Multiple RainMachines

[noopara]

I am going to be running a RainMachine HD 16 and a HD12 for my 24 zone system. Can I run two instances of your plug-in, one for each HD unit or can you change it to support more than one RM?

-- greg

[bpwwer]

Hi Greg,

I hadn't thought about supporting multiple devices and the current code doesn't have any provisions for handling multiple instances. I am looking into it. I think I can change it to allow multiple instances of the plug-in to run, with each instance tied to one RainMachine.

The biggest issue I'm having is getting the configuration web page to work correctly for the other instances, the process to do that is not documented.

[mitchmitchell1616]

Bob, you might check out the source code to BLRing that was posted -- its a multi-instance plugin and seems to do the web pages correctly.

[bpwwer]

I just pushed out a release (1.0.0.2) to the beta section. This version does support multiple instances by running multiple copies of the plug-in .exe file.

To keep the devices unique I added a configuration option to set the device unit number. The first instance run will be unit 0 by default, but you can change it to any number. Each RainMachine needs to have a unique unit number assigned to it. The problem was with the way I set the device addresses. Zones got the zone number as the address which will obviously not be unique when more than one RainMachine is being used.

This should update an existing set of devices when first run. Zone address should change from 1, 2, 3, etc, to 0:1, 0:2, 0:3, etc.

Right now I've only tested with one RainMachine and the conversion process has had very limited testing. Hence the reason it's released as beta.

[noopara]

Thanks. I love it when a plan comes together. I started out working with the RainMachine folks to help them put together the code to access Davis Weather Stations. I purchased an IP Data Logger for my system and gave RM access to it so they could write the code and test it. They succeeded and it works great. It's now a new feature of their product. They gave me an 16HD in exchange for helping them out. But, I need 24 zones and they don't make a 24 zone system. So, I have to purchase a 12HD to round out the system. I also use HS3 to activate zones as part of my deer defense system and your plug-in is going to make that possible. So, not that I know it can work with two RainMachines, I will place the order for the second RM. Once I get both of them up and running, I will let you know how it is all working...hopefully before this spring when we start irrigating again...but I'm also busy building out my ham shack...too many toys and so little time....

[noopara]

I now have an HD-12 and an HD-16. My trial period ran out so I just purchased a license. How do I install a 2nd instance? I've tried to download and install another copy but it fails.

[bpwwer]

You need to install the beta version from the updater. The beta section is all the way at the bottom of list of plug-in categories. The license will work fine for the beta. With that installed, there should be "+" button under the instance column on the plug-in management screen (reload the page if it's not there). Clicking that will add another instance of the plug-in to the list. Each instance can be enabled/disabled individually and when enabled, each will have it's own configuration/status menu items on the plug-in menu.

[noopara]

OK. Got it. This is the first time I have installed a second instance of a plug-in. What is the ISYInsteon Plug-in? I see a message in the log that says that its initialization is complete.

I now have both instances running.

Thanks for doing this.

[noopara]

I set up the Zones on the two RMs a couple of days ago including changing the zone assignments for the HD-16. I also, changed the ip address of the HD-16 that I've been testing to a static ip and I assigned a static ip to the new HD-12 unit. What I am seeing in HS devices is not the same thing that I am seeing in the RMs themselves. The plug-in has them jumbled up. The zone assignments in HS for the HD-16 looks like it looked before I changed them a few days ago. The zone assignments in HS for the HD-12 look more like what I changed the HD-16 to a few days ago. The HD-16 in unit 0 and the HD-12 is unit 1. Is there a way to reset them?

[noopara]

Here are a couple of clips from the device page that might help.

[noopara]

Here's another clip from a spreadsheet that shows what zones are set up in the two RMs. This is what it should look like in HS.

[bpwwer]

I set up the Zones on the two RMs a couple of days ago including changing the zone assignments for the HD-16. I also, changed the ip address of the HD-16 that I've been testing to a static ip and I assigned a static ip to the new HD-12 unit. What I am seeing in HS devices is not the same thing that I am seeing in the RMs themselves. The plug-in has them jumbled up. The zone assignments in HS for the HD-16 looks like it looked before I changed them a few days ago. The zone assignments in HS for the HD-12 look more like what I changed the HD-16 to a few days ago. The HD-16 in unit 0 and the HD-12 is unit 1. Is there a way to reset them?

I think that all makes sense. The plug-in isn't trying to update the devices once they're created since it just looks at the zone ID and makes sure there's a mapping between the zone in the RainMachine and a HS device.

That's not something I thought about as I haven't been making changes to the zones on my RainMachine, but it is something the plug-in should handle so I've added it to the todo list.

Thanks for pointing out the ISYInsteon in the log, That the name of a different plug-in I wrote and some of this one was just copied from that one. I'll get that fixed too.

If you don't want to wait for a new version, just deleting the homeseer devices and restarting the plug-in instance will recreate them with the new names. It will also give them new reference ID's so any events that use the devices will need to be updated also.

[noopara]

OK. Thanks! I deleted all the devices and restarted both instances and it worked. Both of them are configured correctly.

I see in the log the following: "GetName failed: the remote server returned an error: (401) unauthorized" i see this for both instances as they are initializing. What does this mean as far as the operation of the plug-in?

[noopara]

If it's not to difficult to change, it would help if when setting up an event if the drop down for the Then statement would specify the name of the RM. In my case I have one named Lawn & Drip and the other named Bed & Garden. What I did is split up my zones so all the lawn and drip watering is done with RMHD-12 and all the gardens and beds are done with RMHD-16.

[bpwwer]

If it's not to difficult to change, it would help if when setting up an event if the drop down for the Then statement would specify the name of the RM. In my case I have one named Lawn & Drip and the other named Bed & Garden. What I did is split up my zones so all the lawn and drip watering is done with RMHD-12 and all the gardens and beds are done with RMHD-16.

That makes sense, should be easy, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ok, it was easy, but I think it will break any existing events since it now changes the name of the event to include the RainMachine's device name.