PLUGIN: Ademco Vista Alarm Panel with EVL3

Sorry - I was thinking about wireless sensors such as Ademco 5816. Mine have format “A XXX-YYYY” (as found on sticker inside each sensor or from alarm panel *56 review). So I entered “XXXYYYY” (no quotes) as serial and “2” for loop (since I use the magnetic contact; I think loop 1 is used either for the tamper switch or if one were to wire in another sensor to the Ademco 5816).

Sorry - I was thinking about wireless sensors such as Ademco 5816. Mine have format “A XXX-YYYY” (as found on sticker inside each sensor or from alarm panel *56 review). So I entered “XXXYYYY” (no quotes) as serial and “2” for loop (since I use the magnetic contact; I think loop 1 is used either for the tamper switch or if one were to wire in another sensor to the Ademco 5816).[/quote]

Thanks. Tried that but still no action. The sensors don’t change their state regardless what I do. I tried 2 sensors and entered the serial number and the loop as 2 for each of them. So I have 2 zones now but none of them do anything while I can arm and disarm the alarm system as long as those are not tripped.

If you log into the Envisalink, does that correctly show the state of your zones?

[quote=“Aaron, post:5, topic:183436”]I’m trying to change the names of the Devices this plugin created… they automatically revert back to the default names (Zone #01, etc)?

Is there a way to custom name them?

thx[/quote]

Am I the only one that has ever seen this problem?

Yes

[quote=“Aaron, post:24, topic:183436”][quote=“Aaron, post:5, topic:183436”]I’m trying to change the names of the Devices this plugin created… they automatically revert back to the default names (Zone #01, etc)?

Is there a way to custom name them?

thx[/quote]

Am I the only one that has ever seen this problem?[/quote]

I can change mine and they keep the new names.

Ok. I tried now so many things and here is my summary in no particular order:

Safewatch 3000EN aka Vista20p with WA20P-4.2 (c) Honeywell Rev 4.2
EVL-3 with Firmware Version: 01.11.135A

  • Autodetect Panel = works to detect IP address of EVL3

  • Read Panel config = NEVER worked. One Beep at the keypad when it starts reading the config and then I get either “connection down” or “Incorrect installer code” with *29 = 1 and IP/LRR/Shadowing in the EVL3 webconfig set to OFF

  • Read Panel config = NEVER worked. One Beep at the keypad when it starts reading the config and then I get “bF check” and the keypad starts beeping like crazy with *29 = 1 and IP/LRR/Shadowing in the EVL3 webconfig set to ON

  • Read Panel config = NEVER worked. One Beep at the keypad when it starts reading the config and then I get “bF check” and the keypad starts beeping like crazy with *29 = 0 and IP/LRR/Shadowing in the EVL3 webconfig set to ON and the error message on the eyezon website that my config is incorrect and I should set *29 = 1

  • Read Panel config = NEVER worked. One Beep at the keypad when it starts reading the config and then I get either “connection down” or “Incorrect installer code” with *29 = 1 and IP/LRR/Shadowing in the EVL3 webconfig set to OFF and the error message on the eyezon website that my config is incorrect and I should set *29 = 1

  • Creating manual zones works but when I enter the serial number of each wifi sensor and loop 2 (door/window) none of the sensors get tripped ever.

  • I can arm and disarm the alarm system if all sensors are not tripped so the alarm system is working as it should from the keypad or via the Vera GUI

  • I can enable or disable the chime feature on the alarm system so when I trip a sensor the keypad beeps.

  • It doesn’t matter if I set “debug” to 1 or 0 in the advanced section of the plugin. It should provide much more verbose output looking into the XML and LUA scripts but it doesn’t.

So I am close to where I was with version 2.6 of this plugin but I need to get those sensors working again somehow. I am out of ideas on how to troubleshoot. Any other ideas are welcome guys as the upgrade failed and I re-installed this plugin from scratch now 5 times.

After reviewing the lua code for the plugin, for a Vista system with the two-line alpha keypad, in order for the Read Panel function to operate correctly the system must have Chime mode disabled. Otherwise, the expected response value in the alpha field provides " DISARMED CHIME Ready to Arm " instead of "DISARMED Ready to Arm " and fails the match check in discoverPanelConfig.

To avoid this issue, disable Chime mode before trying to use the Read Panel option.

I now have a fully functioning system using the plugin. Also, apparently the Long-range Radio will only be active if you have a 3G home guard cell backup. If you have the old one like I still do until tomorrow, then you have to enable LRR in *29 and do not select shadowing or it will cause the system to go into alarm for LRR failure.

I’m assuming that once my new 3G radio is installed tomorrow that I’ll have to enable the shadowing option. I’ll post once I find out for sure.

Hi.

