Clean (and complete) start coming off an HAI OmniPro II system into HS4

[jcd]

I've been a HomeSeer user for over 20 years (!!) but until now have used it largely for what I called "icing" - meaning the stuff that was nice to have, or gee-whiz, but if it didn't work all of the core stuff (the "cake") would carry on...

My cake has disappeared: I was heavily invested into the OmniPro II ecosystem, and well, we know how that ends.

I was/am loosely trying to replace the core security functions with an Elk M1; however, I'm finding so many gaps everywhere I turn that I'm now not so sure what is the best path to emplace the HS4 as the core of my security and home automation systems. Here's where I am today:

1. 99% of my automation is driven by hardwired 1-pulse PIRs to track occupancy, movement, and direction.
   1. The Elk M1 has abundant IO, so good there - the question is, how to get it quickly into HS4 to act upon?
2. About 15% of my connectivity is via an outbuilding separate from the house.
   1. Again, the Elk M1 can handle this from an expander/bus standpoint, so good. Same general handshake issue as above, but less timing critical.
3. All of my lighting (about 70 loads) are Z-wave... and as noted in #1, the hardwired PIRs are the trigger for 99% of my automation, so I need something FAST from an IO standpoint and then to send out via Z-wave (or something; see Groups below).
   1. Given the UltraJones M1 plug-in is no longer supported, this seems a dead path. The question is: how do I get the Elk M1 panel and HS4 to talk to each other quickly?
4. I understand the Elk M1 supports RadioRA natively, so that is a path but it comes at around a $7,000 cost to replace all my Z-wave hardware.
   1. (See above regarding response time criticality.)
5. My window shades are Somfy RTS via the URTSII interface with the OPII. Have never been reliable, so I am faced with replacing all my window shades with either manual shades, or Z-wave. Another $6,000.
6. My whole-house audio was the HAI HiFi 2, which now needs to be replaced with ??? Russound? Another +$5,000
   1. But then like the UltraJones M1 pluging, the BL Russound plugin also seems to not be currently supported in HS4?
7. I have iPads in each room running Myro:Home as a GUI to the OPII - so in other words these are the primary UIs
   1. HS4/HSTouch seems to be able to reuse these, which is good (essential, given the investment)!
8. Etcetera...

Anyway, you get the idea, which is that I have to basically tear out everything and start from scratch because ALL of these subsystems integrated back into the OPII pretty tightly. What I'm seeing though, is that at every turn there are core bits that just are not replaceable (and/or might be, but with iffy long-term support/sustainability).

All of which brings me to: if I have to go through this pain and start with a blank sheet of paper - AND (I'm being greedy here, I know) want to have a system that is sustainable for at least the next 10-15 years - what should I start with?

#1-3 are the primary drivers and the rest is (relatively) "icing" so all that context provided and if I were to boil this into a single question it is:
What would be the best solution for heavy hardwired IO to interact quickly with HS4 to control lighting?

I'd be very grateful for thoughts/inputs/suggestions, thank you!

[Pete]

Are you still using your OmniPro 2 panel?

Or have you already purchased an Elk M1 to replace it?

Here too have been using the OP2 now (first and second generation) for over 20 years.

Here base is UPB in wall switches. I do have a VRCOP, Zigbee ZIM and a Volp dual phased TW-523 X10 controller (X10 on steroids).

My PIR activating lighting is written in to the OP2 automation. Much faster than via software. I consider the OP2 panel running the heartbeat of the home (thermostat, Russound, et al).

I have been able to replicate the OmniProTouch custom screens to 15 Windows tabletop touchscreens that are also running Homeseer touch. IE: put a button on the HSTouch screen to load OmniTouchPro and vice versa.

Sandbox house is using Ring Alarm with an MQTT bridge, Tasmota WiFi lighting, et al. (trying all MQTT in this house). I utilize the Ring PIRs to trigger events on the Alexa show devices in the house. Works well.

I have always "trusted" wired sensors more than wireless sensors and happy so far with what I am doing in Sandbox house number two.

[jcd]

Are you still using your OmniPro 2 panel?

Or have you already purchased an Elk M1 to replace it?

Here too have been using the OP2 now (first and second generation) for over 20 years.

Pete, you Sir, are EVERYWHERE - and have been for all these years. I don't know how you do it and I have benefitted from your knowledge and attention many a time in the past, so firstly, thank you.

Yes, I have still have the OPII board (s, including the "backup" board) and all of the infrastructure is still attached and connected... it just doesn't work. I know a HS forum isn't the place for this, but basically I'm getting endless SYSTEM RESET messages and lockups and it's now in a state where it's basically 25% working at random.

