Ticket #1978
ok, so MCV knows what the problem is, it’ll pop into the next build when they execute that. They’re working on some other issues at the mo so it sounds like they’ll be bundled with that when it’s ready.
The reason it’s working for me is that I only attach Notify’s (email/SMS) to the event, not Actions (lights etc). Anyhow, sounds like they have the fix in hand.
Thanks for taking a look… after working all night to get Vera to function in wireless client mode, I read your posts. The verbose logging solved the “buffered appearance” of the alarm panel information and it’s reporting quickly/correctly… Didn’ t do much after that besides sleep, but glad that I’m not going crazy trying to get the scenes to function and am looking forward to a fix from MCV. I didn’t test to see if I get the same log results you posted, but as you said regarding the “works once”, it’s very likely the same issue.
Happy to have SMS on alarms now, and looking forward to more when they issue a new release.
Thanks again!!
Any idea if Ticket #1978 was addressed in the latest build(s)?
@jamie, just downloading the UI2 build now to give it a whirl, will let you know.
If it does address the problem, I’d strongly recommend holding until they push it out to the announcements section, to give them enough time to run their internal tests, just to minimize potential for disruption (and frustration 
well, that was quicker than I’d expected. So MCV’s early-access UI2 [992] build now appears to work correctly for my Alarm-attached Scene, which does:
When the Window is opened, Turn the light on to 50% (immediately)
It’ll take a while to see if everything else is working, but at least that problem seems to be addressed. Again, recommend you wait until they’ve run the full test set on it before “leaping”… 8)
Great news, thanks for testing… can’t wait for them to test and release… looking forward to a smart “night-light” with my Paradox motion sensors!!!
again Guessed, you da best!
I just patched D_AlarmPartition1.xml:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_paradox-alarm/changeset/2
to eliminate a problem of duplicate notifications (SMS, EMail) occurring on Arm/Disarm/StayArm (etc) events.
MCV indicated that there was a bug in my code that was triggerring a bug in their code. Since I can remove the trigger from mine people need only upgrade this file in their Vera to avoid the duplicate notifications for their Alarm devices (just reboot Vera after you upgrade it to ensure it’s loaded correctly)
This file is compatible with all published versions of the Alarm Panel code.
Can anyone recommend a source (or sources) for the PRT3 module? Or other Paradox h/w? A lot of searching hasn’t turned up much. Thanks.
Scott…
Scott,
You can use this:
http://www.paradox.com/Find_Distributor/
to find your local distributor.
I ended up ordering from Maco, as I’m in CA, and my [original] installer was no longer carrying Paradox. Maco just ordered it from central (in AR), and it wasn’t the cheapest option, but it works
There are a few online(ish) places that have it cheaper, but I’ve never used them so no idea of how reliable.
Thanks for the pointer. I ended up ordering the PRT3 from:
www.cablegiant.com
So far very helpful and fast responses via email/phone. Located in SoCal.
Unfortunately I experienced some mission creep and ordered the Magellan wireless expansion module, IP100 internet module, USB cable/loader, etc. etc. Should keep me busy for a bit. The IP100 module duplicates some of what I expected out of vera/mios, but the extra expense I hope will get closer to 100% reliability to start on the security side until the HA platform is more stable.
Scott…
Magellan wireless expansion moduleGiven you've got this, I highly recommend getting the keychain remote.
My Mrs loves hers and we attach one to the spare keys for guests. Makes it so easy for them to get in/out without dealing with the Alarm.
The IP100 module duplicates some of what I expected out of vera/miosKinda. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but it seemed more like a way for Paradox to 'phone home' to central (when no phone is present) as well as some sort of "remote" interface (with appropriate Firewall holes). I'm not a fan of FWall holes ;)
...until the HA platform is more stable.Fair enough. I'm waiting for a few fixes in UI4 before I can get my Alarm Code fully working again. Some bits are broken, but they're all fixable. It was rock solid in UI2, and I never tried it in UI3.
USB cable/loaderNot sure what that is. Presumably it's the hw/sw combo for programming the Alarm Panel. I did all mine manually through one of the keypads. It's how the installer did it, so I figured I'd learn about that.
Hi,
I am new to Vera and home automation, but already have my Paradox EVO connected to my home network via an IP100 module.
I have recently added a PRT3 module for home automation - and bought Vera - to allow me to do some scripting and event management.
My installer and I have configured the PRT3 module and set the required options. The problem however starts with Vera…
I cannot for the life of me understand the installation instrcution for the luup plugin - they don’t match the use Vera interface at all.
My set-up is as follows. Vera 2, firmware 1.1.1047, UI 4.
