nodemcu newbie with a couple of questions

[sirbooker]

Hi All
i am now just beta testing this awesome plugin and have a couple of questions for you.
i am completely new to this Arduino world which looks very interesting

1 - how can i tell in homeseer if the nodemcu is online and connected
2 - can the nodemcu have a blinking led on it to visual see if it is connected and running.

can this be achieved in the plugin without any coding as i am not a programmer by any means?

thanks in advance
Paul.

[randy]

The plug-in creates a device that indicates whether the board is connected or not. This device can also be used as a trigger or condition in events. On the NodeMCU there is a blue LED connected to pin D4. If you use the plug-in to blink pin D4 you will have a visual indication that the board is connected and running.

The plug-in is easy to use and doesn’t require programming skills. It will build a sketch to upload to the board by USB with the Arduino IDE (Integrated Development Environment). While that sounds like programming, it really is not.

[sirbooker]

Thanks for the reply Randy , i always enjoy reading your post as i learn something new every time..
i noticed that the nodemcu created a device with ( connect, disconnect, reset ) when i un-plug the power to the nodemcu nothing changes in homeseer it still says connected ?
what am i missing.
Thanks Paul.

[randy]

I’ll have to check, but I think it takes a few minutes to show as disconnected. If I remember correctly it takes 3-5 minutes. I’ll check later today.

[randy]

With about a dozen tests on a test NodeMCU, these are repeatable

• From power removed until "Connection Error" 30-60 seconds
• From power removed until "Connection Failed" 60-90 seconds
• Power applied until connected 4-5 seconds

I did find a way that the board will fail to report, and it is repeatable. When a board first shows connected it is about 2-4 minutes before inputs begin registering. In other words, if I change an input on a board, iut will be from 2-4 minutes after it is connected before the input begins to report. During this period "Blink" and "One Flash" will not work either. On and Off seems to work as soon as they are changed in the device manager, but it can be 2-4 minutes before they synchronize on their own. During this 2-4 minute period if the board is disconnected from power, it is not picked up in HomeSeer. Even though it is disconnected, it will still show as connected in HomeSeer. I have left the board unplugged for 15 minutes without it ever showing as disconnected. If it is reconnected during this period, the outputs will toggle within about 5 seconds, the inputs are unresponsive and blink and one flash will not work for 2-4 minutes.

This is repeatable. Restarting the plug-in does pick it up as disconnected.

I will send Greig a link to this post.