I was following closely your other threads elsewhere about the promiscuity of the OPII Ethernet port and micro-routers and such, but you're way smarter than me

Anyway, I'm collecting a parts list to rebuild the whole shebang - but like I said I'm getting gaps popping-up in places which make me nervous (like the M1 doesn't natively have Ethernet support... and doesn't natively support Z-wave... and...and...) so I'm getting nervous given the price tag involved with starting from scratch - not to mention learning a new codebase, new wiring paradigms, etc. I've installed literally dozens of OPII systems of varying complexity and now I've got 20 years of Old Dog tricks in me that I have to unlearn/relearn!

[tenholde]

I use ELK-M1 with UltraJones plugin and am very pleased. Most of my motion detectors are connected to M1 and via the plugin quickly trigger HS events.

The ELK does indeed 'natively' support ethernet, that's how it communicates to the HS plugin.

I wish the source code for the UltraJones plugin was available.

[Pete]

Yes, I have still have the OPII board (s, including the "backup" board) and all of the infrastructure is still attached and connected... it just doesn't work. I know a HS forum isn't the place for this, but basically I'm getting endless SYSTEM RESET messages and lockups and it's now in a state where it's basically 25% working at random.

Have you posted on Cocoontech about your issues. With your help we can diagnose your issues and maybe fix your "system reset" messages. Baby step fashion.

Have you gone to capacity on your programming lines, you might have a circular loop there someplace. Not sure how many zones you have configured.

@dwalt on the Cocoontech forum is very familiar with the HAI OmniPro 2 panels. Ask him about your issues. He has installed hundreds (really) HAI boards.

The promiscuous Ethernet port issue directly affects serial base communications of the panel. It is a documented by Leviton issue that was never fixed. (NIC port was designed when a typical home had one or two network connections).

The OmniPro 2 board is built like an old Backlite telephone ( The Bakelite Telephone - 1931) and is built never to fail.

Here still running HS2 (VMs) for use with two phone lines and Way2Call boxes and for kicks ran a serial connection to the VM for the OmniPro 2 panel. IE: such that HS3-4 and HS2 still connect to the OP2 Panel.

[jcd]

Thanks tenholde! Good to know the hardware trigger (M1) to software execution (HS4) is quick. Would you say quick enough to activate lighting in a hallway as someone is walking through it, or to rely on to walk into a dark room that, well, isn't dark (i.e., sub 1-second)?

And for the Ethernet I may have mischaracterized: what I meant was that you need an add-on module, the M1XEP so you have another layer of data rather than having it natively on the main board. Maybe in effect it doesn't really matter so long as the data bus lets them talk to each other quickly?

And yes, the UltraJones bit is what worries me... it's written for HS3 but works (for now) in HS4 - but what about HS5 or in the future? And then what do we do when it stops working? I just don't want to spend $$$$$ and be in the same HAI boat a few years from now, if I can try to avoid it.

[jcd]

Have you posted on Cocoontech about your issues. With your help we can diagnose your issues and maybe fix your "system reset" messages. Baby step fashion.

Have you gone to capacity on your programming lines, you might have a circular loop there someplace. Not sure how many zones you have configured.

I have, Pete, yes, though perhaps too obliquely (it was a reply to another thread). VERY happy to go back over there and engage! The sudden failure - as these things go - was a sudden event where nothing else had changed in months, and the codebase, while iterated like all things, has been stable in use for probably a ocuple years without changes. Anyway, I'll take this thread over there, thank you.

[tenholde]

Thanks tenholde! Good to know the hardware trigger (M1) to software execution (HS4) is quick. Would you say quick enough to activate lighting in a hallway as someone is walking through it, or to rely on to walk into a dark room that, well, isn't dark (i.e., sub 1-second)?

And for the Ethernet I may have mischaracterized: what I meant was that you need an add-on module, the M1XEP so you have another layer of data rather than having it natively on the main board. Maybe in effect it doesn't really matter so long as the data bus lets them talk to each other quickly?

And yes, the UltraJones bit is what worries me... it's written for HS3 but works (for now) in HS4 - but what about HS5 or in the future? And then what do we do when it stops working? I just don't want to spend $$$$$ and be in the same HAI boat a few years from now, if I can try to avoid it.

Agree, if you haven't purchased ELK yet, i wouldn't

[Pete]

Here is a snapshot of running HAI Automation Studio via RDP to a Windows 2016 server. This server also runs Homeseer Designer. That said I push the screens over to the 15 tabletop Windows (Intel based) touchscreens.

Homeseer Touchscreen designer is much easier to utilize than HAI Automation Studio.