Lutron HWI Feedback on NXI Serial Port

glr-fti

I've been spending a lot time trying to figure out why I am not receiving LED or dimmer feedback from a Lutron P5 system using RS232 back to an NXI port eventually connected to a NI3000. I can send commands without a problem but no feedback. I've determined that everything (monitoring) is set up properly on the Lutron side because I verified it with Hyper Term but I receive nothing back from the STRING EVENT. My next idea will be to hook up the P5 to a NI3100 and see if I can get feedback to it but I thought I'd see if anyone else has any ideas. I have tried setting the baud rate down to 9600 as well. No luck.

I have also started the switch to IP and will probably stay with IP but this is one of those things that I can't leave alone now until I understand why.

TIA.

vining

Have you created a driver for your serial port in HomeWorks and choosing what type of feedback you want? You can also send strings in define start so Homeworks know what feedback you want. I usually do both!

DATA_EVENT  [dvHWI] 
     
    {
     ONLINE://RS-232 connection
	  {
	  SEND_COMMAND dvHWI,'SET BAUD 9600,N,8,1 485 DISABLE' ;
	  SEND_COMMAND dvHWI,'HSOFF' ;
	  SEND_COMMAND dvHWI,'XOFF' ;
	  SEND_COMMAND dvHWI,'RXON' ;
	  SEND_STRING  dvHWI,"'DLMON',CRLF"//enable dimmer monitoring
	  SEND_STRING  dvHWI,"'KBMON',CRLF"//enable keypad monitoring
	  SEND_STRING  dvHWI,"'KLMON',CRLF"//enable keypad led monitoring
	  SEND_STRING  dvHWI,"'VMD',CRLF"  //disable vaction mode
	  SEND_STRING  dvHWI,"'VMR',CRLF"  //start recording vacation mode
	  }

Double check the use of CRLF (13,10) since I beleive RS232 comms just require 13 where as IP comms required CRLF (13,10).

Setting up a driver and then assigning it to the HomeWorks serial port being used is essential in maintaining comms after program uploads or power outages since they tend to default to 115200 I think if a driver isn't assigned. For the driver you only need to set the comm port settings and don't need to create any commands or strings. (this is in HomeWorks)

Now if that is set up and you're getting strings in hyper terminal see if you created a buffer for that serial port. If not create one since IMHO every real device requires a created buffer.

I also had a problem yesterday as a matter of fact talking with HomeWorks. I'm using IP comms for lighting control but I set up a serial port to talk with the master strictly for audio control from the Lutron keypads through AMX and I created a buffer for my serial port but some times I would get feedback and other times I wouldn't so I added the SEND_COMMAND dev 'RXON' as shown above and that seemed to work. Of course when you create a buffer that is supposed to be explicitly set or at least I think it is but now a days things don't seem to be work as advertised.

Hope that helps!

glr-fti

Update

Today I spent some addt'l time with an NI3100 instead of the NXI. I needed a longer cable to reach the NI3100 so I needed to make a couple new ends. I had no problems receiving feedback with the NI3100 so I kept the same cable config and moved it over to the NXI. The NXI now works just fine with or without the AMX module. Very odd. There had to be something wrong with the receive wire on the old connector.

Bottom line, follow the hints as described by Vining and you should have no problem.

Now I can move on to IP.

Spire_Jeff

Be aware of problems with the IP module for Lutron. I'm not sure if has been fixed yet, but I had odd problems getting the correct feedback for LED on the keypads. I think I posted the problem on the forums, and as I recall, it was only a certain range of keypad addresses that had the problem. I eventually just wrote my own code to monitor the strings coming from the Lutron processor.

Jeff

glr-fti

Thanks for the heads up. I looked at the module and thought it was too bloated and rather awkward and time consuming to set up, from my perspective. I was going to create something on my own as well especially if I only need to add a quick IP Open and append a LF onto to CR on existing stuff. I'll get at the feedback later. There have been very few AMX modules I have used that did not have a lot more than I needed or wanted for the overhead. Maybe I'll work on that next week while at P3.