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    HS3 and Harmony Hub

    Can someone help explain to me what I need to make the Harmony remote control the z wave devices through HS3? Which plugin is best? Do I need the z wave extender for the Harmony Hub? I've read through the forums and have the meiharmony hub plugin but it looks like I can just control harmony hub through my HS3. Can my Harmony remote control some of my z wave devices through my HS3?

    #2
    There are 2 Harmony hub plugins I have tried. Cant remember what the first one was called, the last one I tried was Jon00 harmony plugin (which is free). You can find both on the forum here. Once installed and linked, Jon00's Pi will create deviecs for your harmony devices which you can use to control devices on your hub. Best to go to the PI section and read all the instructions, I only tried using it for 1 specific purpose so dont know much about it (controlling a Nvidia shield)

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      #3
      Originally posted by smashburn View Post
      Can someone help explain to me what I need to make the Harmony remote control the z wave devices through HS3? Which plugin is best? Do I need the z wave extender for the Harmony Hub? I've read through the forums and have the meiharmony hub plugin but it looks like I can just control harmony hub through my HS3. Can my Harmony remote control some of my z wave devices through my HS3?
      HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

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        #4
        Currently all 3 of the Harmony Plug-ins do not allow control of HS devices from the Harmony remote (not directly that is). The create and allow control of the AV devices on your Harmony device from HS and to control and monitor the active Activity.

        You can add z-wave devices to the Harmony Hub via the Hub Extender, but currently none of the 3 plug-ins allow control of those z-wave devices from HomeSeer. My plugin (MeiHarmonyHub) has the potential to do this as I communicate directly with the hub, but I have not added that as most did not seem to want it. It is still in my plans because I can also control things like the Nest Thermostat and Hue Bulbs, but since i've already paid for those plug-ins, and no one has requested it, I have not put a ton of energy into it.

        Now, there is some limited control you can do, but in an indirect way. For instance, in my living room, when the hub has it's activity set to any one that is not "PowerOff", I turn on the ceiling fan in the living room. Same for if it is PowerOff, I then turn the ceiling fan off. So, in this sense, you can have your z-wave devices or other HomeSeer devices react to activity changes on your hub (for instance, if you change your activity to "Watch Movie", you could dim the lights).

        Another consideration to make is how reactive the plugins are to activity changes. Last I checked, Rein's Harmony Hub plugin has a polling of at minimum 60 seconds. That means that HS will not be updated for up to 1 minute away. Jon00s plugin is much better and has a minimum polling of 5 seconds. My plugin, since it has direct communication to the Hub gets those updates instantly.

        I'm not saying mine is the best option. Depending on your use case you may not care about the 5-60 second delay the others offer. I suggest you try them all out and pick the one that fits your needs the best.

        If you want me to investigate adding support for z-wave devices from the Hub, I can do that. I've already added a zigbee bulb locally (but never released that code).

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          #5
          I have also tried using the MeiHarmonyHub plugin with my Harmony hub. From the HS3 web page I can use the drop down box to switch the TV or Stereo on/off, so that part is working.

          However, I tried making a screen in HSTouch Designer and cannot get those buttons to work to control the same equipment. I also tried one of the other plugins before MeiHarmonyHub and had the same problem in Designer. Does that go back to the activities you are describing, or a problem with the Designer?

          Jeff

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            #6
            Originally posted by smashburn View Post
            Can someone help explain to me what I need to make the Harmony remote control the z wave devices through HS3? Which plugin is best? Do I need the z wave extender for the Harmony Hub? I've read through the forums and have the meiharmony hub plugin but it looks like I can just control harmony hub through my HS3. Can my Harmony remote control some of my z wave devices through my HS3?
            To control lights, fans and outlets with your harmony HOME remote you need to either use an extender like you menchioned or use the HA-BRIDGE java app running on your network. I run the java app on the same windows computer I run HS3 on.

            If your running HS3 on a windows computer it's pretty easy just download the lastest java file from here
            https://github.com/bwssytems/ha-bridge/releases
            and make sure that is running on your windows computer. Then all setup is done in the web UI.

            You can find more info in the forums or on google., but its been out for a few years and mimics a HUE HUB which your remote will find.

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              #7
              Originally posted by dilbert1 View Post
              I have also tried using the MeiHarmonyHub plugin with my Harmony hub. From the HS3 web page I can use the drop down box to switch the TV or Stereo on/off, so that part is working.

              However, I tried making a screen in HSTouch Designer and cannot get those buttons to work to control the same equipment. I also tried one of the other plugins before MeiHarmonyHub and had the same problem in Designer. Does that go back to the activities you are describing, or a problem with the Designer?

