, secondary controller for my Vera devices that enables the simple selection of activities on my Harmony Remote or Harmony App.

Also by using the Vera Harmony App, you can call any of the Harmony activities directly through the Vera web interface,

The only negative so far, I’m not seeing the device status in Vera being updated when the Harmony turned on or adjusted the brightness of the device. Not sure if this is my error at this point or something that is just wrong. Will report back.

I’ve installed this on my least robust Vera system, I’ve ordered two more for my other locations, and will install them and update later. Those locations include thermostats, Locks and Alarms. I’ll see how it handles those later.

Not at all regretting the $99 purchase price so far. If this is what I can do in about 15 minutes, I can imagine there will be quite a bit more when I spend some real time with it. ;D[/quote]

I’m still wondering if there is any advantage (extras features) of this vs. the free HUE Bridge. I have checked my GE switches and they update instantly when I turn them on or off via the Harmony Remote.
Also I know I can control A/c’s right now but how does that work on the home remote? I don’t have the ultimate and wondering how the interface looks on the remote to be able to change from heat to cool or temps. Seems to me an on/off is all your going to get. And on my remote there is only 4 buttons so I need to choose wisely what I want to control. Is this not a problem on the ultimate? Having only 4 buttons means having everything including the kitchen sink in the hub, but only choosing 4 limits me to fan, light, all off scene and maybe a bathroom light for a night run.

#30

[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:29, topic:189153”]I’m still wondering if there is any advantage (extras features) of this vs. the free HUE Bridge. I have checked my GE switches and they update instantly when I turn them on or off via the Harmony Remote.
Also I know I can control A/c’s right now but how does that work on the home remote? I don’t have the ultimate and wondering how the interface looks on the remote to be able to change from heat to cool or temps. Seems to me an on/off is all your going to get. And on my remote there is only 4 buttons so I need to choose wisely what I want to control. Is this not a problem on the ultimate? Having only 4 buttons means having everything including the kitchen sink in the hub, but only choosing 4 limits me to fan, light, all off scene and maybe a bathroom light for a night run.[/quote]

Slightly OT, but I was just curious. When you turn on a device in the Hue Bridge (via Harmony), does the status stay that way? I installed the Hue Bridge, and it’s awesome, but that status reported in Harmony always goes back to off after a few seconds, even if the actual device itself is still on. I’m wondering if I’ve misconfigured something? Thanks!

#31

[quote=“silencery, post:30, topic:189153”][quote=“integlikewhoa, post:29, topic:189153”]I’m still wondering if there is any advantage (extras features) of this vs. the free HUE Bridge. I have checked my GE switches and they update instantly when I turn them on or off via the Harmony Remote.
Also I know I can control A/c’s right now but how does that work on the home remote? I don’t have the ultimate and wondering how the interface looks on the remote to be able to change from heat to cool or temps. Seems to me an on/off is all your going to get. And on my remote there is only 4 buttons so I need to choose wisely what I want to control. Is this not a problem on the ultimate? Having only 4 buttons means having everything including the kitchen sink in the hub, but only choosing 4 limits me to fan, light, all off scene and maybe a bathroom light for a night run.[/quote]

Slightly OT, but I was just curious. When you turn on a device in the Hue Bridge (via Harmony), does the status stay that way? I installed the Hue Bridge, and it’s awesome, but that status reported in Harmony always goes back to off after a few seconds, even if the actual device itself is still on. I’m wondering if I’ve misconfigured something? Thanks![/quote]

When you say in harmony you mean like in the phone app or on the remote? I have never checked the phone app.
I use the regular Home remote to turn on an off lights and it doesn’t display status of the lights at all (short press to turn on, press and hold to turn off). I’m not sure if the ultimate and its touch screen have the current status displayed.

If you mean in the phone app on the harmony I never really use it except for setup. If I was going to use my phone to control tv or lights I would just open up the Imperihome app and I have all my lights and TV in my custom configuration.

