Hey all! I discovered openHAB while researching open source Insteon and Iot/IP software. (This puts me squarely in noob territory.) I have some Insteon products that I’ve been playing with and had good success so far. (I’m using 1.8.x) One issue I ran into was not having a product key for a couple items. I got them to work using other product keys for similar devices, but while searching I came across this site:
Can this be used to build legit product keys for devices that aren’t in the stock binding? I’m in IT but I’m not a ‘core’ programmer. I’m not sure how to turn these values into product keys, or even if they can be. I’d like to try and build a device type XML file if someone can help me. (Again, if it’s even possible.)
If your device isn’t listed in the list of Insteon devices, you should try one that is similar and there’s a very good chance it will work. Afterwards, you can create a a new device type by following the instructions at https://github.com/openhab/openhab/wiki/Insteon-PLM-Binding#adding-new-device-types-using-existing-device-features. Also this section addresses your question about using product keys that @Bernd_Pfrommer encountered in the past. But, it appears the one you are referencing is newer and was last modified in Oct 2015.
I’ve pretty much given up on the Insteon product keys. The idea of working off of the product keys got into my head when reading the Insteon documents: the product key uniquely identifies each device type, you can query it etc etc. In practice: plenty of devices that I couldn’t find any product keys, and I have yet to own an Insteon device that would actually report the product key when queried.
So as it stands, when we have a new device, we simply bump our “Fake” product key “Fxxxxxx” to make it a unique identifier.
What devices did you get to work, and what did you substitute them with in your items file? We are always interested in expanding the database of items. The best is obviously if you search the web for the developer documents and make sure that all features of the device are working, not just a subset that happens to be common with the device that you substituted with.
Hey guys, thanks for the quick replies! I managed to get everything working by using ‘close enough’ items. For example, there’s isn’t an entry for the 2473 receptacle, but I got it working using the 2663 item and only configuring the top outlet. (That’s all that’s controllable with the 2473, the bottom is just a plain outlet.)
When I made the post I was having trouble getting the 2457D2 LampLinc working. I was using a 2412 PLC when I first started and finally figured out that I needed a 2413 PLM. I ordered the PLM, plugged it in and my first device started working right away! I kept adding devices and they worked (mostly older items) until the 2457D2. I had the terminal window running OH hidden behind the browser and editor so I didn’t see the messages about the devices not being added to the PLM. Once I linked the 2457D2 to the PLM it started working. I then added the other devices that had been working and the messages seem much better.
I thought that the product keys were important to get things working so I was trying to find it for the 2473.
The only thing being a little weird right now is the 2486D keypad. If I use the 0x000037 key it stops working. Right now I have it configured as a 2876 and the switch function works. I’ll have to see if I can figure out how get the keypad part working, but for now I’m assuming I just don’t have something configured correctly.
Thanks again for the help, I see now that the keys aren’t as important as I thought they were at first.
You can see that the 2486D is grossly under configured. In other words we heard “the device works with this config” and ran with it. Yeah, the dimmer buttons work, but pretty much nothing else. I suspect if you configure it as 2486DWH8 (0x000051) or 2486DWH6 (0x000050) you will get a lot more mileage out of it.
The hard part about the keypads is getting the buttons to work. This is because you have to understand the link process in detail. Have a look at the insteonplm wiki, see the “Keypads” section.
You either use houselinc (dangerous because it tends to “clean up” your modem database) or InsteonTerminal: https://github.com/pfrommerd/insteon-terminal to create the necessary links in the modem database.
Good luck, you’ll need it.
Thank you for the insight, I really appreciate it! (It is a 2486DWH6, i just got lazy about typing it all out.)
I only have a few Insteon items and haven’t installed them yet. (I just moved to a new house and am now getting serious about doing some automation.) Right now I have them mounted in boxes on a 2x4 just so I can test them out. If you don’t mind my asking, if starting from scratch would you go with Insteon or Z-wave? Or something else entirely? I have a friend who is an Insteon fan and is using an ISY994 to control his lights. I wanted to go beyond just lighting control so that’s what drew me to OH. I’m trying to pick devices that should be supported by most systems so I don’t get locked in.
I have a few z-wave GE-switches, just for testing. They didn’t blow me away, they were cheap quality. Plus I absolutely hate the fact that the Z-wave protocol is closed. I used a vera controller to control them, which was a nightmare, I no longer use it, and the switches are just dumb switches now.
The rest (some 110 switches/dimmers) are Insteon. They suck, too. Some of them need to be rebooted every now and then (turn off circuit breaker).
I once had exactly the same thoughts as you. Didn’t want to go with Lutron (only qualified installer, very expensive), wanted to get something open so I’m not locked in. But every vendor is trying to fight interoperability, so it’s a mess. Insteon is successively closing their system, too. Now everything goes through the “App”.
I’m frankly totally sick of all this home automation nonsense. We’ll have to wait maybe another 10-20 years before somebody does this right.
Thanks, I appreciate your honesty. (Even if it is somewhat depressing!)
I’ll keep playing around with the Insteon stuff I have and see if it’s worth the hassle. My friend that uses the ISY has nothing but good things to say about it. Their Insteon support appears to be top notch, no terminal programs to get things going! (I assume they’re an Insteon partner or something like that.) Of course, it can end up costing a fair amount if you add the plugins to get it close to what OH is capable of. I worked for a Crestron dealer in a past life and have enough touch panels to put together a decent system, but my software has me locked to 2007 so I can only get equipment from eBay. Doing that feels like skating to where the puck was, where IoT/IP feels like skating to where the puck is headed. I want to make sure I know what I’m going to do before I start pulling wire all over the house. CresNet isn’t cheap!
I also put automated shades up, since I had the sheet rock down, I ran all the wires to be future proof. Went with Somfy motors and the URTSII plugin from openhab. Openhab actually did a reasonable job there, but the quality of the shades and the motors was so bad that I spent a lot of time and still half of them are broken. At least I have the wires in for the future. I think that’s probably what you are thinking about, too.
If I were to build a new house, here’s what I would do:
Install dumb switches, but make sure there are 3 wires (power, neutral, load) in each and every box.
Maybe run cat5 wire to every box. It’s expensive, but so is later ripping up the sheet rock.
I forgot the third one, darn, like Rick Perry.
Last not least, make sure I have planned cable raceways to every corner of the house so I can later run wires into the attic and the crawl space/basement, and can get into every room from below or above, w/o opening the walls. Nothing is more important than later being able to later pull new wires to where you want them.
