Powermax binding

In case of the author of the powermax binding is reading, just to say it’s fantastic. Took me a while to work out symlinks, but now just working perfectly. Hope it gets included in the official bundle at some point…

Thank you!

Is there a PR for this binding available? What is missing to have it in the official distribution?

All I know is what’s in this google groups post from six months ago:

Maybe @Lolodomo can tell us about the the state.

I have now a new more powerful version that read settings from the panel. It emulates the Powerlink mode. This version is working very well for me since several weeks/months. The version is finished at around 95% but I don’t really remember what remains to do…
I can publish a new JAR for testing. As I got absolutely no feedback on the Google group, I thought this binding has no interest for anyone except me.

The main remaining problem is an incompatibility with OH2. At startup, the binding at a certain time tries to set items but I got errors (items not registered), while it is working perfectly in OH1. I will try again with OH2 in debug mode. The alternative would be to add a new binding setting to delay the setting of items. It would be required only in OH2.

As I understood, my PR for OH1 will be rejected if my binding is not compatible with OH2. So I have not yet created a PR.

Regards

Dan, what PowerMax model are you owning ?

Dan, what connection are you using ?
I have tested the binding only with a serial connection but I implemented the IP connection too.

Hi!

I’ve a Powermax Pro connected over a serial interface - I have the ethernet module too but hated it and took the opportunity to rip it out.

It’s a fairly popular unit, at least in the UK, so I’m surprised there’s been no interest. Happy to help in any testing/debugging.

Dan

Ok, same as mine.
Mine is more precisely a PowerMax Pro Part.

I will attach my current JAR with updated instructions this week.

The new version has one interesting feature: you can arm/disarm the panel.

Actually, I can already arm/disarm with your binding - it’s been working perfectly for the last week. I also see when zone sensors are tripped, and can read the status of the unit. The only missing features, so far as I can tell, are

  • I’m not sure the battery readings are right (they all say 100%, but I haven’t changed the batteries for three years)

  • I can’t see status/battery status for the sirens

  • I see if there’s “trouble” in the general unit status, but it doesn’t display the exact type of trouble (e.g. communication, low battery etc)

Very minor things - overall the current binding seems in a perfectly releaseable form.

I have an interest in this binding as well! I have a PowerMax Complete unit with serial interface attached to it (as well as the IP-functions).

Did some implementation of an own gateway written in Java to bridge the events and status info from PowerMax unit to mqtt and via that bus integrated in openhab. Protocol implementation is based on reverse engineering information on domoticz forum. As of this moment, it’s only “one way” and does not do actions on the powermax from openhab. Code available on github (https://github.com/scurb/SensorsToMQTT/tree/master/src/se/dolutions/SmartHome/AlarmToMQTT)

Do you have any verification made by a PowerMax Complete unit?

My understanding is that the serial interface is identical on all the various Powermax models.

Highly recommend this binding. Before moving to openHAB I ran the Powermax off Vera, and the openHAB binding is much more reliable, robust and responsive than Vera ever was. Hopefully it will get updated for OH2 compatibility; if not then I guess I’ll be staying with OH1!

Just test the 1.x Powermax binding on openHAB 2 - it should work right away. So no need to stick with openHAB 1, only because you are using bindings from it!

Kai, doesn’t the author of the binding say above there’s an incompatibility with OH2?

@dan12345, You are right, I should have read the whole thread more carefully.

@Lolodomo If you think your code is ok and it it works well on openHAB 1, feel free to create an issue at openHAB 2 describing the problem. It can very well be that there is a bug in the compatibility layer, which I would have to fix.

Initial tests has shown that the binding connects, but does not communicate very well since it complains about the CRC checksum calculations. First I had a RPi with ser2net in between, and then I tried to directly connect the serial cable to the OH-server (via a USB-to-RS232 adapter).

Still trying to get my head around it!

Ah, I got it started! Previously when I ran my code I was able to have the PowerLink2 module attached as well - but now I had to remove it in order to get the messages to be handled correctly. I made a lot of trial and errors, so I am not 100% sure that this actually was the succeeding factor, but so I guess!

Hi Kai.

I already tried to start the discussion about this issue by opening 2 topics:


But I got no answer !

I thought about a workaround to this bug, consisting in calling ItemRegistry.getItem to know if an item already exists before pushing an update for it. I will delay the update if the item does not yet exist…

@scurb: yes, you are right, you cannot have the Powerlink2 activated at the same time.
Let me know what are your remaining problems.

And sorry for the delay but I have to find time to publish my current version. It would be easy to attach the jar file but you absolutely need all the explanations.
My version is now emulating powerlink2 mode, I think (but I am not sure) that the jar I provided was without this feature.

Yep, I know I have read this before, but I was still able to use a serial connection from my java code. Though - I did not manage to get the crc routine implemented correctly - now I know why :wink:

I’m running in test mode and actually have no other things to say than your binding seems to work really fine! Good work!

It sounds like you are rewriting the binding to emulate the Powerlink2 module - what will be the benefit of this?

Best regards, Patrik!