Sorry for my absence… October was a hellish month 8-}

I have published an update to the plugin that addresses some of the issues mentioned in the thread… hopefully it will be more usable…

I will provide more feedback to the comments once I re-read the thread…

[quote=“CBland, post:28, topic:183436”]After reviewing the lua code for the plugin, for a Vista system with the two-line alpha keypad, in order for the Read Panel function to operate correctly the system must have Chime mode disabled. Otherwise, the expected response value in the alpha field provides " DISARMED CHIME Ready to Arm " instead of "DISARMED Ready to Arm " and fails the match check in discoverPanelConfig.

To avoid this issue, disable Chime mode before trying to use the Read Panel option.[/quote]

You are my HERO!

I uninstalled the plugin, reinstalled the plugin. Put the Alarm system out of Chime mode. Started the Read Panel process. It actually beeps 3 times now instead of 1 time. Then it will go through all the settings and you can see the process on your keypad how the numbers will cycle through.

After a couple of minutes my partition and my sensors are all in Vera and they are all functioning. I also found out why the sensors didn’t work properly. I did use the serial number and the loop properly but the zone number has to match the zone number in my alarm system. In version 2.6 it didn’t care if I call my Front Door sensor Zone #3 a name in Vera e.g. Zone #7. This version does care.

[quote=“cybrmage, post:29, topic:183436”]Hi.

Sorry for my absence… October was a hellish month 8-}

I have published an update to the plugin that addresses some of the issues mentioned in the thread… hopefully it will be more usable…

I will provide more feedback to the comments once I re-read the thread…[/quote]

Great to hear but please don’t make my functioning system now non-functioning after I finally got it working :wink:

Great catch!! thanks!! Saved me a whole lotta frustration… 8-}

This issue is now fixed as of v3.17…

I make no promises… But, I do always try to make sure that any changes I make are productive… You should be fine… After the zones and outputs are populated, the “read panel” function will not run, and your configuration will not be changed. (although this was a bug in v3.1…)

I changed the code in the function that handles the ArmMode and DetailedArmMode… I used to update those variables every time a message was received from the EVL3. It now only updates these variables if they have changed. You should get a plugin generated message (when debug mode is turned on] and a vera generated message when the variable changes.


50      11/04/14 10:14:18.492   luup_log:53: (EVL3VistaAlarmPanel::setPartitionState) Set DetailedArmMode='NotReady' for partition 1 (device #95). <0x2f9da680>
06      11/04/14 10:14:18.492   Device_Variable::m_szValue_set device: 95 service: urn:micasaverde-com:serviceId:EVL3VistaAlarmPartition2 variable: [[35;1mDetailedArmMode[[0m was: Ready now: NotRe
ady #hooks: 0 upnp: 0 v:0x977a68/NONE duplicate:0 <0x2f9da680>

Yes. The serial/loop fields change the behavior of the zone (within the plugin) from wired (uses the TTL variable) to wireless (uses the TTL_RF_MOTION value) , but only for motion sensors. For a door/window sensor, the TTL variable should always be used… If you have debug mode set, the plugin will report the TTL value that it has set for the zone. This behavior (the zone clearing while still tripped) may indicate a bug in the TTL mechanism or that the TTL method is not the best way to overcome the Vista panels lack of fault restoral messages.

And yes, you are correct… The wireless sensors do report their state changes immediately, except for the motion sensors that only send reports if it has not already sent a report within the previous three minutes.

[quote=“fcol, post:3, topic:183436”]I also just noticed another thing (perhaps related to my #1 above about logging). I use Homewave for iOS. The alarm partition doesn’t show up anymore when I try to add an alarm device to Homewave. When I check the device’s advanced properties under UI5, I see its category is still set as 23 (DEVICE_CATEGORY_ALARM_PARTITION). So I’m little confused why I can’t select it as an option in Homewave (and why the alarm state doesn’t show up in my logs anymore).
Thanks[/quote]

Not sure whats happening here… I have not used any of the “mobile apps” extensively yet, but I have just checked using ImperiHome on Android and it only shows the zone devices but not the partition or panel devices… Vera Mobile on IOS also doesn’t show the panel/partition devices, but VeraMate does… I’ll need to look into this further.

Cybrmage,
Can you help me troubleshot why the Device Names are reverting back to the defaults when i try to change them?

thx!

Yes. The serial/loop fields change the behavior of the zone (within the plugin) from wired (uses the TTL variable) to wireless (uses the TTL_RF_MOTION value) , but only for motion sensors. For a door/window sensor, the TTL variable should always be used… If you have debug mode set, the plugin will report the TTL value that it has set for the zone. This behavior (the zone clearing while still tripped) may indicate a bug in the TTL mechanism or that the TTL method is not the best way to overcome the Vista panels lack of fault restoral messages.