              Jeff
              If my plugin isn't working correctly in HSTouch, let me know and I'll spin it up and see if I can reproduce and fix it. Just let me know how exactly you are attempting to add it to HSTouch (I've not used it much).

              You can start a new thread in my plugin subforum for this: https://forums.homeseer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1562

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                #8
                Originally posted by sirmeili View Post
                If my plugin isn't working correctly in HSTouch, let me know and I'll spin it up and see if I can reproduce and fix it. Just let me know how exactly you are attempting to add it to HSTouch (I've not used it much).
                I was able to get the plugin working today with HSTouch also. I had tried another Harmony plugin before yours and had mixed the commands together in HSTouch between the two. I also purchased the plugin today and will be having fun designing some screens in HSTouch now to work with it

                Jeff

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by sirmeili View Post
                  Currently all 3 of the Harmony Plug-ins do not allow control of HS devices from the Harmony remote (not directly that is). The create and allow control of the AV devices on your Harmony device from HS and to control and monitor the active Activity.

                  You can add z-wave devices to the Harmony Hub via the Hub Extender, but currently none of the 3 plug-ins allow control of those z-wave devices from HomeSeer. My plugin (MeiHarmonyHub) has the potential to do this as I communicate directly with the hub, but I have not added that as most did not seem to want it. It is still in my plans because I can also control things like the Nest Thermostat and Hue Bulbs, but since i've already paid for those plug-ins, and no one has requested it, I have not put a ton of energy into it.
                  ---
                  Are you saying your plugin could control z-wave devices from my Harmony remote? I would very much like to control lights from my Harmony remote, but I've never seen a way to do this very well.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by NickTheGreat View Post
                    Are you saying your plugin could control z-wave devices from my Harmony remote? I would very much like to control lights from my Harmony remote, but I've never seen a way to do this very well.
                    Your harmony can already control z-wave devices from the harmony, if you use the harmony extender. The problem is that doing this means you lose control in HS (I believe a z-wave device can only have 1 controller).

                    My plug-in could* allow you to add z-wave and zigbee devices to the harmony extender and then pull them into HS, which would then control and monitor them via my plugin.

                    *My plugin does not currently do this, though I have done tests with a zigbee bulb and my nest thermostat.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by NickTheGreat View Post
                      Are you saying your plugin could control z-wave devices from my Harmony remote? I would very much like to control lights from my Harmony remote, but I've never seen a way to do this very well.
                      As the Harmony Hub supports Philips Hue control without a hub extender, you can use the HA Bridge software which emulates a Hue bridge and provides gateway to control Homeseer. I personally use this for control of Homeseer from the Harmony remote.
                      Jon

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                        #12
                        Originally posted by sirmeili View Post
                        Your harmony can already control z-wave devices from the harmony, if you use the harmony extender. The problem is that doing this means you lose control in HS (I believe a z-wave device can only have 1 controller).

                        My plug-in could* allow you to add z-wave and zigbee devices to the harmony extender and then pull them into HS, which would then control and monitor them via my plugin.

                        *My plugin does not currently do this, though I have done tests with a zigbee bulb and my nest thermostat.
                        Makes sense. I don't have any desire to pull my devices out of HS.

                        Just thought I'd ask. Having my Harmony's control my lights and such is the missing link to my home automation!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by jon00 View Post
                          As the Harmony Hub supports Philips Hue control without a hub extender, you can use the HA Bridge software which emulates a Hue bridge and provides gateway to control Homeseer. I personally use this for control of Homeseer from the Harmony remote.
                          I started reading on this earlier today. Seems like it has the most potential for my goals.

                          Thanks!

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by NickTheGreat
                            Makes sense. I don't have any desire to pull my devices out of HS.

                            Just thought I'd ask. Having my Harmony's control my lights and such is the missing link to my home automation!
                            Yeah, I don't plan to either. I started looking into it as a ZigBee hub and the posibility to use it as a bridge to other systems. The Hamony Hub ccan connect to Philips Hue and SmartThings as just 2 examples. I would be able to pull devices from those systems into HS using the Harmony Hub as a bridge.

                            I only mentioned z-wave because the extender does that and it is technically possible.

                            Jon00s suggestion is the best right now for controlling any HS device in the hubs. I had that set up for a while, but stopped because starting it up after a restart of my server was just 1 extra step and no one in my family was actually using it. Remember you can only control the divices from your remote from certain areas (the touch screen ones might be different). For the Harmony Connected remotes (I think that's what they are called) they have 2 outlets and 2 dim up/down buttons and that's it.

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