Using the instruction for UI4 (Installation-UI4 – Paradox Alarm Plugin)
I am able to get to point 7 quite easilt and have uploaded the required files.
From point 8 onwards, I am baffled. The Add Device dialog and the instructions for point 9 thru 12 do not make any sense.
Is this the correct Add Device dialog (http://tinypic.com/r/25s1xmh/7), or is this the correct dialog (http://tinypic.com/r/20zdzls/7) ?
Please can someone provide more explicit and detailed instructions.
Thanks
Jeff
Hey Jeff,
It’s the second one you’ve listed:
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=20zdzls&s=7
The instructions I posted there were a stub that I meant to cleanup and modify to make them “UI4 Style”, since they were just a copy & paste of the UI2 instructions (hence the disclaimer at the top)
Can you goto the link again:
http://code.mios.com/trac/mios_paradox-alarm/wiki/Installation-UI4
and re-download the new “1.2” version of the ZIP file? This contains 5x files (instead of the older 4x) with some newer bits that I’ve been running with. I also gave the instructions a quick-and-nasty once over for now to cover the key changes.
I’ll go through and formally update the UI4 install instructions this weekend with all the correct bits (and screenshots), but for now, when you get to the “Toolbox → MiOS Developers → Create device” dialog, you can use the following information in the fields:
[tt]
Description: Paradox Alarm Panel
UpnpDevFilename: D_ParadoxSecurityEVO.xml
UpnpImplFilename: I_ParadoxSecurityEVO.xml
[/tt]
(these are also updated in the newer install wiki page)
Hi,
I have just followed your new instructions and BINGO, I can see my Paradox Panel in Vera.
Thanks very much for the prompt response and effort.
Regards,
Jeff
You’re welcome. Some of the UI4 stuff on the “Control” for Arm/Disarm is meant only for display (not action) right now, eventually I’ll get it all working from the Desk UI. Mostly I’ve used the Arm fnction from within Scenes that I then attach to my Remote (I use SQRemote). The newer SQRemote versions (2.x) also allow you to build a “dashboard” of Motion sensor status’s, which is handy to let you check all the Alarm zones within a house.
Let me know if you run into any issues and I’ll try to sort them out.
btw, “startup” will be faster if you specify the [tt]maxAlarmZones[/tt] parameter that I’ve referenced, which you’d also need to specify if you have more than 24 zones in your system.
UI4 Install doco updated…
[quote=“guessed, post:15, topic:165163”]BTW: Vera’s notion of a MotionSensor has two different “states” that can be set or reset.
The states are Tripped and Armed
Only the Tripped state is set, or reset, as Motion (Alarm Motion Sensor), Open/Close (Window/Door) states occur within the Alarm Panel. This behavior is consistent with a ZWave Motion sensor, where only the Tripped state changes as Motion is sensed.
The Armed state of the individual Motion sensors that the Plugin creates is never set/reset. Again, this is consistent with a ZWave Motion sensor, leaving the Armed state/flag alone so that folks can do creative things with it (you’ll see what I mean once you’ve had it for a while)[/quote]
Do you have any specifics on what can be done with the Armed status on the motion sensors? I tried adding in an I_MotionSensor1.xml and associating it with one of the motion sensors hooked up to my DSC system and now the plugin fails to initialize. I had planned to set up notifications using the “armed sensor is tripped” event, but if the sensor is permanently armed, that aint going to fly
@macca, folks have conventionally been using the “Armed” state, of a MotionSensor1 device, to represent their own state (derived from whatever), and then using the Armed Sensor is Tripped Scene eventing to combo it.
In the Paradox, there’s no way to intraspect the discrete Armed/Bypass state of any given sensor (there’s an event, but that won’t handle the Vera reboot actions where you need to intraspect current-state) so I never wired it up, and instead opted to leave it [as end-user settable state] so people could use it for scripted events, as they have done with the HSM100’s etc.
In building your DSC, you cannot just instantiate the I_MotionSensor1.xml, you have to build something that implements the behavior (Service defn) instead (see the Paradox codebase for examples of how this can be done in the parent node)
In contrast, the Caddx panels do have the ability to report on the bypass state of a zone, so I have wired it up to the Armed state of the Vera sensor. The UI4 buttons to Arm and Bypass a sensor also feed back to the security system. It didn’t work so great in UI2.
It’s not clear to me that this is how MCV intended the sensors’ Armed state to work, or whether it is meant only for Vera users to (de)activate scenes en masse. Personally I don’t use my alarm’s bypass feature, and I don’t have scenes that rely on a sensor tripping, so it’s never been an issue.