And yes, you are correct… The wireless sensors do report their state changes immediately, except for the motion sensors that only send reports if it has not already sent a report within the previous three minutes.[/quote]

After further testing, I did find a bug in the way I determined the zone type… This has been fixed in V3.25

[quote=“cybrmage, post:33, topic:183436”][quote=“fcol, post:3, topic:183436”]I also just noticed another thing (perhaps related to my #1 above about logging). I use Homewave for iOS. The alarm partition doesn’t show up anymore when I try to add an alarm device to Homewave. When I check the device’s advanced properties under UI5, I see its category is still set as 23 (DEVICE_CATEGORY_ALARM_PARTITION). So I’m little confused why I can’t select it as an option in Homewave (and why the alarm state doesn’t show up in my logs anymore).
Thanks[/quote]

Not sure whats happening here… I have not used any of the “mobile apps” extensively yet, but I have just checked using ImperiHome on Android and it only shows the zone devices but not the partition or panel devices… Vera Mobile on IOS also doesn’t show the panel/partition devices, but VeraMate does… I’ll need to look into this further.[/quote]

Ok… the various mobile apps support the Alarm Partition devices ONLY when the device type is “urn:schemas-micasaverde-com:device:AlarmPartition:2”. I was using a custom device type. The device type for the partition devices has been changed as of v3.25, and should now be usable with the various mobile apps (I have tested it with ImperiHome for android.)

[quote=“Aaron, post:34, topic:183436”]Cybrmage,
Can you help me troubleshot why the Device Names are reverting back to the defaults when i try to change them?

thx![/quote]

You must change the name of a zone device in the zone definitions. This is the “Zones” tab on the panel device. To change a zone definition, re-enter the existing data into the input boxes on the “add” line…

ie: existing zone 9 is:
09 1 Zone# 9 1234567 1 Motion
and you want to change the name to “Hall Motion”, you would enter:
09 1 Hall Motion 1234567 1 Motion
then click on Add, and the zone definition will be updated. When you then save the data and the LUUP engine restarts, the name on the zone device will be changed.

If you just change the name directly in the zone device, it will be reverted back to the “default” name that is contained in the zone definition. (Not really a default… it’s what the name is set to in the panel if you used the “read panel” function, or manually specified when zones were entered into the zone definition.)

[quote=“cybrmage, post:35, topic:183436”]You must change the name of a zone device in the zone definitions. This is the “Zones” tab on the panel device. To change a zone definition, re-enter the existing data into the input boxes on the “add” line…

ie: existing zone 9 is:
09 1 Zone# 9 1234567 1 Motion
and you want to change the name to “Hall Motion”, you would enter:
09 1 Hall Motion 1234567 1 Motion
then click on Add, and the zone definition will be updated. When you then save the data and the LUUP engine restarts, the name on the zone device will be changed.

If you just change the name directly in the zone device, it will be reverted back to the “default” name that is contained in the zone definition. (Not really a default… it’s what the name is set to in the panel if you used the “read panel” function, or manually specified when zones were entered into the zone definition.)[/quote]

Thank you for the explanation… it is confusing. Maybe in a future version you might be able to add a ‘Change’ button so we don’t need to reenter all devices (I have 30)?

I just wanted to report that I just upgraded to plugin v3.32 and all seems good. My logs are capturing the DetailedArmMode again and I am able to access the alarm functions via my mobile app (Homewave). Thanks a lot, cybrmage!

One warning: I tried to update this morning using http://VERAIP:3480/data_request?id=update_plugin&Plugin=6436 and my Vera started to endlessly reboot (requiring a factory reset). Fortunately, I had made a backup beforehand and was able to restore. After the restore, I tried the force-update command again and the plugin updated with no issue. I will attribute the botched upgrade to user error somehow.

Auto Upgrade to 3.25 occured, status of Vera at the top said “EVL-3 Connection down” which looked like an old status as I had the browser open the whole day. I clicked on reload and the plugin was working as it is supposed to.

I also changed my old non-alpha keypad to the 6160 keypad today, after changing the new default address of the keypad it powered up properly. Then I went in there and named the zones using the zone name descriptor codes.

Then I went into the plugin, deleted all the sensors and reentered them with the new names I just had assigned to them via the keypad (I have to agree with Aaron that a rename would be nice to have not having to delete them all). Vera reload and everything works beautifully. The plugin even remembered to which room I had assigned each sensor and that I had made them sticky for the dashboard.

Thumbs up!

Since you programmed the zone names into the panel, then deleted the zones… you could have used the “read panel” function to import the zones (with names) from the panel.

Since you programmed the zone names into the panel, then deleted the zones… you could have used the “read panel” function to import the zones (with names) from the panel.[/quote]

I only used the ‘read panel’ function I have not entered anything manually. I see no way to edit the names on the existing line items? I bought a home with this system installed, I have not done any setup or modification. I suspect there are no “names” in the system. Even if there were, a user might want to name things differently then the installer did.

It looks like the plugin is checking the names of existing devices to sync them with something. I can change a name on a device in Vera and when LUA reloads I see the name I entered change back to the name the Plugin is using.

I hope you will consider adding on of both of these options…

Edit Name button in the plugin panel
or
Option for the plugin to not renaming devices that already exist (and were imported)