SDM Can't find 2414S Interface - Help, Please

[Madcodger]

I just received my 2414S (SERIAL version) PLC, and have been trying to get it set up to control my first few Insteon switches with the plugin.

The plugin and SDM are loaded and I can get the SDM "setup" to come up in the tray area, but when I try to set the COM port the only choice I am given is USB. That's a bit less than helpful when all you have is a serial device.

Can someone guide me on this? The setup instructions that come with the 2414S consists of only a Quick Start Guide, which is basically worthless. I did update the com port on the setup / interfaces page, but that (curiously) only comes up when I enable X10. And the SDM seems to ignore it, anyway.

The plugin does not see the PLC, so I'm getting nowhere fast.

Thanks,

Joe

[Oman]

You don't set the serial port. The plug-in will search for the device. The one thing I have noticed is that it doesn't like searching serial ports that are way higher than the rest in the case of USB to serial adapters.

Is this an on-motherboard serial port? Are you sure it is working?

Jon

I just received my 2414S (SERIAL version) PLC, and have been trying to get it set up to control my first few Insteon switches with the plugin.

The plugin and SDM are loaded and I can get the SDM "setup" to come up in the tray area, but when I try to set the COM port the only choice I am given is USB. That's a bit less than helpful when all you have is a serial device.

Can someone guide me on this? The setup instructions that come with the 2414S consists of only a Quick Start Guide, which is basically worthless. I did update the com port on the setup / interfaces page, but that (curiously) only comes up when I enable X10. And the SDM seems to ignore it, anyway.

The plugin does not see the PLC, so I'm getting nowhere fast.

Thanks,

Joe

[krmiller53]

If the moderator does not mind...

I have a mini-application that will let you manually set/test the PLC port, USB or Com1-3.

If you need higher Com numbers let me know. I can do that.

It is free.

http://users.adelphia.net/~krmiller/SetPort/

This may or may not help. Please let me know either way.

Thanks!

Ken

[Oman]

No problem, but I have yet to see the SDM miss a connected PLC. If it does work by just setting the port I would love to know.

Thanks
Jon

If the moderator does not mind...

I have a mini-application that will let you manually set/test the PLC port, USB or Com1-3.

If you need higher Com numbers let me know. I can do that.

It is free.

http://users.adelphia.net/~krmiller/SetPort/

This may or may not help. Please let me know either way.

Thanks!

Ken

[Madcodger]

Fixed, Commentary, Thanks, and Questions

Jon and Ken,

Thanks for your ideas, and Ken - Thanks for that neat piece of software. I didn't have to use it this time, but I sure saved it!

It turns out a couple of things were involved. Here's some info that might help others:

First, I found out that the 2414S (and possibly all Insteon PLCs) use the Windows Human Interface Device drivers, and mine had gone AWOL. I Googled the HID, and found that having this happen (it goes dead sometimes) is a more common thing than I had imagined. Luckily, I found the way to fix this and will post it in a separate thread to make searching easier for others.

Next, when I did get the HID restored, I found that the PLC was still not being recognized. I reset the firmware using the new version of the plugin, and then restarted HS. It fired right up and has been working well.

The only three things I've noticed that are a bit odd are:

After I add a new device, I have to restart HS before it is recognized by the plugin (or at least before it appears on the Status page).

With Slave switches, turning a light on by activating the slave switch with HS does not turn on the light (off doesn't work either). The slave switch appears to change state (i.e., the led goes off), but the light itself doesn't come on. It works fine manually, but not via HS.

The PLC for Insteon does not appear to produce a very good X10 signal. My X10 thermostat isn't able to recognize Ack / Autosend / Echo commands and confirmations, and this wasn't a problem with a CM11A or a PSC05.

Which brings up a question: Does the plugin require that I enable X10 to work reliably, or can I use BOTH the Insteon PLC (with X10 disabled on the plugin) and a PSC05 or CM11A?

Thanks,

Joe

[Oman]

The 2414S sure doesn't need the HID drivers, but maybe the SDM itself searches for the 2414U first and dies if the HID drivers are bad.

I have noticed that the 2414 does not create quite as strong an X10 signal as my old PowerLinc V1. The X10 support can be disabled without issue.

A slave switch controls another switch when you press the local button, but as you see the slave switch does not send that message out when it is controlled directly through Insteon. You have to turn on both the slave and controlled light right now to keep things in sync. This is just one more thing that the plug-in is going to have to deal with once the link table management is complete.

Jon

Jon and Ken,

Thanks for your ideas, and Ken - Thanks for that neat piece of software. I didn't have to use it this time, but I sure saved it!

It turns out a couple of things were involved. Here's some info that might help others:

First, I found out that the 2414S (and possibly all Insteon PLCs) use the Windows Human Interface Device drivers, and mine had gone AWOL. I Googled the HID, and found that having this happen (it goes dead sometimes) is a more common thing than I had imagined. Luckily, I found the way to fix this and will post it in a separate thread to make searching easier for others.

Next, when I did get the HID restored, I found that the PLC was still not being recognized. I reset the firmware using the new version of the plugin, and then restarted HS. It fired right up and has been working well.

The only three things I've noticed that are a bit odd are:

After I add a new device, I have to restart HS before it is recognized by the plugin (or at least before it appears on the Status page).

With Slave switches, turning a light on by activating the slave switch with HS does not turn on the light (off doesn't work either). The slave switch appears to change state (i.e., the led goes off), but the light itself doesn't come on. It works fine manually, but not via HS.

The PLC for Insteon does not appear to produce a very good X10 signal. My X10 thermostat isn't able to recognize Ack / Autosend / Echo commands and confirmations, and this wasn't a problem with a CM11A or a PSC05.

Which brings up a question: Does the plugin require that I enable X10 to work reliably, or can I use BOTH the Insteon PLC (with X10 disabled on the plugin) and a PSC05 or CM11A?

Thanks,

Joe