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Frank-H
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Posted: July 11 2018 at 21:13 | IP Logged Quote Frank-H

I downloaded 2.1.5c into my HP Envy running Windows 10
Pro. I installed a 2413U PLM per Insteon instructions
(FTDI chip drivers and all) and, indeed, see that,
according to the Windows Device Manager, it is running
properly. PowerHome 2 started nicely and I proceeded
to open the wizard screen. I clicked on controllers
and hit next. --

        "Error - Not available in beta".

What am I doing wrong?

You can't get any "newby-er" than I am (I don't even
have to put up the purchase fee for another 27 days)
so I recognize I'm probably missing something that
should be obvious. I've been using Insteon quite
satisfactorily for many years but House-Linc is way
out of date and my hub doesn't do enough.

Thanks

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dhoward
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Posted: July 13 2018 at 03:41 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Frank,

Welcome to PowerHome.

The most current version of PowerHome is the 2.1.5c/d beta and as you've discovered, the wizards (except for the Control Center wizard)
have been disabled (not compatible with 2.1.5) while this part of the code is undergoing a rewrite. The wizards are available in the last
release version 2.1b but it is woefully out of date if you're planning on using Insteon.

However, the wizards, in my opinion, we're pretty lame and it's almost as easy to just the standard setup via the PowerHome Explorer. Ive
outline the steps below for setting up an Insteon PLM. It looks long but the steps are pretty simple and I try to do alot of behind the
scenes explaining.

First thing to do is add your Insteon PLM. To do this, open the PowerHome Explorer. It's in the menu under Maintenance->PowerHome
Explorer or you can just click the magnifying glass icon in the toolbar.

The PowerHome Explorer is the main screen for setting up and configuring PowerHome. You choose what you want to setup in the left hand
treeview and the details for your selection in the right hand window. Navigate the treeview to PowerHome->Setup->Controllers. You'll get a
blank page on the right with a single blank row. In the PH Explorer, you can right-click (in the right side) to bring up a context
sensitive menu and this will allow you to insert or delete lines as well as other actions depending upon the screen and the column you
right-clicked.

In your right hand "Setup Controllers" screen, place your cursor in the ID column and give your controller an ID. In PowerHome, MOST
things require an ID. I like to keep the ID short but descriptive (you may be typing it alot in macros and such). For your PLM I would use
either "PLM" or "INSTEON".

Next, go to the "Controller Type" column and dropdown the selection. Choose "Insteon PLM" for your PLM. Make sure "Active" is checked.
Next click the "Settings" button.

In the settings window for your PLM, type in your COM port that your USB PLM is currently assigned. You can find this in your Computer's
Device Settings under COM ports. The rest of the options can stay at their default. Close the settings window.

In the PH Explorer, changes are saved when you Refresh (the lightning bolt icon in the toolbar), navigate to a different section (using
the treeview), or when you close the Explorer. Go ahead and close the Explorer and then either restart or reinit PowerHome. You must
restart or reinit PowerHome whenever you make changes to the Setup section of the PH Explorer. Other sections do not require this. You can
go ahead and visit the other subsections of the Setup section and make adjustments if you like before the restart or reinit.

Once PowerHome has been restarted or reinited, open the menu Help->About->Controllers and verify that your PLM controller is listed and
properly connected. If so, you're ready to proceed to setting up your devices.

Since Insteon is so vast in it's configuration, it has its own setup window called the Insteon Explorer. You can find it in the
Maintenance menu or the "power" icon in the toolbar. You can also do some maintenance of your Insteon devices in the PH Explorer but no
one ever does this anymore once the Insteon Explorer came out.

In the Insteon Explorer, you see multiple tabs. You can manually declare your devices in the "Devices" tab or you can use the Auto
Discover options in the "Setup" tab. Be sure and read the Help (menu Help->Contents) for the Insteon sections and all the info about the
Insteon Explorer. On the Insteon Explorer, you can also click any of the question mark icons for context sensitive help.

The easiest way to add devices is using the "Auto Discovery" at the bottom of the Setup tab. Click the "On" button. Next, get some paper
and pencil and visit each of your Insteon devices. Put the Insteon device into link mode. When you do this, PowerHome should automatically
add the information for this device and it's ID will be "NEW DEVICE 1". Write down on the paper what this device is (ex: Kitchen light).
If the device didnt automatically exit link mode, go ahead and exit it using the device button. Move on to the next device and repeat.
When done, come back to the Insteon Explorer and turn off Auto Discovery. To make sure everything fully refreshes, go ahead and close the
Insteon Explorer and reopen it.

Go to the Devices tab. You should see all of your auto discovered devices. The first device you discovered will have an ID of NEW DEVICE
1. The second device will have an ID of NEW DEVICE 2 and so on. Using your paper with all the devices (in order that you visited them),
change the ID's to something more meaningful (short but descriptive). You should also set the description (you can be more verbose here).
When done with your changes, press the "Save/Refresh" button.

Once you get this far, let me know what other questions you have and I'll be happy to help.

Dave.
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Frank-H
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Posted: July 13 2018 at 08:07 | IP Logged Quote Frank-H

PowerHome has integrated the PLM just fine and I have
added a few devices successfully. Thanks so much for
your help. I know I'll have a lot of future questions,
I'll try to keep them intelligent.

Frank

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