SynchroLinc Pain

I just got my first SynchroLinc today, and I must say that I'm baffled by the device and confused as to why it's not working properly.

I plug in the device with the BOSE radio connected to it, it beeps after about 10 seconds and the light is green. I wait 10 seconds in the "Off" state and press the Set button. I hear a beep, and the light turns red. I then turn on the BOSE and wait 10 seconds. I press the Set button again, and I hear a beep, and the light remains red.

Whether I turn the radio on or off, the light stays red. Is this a nightmare product to work with? I see all the pretty pictures of how it should work with HouseLinc and I'm envious of the Windows users' ability to control the device to that level of detail.

What am I doing wrong?

What am I doing wrong?

Did you call Smarthome?

Did you call Smarthome?

No. I guess I was wanting to give the guys a gentle nudge to include SynchroLinc support in Indigo.

Did you call Smarthome?

No. I guess I was wanting to give the guys a gentle nudge to include SynchroLinc support in Indigo.

I agree I would like to program delay and sensitivity.

That's why I got the Imeter Solo instead; they are the same price, and since scripting and programming don't bother me, I'm perfectly happy to poll them once a minute and set my own on and off trigger levels; the only downside was having to dump the 2414 for a 2413 in order to read them; I had pushed a few critical schedules down into the 2414 as a failsafe against a computer crash and that's no longer an option.

[matt (support)]

Did you call Smarthome?

No. I guess I was wanting to give the guys a gentle nudge to include SynchroLinc support in Indigo.

Yep, definitely on our feature wish list. We are a bit swamped and behind schedule for wrapping v5 up, so I don't think it will make it into v5.0. But it is still reasonably high on the priority list.

Yep, definitely on our feature wish list. We are a bit swamped and behind schedule for wrapping v5 up, so I don't think it will make it into v5.0. But it is still reasonably high on the priority list.

Matt, is there anything we can do to help? Could I throw one of my developers at it and make a plug-in or something?

[matt (support)]

We'd like to get the plugin architecture to the point where someone could add this type of INSTEON capability, but it isn't quite there yet...

What am I doing wrong?

Did you call Smarthome?

I see that sentence WAY too much on this forum.

When you purchase a product, there is reasonable expectation that it has been tested, beta-tested, and quality control.

I hate having to stop my day to 'troubleshoot' something that doesn't work as it should.
I hate having to look up an 800-number.
I hate having to navigate a through some voice prompts to get to real person.
I hate having to give that person my information and find product number.
I hate having to spend 20 minutes proving something doesn't work, then getting an RA#, packing something back up, then getting it in the mail.
I just paid for your stinking product, waited patiently for deliverly, set it up as directed, now it doesn't even work. I have to waste my time, just to get a working version of your product??!!

That's why I love Macs. Your experience may very, but I spend very little time 'troubleshooting' my Apple products. I rarely have to call Apple or Lacie or Adobe. I like it that way.

such is life my friend

[jay (support)]

I just paid for your stinking product, waited patiently for deliverly, set it up as directed, now it doesn't even work. I have to waste my time, just to get a working version of your product??!!

Indigo works EXACTLY as advertised. We offer trials to ensure that it will work in your environment before purchasing. If you're ranting about Smarthome, take it to their forums.

That's why I love Macs. Your experience may very, but I spend very little time 'troubleshooting' my Apple products. I rarely have to call Apple or Lacie or Adobe. I like it that way.

That is our experience and it's why we develop software exclusively for Apple products.

Unfortunately that's not how the DIY Home Automation hardware market works - the hardware manufacturers don't pay the same attention to detail that Apple or many software vendors do. And they also often times have differing goals (INSTEON products, for instance, are designed to work for non-computer controlled automation environments so often times the decisions they make cause significant limitations to software trying to do the controlling). So, we do the best we can with what's available.

Alternatively, you can have someone install an HA system for you. You'll spend a lot more money and changes may require you to pay someone to come out and enhance it for you. But you'll get a turn-key system that requires very little effort on your part to set up. This seems to be what you're really looking for (but without the cost).

DIY Home Automation requires a learning curve - that's just the way it is. We provide background information as well as some step-by-step instructions in the documentation and in the How-To wiki. Another part of getting through that curve is getting help from people on this forum. However, you don't seem willing to invest the time to work through that curve and your attitude isn't winning you any friends here to help.

In fact, you seem to want to spend more all your time complaining about your grievances with the hardware and Indigo. If you'd spent that much time working through the documentation and the wiki, along the way learning a lot of the necessary background, and asking (politely) some questions here on the forums, you'd probably have something working already.

No complaints from me, Jay! Just wondering how we can help.

Seriously, though, I know you guys put a huge amount of time and energy into Indigo. I really appreciate and LOVE Indigo. I agree with you in that Indigo works GREAT! It's the Insteon products that flub-up every now and again. I can prove this by reviewing my logs and seeing how the commands just get lost (for various reasons). If Indigo wasn't working right, I'd never even see that level of detail, right?

Anyway, the original intent of this post was to see if anyone had any quick, easy tips on setting up a SynchroLinc. My secondary intent was to see if there was any update on Indigo 5 having full SynchroLinc support. While the main question wasn't really answered, the secondary one was.

What am I doing wrong?

Did you call Smarthome?

I see that sentence WAY too much on this forum.

When you purchase a product, there is reasonable expectation that it has been tested, beta-tested, and quality control.
<snip>
I just paid for your stinking product, waited patiently for deliverly, set it up as directed, now it doesn't even work. I have to waste my time, just to get a working version of your product??!!

Your implying that Perceptive Automation is the creator of the Insteon / X10 modules. They aren't.

All that Perceptive Automation has made is Indigo, and Indigo is working correctly. If Indigo can't control the module correctly, then you either have interference on the powerline / RF, or the Insteon/X10 module is setup wrong. Probably with bad firmware...

In the case of the module being setup wrong, there are two solutions:

1) Restore the module to factory settings, and see if that resolves the issue
2) Contact the manufacturer, since they have additional troubleshooting they can try.

The only other suggestion is to generally buy your hardware from Machomestore.com. My understanding is that they TEST each module before they ship them out. There is a noticeable difference between MacHomeStore & Smarthome for reliability...

You can't blame Perceptive Automation for an issue with equipment that they do not manufacture.

You know, the way I read it initially, I think hazlnut is complaining about the Insteon stuff, not Indigo.

I get his point, people DO say, "Call Smarthome about it" a lot. I think it just pushed him over and made him say, "Why do their products require so much damn support". My synchrolinc experience is not awesome yet either.

I would say my experience with Indigo is every bit as good as my Mac, if not better. Honestly, for all the hiccups etc... Indigo is pretty much never the problem (although, a GM version of Indigo 5 would be cool... ).

Sadly, Matt and Jay have actually been effective enough that we now look to them to solve our problems with Smarthome's stuff. That's how I feel about the Synchrolinc. I'm not returning it, because they'll probably have a better way of doing this eventually.

I use my single synchrolinc for my laundry dryer, even though I can't program sensitivity and delay with indigo yet, I can work around that with the proper delays, and device schedule cancellations. I would love to also have one on the clothes washer and dishwasher, but I may wait until they are supported by Indigo in order to reduce the number of triggers/delays/schedules necessary