#32

[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:31, topic:189153”]When you say in harmony you mean like in the phone app or on the remote? I have never checked the phone app.
I use the regular Home remote to turn on an off lights and it doesn’t display status of the lights at all (short press to turn on, press and hold to turn off). I’m not sure if the ultimate and its touch screen have the current status displayed.

If you mean in the phone app on the harmony I never really use it except for setup. If I was going to use my phone to control tv or lights I would just open up the Imperihome app and I have all my lights and TV in my custom configuration.[/quote]

Ah, you’re using the Home remote; that clears it up.

In our case, I mean both: the Harmony Ultimate remote and the phone app. We never use the phone app, but the behavior is the same as the Ultimate remote, it will display the status on the screen, and you use the touchscreen to turn devices on/off.

The problem with the Ultimate is that the status always goes back to being “off” (or at least the Harmony Hub and remote thinks its off) after a while. Because the Ultimate and the hub thinks the device is off, you have to double-press to get back into the proper state in order to turn off or dim lights.

It’s hard to explain clearly, but basically, it’s a confusing situation for users due to a combination of the above and a counter-intuitive UI in the Ultimate remote.

#33

[quote=“silencery, post:32, topic:189153”]Ah, you’re using the Home remote; that clears it up.

In our case, I mean both: the Harmony Ultimate remote and the phone app. We never use the phone app, but the behavior is the same as the Ultimate remote, it will display the status on the screen, and you use the touchscreen to turn devices on/off.

The problem with the Ultimate is that the status always goes back to being “off” (or at least the Harmony Hub and remote thinks its off) after a while. Because the Ultimate and the hub thinks the device is off, you have to double-press to get back into the proper state in order to turn off or dim lights.

It’s hard to explain clearly, but basically, it’s a confusing situation for users due to a combination of the above and a counter-intuitive UI in the Ultimate remote.[/quote]

I’ll test tonight using the phone app and see if the issue is the same, but I’m assuming it should be as there is not really anything to SETUP with the bridge. Maybe the Harmony is looking for a certian response from the HUE bridge that it’s not receiving. Possibly like a poll every few min and the Bridge is not currently setup to that response. If we do find this to be the case, I’m sure it can be requested in the Bridge Forum. “Crush” has been very helpful and active in that thread.

But I’ll test to see if my results are the same tonight.

How long would you say after turning on a light does it take for Harmony to return it to the off position?

#34

I can confirm I have the same issue with my home remote. When looking at the phone app I see it show its on then 10 seconds later it shows off even while the device is still on.

Next step would be for someone with an actual Hue Hub setup to verfiy they dont have this problem. Then maybe we can have Crush take a look and see if its something he can possibly help with.

#35

I can confirm I have the same issue with my home remote. When looking at the phone app I see it show its on then 10 seconds later it shows off even while the device is still on.

Next step would be for someone with an actual Hue Hub setup to verfiy they dont have this problem. Then maybe we can have Crush take a look and see if its something he can possibly help with.[/quote]

Ah, thanks! It’s comforting to know i’m not going crazy. Now to track down a real Hue hub…

#36

Just installed the Harmony Home Hub Extender. Installed easily enough. I, however, noticed that when you activate a scene or device from the AP or Vera, the status is not updated on the other device. Does anyone know if this is a temporary problem or something that can be remedied?

#37

Just spoke with Harmony and they claim that the status will work if you use Vera-Edge, not Vera-Lite. If anyone has experience, please chime in.

#38

I don’t have the extender so my info is probley null, but I don’t see how the EDGE works and the LITE doesn’t. The run the same software and work the same way. From outside looking in it shouldn’t know the difference. I think they may just be looking at a sheet of paper and the only name they see is EDGE so they only say it works with that.

#39

Veralite = Z-Wave
Vera3 = Z-Wave
Vera Edge = Z-Wave Plus
Harmony Hub Extender = Z-Wave plus

So, it is possible that the Harmony Hub Extender uses Z-Wave plus for status updates, that the Vera 3/lite would not be able to process…

#40

Thanks for the Z-wave plus info. I will wait it out before I replace the Veralite with the Edge. I want to see more user experience on the board. Maybe VERA can answer the question.